By Priscilla Petersen, Public Affairs Manager Southeast Kansas |
Two
interns in KDOT’s District Four, Stephen “Alex” Link and Will Geary, honed
their engineering skills at field construction offices and spent many hours
working in the summer sun this year.
Steven "Alex" Link participated worked at KDOT this summer as an Engineering Technician at the Area Office in Garnett. |
Link
grew up in Burlington, and is beginning his junior year as a civil engineering
major at Kansas State University. His internship was as an Engineering
Technician at the Area Office in Garnett. Link said he appreciated the broad
range of activities that KDOT offers. “Lots of internships don’t allow you to
see something all the way through,” he explained. He worked on a variety of
projects and was able to experience “what goes into making something.”
Among
his learning experiences was a surface recycle on K-239. “I didn’t even know
they could recycle asphalt,” he said.
Link
said he was drawn to engineering since it’s more balanced between the indoor
and outdoor working environments: “I’m not confined to the office all day.”
“The
people have all been great,” he said of his co-workers at Garnett. Link
kept active all summer, “trying to get as much experience as I can.” He said he
might look into working at KDOT again, expanding his knowledge next
summer with the research and design units at Topeka.
Will Geary, was an Engineering Technician Intern at the Pittsburg Area Office this summer. |
His
major is mechanical engineering, but Geary said the civil engineering side has
impressed him with its roads and bridges that “don’t move” the way machines do.
“It’s been good learning as much as I can,” he said, praising the Pittsburg
office for its supportive team players.
Much
of his summer has been spent gaining knowledge about overlay projects. As it
has rained fairly often, Geary has also become familiar with storm water
pollution prevention plans.
He
said he “really studied up” on the current bridge replacement project on K-126
at Pittsburg, in which the bridge is being constructed one half at a time.
Unfortunately, he noted, wet weather has delayed progress.
Geary
is from Topeka. His father was raised in McCune, where his grandmother still
lives. “It’s been good spending time with Grandma,” he said, adding that “she’s
been treating me right” and that he was able to help her out over the summer.
What great real world experience!
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