Walter Palacio, a civil engineering major, is starting an internship in May with TEC, or The Engineering Corp. Walter secured this opportunity, which will give him engineering experience the summer after his freshman year. He’s working in the civil branch, but Walter will also work with all the other branches, such as structural and transportation engineering. Civil engineering is about the design, construction and maintenance of infrastructure.
“One thing they did mention was…going on-site to a bridge and doing evaluations on how the bridge is holding up,” he said. “I’m going to be working on little pieces of a much bigger project…like quality control… [and I’ll] get a grasp [of] the whole process.”
Walter went to Merrimack’s STEM career fair last fall and connected with TEC. Despite some mishaps with his email, Walter was determined to earn the spot.
“I had to reach out a second time…because they did reach out to me a long time ago [but] it got sent to my junk,” he said. “I sent them a follow-up email [after] they didn’t reply, and then I got into contact with their front desk …we set up an interview…and then a couple days later I got the offer letter.”
Walter credits Laura Thibodeau with helping him through the process of getting this internship. Laura is the senior career advisor and manager of experiential learning for the School of Engineering & Computational Sciences at Merrimack.
“[She] is the best,” he said. “She helped with every step. She helped me with interview prep, every time… I [sent] an email to her, she was always there to reply. I told her…’I couldn’t get the interview without you’.”
Walter is very involved on campus. He’s a Warrior at Work student, in the Honors Program and on Merrimack’s Steel Bridge team. He praises the Steel Bridge team as a great experience to learn about engineering practices.
“Even if I’m not at that level…where I…understand everything, it gives me a bigger picture of the process,” he said. “My first week or so, I was meeting with four or five professors [and] previous civil engineers and they were drawing up concepts and bridges on the board and…being able to see what it’s like…was good, and it looks good on a resume.”
Walter’s passion for civil engineering developed in high school when he worked for his dad, a general contractor. Working with other civil engineers, Walter developed an interest in the field. This internship will confirm if Walter wants to continue to pursue civil engineering.
“I’m going to really see what it’s like to live as a civil [engineer] for a few months and then I’ll be able to make my decision on how I want to treat my future with that,” he said. “I’m balancing between civil and maybe jumping to electrical engineering, so I wanted to get that experience and [see if it’s] what I really like.”
Walter is a prime example that even first-year students can attain internships if they put the work in. His advice is to “send it.”
“I didn’t have much under my belt, [but] I said I’m willing to learn [and] I’m going to give you the best I can, so really put yourself out there.”
