Top 10 Takeaways from Our Summer Internships

by Heath Garrett, Cedric Pannell, and Jake Sterling

How to Use Revit

Coming into our internships, we all had basic experience with software like SolidWorks and AutoCAD, but none of us were prepared for the capabilities of Revit. We spent nearly two weeks learning how to use the software and working on a practice project in our discipline before we were assigned to our teams. Now we feel confident that we could be a quality entry-level employee for any MEP engineering consulting firm.

Putting Theory into Practice

It is one thing to learn about the principles of fluid dynamics, heat transfer, or circuiting in a classroom. It is a completely different thing to use these concepts to determine how much air conditioning a room needs, what kind of equipment is best, and how much it will cost your client (especially those who are accountable to taxpayers).

MEP Consulting is a Juggling Act

MEP engineering consulting is more complex than it appears. It is a constant balancing act between project scope, budget, and deadlines. There are many viewpoints to consider: the owner, the end users, maintenance personnel, architect, other consultants, general public, and more. There are codes and design guidelines to consider. And just when you think you have finished your part, along comes a change that shifts everything at the last minute. Oh, and don’t forget about the other projects you have on your plate.

MEP is the “Offensive Line” of Buildings

When you watch a football game, most of the time you don’t hear much about the offensive line unless something goes wrong. Maybe the center bobbles a snap, a guard misses a block, or someone else gets a penalty for a false start, resulting in a big loss for the team. That’s how it is for most MEP engineering consultants. We work quietly in the trenches, and we’re okay if our work goes unnoticed because everything went right.

Great Communication Skills are a Must

Engineers are not known for their communications skills. But in MEP engineering consulting, you must be a great communicator. There is critical coordination between your internal team every day to make sure that you’re meeting the project scope and deadlines. You must also be able to communicate with the architect, owner, and contractor to ensure you understand what they need and want. And you must be able to communicate highly technical information in a way that everyone can understand it in both written and in-person formats.

Asking Questions is Important

In conjunction with communication skills, at LTY we learned that asking questions is important. Sometimes, the outside world makes us feel like we’re not supposed to ask questions. At LTY, we learned that asking questions is an important part of the consulting process. It is the way we make sure we understand what our client needs. Asking questions is also the way we learn. Not only did we learn that asking questions was okay, but we also learned how to ask the right questions.

Asking for Help is Okay

Society sometimes tells us it is not okay to ask for help. At LTY, we learned that asking for help was part of being a good teammate. The culture at LTY is “we are all learning to get better.” Sometimes we needed help and had to ask for it. Sometimes other people needed to help, and we could provide it to them.

Having of “Team of Engineers” from Top to Bottom Matters

Everyone on LTY’s technical team has an engineering degree and is somewhere in the process of becoming a licensed professional engineer. Honestly, we did not understand the importance of this until we had to ask questions—so many questions! And we discovered that the people answering these questions were highly experienced and licensed engineers. We also saw these same people in action with clients. It was very evident that LTY was able to provide detailed answers that fit each situation because they knew the information inside and out. It was impressive to see the amount of time and dedication that is required to study for the required exams, prepare the applications, and maintain the continuing education credits necessary to be a professional engineer. Not everyone is this diligent or dedicated. But it has inspired all of us to pursue our P.E. licenses.

Their Success is My Success

Every day at LTY, we were taught the importance of building relationships. We learned to build relationships with our teammates. And it was stressed early and often that the success of our company was dependent on the success of our clients. Not only did we have to understand the mission and vision of LTY, but we need to understand the mission and vision of our clients. We were taught “my success is their success” and “their success is my success” whether it was the person sitting next to me or the client on the phone.

Our Maximum Capacity for Chicken Wings

Company culture matters. Everyone at LTY included us in lunches, field visits, client meetings, and overall general fun from the very first day. This included the “How many chicken wings can you eat in an hour?” contest we competed in at lunch one day. For the record, 44 chicken wings was the maximum consumed by one intern. In a consolation battle, another intern did record a high score of 80 on Pop-a-Shot.

We all agree our internships at LTY were the most valuable internships that we’ve had. We are all very thankful for our time at LTY this summer and are all considering MEP engineering consulting as a full-time career as a result of our internships.

Heath is a senior Interdisciplinary Engineering major at Texas A&M University. Jake is a senior mechanical engineering major at Penn State University. Cedric is a senior electrical engineering major at Texas A&M University.

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