Now that I’ve moved back to Purdue and settled into another school year, I’ve had some time to reflect on my Summer 2026 internship with PCL Construction. This summer, I had the opportunity to work as a Field Engineer on a confidential project at a major theme park destination in Orlando, gaining firsthand experience with the coordination, planning, and communication required to keep a complex construction project moving.
The primary scopes I supported were ride and facility steel erection, concrete, and masonry. Across these scopes, I was involved in material and progress tracking, documentation, inspections, QA/QC, and coordination with field teams, subcontractors, project management, and client representatives.
I also gained experience managing RFIs and submittals, helping coordinate the flow of information between the field, design teams, subcontractors, and project management. One of the biggest lessons from this experience was the importance of strong communication and relationships in keeping work moving and resolving issues as they arise.
Scheduling and progress management were another major part of my internship. I worked with Primavera P6 to better understand project schedules, sequencing, and upcoming activities, while using Touchplan and Power BI to track field progress, milestones, and upcoming events. Seeing field information translated into schedules gave me a much greater appreciation for the role of planning and analytics in construction management.
I also used Bluebeam Revu for drawing review, quantity takeoffs, progress tracking, and project documentation. In addition, I participated in daily safety audits and weekly safety walks, reinforcing the importance of maintaining a strong safety culture in the field.
One of my biggest takeaways from the summer was seeing how interconnected every part of a construction project is. Schedule, quality, safety, documentation, and coordination all depend on teams communicating effectively and working toward the same goal.
I’m grateful to PCL Construction and everyone I worked with for the opportunity to learn and contribute throughout the summer. I’m excited to bring these experiences back to Purdue and continue building on them throughout my Civil Engineering education.