What I Do I work as a Structural Engineer! In my office, we have projects to construct new buildings and bridges, as well as repair and upgrade old buildings and bridges! I work specifically on a lot of our historic restoration projects, where we design repairs for old stone, brick, and timber buildings. I've worked on churches from the 1880's, a stone fort turned library from 1832, a brick house from the mid-1700's, and more!
Why Engineering? I always loved problem-solving, and thinking outside the box, especially in the engineering classes I took in middle and high school! I never loved math, but somehow applying it to real-world problems made it so much better!
School Days I went to the University of Hartford, where I got my Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering, and a Minor in Project Management.
My Day At Work I often work on building projects from beginning to end. New buildings start with getting initial plans from an Architect, which we evaluate (with a lot of math and computer models) to make sure the building will be strong enough to stand in windstorms and earthquakes, the roof is strong enough to hold snow after a big storm, and the floors can hold all the people that use the building (think about how many people fit in your living room at home, vs in your school auditorium, that's a lot of weight to hold!). Designing repairs for old buildings usually starts by visiting the building to look at what needs to be repaired. Often, that's the roof, or the foundations, or the walls. Back in the office, we design repairs to strengthen the roof, straighten foundations, or repair cracks in the walls. Projects for both new and old buildings always end with construction! As an engineer, I often visit the site while construction is in progress, to answer questions from the builders, and make sure everything is put together the way we intended it to be when we designed it!
Best Part Seeing a historic building restored! Buildings that are close to (or often more than) 100 years old and still in everyday use have a lot of character! If feels so good to help keeping them looking beautiful, and functional for the communities that use them!
Want to be an Engineer? Stick to it! Engineering (and especially engineering school) is tough. Remember, EVERYONE finds different aspects difficult. Struggling in classes doesn't mean it's not the right path for you!
Hobbies I enjoy hiking, and recently went to Iceland with my twin sister, where we did a ton of hiking!