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Our third instalment of the Stantec Equity & Diversity Scholarship saw 44 students receive scholarships¡ªeight of these students received internships in Florida, Texas, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, and Alberta, Canada. Continue on to read about four intern experiences here at Â鶹´«Ã½.

Students ready to take their next steps into post-secondary education

Zanna Ahmed¡ªa recently graduated high school student who has an internship with the Buildings team in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania¡ªwill be majoring in health and societies with a concentration in healthcare markets and finance at the University of Pennsylvania. ¡°I¡¯ve loved my time working at Â鶹´«Ã½ with ChemRisk so far because I¡¯ve learned so much about what scientific consulting actually entails, and I¡¯ve found that it is a great balance between scientific Â鶹´«Ã½ and business acumen,¡± Zanna says. ¡°The team has been so open and welcoming, and by introducing me to every area of Â鶹´«Ã½ within the firm, I¡¯ve really seen the variety of paths that a career may follow.¡±

Zanna says her internship has allowed her to try out anything and everything of interest so she can tailor her education to what she likes best. ¡°I am extremely grateful for both the scholarship and internship opportunities given to me by Â鶹´«Ã½ and can¡¯t wait to start school soon!¡±

Jordan Metellus will be studying civil engineering this fall at the University of Central Florida. After graduating high school in May, he¡¯s excited to begin learning about the engineering world in depth. ¡°Ever since I was young, I¡¯ve always been interested in traffic and roadway design,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I knew early on that I wanted to make a societal impact as either a roadway or traffic engineer and I¡¯m excited to pursue a career in either of those fields to my part in improving society.¡±

As a civil engineering intern in Orlando, Florida office, Jordan is using our open roads designer program to label different drainage structures on plan sheets. ¡°I¡¯ve learned so many amazing things during this internship. Before I started, I had little experience with any sort of engineering design program, and I was a bit nervous,¡± Jordan continued. ¡°However, my mentor helped me get started with the program and many of my co-workers have been very helpful and knowledgeable if I had any questions on the tasks I was doing. I also got to learn about traffic design and a bit about traffic engineering and modeling too which seemed very interesting to me so I can¡¯t wait to continue learning about these things in the future.¡±

Women in STEAM with a passion for equality

In Edmonton, Alberta, Delaney MacIntosh is in her fifth and final year of civil engineering at the University of Alberta. This summer, Delaney has supported our Transportation Planning and Traffic Engineering (TPTE) group. This includes developing engineering reports, design plans, and technical studies in coordination with other groups to ensure interdisciplinary design integration for projects across Alberta, Canada.

¡°I have really enjoyed my time with the TPTE team,¡± Delaney says. ¡°It's a very welcoming and supportive environment. I've learned a lot about transportation engineering and have continued to be exposed to unique applications. I've learned a lot about communities' transportation needs and different strategies to accommodate all modes and the diverse needs of all users.¡± While she is still exploring her options post-graduation, regardless of where Delaney ends up, she wants to be part of a team that collaborates on impactful and meaningful projects.

¡°I plan to continue fostering diversity and inclusion within engineering. By advocating for a more inclusive environment, I aim to create opportunities for individuals from diverse backgrounds to thrive and bring their unique perspectives to engineering projects,¡± Delaney adds.

Twin brothers take on mechanical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology

Ethan Morlu, who is studying Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, spent half of his internship with the Buildings group in Virginia working on HVAC, plumbing, and fire protection systems in hospitals and transit centers. ¡°Before I came to Â鶹´«Ã½, I didn¡¯t even know HVAC design or plumbing were career choices that I could make,¡± Ethan says. ¡°I am interested in both automation and energy, so I plan to look more into what Â鶹´«Ã½ and other companies are doing in those fields.¡±

For the second half of his internship, Ethan sits in the water group working on wastewater projects and says it¡¯s interesting to see all the different facets of mechanical engineering, and to see where they overlap. ¡°I¡¯ve learned so much during this internship. When I wasn¡¯t learning through site visits and in office task, I was on LinkedIn Learning doing modules on Revit, Bluebeam, and other applications,¡± Ethan continued. ¡°I¡¯ve learned so much about HVAC, plumbing, and fire protection that I wouldn¡¯t have without this internship. This has been very beneficial to me as a student, and just for my development.¡±

Nathan Morlu, Ethan¡¯s brother, is also studying mechanical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and has an internship with the Buildings group in Virginia. Over the course of the internship, Nathan has worked on an intern design project where he worked cross discipline with an architecture intern, landscape architecture intern, and an electrical engineering intern to design a costal resilience hub. Here, he worked to advise the architects in what they did and installed a ventilation, plumbing, and fire protection system in the building.

¡°I have learned so much about wastewater and building mechanical design during this internship. I knew almost nothing about wastewater or ventilation and heating systems before this and I¡¯ve learned so much about project progression and different wastewater technologies from the water sector,¡± Nathan says. ¡°Through the Buildings group and the project I worked on, I learned so much about ventilation systems and different types of heating and cooling. I went from knowing nothing to being able to plot ductwork in Revit and being able to give comprehensive explanations about the pros and cons of heating and cooling systems and ventilation systems. The project also gave me a valuable lesson on how to work across disciplines to create a final product that we could be proud of.¡±

The significance of internships at Â鶹´«Ã½ cannot be overstated¡ªthey have the ability serve as the cornerstone of a transformative learning experience for students. As these bright minds step into the professional world, they are met with a wealth of opportunities to harness their skills, collaborate with industry experts, and make a real impact on the world around them.

Read about last years¡¯ interns and apply for the Â鶹´«Ã½ Equity & Diversity Scholarship.