Since May, UCONN engineering student Zach Randazzo has been an intern at RZ Design assisting the Structural engineering and design team and honing his skills. Come fall, he’ll enter his junior year and will continue pursuing a bachelor’s of science degree in Civil Engineering.
Marketing’s Linda Colon sat down with Zach who shared what his experience has been like so far. “I’ve been learning how to use Revit and AutoCAD, which will be very useful for my future as an engineer. I previously had some experience using MicroStation from a course at UConn, which made learning the functions of these programs a little easier. Having experience with these two additional software programs will be invaluable for me,” he says.
Zach says he’s increased his knowledge of concrete and steel construction by learning how to update and format construction specifications. This insight will give him a head start on future academic courses on concrete and steel design at UCONN’s School of Engineering. He’s also had the opportunity to apply lessons from his engineering classes by helping a colleague on a project involving determining the wind load and the weight of a building while taking into account different forces and moments while designing.
RZ’s Design’s Vice President of Structural Engineering Christopher Zajda, PE, has mentored Zach throughout the summer and says, “Zach has comfortably jumped into his role as an intern and helped us update our structural specifications. He has accompanied fellow colleagues on several site visits including a structural review of the Springfield Jewish Community Center and a review of the East Hartford Business Park roof framing to assess new RTU support locations. We’ve also included him in our structural staff meetings and remain impressed with his level of engagement, positive attitude and strong work ethic.”
RZ Design embraces the opportunity to host engineering students via summer internships by pairing them with seasoned engineers in their discipline and providing them with meaningful work to help increase their knowledge and encourage them to contribute their talents.