Each summer, PMA hires promising future engineers and construction management professionals from local colleges to join our culture of learning and innovation and interact with experienced mentors. This summer, our internship experience differed from previous years due to the work adaptations mandated by COVID 19. Our interns worked both remotely and on-site in the construction of K-12 schools, fire stations, and other projects important to the life of the community. Side-by-side with our professionals, they experienced PMA culture firsthand.
Among their observations:
PMA is an employee-first company.
Everything feels very connected; PMA feels like a large family.
Everyone is willing to help. I was given everything I needed to complete my work.
Joining us this summer were:
Chris Urbano
Chris is from Raynham, MA and a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts—Amherst. He plans to graduate in the spring of 2021 with a BS in Building and Construction Technology with the goal of working on the management side of the industry. Outside of work and school, Chris spends most of his time playing football, baseball, basketball, and golf. Some of his other interests include snowboarding, wakeboarding, and fishing. He is also a big Boston sports fan and loves attending the games at Fenway, Gillette, and the TD Garden.
Chris was assigned to the $256 million Somerville High School project, one of the largest dollar-valued school projects in Massachusetts history. The project scope includes major reconstruction of the existing facility and stabilization/restoration of select, historically significant structures. The new building is expected to be 396,278 square feet and features 17 vocational programs, a space for a Cambridge Health Alliance Teen Health Center, public access TV studio, space for the Somerville Child Care Center, and a new synthetic turf athletic facility.
While on this project, Chris observed that “challenges creep up every day but keeping this to a minimum and managing the expectations and challenges the right way was a great experience.” He also noted that everyone was “just a little slower and more cautious,” and masks and safety protocols were observed. The topping-off ceremony was the highlight of Chris’s time on the project
John Lowther
John’s hometown is Hingham, MA, and he is entering his sophomore year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he hopes to graduate with a civil engineering major and a business minor. He also plans to spend his first four years after college in the Army with ROTC. John has played basketball his whole life and wants to continue playing for the rest of his college career at WPI, with an eye on a national championship.
John was assigned to the Somerville High School project, and also worked on the Saugus Middle School project where PMA is providing comprehensive owner’s project management services from feasibility to project closeout phases. The Saugus project consists of two large efforts including a master plan study of all Town schools and construction of a new Middle-High School with stadium. The partially MSBA-funded Middle-High School Project is currently in the construction phase and is pursuing a LEED-Silver certification.
Regarding the adaptations due to COVID, John observed, “we wore masks and had regular temp checks and practiced proper hygiene.” John highlighted “the process behind change orders and the relationships PMs have with owners” as an area of interest for him. He enjoyed working on both the Somerville and Saugus projects. “Watching the demolition at Saugus was great!”
Ryan Flattery
Ryan is a senior at the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor and hails from nearby Dexter. After graduation, Ryan plans to continue on to graduate school in the field of Industrial and Operations Engineering. Ryan devotes much of his free time to playing on the Michigan Men’s Ultimate Frisbee team, MagnUM. He describes himself as a “huge Detroit/Michigan sports fan” who loves football, basketball, and baseball.
Ryan was assigned to a mixed-use skyscraper renovation project. The $150M project will include a 200-key luxury hotel, 439 apartments, and 125 condos, eventually making it a 1,422-foot-tall mixed-use skyscraper and Chicago’s second-tallest building. PMA provided scheduling services on this project by assisting the contractor with their time extension requests to the owner.
For Ryan, the opportunity to work on the renovation project was a “real-world experience.” PMA’s scheduling role, analyzing monthly progress schedules and preparing of detailed schedule delay graphics, gave Ryan excellent exposure to current scheduling software─“learning P6 and NetPoint was really interesting to me!”
Ian Sheridan
Ian is a junior at Wentworth Institute of Technology and his hometown is Marshfield, MA. He is looking forward to graduation and starting out in “the real world.” His interests include soccer, basketball and football, and he is especially looking forward to the easing of current restrictions so he can stay active and play in pick-up games.
Ian worked on the $8 million Andover-Ballardvale Fire Station, where PMA serves as the owner’s project manager for the design, permitting, bidding, construction, and closeout phases of an approximately 11,383 square foot, two-story, 3-bay facility. “Working on the Andover Fire Station I was able to see the project from the ground up. Seeing all the steps in the process made it the most interesting.”
Another new area of learning for Ian was “the overall behind-the-scenes aspect of the pre-bid process.” Ian spoke of the COVID effect on his internship: “Not having face to face interaction with fellow workers and clients, online meetings, and wearing masks was definitely different.” Summing up his internship at PMA: “I learned how great the people in PMA really are. Everyone I interacted with was very helpful – excellent overall experience!”