Career Path Of A Civil Design Engineer At Siegfried Engineering Inc
Andrew's career path began with a hands-on agricultural engineering education at Cal Poly, where they "built things with their hands and physically got to see 'em get built." This experience, coupled with summer work on a farm, provided a valuable foundation for their current role as a civil design engineer, allowing them to connect "how big things are" in the real world with the computer designs they create.
Hands-on Experience, Agricultural Engineering, Internship Alternatives, Engineering Clubs, Career Transition
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Andrew Manes
Civil Design Engineer
Siegfried Engineering, Inc.
California Polytechnic State University, SLO
Engineering - Environmental
Architecture, Construction & Design
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. Andrew pursued a hands-on, experiential education in agricultural engineering at Cal Poly, which involved practical activities like welding and construction. This background provided a strong foundation for his current role in civil engineering design.
2. Andrew's summer work experience on a farm, while not a formal internship, offered valuable insights into the physical scale of construction projects, which translates directly to his current work designing infrastructure.
3. Andrew actively participated in engineering and non-engineering clubs at Cal Poly. This highlights the importance of extracurricular activities for networking, skill development, and exploring interests outside academics.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college and any internships or jobs you had before your current role?
I went to Cal Poly, and for the engineering field, I think it was a great school to attend. We did a lot of hands-on work.
I was in ag engineering, so we got to do different hands-on things like welding. We built things with our hands and physically saw them get built, putting our education to use right away. My college experience was a lot of hands-on stuff.
I was involved in a couple of clubs, one related to education and one not. I was on the club golf team, which was a cool experience outside of school. I was also part of an engineering club.
That was helpful to connect with other people and learn new things from other majors or within my own. I also worked for a farmer for two summers. It wasn't technically an internship, but I think it was a good learning experience.
It was great to go into a field that physically builds things. I'm now in the civil engineering field, and our company designs things to be built, rather than doing the building itself. The farming was a good transition into this, helping me physically see how big things are and understand that when I'm looking at things on the computer now.