At Entuitive, we have a great team of creative, collaborative, and advanced people, and that includes our talented co-op students. In this post by Brooke Hammond, Junior Designer, we hear about which projects she worked on and what she learned this summer in our Calgary office. When she was a co-op student back in the summer of 2021, she had also helped develop a transportation activity for Entuitive U!
 

This was my second summer as a Co-op student at Entuitive. I was excited to return and see familiar friendly faces again in our Calgary office.  

Last summer, I worked with the Sustainable Performance Group, which I enjoyed but this year I wanted to expose myself to new areas at Entuitive. I was unsure which areas I wanted to focus on within my Civil degree, so I wanted to try a bit of everything. I ended up working with countless groups this summer, including Building Envelope, Structural, Special Projects & Renovations, and Ennovation (Innovation at Entuitive). 

Although I was a summer student, I still had control of my schedule. I needed to split my time between the different groups, but how it was split was mostly my responsibility. I always tried to help out where I could, and I liked how what work I took on was always up to me. 

The flexibility was amazing and gave me the time I needed to learn and explore new things. Everyone was also very understanding that the tasks I helped with were new to me, including finding snow and wind loads for buildings. They would gladly take the time to walk me through the steps before letting me try it myself. Questions were always encouraged and answered more in depth than I expected.  

I often learned the most from tagging along for site visits and listening to my colleagues’ conversations. My colleagues all had their own experiences to share, tips to help with day-to-day tasks, and of course, their opinion on what group was the best (I liked them all). I would like to give a big shout out to Greg Riewe and Nick Fuss for all the amazing conversations and honest advice they shared with me this summer. 

I helped with everything from reports and site reviews to shop drawings, snow loads, and budgets. Even the little things like making decisions on my own and talking to others in the industry helped build my confidence. This summer gave me the opportunity to explore some of my interests, and my experiences this summer will help connect my upcoming classes back to real life.  

My advice to any new co-op student would be to ask your colleagues about opportunities you are interested in. If you want to tag along on-site visits, someone within Entuitive would probably love to bring you. The same goes for most of the projects and events, so don’t be afraid to ask!