More Than a Summer Assignment
Aspire interns show the impact they made this summer at the IEA Achieve event.
Look out, cannonball! IEA wraps this summer up with the IEA Achieve networking event for interns.
Each presentation at this year’s IEA Achieve, represented months of contributions to projects that are improving communities across Texas and initiatives that help move IEA forward every day. IEA Achieve brings interns together to reflect on their summer, connect with one another, and present their work.
From roadway improvements to social media campaigns, every assignment
Throughout the summer, interns worked alongside project teams across the company, contributing to engineering projects and other efforts that support IEA’s clients and employees. They prepared plan sheets, created newsletters, produced quantities, and became a valuable part of the teams they supported.
Impacting the Team
On the US 82 Roadway Widening Project, interns Petra Klepetko and Darren Clubb joined the project as work was just getting underway, giving them the rare
opportunity to experience a project from its early stages while helping the team move quickly toward design milestones.
Petra focused on proposed roadway signage, researching standards, and studying similar highways to determine where each sign belonged.
Darren supported drainage design by revising sheets, updating callouts, and helping redesign culvert locations as existing field conditions changed.
Project Manager, Ashley Sullivan, PE said their contributions also created opportunities for the rest of the team to grow.
“It wasn’t only beneficial for Petra and Darren,” said Ashley. “Watching our younger engineers explain their thought process and answer questions helped the team grow too.
Teaching the interns encouraged them to think about why they’re doing something instead of just doing it.”
Together, their contributions helped keep the project on schedule while demonstrating that the impact of an internship extends beyond the work; it also strengthens the team around them.
Helping Projects Move Forward
Every successful project depends on the countless details that keep work moving forward. For the Harris County Hike and Bike Trail Project, Victor Guevara’s contributions behind the scenes helped the team stay focused on meeting an important deadline.
Project Manager I, Hua Liu, PE shares how the work Victor was assigned made an impact on the project.
“Victor helped us a lot when we had a tight deadline,” Hua said. “He created the sheets, worked through the quality control comments, and was really helpful in producing the final plan set.”
For Victor, each revision became another opportunity to improve.
“I always kept a notebook with me,” he said. “Whenever I learned something or asked a question, I’d write it down so I could use it again later.”
Earning Trust Through Their Work
Trust isn’t assigned; it’s earned one task at a time. On the SH 90 Roadway Improvement Project, Sophia Goaziou supported plan production through annotation work, sign details, quantity spreadsheets, and revisions following Bluebeam review comments.
As the summer progressed, those assignments became responsibilities her team could confidently rely on.
“It was nice to assign Sophia a task and let her run with it,” Technical Engineer II, Andrew Higgins said. “I could review her work, provide comments when needed, and trust that everything would be completed thoroughly. She was meticulous, detailed, and efficient.”
Sophia credits much of that impact on one habit.
“I wasn’t afraid to ask questions,” she said. “I feel like it prevented a lot of mistakes because I always understood what I was working on before moving forward.”
Taking on Greater Responsibility
Meaningful contributions often begin with small assignments, but as confidence and experience grow, so do the responsibilities. Throughout the summer, ‘Tare Ojo took on complex work on a Dallas Water infrastructure project, becoming a trusted contributor to the design team.
Design Engineer, Anthony Aybar, PE said she quickly progressed from learning the process to contributing meaningful work.
“She was able to produce the vertical alignments through a complicated area with multiple existing utilities and create high-quality sheets for our client,” Anthony said. “She gained experience with horizontal alignment, vertical alignment, sheet production, and soon even cost estimating, giving her a broad understanding of the work we do.”
For ‘Tare, the biggest adjustment was realizing that engineering projects require more than following classroom examples.
“Project information isn’t as neatly packaged as it is in school,” she said. “You have to think through the information and make sure you’re checking your work before sending it over.”
The Stories Behind the Presentations
Although every intern worked on a different project, their impact was felt throughout the summer. They presented projects they helped advance alongside engineers, project managers, and different teams across IEA.
The IEA Achieve networking event provided an opportunity for interns from every office to come together, reflect on the goals they set at the beginning of the summer, and share the projects that defined their internship experience.
More importantly, it highlighted something that extended beyond professional development: the real impact interns made on the teams and projects they supported.
