This summer, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) opened its offices across the state to 34 interns as part of the Civil Engineering Student Worker Program, offered in partnership with CTS. The interns, including 16 from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and Duluth campuses, gained hands-on experience across a range of careers in civil engineering and transportation.
Rezaul Karim, a graduate student studying civil engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth, spent his internship working on bridge construction related to the Twin Ports Interchange project in Duluth. According to Karim, the internship gave him an immersive experience with MnDOT and insight into the project execution process. “It allowed me to understand real-world project management, construction operations, and collaboration within a large transportation agency, which are essential for my career in civil engineering,” he says.
The internship also made Karim aware of how critical teamwork is for a project's success. “I enjoyed learning how the project manager, project engineer, contractor, and sub-contractors each played vital roles during the execution of such a complex and large-scale project,” he says.
Jack Carlson, a civil engineering major at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities who interned with the Metro Construction Office, says the experience confirmed his interest in working in the transportation and construction fields.
“I’ve always been interested in having a direct impact on my community by helping make infrastructure safer and more reliable,” Carlson says. “MnDOT’s role in maintaining and improving Minnesota’s roads made it a perfect fit for me.”
One highlight from Carlson’s summer was being entrusted with measuring the final pavement markings on a construction project in North Branch. “It was a big step in confidence and responsibility,” he says.
CTS also partnered on the Ramsey County Planning Internship again this year. Four University of Minnesota students participated in the program over the summer.
Nicholas Solando, a graduate student studying urban and regional planning at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, says that interning with Ramsey County Community & Economic Development exposed him to new ideas and opportunities and helped build his network.
“It’s honed some goals of mine,” Soldano says. “I have more confidence in my sense of what I’d like to do because of what I’ve learned and seen.”
Throughout his internship, Soldano assisted with developing a plan to help Ramsey County better support businesses during road closures and construction. The process, he says, “involved a lot of document analysis paired with meetings with staff at other jurisdictions across the country to understand the implications of different programs and techniques.”
Bennett Constant, a recent urban studies graduate from the University of Minnesota, worked on several GIS projects and mapped multiple types of data during his internship within the Multimodal Planning Division of Ramsey County Public Works.
Despite a long-term interest in transit planning, Constant says he hadn’t realized how intricate and intensive the process was. “I had no idea that lines of transit have to go through dozens of people in the planning process," he says. “Being able to see it hands on and work in that role has been interesting and educational.”
Constant also valued the opportunities Ramsey County provided for interns to choose their projects. “It made the experience much more individual to me,” he says. “This role gave me valuable experience that I can translate into virtually any planning position.”
—Olivia Hanson, CTS communications intern
