My first week of working with Ideal Contracting at the Warren Tech Center has made me realize how much I am going to learn this summer. Everyone at Ideal is focused on me succeeding and challenging me to grow each and every day. I am amazed how organized Ideal Contracting is and the dedication that each member puts forward, which has already given me an idea of what it is going to take to be successful in the construction industry. I know how much this summer internship is going to prepare me for the future and it’s good to know that everyone from the Ideal team at the Warren Tech Center is willing to help me with the essential learning that will one day make me successful. My first day at the Warren Tech Center, I was able to meet everyone from the Ideal team. My second day, I was able to take a tour of the Warren Tech Center with Gus Cerku and view the past and present projects that Ideal is involved with through PDPM and hard dollar bidding. I am fortunate to have a mentor like Gus and I am looking forward to learning from him on a daily basis with his extensive career in construction. Later that day I was able to go on site for a current trestle repair. I was shown the purpose of the pad shown below that allows the trestle structure to move back and forth during wind exposure but keeping the structure from moving sideways.

On Wednesday, I was able to go out with Gus again and view a site where Ideal is advising a plan for a new location of a generator pad near the underpass by the engineering building. This new location of the generator pad will reduce visibility from the road and add protection to the underpass in case of flood or power failure. The investigation of the new location for the generator pad is shown below.

 
 
At the end of the day Wednesday, we had our weekly staff and site meeting. The Ideal team came together to go over the safety measures and precautions that are vital to construction in general and especially working on the GM facilities at the Warren Tech Center. On Thursday, I was able to go on another tour with Gus and view the installation of a new chamber as well as the use of a gantry crane system, which was being used to install the new chamber. These chambers test automotive vehicles and their parts by exposing them to extreme temperatures, either hot or cold. The chamber installation is shown below.

While on this tour, I was able to see the extensive technology the comes into play when GM is testing new automotive vehicles and parts.  Later that day I got my first exposure to writing a GCR or an RFI with respect to the new generator pad location by the engineering building. Furthermore, I was also able to take a walk through in the health and safety building. During the walk through, Ideal Contracting, Ghafari, GM project managers, and sub contractor’s decided how they would go about capping the interior and exterior windows in order to control asbestos from falling in and out of the building. On Friday, I was able to visit the pond site to view restoration that is going to take place on four islands in this location. Erosion has taken place on the four islands and Ideal Contracting is going to restore the islands by adding more rock to the edges and make the edging uniform once again. Also at the pond site, 14 concrete slabs on the sidewalk have pulled away from the foundation wall and Ideal is going to demo the concrete and pour new slabs. After viewing these problems at the pond site, I was then assigned to go about estimating the costs involved in repairing the islands and the concrete slabs. This was an amazing learning experience and task for me on my first week, which will help me in the future weeks to come when it comes to estimating project costs that I may be involved in. Furthermore, I was able to sit in meetings each day during my first week with regards to scheduling and project activities taken place at the Warren Tech Center. Although, there is still much for me to learn, I am grateful for the exposure I have received in my first week and I have already obtained so much learning that will be crucial for me doing a good job at Ideal, while securing the knowledge that is necessary for my future in construction. I would like to give special thanks to both my supervisors at Ideal, Gus Cerku and Joe Welmers, as well as everyone else at Ideal Contracting for helping me settle in. I will continue to grow each week with the help of everyone at Ideal Contracting and can’t wait for this amazing internship opportunity to progress in the upcoming weeks.
 
 
 

My first week of working with Ideal Contracting at the Warren Tech Center has made me realize how much I am going to learn this summer. Everyone at Ideal is focused on me succeeding and challenging me to grow each and every day. I am amazed how organized Ideal Contracting is and the dedication that each member puts forward, which has already given me an idea of what it is going to take to be successful in the construction industry. I know how much this summer internship is going to prepare me for the future and it’s good to know that everyone from the Ideal team at the Warren Tech Center is willing to help me with the essential learning that will one day make me successful. My first day at the Warren Tech Center, I was able to meet everyone from the Ideal team. My second day, I was able to take a tour of the Warren Tech Center with Gus Cerku and view the past and present projects that Ideal is involved with through PDPM and hard dollar bidding. I am fortunate to have a mentor like Gus and I am looking forward to learning from him on a daily basis with his extensive career in construction. Later that day I was able to go on site for a current trestle repair. I was shown the purpose of the pad shown below that allows the trestle structure to move back and forth during wind exposure but keeping the structure from moving sideways.

On Wednesday, I was able to go out with Gus again and view a site where Ideal is advising a plan for a new location of a generator pad near the underpass by the engineering building. This new location of the generator pad will reduce visibility from the road and add protection to the underpass in case of flood or power failure. The investigation of the new location for the generator pad is shown below.

 
 
At the end of the day Wednesday, we had our weekly staff and site meeting. The Ideal team came together to go over the safety measures and precautions that are vital to construction in general and especially working on the GM facilities at the Warren Tech Center. On Thursday, I was able to go on another tour with Gus and view the installation of a new chamber as well as the use of a gantry crane system, which was being used to install the new chamber. These chambers test automotive vehicles and their parts by exposing them to extreme temperatures, either hot or cold. The chamber installation is shown below.

While on this tour, I was able to see the extensive technology the comes into play when GM is testing new automotive vehicles and parts.  Later that day I got my first exposure to writing a GCR or an RFI with respect to the new generator pad location by the engineering building. Furthermore, I was also able to take a walk through in the health and safety building. During the walk through, Ideal Contracting, Ghafari, GM project managers, and sub contractor’s decided how they would go about capping the interior and exterior windows in order to control asbestos from falling in and out of the building. On Friday, I was able to visit the pond site to view restoration that is going to take place on four islands in this location. Erosion has taken place on the four islands and Ideal Contracting is going to restore the islands by adding more rock to the edges and make the edging uniform once again. Also at the pond site, 14 concrete slabs on the sidewalk have pulled away from the foundation wall and Ideal is going to demo the concrete and pour new slabs. After viewing these problems at the pond site, I was then assigned to go about estimating the costs involved in repairing the islands and the concrete slabs. This was an amazing learning experience and task for me on my first week, which will help me in the future weeks to come when it comes to estimating project costs that I may be involved in. Furthermore, I was able to sit in meetings each day during my first week with regards to scheduling and project activities taken place at the Warren Tech Center. Although, there is still much for me to learn, I am grateful for the exposure I have received in my first week and I have already obtained so much learning that will be crucial for me doing a good job at Ideal, while securing the knowledge that is necessary for my future in construction. I would like to give special thanks to both my supervisors at Ideal, Gus Cerku and Joe Welmers, as well as everyone else at Ideal Contracting for helping me settle in. I will continue to grow each week with the help of everyone at Ideal Contracting and can’t wait for this amazing internship opportunity to progress in the upcoming weeks.