The 2023 Internship Experience
Barghausen's 2023 interns experienced a summer of hands-on learning through a robust paid internship program. The firm welcomes engineering students from various universities to participate in on-the-job civil engineering exercises and training each year. Internship experience allows the students to leverage and apply their knowledge into real-world applications and develop their civil engineering skills in the field.
The 2023 program encouraged the interns to immerse themselves in diverse land development disciplines, and work with dynamic teams to understand how various projects come to life. This was an important aspect of the program, and one that the students really enjoyed as one said, "My most valuable aspect was learning from many people in the office in every department (Industrial, etc.) and how patient and happy they are to help out." Students furthered their understanding of the disciplines by participating in site walks to various projects, and witnessed firsthand how their work translated into tangible, real-world results. This aspect of the internship program was the students' favorite, as they enjoyed learning the physical impacts of their work in the field. Another integral part of the program was the "Lunch and Learn" sessions, where partner firms presented their expertise over lunch. These leaders shared how their work interacts with the roles of civil engineers.
Overall, Barghausen's 2023 interns had a great experience connecting what they learned to real-world applications, getting to meet and work with various teams in the company, and participating in exciting company events this summer! They were eager to learn, ask questions, and make the most of their individual and group experiences here at Barghausen. We enjoyed having them and are extremely proud of what they accomplished. Thank you interns for your contributions to the team and allowing Barghausen to be a part of your academic journey this summer. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors as you head back to college this fall! Below you can find more details about the internship experience.
2023 Lunch & Learns
- Barghausen Planning – Cheryl Ebsworth, Senior Planner
- Geotech – Terra Associates, Inc.
- Hydrology – West Consultants Inc.
- Traffic – TENW
- Critical Areas – Soundview Consultants LLC
- Effective Communication – Alicia Aravena, Marketing Manager
- Developer – Bridge Industrial
- Municipal – Jeff Kidston
2023 Site Walks
- Clark Lake Ridge | Residential | Kent, WA
- Peake Fore Ten Business Park | Industrial | Bonney Lake, WA
- Everett Achilles Warehouse | Industrial | Everett, WA
Interested in becoming a 2024 intern? Submit an inquiry through our contact page to learn more!
What to Expect:
- Weekly Lunch & Learns
- Site Walks
- Compensation
- Team Bonding Events
- Real Work Assignments
- Half Day Fridays
Ridgely Briddell
Engineering Intern | University of Washington
What was the most valuable aspect of the internship for you?
- For me, the most valuable aspect of the internship was all of the helpful employees that would help answer all of my questions. I am grateful to have gotten to experience each of the engineering departments, and within each department, there were always multiple people willing to help me grow and learn as a civil engineer.
What was your favorite memory with Barghausen this summer?
- Probably the corn hole tournament, there was lots of delicious food and it was fun getting to hang out and talk with everyone while playing the great sport of corn hole.
What excited you the most during the internship?
- I was most excited by getting to learn how to use CAD to work on real-world projects for the first time.
How can future interns optimize their internship experience?
- I think future interns can optimize their experience by meeting as many people as they can. Work becomes a lot easier and enjoyable when you know the people around you and are comfortable asking questions and/or just having a conversation.
Where are you attending school and what is your area of study?
- I am attending the University of Washington and I am studying civil engineering.
What are your plans after you graduate?
- Hoping to travel a bit and find a civil engineering job.
What was your favorite lunch & learn topic?
- I think the Geotech lunch & learn topic was my favorite. There were a lot of things I learned that I hadn’t in my Geotech class, and I got a lot of questions answered by the great presenters.
What could be improved in the Barghausen internship experience?
- Overall, I think this has been a very well-rounded internship. The only thing I can think of that may be beneficial is some sort of brief intro when you start in each new group. This could be a simple walk-around introduction with the supervisor to meet with the team, followed by any information that is related to the team (i.e. best people to direct questions to, common mistakes in the work, key concepts/goals). Not sure what all should be entailed, but I think it would be a nice way to orient with each group at the beginning of each rotation.
What was your favorite site visit?
- The industrial site visit was super cool to see, it's very impressive to see those large-scale projects being built.
Thomas Pentimonti
Engineering Intern | University of Washington
What was the most valuable aspect of the internship for you?
- I think the most valuable aspect of the internship for me was the site visits. It was helpful to see how all the things I had been learning about in the office fit together in the real world.
What was your favorite memory with Barghausen this summer?
- My favorite memory so far has been the time we went out for barbecue to celebrate Simon from Ben’s team getting his green card.
What excited you the most during the internship?
- I always get excited for the lunch and learns, it’s a great way to break up the day and learn something new.
How can future interns optimize their internship experience?
- I think that taking a CAD class, although not needed, would be a great way to ease the learning curve and optimize the intern experience.
Where are you attending school and what is your area of study?
- I go to UW and I am studying civil engineering.
What are your plans after you graduate?
- After I graduate my plan is to spend some time traveling before starting work, or maybe grad school.
What was your favorite lunch & learn topic?
- The hydrology lunch and learn has been my favorite. It was super informative, and the presenters seemed especially knowledgeable about the topic.
What could be improved in the Barghausen internship experience?
- I think that a good way to improve the intern experience would be to find ways to have the interns work as a group on a project more often if possible.
What was your favorite site visit?
- The industrial site visit has been my favorite, it was cool seeing huge concrete panels get tilted up. I also really enjoyed the survey day.
Sami Almandani
Engineering Intern | Seattle Pacific University
What was the most valuable aspect of the internship for you?
- My most valuable aspect was learning from many people in the office in every department (Industrial, etc.) and how patient and happy they are to help out.
What was your favorite memory with Barghausen this summer?
- My favorite memory with Barghausen this summer was the cornhole tournament! Part of why it was the best memory was reaching the semifinals haha. Besides that, it was a great atmosphere meeting and hanging out with co-workers.
What excited you the most during the internship?
- I thoroughly enjoyed the transitioning of departments (from commercial to residential and so on), as it gave me different aspects as to what each department does as well as learn different techniques/lessons from different people.
How can future interns optimize their internship experience?
- Asking questions and meeting the coworkers around them is a major factor in my learning during the internship. Each person has different skills to teach, so taking knowledge and experience from them is crucial.
Where are you attending school and what is your area of study?
- I am attending Seattle University and am finishing my Civil Engineering Degree.
What are your plans after you graduate?
- My plan is to work in a civil engineering company.
What was your favorite lunch & learn topic?
- My favorites were Terra Associates’ GeoTech session as well as Alicia Aravena’s Marketing session.
What could be improved in the Barghausen internship experience?
- An increase of site visits could help the internship experience. You can always search what a catch basin is, but seeing it, its use and how it works in person helped me visualize and understand it when designing it in AutoCAD.
What was your favorite site visit?
- My favorite site visit was the building tilt, industrial site visit. Seeing the walls of the building being raised first-hand and seeing the actions the project engineers took to divert the stream to not affect the flow of the fish was very cool.
Gregory Robinson
Engineering Intern | University of Washington
What was the most valuable aspect of the internship for you?
- For me, the most valuable aspect of this internship was just being present in each department and trying to learn as much as I could in every environment. This was my first real experience in the industry, and I just wanted to be like a sponge and soak up as much information as I could. Additionally, there were many individuals who were always quick to give some guidance and advice with whatever task I was working on and that was a big help.
What was your favorite memory with Barghausen this summer?
- My favorite memory from this summer was probably any of the events that all the interns were together for. Whether it was a lunch and learn every Thursday or any of the cool site visits, I really enjoyed being around my fellow interns.
What excited you the most during the internship?
- Getting to work on active projects and feel like I was contributing to the company was very exciting.
How can future interns optimize their internship experience?
- Just come in every day ready to work and ask a ton of questions. I tried to ask every question that popped into my head.
Where are you attending school and what is your area of study?
- I am going into my senior year at The University of Washington, and I am studying Civil Engineering with emphasis in construction, energy and sustainable infrastructure.
What are your plans after you graduate?
- I plan to study and take my Oregon PE exam next summer since I don’t have to wait 4 years to take that exam and then get a Washington PE certification after 4 years of experience. After taking that exam and traveling a little, I hope to start a full-time job.
What was your favorite lunch & learn topic?
- I really enjoyed the email etiquette topic because it was different, and Tom Barghausen came and joined the conversation.
What could be improved in the Barghausen internship experience?
- Not much, only thing I can think of would be more site visits, but I feel like we went on quite a few.
What was your favorite site visit?
- The residential site visit was interesting as they were nearly finished with lot construction.
