Today is my last day of interning with DLB Associates this summer. I cannot emphasize enough how appreciative I am of this firm and its people! I learned so much, and was able to work on some amazing projects with my team! I felt so supported by my manager Jaron Deal, and peer buddy Alan Fitts. I would also like to shout out Neil Chauhan and Heather Lombardo for their consistent encouragement and positivity.
For most of the summer, I worked on a comprehensive PIPE-FLO model of a chilled water system in a data center. Through that model, I learned about chilled water systems, chillers, pressure, flow, how pumps work within those systems, different kinds of valves, design of a data center, and overall how to solve problems as we ran the simulation. After designing the model, Jaron, Alan and I wrote a report on the model and various different failure scenarios, which are an essential part of design for mission critical facilities. Through the report, I got to work on technical communication and documentation, and failure analysis.
Aside from the PIPE-FLO project, I spent a lot of time working on Revit models for data centers as well. In a similar vein as my PIPE-FLO model, I helped to design a chilled water system for a mission critical data center. Revit is an extremely powerful tool that I am really excited to continue learning. One of my favorite parts of engineering is design work, so I really enjoyed my time on this software. Apart from the design aspect in Revit, I also learned how to select and place expansion tanks in a model for certain projects. A few days of my summer I spent working on AutoCAD design for mechanical systems and worked with Trane/Trace for heating loads. Already having some experience with both, it was fun to be able to go back and grow my skills.
Along with hard skills concerning software and design, I would also like to emphasize the soft skills that I learned to apply more deeply this summer. I wrote "A Letter to Summer Interns" to share those aspects of my learning with future interns/ Co-op members. That document is attached.
It is such a blessing to me to have been able to learn from and contribute so much to DLB this summer. This is the sort of work that feels significant and meaningful. I am looking forward to connecting with DLB Associates in the future!
Principal Instructor at University of Colorado, Boulder, Founder, Construction-Education, and Principal Training Specialist at Safety Function
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