Middle Tennessee State University seems to be a good launching pad for at least one intern. The Philadelphia Inquirer uses the story of 21-year-old Joshua Travis to illustrate the growing demand for concrete and for skilled managers who understand how to make and use concrete. Travis has a summer internship with Pennsy Supply in Harrisburg, supervising a crew that pours concrete for a new office building. Here's an excerpt:
If Travis miscalculated the concrete's water evaporation rate during his 2 a.m. shift or quit paying attention to its sloshy composition as the crew pumped it seven stories up, the floor's foundation could crack.
But that did not seem to bother Travis, though he is only 21 and just a summer intern at the concrete giant Pennsy Supply Inc.
The college senior is highly qualified. As part of a requirement to earn a bachelor's degree from Middle Tennessee State University in concrete industry management, a major with growing popularity, he has been certified as a concrete field-testing technician.
"I've been doing this stuff since my sophomore year," Travis said confidently.
Other schools and communities help place interns in the construction industry. Here are links to programs at Colorado State University, in Fresno, Calif., and with a national builder. There are plenty of other people out there ready and willing to follow in the footsteps of Travis.
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