Jackson Humphries' High School Portfolio

Engineering Internship

Jackson Humphries

Internship at Merrick and Company

For my senior year of high school, I am working as an intern at the architecture and civil engineering company Merrick and Company. My mentors are Vanessa Saad, Bill Clark, and Lilliana Lopez. So far in my internship, I have learned how to design models using the CAD program Revit, as well as how to read mechanical engineering blueprints. Something I am very excited for in the future is an architecture competition I will be entering in as one of my assignments.

Context and Purpose

As previously stated, Merrick is primarily an architectural and civil engineering firm. Something interesting about Merrick is that it is employee owned, which means that each employee owns a share in the company. Merrick is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, but has several locations in Georgia. The most prominent type of projects worked on at Merrick are facilities for large companies or the government. Merrick's goal is to generally be sustainable and a good workplace for employees.

Project1.pdf

My First Project: Space Organization

My first project at Merrick was to assemble a model out of a set number of cubes, which could either be solid masses, or empty space. The purpose of this project was to show how the various cubes would come together to make the form of the final model, while teaching me the processes involved in architectural design.

I first began the project by drawing two paper designs. Next, I selected the design I preferred and transferred it to tracing paper. Once I had the clear image of the model, I created a 3D model on Revit, a CAD program made by Autodesk. Using the digital model, I could create images from many different angles and cross sections. Then, I transferred all the faces of the model to Onshape, which let me cut out and assemble a physical model made from cardboard. Finally, I presented a composition of architectural sheets with all the steps to the office.

As a result of the project, I gained a better understanding of how different shapes come together to create larger compositions, as well as insight into the expectations and contents of real architectural plans.

Skills Used

Hand Sketching and Drafting

The first thing I did at the internship was to create the two paper drafts, or partis. I also learned how to draw isometric drawings, which do not use perspective in order to preserve the dimensions.

Revit

I used Revit to create most of the drawings in my final presentation. The way Revit works is that you create the individual models, called families, and then assemble them on a project file. Since we only had one 3D model, the space organization project just used one family.

Onshape

While Revit is much more flexible, Onshape has a better UI and models can be easily exported to a file type readable by Glowforge. Because of this, I used Onshape to create my 3D models.

Excel

Since I am also learning about civil engineering at Merrick, I used excel in order to track the parameters of various components of HVAC and plumbing.

Reflection

What was the most important thing you learned from your internship?

The most important thing I learned from my internship was how a real office with real engineers works. While working on my assignments, I met many of my coworkers who all specialized in different fields. I also had deadlines I learned to be accountable for. Due to the fact that I had a mentor for both architecture and mechanical engineering, I had to learn how to take advantage of my worktime effectively, especially considering the long drive to and from the office that risked cutting into my actual scheduled hours.

What engineering practices or mindsets did you see professionals using?

The most prevalent mindset I noticed while at my internship was the attention to detail. When I was creating my architectural sheets, I had to submit a draft every day to be checked for any errors. I would then have to go onto a PDF editor called Bluebeam in order to check off the corrections. Another time, Justin and I were tasked with measuring each wall of the office to make sure the plans for the office were not out of date, requiring a good amount of precession.

What surprised you about the engineering workplace?

Something that surprised me the most about my workplace was the amount of independence we were given while working on our projects. Most of my coworkers were also very nice and helpful. I even got my own desk, and the privilege to work from home on Monday. Even though I had more responsibility, I liked having to be accountable for my own work. Another more fun thing about the internship was that we were allowed access to the breakroom with food and drinks like any other employee.

How did this internship influence your future goals?

Merrick has influenced my future goals by exposing me to architectural and construction related engineering. Before I became an Intern, I assumed I would study some sort of computer or material based engineering in college. After working at Merrick for a semester, I know a lot more about architecture and civil engineering and consider them possible alternatives to what I want to study in college. I also think my time at Merrick has made me feel more ready to take on a full time job once I get my degree.

What advice would you give a future student in this internship?

The best advice I could give a future intern at merrick would be not to worry about not knowing or being bad at anything. My mentors have been very understanding and responsive to any question I've had, which has helped me alot. I would also let them know to not stress over scheduling issues with school. For example my mentor gave me extension for a deadline and let me work a day over the weekend when I needed to miss work for an SAT.

17 STEAM Career Day Slides

STEAM Career Day Slides

During Drew Charter's steam career day, I gave a presentation on my Internship to four groups of elementary and middle schoolers. The presentation's goal was to build interest for the engineering pathway in high school. I connected the internship to the audience by relating sustainability projects Merrick has worked on to some of the elementary PBL projects, as well as how Revit and my space organization project was similar to tinkercad, which most of the audience had used.

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