Abhinav Mishra: Engineering Intern
Working as a Civil Engineer for the City of McMinnville has given Abhinav Mishra the experience he wanted coming out of college. A recent graduate in Civil Engineering from Portland State University, Abhinav knew he wanted to work somewhere that would offer him variety: "In civil engineering, when you work for a private company you only focus on one aspect of construction. Here, I get to see so many different constructions like sewers, roads, bridges, or anything. Working for the city gives me a broad spectrum of what I want to focus on."
Abhinav can be found working around the city, surveying roads and looking for city code. Often, the city receives emails about projects citizens want to work on or areas that need to be checked. Though this is not the
types because, "A lot of time, other kinds of engineering, like mechanical engineers, put a lot of work into something but people really don’t notice that. But bridges, when it comes to bridges or streets you can directly appreciate the person who designed it."
While enjoying the work itself, Abhinav is most excited about learning new tasks and getting the opportunity to do new things: "I’m learning a lot. I still am. This morning I did something that I’ve never done in my life." In the morning he was able to measure and inspect pipelines to ensure they were up to the city's standards, something new and something he was excited to learn.
While being engaged with the work Abhinav also has fun with his
"I’m learning a lot. I still am. This morning I did something that I’ve never done in my life."
city's main role, it completes these tasks to help the community: "Everything we do as civil engineers, is kind of like
community service because we do everything for people and we don’t directly get appreciation for that."
Though people may not directly appreciate the roads or bridges they drive on every day, Abhinav says that he prefers civil engineering to other
co-workers. Not long ago he accidently spray painted his face while driving with another engineer which he said
caused them both to erupt in laughter. Working for the City of McMinnville has also taught Abhinav about the city itself. He insists his co-workers "know this city better than anyone" which makes sense as they are: "involved in everything that happens in this city."