Every semester, a portion of our student population graduates the CEM program, moving on to full-time careers in the construction industry. Featured below are two recent graduates who received their diplomas in December 2015.

Nishita Lakhani

"I grew up in India," Nishita explains, "and I saw a lot of need for development there." This need for building was what inspired her to pursue a construction engineering degree. "Every summer, there would be a drastic change. I would always see a new structure, and that's what really got me interested in working with the construction industry."

After choosing to study engineering at Purdue, Nishita quickly fell in love with the practical side of CEM after seeing Brandon Fulk, Director of Internships, give a presentation in her ENGR 131 class. Her first summer internship after joining the program was "eye-opening" and a bit of an adjustment period, but it helped prepare her for the following internships.

Nishita had the unique experience of working with four different companies throughout her internships, which allowed her to see different regions of the U.S. while exploring diverse sectors of construction. She first worked with Peri, a formwork consultancy in India, and then completed internships with Webcor in California, Ferrovial in Texas, and Walt Disney World in Florida.

Walt Disney World was definitely her favorite internship. "People just go to work so happy there! I remember coming back, and everyone kept asking me why I was smiling so much," she recalls, laughing. After graduation, Nishita received several job offers. She did not choose Disney, however. Instead, she accepted a full-time position with McCarthy, a company willing to give her a lot of up-front support with her visa status.

She will soon begin pre-construction work on Marin General Hospital in San Francisco and couldn't be more excited to complete her first structure as a Project Engineer and see her work come to life. "The CEM program has prepared me enough to be confident in my new job, but I'm really excited to go and learn more," Nishita says. "Every day will be a learning experience!"

Josh Copher

Josh Copher originally came to Purdue for Civil Engineering. He was involved with Project Lead the Way in high school and was inspired by his teacher, who was a former civil engineer and encouraged Josh to pursue the field.

During his First Year Engineering courses at Purdue, he decided to job shadow at a civil engineering firm in northern Illinois. “I spent a day there, and I was just super bored,” he says. “So when Brandon [Fulk] came into our class to talk about CEM, I thought that was a good fuse of civil engineering and more exciting, hands-on stuff.”

Josh’s favorite part of the CEM program is that he doesn’t have to sit and do design work all day if he doesn’t want to. Instead, he has the opportunity to work hands-on and use his engineering knowledge in the field.

He completed three internships with Level General Contractors in Chicago during his time with CEM. Each year, he gained a larger role within projects. He ended his final internship as a Project Engineer, which is what Level hired him as after graduation.

Josh says he felt completely prepared for the next big step in life after receiving a diploma. “The last six weeks of my summer internship, I was doing full-time work. So, I feel like I’m just picking up where I left off,” he says. He even spent his final semester working part-time for Level remotely.

In addition to providing Josh with a solid foundation in construction engineering, the CEM program was also able to provide him with a management background and be the catalyst for a desire to achieve great things in his career. Some of the classes that prepared him most were MGMT 200 Accounting, CEM 302 Estimating and Scheduling, classes for his BIM minor, and CEM 497 Leadership and Advanced Project Management.

“Dr. Bowen brought in a lot of high-profile guest speakers, which was really cool,” Josh says about CEM 497. “They shared their experiences, and it made me realize that Level was the right place for me. It's a small company, so I want to move into management and watch the company grow underneath me.” We hope all of our CEM students follow Josh’s footsteps and continue to dream big.