Bowser-Morner

Field Services Co-Op

May - July 2022 • Huber Heights, OH

What I liked

Working as a field tech gave me the opportunity to work independently and be able to gain confidence in working with many people for short periods of time. I also liked the formulaic actions (following the ACI standards) as it allows one to learn the proper actions without fear of messing something up since it is a known formula. I also enjoyed the people I worked with, while many sites are one man shows, there are also plenty of larger projects or pours that become easier with multiple people to work at and even coring projects that require at least 2 people to work at for safety concerns

What I wish was different

Outside of the company's control, but due to the price of, concrete many jobs were delayed or canceled, meaning I got significantly less experiance than expected. That being said, BMI was able to fit me into other departments, including geotech and soils labs, that I would not have learned originally.

Advice

To make sure that you take advantage of the professional relationships at different job sites. As a construction tester, you will travel between many sites a day, getting experience in a wide range of pours ranging from ODOT roads to bridges, to footers for buildings, to government buildings and the legal requirements for working on a classified site. These projects, while similar in some regards, have different paperwork and tests that are done in accordance to contractor and legal needs that are better seen in person than on paper. I also cannot recommend talking with (the friendly) contractors, especially if mud is delayed to understand what they do as it will help design infrastructure in the future.

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