In this Beyond the Classroom video, you will meet Harry Bederian, a Senior Project Engineer at ARB, Inc. The past MCAA Student Chapter President talks about how his involvement with both CPMCA and MCAA helped open the door to his career.
He also discusses how MCAA GreatFutures can be a pathway for other students’ careers and helps showcase the vast opportunities available in the mechanical contracting industry.
This year, $500 MCAA Internship Grants are being offered to students who accept internships or full-time positions thanks to funding from the John R. Gentille Foundation (JRGF). MCAA members can use these grants to help them attract much-needed talent, and interns will appreciate the investment in their success. This small gesture may be the beginning of a great future with your company.
MCAA members are leveraging the internship grants for their interns this summer.
Enginuty LLC presented Matthew Lawrence and Andrew Clancy with MCAA student internship grants at the start of their internships this summer. Matthew is working as a service department sales assistant and Andrew is a project assistant.
Read the full Story HERE.
Bryce Danielson, this year’s Alan O’Shea Memorial Scholarship recipient is continuing his internship for MCA of Omaha member Ray Martin Company. “I have been challenged with many tasks which include estimating and preparing bids, writing purchase orders and subcontracts, and helping with project management duties. They gave me opportunities that no other company would give a first-year intern.”
Read the full Story HERE.
The MCAA member company will first ensure a prospective intern is in good standing at an accredited two- or four-year college, university or technical school. While MCAA encourages its members to give priority to students from the MCAA Student Chapter Program, this is not a requirement to receive a grant.
Each MCAA member company can submit up to two internship grant applications per year. Once an application is reviewed and accepted, MCAA will send a $500 gift card to the member company so it can present the gift card to the student at the start of their internship.
MCAA will follow-up with each company and intern to ensure the process and overall internship was successful.
MCAAGreatFutures.org gives members access to student profiles and resumes. The profiles are searchable by university, desired location, and even a specific skill set, like BIM or AutoCAD. A keyword filter allows users to zero in on students who fit the bill.
Not finding a match? Try reaching out to our 60 MCAA Student Chapters. The chapter advisors are a great resource to help find the right person. And, MCAA members have exclusive access to post job openings on our job board.
Help build our industry’s GreatFuture – apply for a grant!
Ryan Manual, Assistant Professor of Practice for Purdue University, has received a Faculty Continuing Education Grant funded by the John R. Gentille Foundation. Ryan is the current faculty advisor of the MCAA Student Chapter at Purdue.
The Faculty Continuing Education Grant encourages MCAA members to employ college or university faculty on a part-time basis by subsidizing the faculty member’s salary. By working for a MCAA member, faculty gains a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities that students may face and are thus better prepared to advise them.
This summer, Ryan will be working as a Temporary Project Advisor with MCA of Indiana member company D.A. Dodd. After meeting with each other, Ryan and D.A. Dodd found the opportunity to be mutually beneficial, the company will grow closer to academia, assisting in helping attract young talent to their organization.
Ryan discussed what he hopes to get out of the two-month position. “I am responsible for teaching all of the mechanical content in our undergraduate curriculum at Purdue. I believe my experience at D.A. Dodd, will improve my lessons and generate ideas to create more engaging learning experiences for my students. I will use this opportunity to strengthen my knowledge in the mechanical contracting industry while staying current with industry practices and trends that I will take directly to the classroom.”
As a temporary project advisor, Ryan will work alongside local and corporate project managers to gain an understanding of their roles, observe the day-to-day functions of a mechanical contractor, and provide insight regarding internship and entry level hiring programs.
Essential responsibilities will include:
• Review challenges and inefficiencies regarding Project Manager procedures, precedence, design clarifications, adequate labor and equipment, schedules, and any other applicable issues
• Assist as needed in managing day-to-day field operations of mechanical, HVAC, or plumbing projects
• Read, analyze, and interpret plans, specifications, controls, drawings, service bulletins, technical procedure manuals, equipment specifications, and government regulations
• Work with Human Resources to restructure and promote D.A. Dodd’s part-time and full-time internship programs
The full-featured digital version of MCAA’s Membership Directory & Buyer’s Guide enhances the look and feel of our printed directory. Download your copy for digital-only benefits that help you stay connected throughout the year. Printed copies are in the mail. Whichever version you choose to use, the directory is free as a benefit of membership.
The digital version of the directory helps you:
Have updates? Please share! Contact Jan Grillo for assistance updating your member record at any time.
Paige Taylor, a 2018 Construction Engineering graduate from Iowa State University, is building her career as a project manager at MMC Contractors, an MCA of Iowa, Inc. member. She initially connected with MMC at a career fair hosted by her MCAA Student Chapter in 2017.
“Over the summer, I interned with the company in Des Moines and learned the service side of the business,” she says. “I returned to ISU for my senior year, then after graduation, I joined the construction department full-time.”
As a part of the construction team in Des Moines, Paige has worn many hats, facing a different challenge every week. Her responsibilities have included:
“Overall, it has been a blast to get to be a contributor to the growth of the company in the Des Moines market,” she explains.
In June, Paige will be relocating to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a new opportunity in her career with MMC Contractors.
“In an industry that is all about relationships, MCAA and the Iowa State University student chapter gave me opportunities to start building them even before my first day full-time on the job.”
Paige served as the event coordinator for the chapter, organizing job site tours and helping coordinate their industry networking event hosted each semester. She attended the 2018 MCAA Annual Convention, where she was part of the Women in the Mechanical Industry (WiMI) kickoff event.
She is still actively involved at Iowa State, where she serves as an industry mentor for the construction engineering learning community, working with a group of four to five new students each semester. Paige has also hosted job tours for the Iowa State Student Chapter members and attends the chapter’s “Industry Social” every year.
Paige had the opportunity to attend the 2019 Women in the Mechanical Industry Conference in Chicago. She joined the WiMI Mentor Program in January 2020. She says of the experience, “I was paired with an accomplished mentor who acts as a sounding board and provides advice backed by knowledge from her time in the industry. A great resource from WiMI!”
As she continues her career in mechanical contracting, Paige offers advice to current students. “Network as much as you study. Do not be afraid to ask for what you want in your career and reach a little. Interviews are a two-way street, it’s a chance for you to get to know the company and people who drive its success.”
Enginuity, LLC presented Matthew Lawrence and Andrew Clancy with MCAA student internship grants at the start of their internships. The grants, which are funded by the John R. Gentille Foundation, will help subsidize the interns’ expenses while they gain valuable work experience this summer.
Matthew Lawrence is a sophomore at ACE Tech School, where he is studying Marketing. This is his second year as an Enginuity, LLC intern. He is working as a service department sales assistant, writing proposals and coordinating service for clients as well as coordinating with vendors and subcontractors. He also visits job sites to collect information for estimating, processing submittals and approving invoices.
Andrew Clancy is a freshman at Messiah College studying Mechanical Engineering. He will be working as a project assistant, focusing on submittal processing, coordinating with subcontractors and vendors, productivity tracking and material take-off.
Having MCAA interns working at member companies is a win-win for the mechanical contracting industry. Employers get top talent and build a pipeline of future employees. Students gain experience, create connections, develop skills and further their interest in mechanical contracting. In paying the student instead of the employer, MCAA’s goal is to increase the overall number of interns and drive the overall number of talented employees accepting full-time positions after graduation.
The MCAA member company will first ensure a prospective intern is in good standing at an accredited two- or four-year college, university or technical school. While MCAA encourages its members to give priority to students from the MCAA Student Chapter Program, this is not a requirement to receive a grant.
Each MCAA member company can submit up to two internship grant applications per year. Once an application is reviewed and accepted, MCAA will send a $500 gift card to the member company so it can present the Gift Card to the student at the start of their internship.
MCAA will follow-up with each company and intern to ensure the process and overall internship was successful.
MCAAGreatFutures.org gives members access to student profiles and resumes. The profiles are searchable by university, desired location, and even a specific skill set, like BIM or AutoCAD. A keyword filter allows users to zero in on students who fit the bill.
Not finding a match? Try reaching out to our 60 MCAA Student Chapters. The chapter advisors are a great resource to help find the right person. And, MCAA members have exclusive access to post job openings on our job board.
Help build our industry’s GreatFuture – apply for a grant!
In this month’s Beyond the Classroom, you will meet Andrew Palcan, a Project Engineer at Mechanical Inc. Palcan is a past MCAA Student Chapter member and an Architectural Engineering graduate from Milwaukee School of Engineering. Palcan talks about the career opportunities that arose from his involvement with MCAA GreatFutures. He discusses some of his experiences from past MCAA events and the MCAA Student Chapter Competition.
Palcan is currently a member of the MCAA Career Development Committee, which is made up of member contractors, whose aim is to provide education and resources to student chapter members. The committee’s goal is to connect students with members by creating networking and employment opportunities while ultimately cultivating the next generation of industry leaders in mechanical contracting.
Jonathan Dang, a senior at Indiana State University, has been awarded the Foster McCarl, Jr. Memorial Scholarship. The national scholarship honors Foster McCarl, Jr.’s many contributions to advancing the mechanical contracting industry, including his efforts toward establishing what is now known as the John R. Gentille Foundation (JRGF).
Jonathan is the President of the MCA of Indiana-sponsored student chapter at Indiana State University, where he is pursuing a degree in Safety Management with a Construction Management minor.
Asked about his interest in the industry, he explained, “Unlike other fields, there is always a high demand in the mechanical contracting industry. One of the biggest appeals is the fact that the mechanical industry is not afraid to invest in students and our futures.”
During his three years as a student chapter member, Jonathan has attended the MCAA Annual Convention and both the 2018 and 2019 Great Futures Forum. He also learned how to estimate and build a schedule and picked up valuable life skills, such as team-building, how to communicate with teammates and being bold to get things done.
In 2017, Jonathan worked for MCAA member company Sycamore Engineering as a safety intern and a member of the preventative maintenance team. He has since accepted a full-time position with Freitag-Weinhardt, Inc., in Terre Haute, Indiana. He will join the company after he graduates in December 2020.
Jonathan says, “I look forward to learning about new technologies and how to incorporate them into the industry in order to make the work place a safer environment and maximize profit.”
MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Jonathan on this distinguished scholarship and on finding his great future in the mechanical contracting industry.
Congratulations to Kimberly Sikkema, one of the two recipients of the Alan O’Shea Memorial Scholarship. The Mechanical Contractors Association of New Jersey established the scholarships to honor the memory of Alan O’Shea, its former Executive Director, and memorialize his many contributions to the mechanical contracting industry.
Kimberly is a sophomore from Ferris State University earning her degree in HVAC/R. Kimberly explains why she was drawn towards a career in the mechanical contracting industry: “I see the growth and demand that is needed in the industry, both now and in the future. I am also looking forward to every day being a different learning experience that will expand my knowledge within the industry.”
Kimberly is the President of her student chapter, which she joined in 2018. She had the opportunity to attend the 2019 GreatFutures Forum.
She says, “MCAA has given me the opportunity to go on trips and be able to network with mechanical contractors within the industry, as well as receive a better understanding of the opportunities that are available working for a mechanical contractor.”
For example, Kimberly was able to gain experience in the Johnson Controls PCT software, as well as connecting PCG controllers to HVAC units and commissioning them as part of an internship.
“Once I graduate, I look forward to pursuing my career that I worked so hard for in college. I look forward to seeing the wide variety of opportunities that are out there in the world for me as a woman in the HVAC/R industry. Most of all, I look forward to expanding my knowledge by facing new obstacles every day, receiving more hands-on learning out in the field, as well as learning more from experienced, skilled individuals.”
MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Kimberly on this distinguished scholarship and thank the MCA of New Jersey for funding this scholarship to support younger students and keep them invested in the mechanical contracting industry.
Rachel Nehring, a senior at Missouri State University, will join Milwaukee Tool when she graduates thanks to an internship with the company last summer. Rachel shares her background, the insights gained from her internship and her excitement about beginning her full-time position.
“I grew up with family in the HVAC industry. Because my dad was on the service side of his company, my sophomore year of college allowed us to attend the annual Mechanical Service Contractors of America (MSCA) Conference in October 2018. At the conference, Women in the Mechanical Industry (WiMi) held a luncheon and discussion.
“I felt empowered that I was in a room full of women who had overcome those same fears I had when I was just a sophomore in college. I was then asked to share my thoughts with the group, after explaining that I was still in college.”
Jon Finch, the VP of Recruiting for Milwaukee Tool and the Chair of MCAA’s Career Development Committee, asked to speak with Rachel after the discussion. A month after he received her resume, Rachel secured an internship on the company’s Product Marketing team that started May 2019.
“My internship experience is something I could have never dreamed of,” Rachel said. “The first day everyone was so friendly and willing to help. Within my third week I was already presenting tools in front of an audience! I couldn’t believe I was trusted with such a big responsibility so fast, but that’s their culture. I had many projects over the summer regarding marketing such as commercialization plans, research and creating new ways to sell products. I fell in love with the industry and how Milwaukee Tool cares about their customers and employees.”
Rachel’s daily responsibilities included:
“I learned so much in just 3 months, and this is just the beginning,” Rachel said, adding “I am so excited to accept a full-time position through MILWAUKEE TOOL’S parent company TTi, starting in August of 2020.” She will be working as a Milwaukee Tool, Rigid, and Ryobi product representative at Home Depot. Rachel explained, “I will have the opportunity to meet and talk with end users, while educating them on new products, along with running demos and setting up marketing campaigns. I am so grateful for everyone who has helped me get to where I am today.”
