Flatiron Engineers Educational Outreach Efforts in California

Flatiron construction engineers shared their knowledge at four educational institutions in Northern California during the fall semester.  

At the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), construction engineers Nick Marchini and Jacob Kern returned to teach “Civil Engineering 190: Special Topics in Heavy Civil Construction.” Topics included formwork design, falsework design and crane lift planning. Like the spring semester, The Beavers Educational Trust sponsored the fall course.  

Operations manager Robert Ferrouge joined the UCB class to share how Flatiron projects use these engineering skills. Says Robert:  

“It’s essential to help students connect their technical education with practical applications in the construction industry, so they can visualize their potential career interests and see that engineering happens in construction too. I’m appreciative that Flatiron engineering manager Jamie Dodd empowers her staff of construction engineers to teach the next generation through these enhanced modules.” 

At California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, construction engineer Edmundo Salgado taught the falsework module for “Construction Management (CM) 436: Heavy Civil Temporary Structures and Shoring” course. Edmundo explained, “The course focuses on temporary structure utilization when building heavy civil projects in the real world.”  

At California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), project controls manager Kurt Frandrup taught the lab for “CM 135 – Soils & Foundation” and acted as an industry mentor for “CM 199 – Precast Bridge Studio.” Kurt also led estimating and equipment selection topics and hosted project tours for CSUS students.  

Kurt said, “Flatiron loves the opportunity to have future construction professionals visit our projects to inspire them to do our type of work.” 

For our youngest engineers in the making, field engineer Gerardine Santiago and construction engineer Nick Marchini attended the Benicia Middle School career fair to demonstrate that heavy civil industry offers opportunities for everyone.  

Flatiron is committed to mentoring the next generation of engineers.