Intern Owen Chisnall On Experience In Toronto
[Written by Owen Chisnall]
My name is Owen Chisnall, I am a 22-year-old Bermudian who has been a part of the Aecon internship programme for Bermudians for the last 2 months. Along with five other Bermudians, we have been placed within Aecon and its partner companies here in Toronto, Canada to receive training in our various disciplines. Our training consists of six months of training and development: four days a week spent at our company we have been assigned to and every Friday spent at Aecon headquarters for workshops and professional development.
Before this Internship I had recently graduated from Niagara College Canada in Welland, Ontario with a diploma in Mechanical Engineering Technology. This is not my first time in living in Canada but it is my first time living in a large city and I can say it is a very different experience. I am accustomed to the small town feeling of Bermuda and even my college town was quite small and quiet. It has definitely been a big change to live in a busy city. Everyday I take the subway and travel by bus to my office which takes about an hour to an hour and a half each way and occasionally I get caught in the massive crowds headed to a baseball game at the stadium near my apartment. This has made my days seem so much longer compared to my less than 10-minute commute to work at home.
For the first three months of the programme I have been placed at HH Angus and Associates, the engineering consultants firm working on all mechanical designs for the Bermuda Airport. From the moment I arrived at the office I have been working directly on the Bermuda Airport project, assisting the engineering team with the mechanical designs of the building including the main ventilation, fire protection and all plumbing systems for the new terminal. This has allowed me to put my skills and knowledge to practical use.
My mentor assigned to me at HH Angus has been very open to teaching me the design processes and methods. He assigns me tasks on the project to help expand my industry skills and knowledge, not only explaining the designs but why they are designed in such a way to be customized for the Bermuda location and environment.
The team I have been working with has welcomed me and is happy to have me assisting them on the completion and finalisation of the designs. My work has also allowed me to reinforce my skills working in AutoCAD, a drafting software commonly used in the industry.
At the end of my three months at HH Angus, I will be re-assigned to Aecon’s safety team for the remaining three months. There I will work at various Aecon Construction sites around Toronto to gain experience in Aecon’s Safety Standards with their Environmental health and safety advisors.
I am excited to expand my skill set and look forward to the opportunity to prove myself in my growing career. Though the experience of living in the City of Toronto is different, Aecon and HH Angus has made my time here enjoyable and filled with knowledge and opportunity. I look forward to the remainder of my intern experience and the rest of my time here in Canada.
Well done Owen. You show great promise for the future.
This is a valuable opportunity for a this young man to gain hands on
experience and he seems to be making the most of it.
Hope we will also see pieces, in their own words, from the other five interns on the impact their own internship is having for them.
Another success story for the OBA. Had it not been for the new airport
these university graduates may not have found employment.
Well done OBA keep up the good work!