{"id":18847,"date":"2023-02-16T10:12:52","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T16:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/?p=18847"},"modified":"2023-08-24T08:38:58","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T13:38:58","slug":"co-op-gives-student-chance-to-sharpen-skills-network-and-explore-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/co-op-gives-student-chance-to-sharpen-skills-network-and-explore-chicago\/","title":{"rendered":"Sevan gives UC co-op student a chance to sharpen skills, network and explore Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note:<\/u><\/strong> This story was published by the University of Cincinnati on February 16, 2023, and written by Cedric Ricks: https:\/\/www.uc.edu\/news\/articles\/2023\/02\/employer-says-co-op-students-bring-enthusiasm-and-value-to-companies.html<\/a><\/p>\n

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Co-op gives student chance to sharpen skills, network and explore Chicago<\/strong>
\nEmployer says co-op students bring enthusiasm and value to companies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Visuals are king for Abby Gast, who creates computerized simulations of real-world scenes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The fourth-year architectural engineering student at the University of Cincinnati developed a real knack for helping her clients get a peek at the completion of proposed construction projects by using modeling and rendering software during her design co-op last summer at\u00a0Sevan Multi-Site Solutions<\/a>, a construction and program management firm. It was offered to Gast and other students through\u00a0UC\u2019s top-ranked cooperative education program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBanks and credit unions are kind of notorious for not being able to picture what their spaces are going to look like,\u201d says Gast. \u201cBased on floor plans, it\u2019s hard if they\u2019re not visual people for clients to understand what\u2019s happening. They\u2019re telling me that this hallway looks small, but it\u2019s a seven-foot hallway and not small at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe go through and render it for them so they can kind of virtually walk through the space and see how it\u2019s going to feel for them and that makes a difference,\u201d explains Gast.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Abby<\/p>\n

Abby Gast shown with her parents in Chicago during her co-op at Sevan. Photo provided.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Based in a southwestern suburb of Chicago called Downers Grove, Illinois,\u00a0Sevan<\/a>\u00a0plans and manages the entire lifecycle of a construction project. The company specializes in handling program management, technology, real estate, surveying, architecture and engineering, construction services and civil, zoning and permitting for clients.<\/p>\n

\u201cBasically, Sevan does everything from the initial meeting with the client until the conclusion of a project,\u201d says Gast. \u201cLet\u2019s say someone wants to build a new chain of stores or set up a new location. All the way through project management to finish, Sevan is there breaking ground for them and I was kind of that person in the middle helping with designs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gast started out working on updating convenience stores. That would mean helping a client see how replacing equipment, such as a new cappuccino machine, would affect a store\u2019s operations. Gast learned AutoCAD and Enscape, two design and drafting softwares, and was able to help her clients visualize textures and colors on cabinets and floors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I got comfortable with all the programs, I had a chance to move on to more difficult projects,\u201d says Gast, who also held co-ops at Connico in Hebron, Kentucky, and GMA Architects in St. Louis, Missouri.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Abby<\/p>\n

Abby Gast found time to take in a Cubs game while in metro Chicago during her Sevan co-op. Photo provided.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Students bring skills, enthusiam and value to employers<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Founded in 2011, Sevan has about 500 team members located across North America and the United Kingdom. The design firm offers flexibility for clients with its ability to provide guidance during every point of a construction project, says Angela Miller, a project engineer at Sevan and UC alumna.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my clients is a bank chain expanding into Georgia,\u201d says Miller, a 2022 UC grad. \u201cWe started with the front end really helping them acquire the sites. It grew to where we are the general contractor for them for all the sites and doing all the construction for them. It means being fluid for whatever the client needs and providing the best support we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

And this can lead to opportunities for UC students who co-op at Sevan and is beneficial for the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cCo-op students definitely add value to the company,\u201d says Miller. \u201cThey help when people get stretched thin and they get pulled in many directions. Co-op students can jump in and help with anything even if it is not their designated project management role.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey get a chance to explore other roles in the company,\u201d says Miller. \u201cCo-op students can help out and see what their colleagues do, and it also helps out their understanding of what the company does in general. They add value in that way. I also think the purpose of having co-ops and interns is to eventually recruit them full time. We can train them ahead of time so that they have that experience before they start full-time for the company.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Angie<\/p>\n

Angela Miller and Chris Galazka of Sevan greet UC students at a recent career fair held in Great Hall. Photo by Andrew Higley\/UC Marketing + Communications.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Half of the co-op\/interns currently at Sevan are UC students.<\/p>\n

Gast says the company Sevan offered a great opportunity to network with UC alums hired by the company along with other college students working for the company. She said work was only a 25-minute drive from downtown Chicago.<\/p>\n

Gast and her co-op colleagues got a chance to check out a couple of Chicago Cubs baseball games, attend a few concerts, enjoy brunch on a sunny summer day and visit the Lake Michigan shoreline. They also got a chance to visit a comedy show, view an art festival and sample the wares at a local farmer\u2019s market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were other interns and students in a co-op in the office, and I became pretty close friends with a couple of them. We would go into the city together,\u201d says Gast. \u201cI liked my co-op at Sevan a lot and actually there were a ton of UC alumni there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller says it is still kind of strange adjusting to her new role as Sevan employee and employee recruiter. She returned to the UC campus recently as a recruiter at the annual Professional and Technical Career Fair.<\/p>\n

\u201cCo-op absolutely prepared me,\u201d says Miller. \u201cI couldn\u2019t imagine not doing any co-op or internships and going straight into work because I would feel like I wouldn\u2019t know what to expect. I did six co-ops total at UC and just getting that experience of learning what it is like to work and understanding that office environment was very helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Featured image of Abby Gast shown in Chicago during her co-op at Sevan. Photo provided.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Angie<\/p>\n

UC recently held a career fair in Great Hall in TUC. Photo by Andrew Higley\/UC Marketing + Communications.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: This story was published by the University of Cincinnati on February 16, 2023, and written by Cedric Ricks: https:\/\/www.uc.edu\/news\/articles\/2023\/02\/employer-says-co-op-students-bring-enthusiasm-and-value-to-companies.html Co-op gives student chance to sharpen skills, network and explore Chicago Employer says co-op students bring enthusiasm and value to companies Visuals are king for Abby Gast, who creates computerized simulations of real-world scenes. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":19033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Abby_new_for_website-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18847"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18859,"href":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18847\/revisions\/18859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}