Dec 11, 2015 by Chris Wood, Ph.D.
Starr’s Mill Senior John Adams is working at PCWASA as an intern this school year as a part of the Georgia Work-Based Learning Program.
The future of civil engineering is bright, if the most recent intern to work at the Peachtree City Water and Sewerage Authority (PCWASA) is any indication.
This school year, PCWASA welcomed Starr’s Mill Senior John Adams to its workforce as a high school intern eager to learn about building infrastructure to support quality growth and quality of life in the community.
Adams comes to PCWASA through the utility’s partnership with Starr’s Mill High School and the extremely effective Georgia Work-Based Learning Program. His love for civil engineering started at home and grew through STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) curricula he took at Starr’s Mill.
“About three years ago, I began working with my dad to help him fix up houses and that sparked my interest in civil engineering,” says the younger Adams, who has been accepted to Mississippi State University, where he will begin his college studies in civil engineering this fall.
John’s father Glenn is President and Owner of Property Magic, LLC, which analyzes distressed properties for investment and rehabilitation.
While interning at PCWASA during the first semester this school year, John rotated every two weeks to different areas of the utility, including administration, system operations, construction and maintenance in the field, wastewater treatment at the plants, and more. This semester, he is working with one of the Authority’s consulting engineering firms, gathering even more specific insights in civil engineering as it applies to the water/sewer industry.
The staff at Integrated Science & Engineering, Inc. in Newnan, especially Senior Project Manager Cary R. Dial, has joined PCWASA in taking John out into the field to provide him with salient work experience. The aspiring civil engineer from Starr’s Mill has assisted the Authority and its consulting engineers by inspecting sewer pipes in the Wynnmeade community, reviewing the pipe lining process for sewer line rehabilitation, calculating distances for service lines to tap into the PCWASA system, and much more.
“I really like it, because I’m learning what would otherwise take three or four years of school to learn,” says Adams, when describing his time at PCWASA and Integrated Science & Engineering. “It’s fun because I’m not just sitting at a desk; I’m out in the field working with really knowledgeable and nice people.”
Media contact:
Chris Wood, Ph.D.
770-757-1681 (phone)
jcwood@uga.edu OR chris@jwapr.com