Karen Dsouza

 Born to a family of Engineers, both my parents are working professionals and they encouraged me to pursue Civil Engineering. A STEM upbringing is one that encourages curiosity and enquiry and I can say, that I have been endowed with ample qualities, since childhood. My parents too ensured that I would have access to quality education, unmindful of the hardships. Since my parents came from humble beginnings and have made their fortune by the dint of their own effort, there were considerable hardships in terms of lack of luxury that our family faced, when I was growing up. They are the first qualified Engineers in their families and as is the culture in India, they supported their natal and marital homes, alongside with expenses too. As a result, while I attended a good school, we lived in a cramped, rental one bedroom hall and kitchen with no disposable income whatsoever. I did not have the fancy toys or paraphernalia that my classmates showed off in recess. As a result, I would be often bullied or even, never included in any peer outings. However, I never let such things bog me down as I knew that my sustained efforts will bring me success. This experience early on in life has taught me that education is an illuminating empowerment that gives one a channel to be industrious and make progress. Imbibing my frugal childhood’s deprivations into my construction aesthetic, I pursued my interest in construction management through my internships. I was elated at the opportunity to assist site engineers, in scheduling and supervising the laying of foundation for construction project of 1500 MTPD Ammonia Plant and Utility facility at Taloja, Maharashtra. Since Toyo Engineering was involved in both the designing and construction of this project, I got a bird’s eye view of the many problems that are faced during actual site construction, which is both capital intensive and high risk in terms of money, precision and the understanding of the drawings. Another problem I encountered while working on the 1500 MTPD Ammonia Plant and Utility facility at Taloja was that the fabricated material quality check before dispatch was not being carried out, resulting in anomalies such as deviation in bolt hole size, the length of member were wrong and even, a mismatch in the mandated size of the member etc. The main issues were no proper storage & material management, owing to shortage of manpower and equipment. I did a recce and analysed the external factors, the variables as well as the onsite actuals, with my seniors, who opined that material segregation must be done, as far as possible, by the material control team for ease of movement. This internship experience taught me to diagnose key concerns in the management of a construction site, mainly cost and materials, the scope of which I hope to expand during my time as a graduate student at ____________ university.