Every year, students from across Texas come to Cleary Zimmermann Engineers to learn, contribute, and build relationships through engineering internships. Our firm facilitates across many disciplines, including mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, commissioning, marketing, accounting, administration, and more!
We sat down with Mitchell Scogna, Mechanical Engineer, at our San Antonio office to learn more about his time interning with CZ and how it shaped his subsequent career with the company. Scogna interned with Cleary Zimmermann back in 2020 and joined us as a full time Mechanical Engineer this year.
Hi Mitchell! First off, can you tell us how you heard about the internship program at Cleary Zimmermann?
“When I was a sophomore in college, I used a lot of the resources through Texas A&M to help me find internships in the field of mechanical engineering. I also spoke with friends and family to assist me in my search. I ended up having a mutual friend who worked at Marmon Mok Architecture that referred me to Cleary Zimmermann.”
Can you tell us a little bit more about what you did during your internship? What team(s) did you work with?
“Initially, the purpose of the internship was to bring me up to speed on what CZ does and to get me more affiliated with HVAC and MEP services. Once I gained more experience and became more familiar with the equipment, I started to help with the commissioning process. This included Test and Balance work, as well as functional testing of units that needed to be commissioned.
Some of the bigger projects I worked on as a Commissioning Intern included the new construction on the medical science building at Texas Tech University El Paso. I was traveling to El Paso with the other commissioning agents. I also worked in a couple schools around San Antonio. Through this project, along with many others, I worked alongside almost all commissioning agents at CZ.”
You mentioned a few projects. Which project was your favorite?
“My favorite project was the Texas Tech project in El Paso. This was the first project I traveled for in a professional setting. It was a lot of fun to spend time with the other commissioning agents and see what it was like to be an employee at CZ.
I was never treated like an intern. Everyone treated me like an official employee at CZ. I was given the full responsibility on projects and tasks, and I really appreciated that.”
What did you learn during your internship at CZ?
“The most valuable thing that I learned was everything that is involved in MEP services. In school, you get a very general sense of what it means to be an engineer. Working at CZ, I was able to see the types of services that the company provided. This was very helpful in defining what I wanted to pursue in my career.”
What other skills from your internship did you bring into your current position?
“The most valuable experience that I brought from my Commissioning Internship to my current design role was the onsite experience. I was able to see the units we designed get installed onsite.
Designing a system can look a lot different on paper. It was important for me to see the projects in person.”
What made you want to return to CZ? Tell us more about the transition from your internship to a full-time job?
“The minute I left CZ, I wanted to work here full time.
I had worked at a couple different positions, but I had never experienced a culture quite like CZ. It was a very special and unique feeling that I wanted to return to.
It made coming to work every day so much more motivating.”
How have you grown professionally at CZ?
“I have transitioned from taking responsibilities solely from a supervisor and, instead, now becoming more self-sufficient and becoming more proactive on projects.
I am now able to take initiative to go the extra lengths. This comes from having the experience and knowing what to expect in a project.”
