internviews: meet our 2024 interns!
Over the past several weeks, our summer interns have been diving into projects and learning from different Russell teams across the organization. Coming from eight universities, these bright young professionals have quickly made their mark. Their fresh ideas and hard work have boosted our projects and brought new energy to the team. It’s been a great experience for everyone!
Meet our interns and learn about their experience below!
JACOB NOONAN – Iowa State University, Project Management Intern
What project(s) are you working on: A.Y. McDonald Brass Factory
What’s the biggest takeaway from your experience this summer that you will take with you into your career? There is a lot to learn in this industry, so mistakes are bound to happen. I have learned to use this to my advantage as a learning opportunity and improve my skills.
What are you excited to contribute during your internship?
I am very happy to be able to contribute to the making of the foundry by helping other team members with daily tasks and learning more about the skills they have acquired over the years so that I am able to learn and apply those skills as well.
What’s something that most people don’t know about you? I really enjoy playing the piano in my free time, and I have played since first grade. I think that music is often overlooked by people and should be more a more popular hobby.
ANDREW ROMERO-GALLEGOS – Iowa State University, Preconstruction Project Management Intern
What project(s) are you working on: On the preconstruction team I have been involved with a number of projects, but most notably, St. Joan of Arc Catholic School and an estimate for a cold storage building.
What’s the biggest takeaway from your experience this summer that you will take with you into your career? The strategies used by experienced estimators at Russell to negotiate bids have been incredibly insightful and will be a valuable skill set I take forward into my career.
What drew you to the opportunity to intern with Russell? At Iowa State, the culture at Russell is often talked about positively, and the company is highly recommended by many professors and peers. This strong reputation and the opportunity to learn from a respected company drew me to this internship.
What is something you couldn’t live without? Snacks. I always enjoy munching on chips or candy.
ALEXIS GONZALES – Missouri University of Science and Technology, Project Management Intern
What project(s) are you working on: Ameristar and Concordia Lutheran Church
What’s the biggest takeaway from your experience this summer that you will take with you into your career? I love the community in the office. I’ve also enjoyed learning about general contracting firsthand and problem solving.
What drew you to the opportunity to intern with Russell? An opportunity to understand the general contractor side of construction.
What is your ideal way to spend a weekend? My ideal weekend is spending it with my dogs, either going to the park or hanging out inside watching a movie.
CARTER DECAP – University of Wisconsin – Platteville, Project Management Intern
What project(s) are you working on: Wyffels Hybrids, Black Hawk College Building 2, Farmers National Bank Mt. Carroll as well as some estimates
What’s the biggest takeaway from your experience this summer that you will take with you into your career? You always need to be willing to adapt to different situations and tasks dealt to you.
What drew you to the opportunity to intern with Russell? Having the opportunity to be a intern last year gave me a great opportunity to see what a great culture Russell has built, and the amazing work environment is what drew me back to Russell.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be? If I could have a superpower, it would be the ability to fly because traffic is always a pain.
SANKAT PATEL– Southern Illinois University -Edwardsville, Project Management Intern
What project(s) are you working on: Lutheran High School South
What’s the biggest takeaway from your experience this summer that you will take with you into your career? Communication is a huge factor if you want to get things done.
What are you excited to contribute during your internship? I was excited to contribute a strong work ethic and dedication to learning, along with working as a team.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be? The one superpower I wish I could have would be super speed.
JAKE STONEY – University of Wisconsin – Platteville, Project Management Intern
What project(s) are you working on: A.Y. McDonald Brass Factory
What’s the biggest takeaway from your experience this summer that you will take with you into your career? My biggest takeaway is learning how to read plans better and connect what is in the plans to what is in the field.
What are you excited to contribute during your internship? I am excited to come to work every morning and try and put a smile on everyone’s faces. Although I am learning I still like putting an effort in to take some of the tasks off the hands of the crew here.
What is your ideal way to spend the weekend? I like to spend my weekends kicked back on the beach with family and friends.
WILL LAWSON– Missouri State University, Project Management Intern
What project(s) are you working on: North Scott Neil Armstrong Elementary School
What’s the biggest takeaway from your experience this summer that you will take with you into your career? My biggest takeaway so far is the importance of being organized, and having constant communication throughout the project.
What are you excited to contribute during your internship? I am excited to be available and willing to do everything and anything to expand my knowledge in the world of construction.
What’s your ideal way to spend the weekend? My ideal weekend is golfing and spending time with friends or family.
NATHAN BENEKE – University of Dubuque, Information Technology Intern
What project(s) are you working on: I am in IT, so I like to say I work on every project.
What’s the biggest takeaway from your experience this summer that you will take with you into your career? I have had tons of practice with Microsoft products and lots of hands-on experience all thanks to this internship.
What are you excited to contribute during your internship? So far, I have been most excited with my ability to assist in creating Power BI reports to help other employees with their reporting needs around the company.
What’s something you couldn’t live without? I could not live without technology. I don’t know how they did it back then, it is essential to me now.
MITCHELL GUDENKAUF – University of Wisconsin – Platteville, Project Management Intern
What project(s) are you working on: A.Y. McDonald Brass Factory
What’s the biggest takeaway from your experience this summer that you will take with you into your career? Communication in the construction industry is a big key to success.
What are you excited to contribute during your internship? I am excited to contribute by communicating with the subs to make sure they are completing task on time with quality as well as having an attention to detail in the field to make sure things are not missed during the construction phase.
What’s your ideal way to spend a weekend? On the river with friends.
GEORGE PAUWELS – Purdue University, Project Management Intern
What project(s) are you working on: Atrium project for a Worldwide Manufacturer of Agricultural, Forestry, and Construction Machinery
What’s the biggest takeaway from your experience this summer that you will take with you into your career? My biggest takeaway from my experience this summer is the importance of communicating with others and how to do it effectively.
What drew you to the opportunity to intern with Russell? A real-life job experience and construction is an interest of mine. I also had heard good things about Russell.
What is your ideal way to spend a weekend? My ideal way to spend a weekend is to go to the gym, spend time at a lake or pool with friends, and play pickleball in the summer. In the fall it would be watching football all weekend.
ROBERT MCCLIMON – Iowa State University, Project Management Intern
What project(s) are you working on: Black Hawk College Building 3
What’s the biggest takeaway from your experience this summer that you will take with you into your career? You can never be too thorough. A lot of issues arise from small details, so it pays to be extra careful and record everything.
What are you excited to contribute during your internship? I hope to contribute in any way I can to help the project go smoothly. A few things I’ve been working on recently are punch list items, 360 Photos of the site, and closeout items.
ELI BOEYE – Illinois Central College, Project Management Intern
What project(s) are you working on: Central Bank of Geneseo, Unity Point Trinity Mulberry Clinic, and Parr Instruments
What’s the biggest takeaway from your experience this summer that you will take with you into your career? In this profession there will always be things you may not know. However, it’s better to ask for help then be wrong and people at Russell are always willing to help.
What drew you to the opportunity to intern with Russell? After talking with family, friends and people that have a lot of experience in the construction industry, it was clear Russell is the best choice for me. I really like all of their core values as a company and there are great growth opportunities at Russell.
What’s something you couldn’t live without? Something I couldn’t live without would be professional sports. Growing up I have always been a huge Chicago sports fan and enjoy watching and going to games even if my teams are no good.