Introduction - Laney Fries

Introduction

I am a senior studying Civil and Architectural Engineering. I'm a commuter who is from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, where I've lived my entire life - as the map below shows with my home being pinned in the upper right corner of the image, it's right outside of northeast Philadelphia (my house is three blocks from the county line). Growing up near Philly and staying here for school has helped me realize how much I love the city and hopefully I'll be here for a couple of more years!

My first co-op was at the Philadelphia Streets Department with the Right of Way division, where I reviewed plans submitted for approval specifically focused on encroachments on the right of way. I also assisted with approving street closure permits, so if you're ever moving in the city, I can help make sure you get the approval if they give you grief at first. My second co-op was with Partner Engineering & Science, a small engineering consultant firm in Malvern, PA where I was supposed to work on cost analysis with different construction projects, but that never actually happened. My third co-op was with StructureTone, which is a construction management company based out of New York City (I worked in the Philadelphia office). At StructureTone, I acted as an assisted superintendent, project engineer, and other various tasks they gave me and worked on some pretty cool projects - they were finishing the Five Below Headquarters at the Lit Bros. building when I arrived, I helped with the Deloitte renovations in center city, and the Wells Fargo Center renovations that are going on. StructureTone was easily my favorite co-op and helped me with deciding I would like to go into the construction management field after graduation.

Intelligent Buildings

To me, I think intelligent buildings is utilizing technology to make a building function as efficiently as possible. I typically associate that with an environmental standpoint, such as improving the HVAC systems to be as efficient as possible. I also consider intelligent buildings as being able to function the best way possible. While using technology to improvement the green aspects of a building, I think it's important that it does not take away from the building's functions.