August marked the close of our internship season and a busy month of learning, friendly competition, and project milestones. Below we thank our summer interns, share new thought leadership, recap Team Member family gatherings, and spotlight a research facility taking shape at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Intern Through the Lens
This month we shared “Interns Through the Lens,” a documentary of intern experiences and stories. Our interns spent their final weeks putting everything they’d learned into practice: walking active jobsites alongside our Operations and Field Teams, taking on real work for live projects, and watching their contributions become part of something bigger.
Hollyn Drennen, a Rocky Mountain intern, described the best part of the summer as watching her own work fit into something larger: “Just seeing the contributions that I’ve made, how they contribute to a bigger project, and seeing that come together.” That kind of growth comes with support at USE, and Hollyn’s fellow interns echoed the same experience: real work, real mentorship, and a team that made room for them to learn.
To every intern who joined us this summer: thank you for your curiosity, creativity, and hard work! Watch “Interns Through the Lens” to see their summer for yourself.
Thought Leadership: What a 2D Drawing Can’t Tell You
AJ Sonnenberg, Senior Project Manager with USE Construction, published a new article on our website that looks at the gap between what a drawing shows and what it takes to execute the work in the field. In the article, AJ breaks down the three categories he questions on every job, regardless of size: logistics, design, and risk.
Using a real example, an executive office HVAC upgrade that had to be completed entirely on weekends with zero disruption to the client’s schedule, AJ explains that understanding mechanical systems well enough to plan every constraint in advance made that execution possible.
Take a few minutes to read the article, and like and share our posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram!
Team Member Family Gatherings
This August, our Team Members and their families came together for two regional celebrations. Our Midwest Team Members headed to Chicken N Pickle for a day of cornhole, pickleball, good food, and games for all ages.
Our Rocky Mountain Team Members rented out the Denver Zoo, where they and their families explored exhibits and enjoyed the cuisine prepared by vendors throughout.
Project Spotlight: CU Boulder CHAP Building
To Brandon Richardt, Preconstruction Manager at USE Construction, one of the impressive features of the build at the University of Colorado Boulder‘s Chemistry and Applied Mathematics (CHAP) facility is “the sheer number of fast-actuating lab valves” going into this project. That includes around 300 supply and exhaust valves needed to maintain pressures in the building’s labs.
The academic facility will support advanced research in chemistry and applied mathematics, pairing lab and office space with a mass timber structure housing offices and lecture halls.
Thank you to Brandon and the rest of our teams and partners who are helping this campus leave a legacy of discovery for generations of researchers to come. Watch Brandon’s interview about the CHAP building on YouTube.