How to Make the Best of a Mentorship

This past week, I had my second meeting with my mentor - this was the first meeting we’d had since the initial meeting, during which we hadn’t discussed my original work very much. At this most recent meeting, my mentor went over the different types of materials used in civil engineering - mainly wood, concrete, and steel - and discussed where and when these conventional materials were used. He also gave me the names of some more environmentally friendly and sustainable alternatives to these materials - namely, fly ash concrete, pervious concrete, and mass temper wood. My original work will not only be about the materials, though - I’m also going to be looking into the economic and government influences and impacts on the implementation of these materials. My mentor gave me guidance in this arena by explaining how government codes and laws have an impact on the civil engineering and construction industry. He also explained how contractors and private investors influence civil engineering firms.

From this informative and enlightening meeting with my mentor, I have a lot of material to research in the coming weeks. My mentor gave me several resources and websites to look into, and I’m hoping that I will be able to learn much more, and have a better understanding of the use of sustainable construction and civil engineering. I have a lot of research to do, and I’m very excited to see what I’ll learn, and how I can incorporate it in my original work.