What I Learned During My Internship at Crane Engineering

Since starting at Crane Engineering just over two months ago, I have come to respect the processes that make everyday life so easy. As a consumer, I don’t think about what happens after I flush the toilet, how my Diet Coke got in its can, or how the pills I’m taking are made. After spending time dedicated towards understanding the people and parts that are behind all of these tasks, one thing stood out to me in particular. Some of the most dedicated workers I have seen are in the harshest working environments.

In traveling to some of the smelliest places in Wisconsin, I have found the most unlikely of workers. Before going, I assumed everyone there must lack a functional nose. I was astonished when I found no Voldemorts—that is, everyone I saw had a working, tangible nose. But more than that, I found people that loved what they did.

They took pride in providing some of the most necessary services to our communities. When I asked one particular man why he worked at a Wastewater Treatment Facility, he told me “I guess one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”  It was then that I understood that although their job wasn’t exclusive—they loved what they did in the same way as any other worker I’d met.

On a different note, my time at Crane Engineering has given me a new perspective on the world and what makes it work as well as it does. Pumps aren’t especially glamorous…but aren’t they? All the technology that has advanced modern day pumps and valves is truly a scientific beauty. This, combined with an engineer’s mindset, and you begin to view the world through a new lens.

I now find myself more likely to understand complex systems. Given a general description of how a machine operates, I can deduce how similar, and sometimes more complex, pieces of equipment work. 

Ultimately, my time at Crane Engineering has given me a new respect for all things we deal with—the people and the machines.