Growing up, Project Engineer (PE) Intern Seth Kalia was an early riser—especially on Saturday mornings.

Like many kids, he’d excitedly wake up and beeline straight for the family television, ready to escape reality and immerse himself in a completely different world for a couple blissful hours.

The world that intrigued him, however, wasn’t one full of Saturday morning cartoon characters or claymation animals; it was the much realer world of Premier League football (soccer).

“When Manchester United played on Saturday mornings, I was up at 4:30 a.m. with my dad, who was also a massive Man U fan. His dad—my grandpa—also loved Man U, so I had no choice in the matter,” he jokes. “Some of my earliest childhood memories are of watching Man U win trophies with my dad and brothers.”

It wasn’t just the club and the game that fascinated Seth, though. Man U’s iconic stadium, widely known as the “Theater of Dreams,” captivated him just as much as the players. When he finally experienced a Man U game live at the Theater of Dreams during a family trip to England years later, he realized he wanted to be part of building something similar one day—a culturally significant structure that felt like home to first-time visitors.

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The first step? Earning the right degree. In September 2021, Seth enrolled in UC Irvine’s civil engineering program, from which he expects to graduate next year. Eager to gain hands-on experience, he attended UCI’s fall career fair last year to begin networking and exploring relevant internship opportunities with architecture/engineering/construction (AEC) firms throughout the state.

After meeting a handful of general contractors, he approached Webcor’s recruitment booth to introduce himself and ask about the company’s past projects and current opportunities. When they dove into Webcor’s California-centric resume, Seth was hooked.

“As a Bay Area native, it was really cool to realize that many of the famous buildings I’d grown up admiring were Webcor projects,” he says. In particular, he was struck by Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco and Oracle Headquarters in Redwood Shores, located just around the corner from his Redwood City hometown.

“I loved the idea of working on a groundbreaking project like Oracle Headquarters that’s local to me,” he says.

Within months, that dream of building in his own backyard became reality. In June, he joined the UCI Mesa Court Expansion team as a PE intern in the unique position of helping deliver his university’s newest on-campus residence expansion while still a student himself.

“The progress we’ve made just in the last couple months has been really exciting,” he says. “One of the most satisfying moments was watching Webcor Concrete pour the first half of level 2—there was just something about being part of the whole construction process up to that point, then seeing all our work covered in concrete that felt incredible.

“To top it off, that was the first deck pour I’d ever seen, and it happened at my own university! The entire experience was really special.”

From the moment his internship began, Seth’s been laser-focused on doing his part to help keep the fast-paced housing project on schedule. He supports his manager, Project Engineer Charles Seed, as best he can and spends nearly half his time in the field, where he works on layout with the carpenters; performs quality control (QC) checks on embeds, edgeform, and blockouts; grades deck shoring; watches pours; places embeds and stud rails; and much more.

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Those daily hours in the field have been particularly integral to Seth’s professional development. Each hands-on lesson invigorates his visualization of the issues and drawings at hand when processing RFIs and reviewing submittals.

“I believe there’s no better way to learn than being out in the field and helping out however possible,” he says. “It’s been so interesting to see issues in the field, then work on resolving them in the office, whether it’s pulling dimensions on Revit so I can QC edgeform/embeds or writing RFIs for issues we identified in the field.

“I’ve loved seeing the issues that arise in construction firsthand and learning the different approaches we take to solving them and staying on track. We’re not taught these types of lessons in school, so I find them particularly valuable.”

Gaining hands-on experience with tools such as a builder’s level, total station, and laser in the field has been another highlight of Seth’s internship. He’s used all three tools while supporting Webcor Carpentry and asked Assistant Superintendent Scott Duclos every question that comes to mind about working in the field. It’s all culminated in a deep appreciation for the complexity of a construction site’s day-to-day operations and all that goes on behind the scenes—coordinating, planning, tracking the budget and schedule, etc.

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“Visiting other Webcor projects, such as Olympic & Hill, and learning how they operate has also been incredible,” Seth says. “I was blown away by how different everything at Olympic & Hill was from UCI Mesa; I’ll never forget witnessing Webcor Concrete pour pools for penthouses on the 53rd story.”

The lessons Seth’s taken away from his internship aren’t limited to construction, however. This summer, he’s learned the value of taking thorough notes for future reference (“the same problems tend to reappear; detailed notes make life a lot easier”), considering advice from all colleagues regardless of job title/department (“any advice is great advice”), and challenging himself to take initiative (“you won’t progress otherwise”).

“I’ll forever be grateful for the life lessons this internship has taught me,” Seth says. “Being surrounded by bright individuals who are willing to teach me what they know and answer all my questions has been an incredible opportunity."

Outside of construction/engineering, Seth’s interests range from skiing and surfing to photography and music. “My friends and I will go to record stores on weekends and spend hours exploring new music and genres,” he says. “I also love playing soccer, skiing in Tahoe or Utah in the winter, and learning to surf in the summer.”

Photography, however, is the hobby that’s truly captured his heart—particularly landscapes and portraits. “I love the analog process of shooting film and the realistic nature of the results,” he says. “There’s something about taking photos, then having to wait several days or even weeks before you can see the results.”

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