Although many students find internships through Binghamton University, some can find the “real-world” experience right here on campus — in a University department like Physical Facilities.

For three consecutive semesters students from Watson School of Engineering have been able to work alongside engineers, constructors and architects in Physical Facilities, earning four credits and adding an impressive internship to their resumes.

The internship program was developed for engineering students by Watson School and Physical Facilities in 2005 in order to give students field experience and to provide the department with much needed help. Since then 11 people have participated.

“It’s been very good,” said Karen Fennie, spokeswoman for Physical Facilities. “We have learning opportunities here for students [and] a lot of work in the department. Students are able to do some of that work.”

The program has been so successful, Fennie said, that while only two internships are available for credit each semester, every year a student asks to participate just for the experience.

This semester three mechanical engineering seniors are interning at Physical Facilities.

“They treat us like co-workers,” said intern Heather Gorea, a senior. “We get to participate and see the actual jobs that are going on.”

The students work eight hours a week with the department’s designing group and are assigned different projects almost every day.

“Right now we’re working on general drawings for J-POD in the Engineering Building,” said Brendan Carr, also a senior. “That’s going to take us a couple of days, but then they’re always coming in with something that’s just a higher priority, and we go do that.”

Some of the projects students completed include planning installation of water heaters and gas line in Susquehanna Community, making measurements to buy and install air conditioning units in offices and mapping out fire sprinkles throughout the Engineering Building.

Carr, who worked for Physical Facilities over the summer and was asked to intern in the fall, said that his favorite project was designing tiles for the Engineering Building.

“It’s kind of cool, [because] it’s there now,” Carr said. “So I can go and say, ‘Hey, I put that square there.’”

Another intern, Ryan Vanhalle, said that he liked the friendly atmosphere in Physical Facilities.

“I had another internship, and it was a lot more strict,” he said. “Everybody there wore suits and ties. There were no sarcasm and no jokes.”

Engineers and coordinators of the program, Anthony Citriniti and Jason A. Gilbert, said that they want interns to get a feel for what it’s like working in a consulting firm in which engineers work on a variety of projects instead of specializing in one area.

“You have to know a little bit about everything rather than knowing everything there is to know about one little thing,” Gilbert said. “It’s new and interesting every day [and] a lot of students don’t know that consulting engineering is an option for when you graduate.”

While Vanhalle and Gorea were not swayed to pursue consulting engineering, Carr said that he is no longer looking for a different specialization.

“I really like it,” he said. “[The internship] made the choice for me.”

Another goal of the program is to give students “a more hand down experience,” Citriniti said, because a real project is different from problems in textbooks.

“I found that when you start a position you’re going to be learning something completely different,” Vanhalle said.

All three interns said that the internship with Physical Facilities is an incredible experience that looks good on a resume.

Andrew Sullivan, a former intern, credited the program with an offer he received from a local General Electric company.

“The interviewer was definitely impressed with my internship description,” he wrote in an e-mail to Citriniti and Gilbert. “I wanted to thank you guys for the experience.”