Structural EI Advances to PE
LFA Structural Engineer Intern (EI) Dane Colvin recently passed the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam. Allowing him to advance from EI to a Licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Indiana.
A 2017 graduate of Purdue University, Colvin has been at LFA for almost seven years, starting in the Transportation Department and moving into Structural to focus on bridge design.
“I decided in the 6th grade that I wanted to be a civil engineer, so this is the culmination of a 20-year life goal,” he said. After taking a career placement test online with various engineering disciplines as the top choices he asked his father, with years of experience in construction and architecture, about the life and career of civil engineers. Civil engineering was an obvious choice to Colvin because they help design, build, and maintain the infrastructure that moves society.
Colvin chose to work at LFA to begin his career in transportation, which was necessary to learn to meet his goal of designing bridges. He eventually transitioned to the structural department. He said LFA’s size allows engineers to work on projects from start to finish designing everything from road alignments, profiles, corridors, intersections, culverts, and storm sewer pipe networks to bridge superstructure decks, beams, and substructure foundations, end bents, and piers.
“My years at LFA have given me experience on a wide breadth of tasks including road/highway design, intersection design, bridge design, small structure and storm sewer pipe network design, which made passing the exam easier,” he said.
He said his number one feeling after passing, is relief.
Dane makes his home in South Bend and in his spare time enjoys ballroom dance, woodworking and golf.
Congratulations Dane!