That's All Folks!

This week at Teterboro I finished up my last project working with Mr. Panarello, which was to contact and compile a list of Airport sponsors who will attend a certain special event. I was also presented with an amazing opportunity to potentially remain at Teterboro to work with the operations team as a summer intern. As a future aerospace engineer, it is an amazing opportunity to work with an airport operations team and witness the day-to-day duties of the ground crew and many different airplanes take off and land. I am very thankful that a potential summer internship exists for me, and I am sure that if I am granted this internship, I will learn a plethora of skills and knowledge that will prove valuable to a future engineer.

I am also thankful for the opportunity to work with the administration team at Teterboro these past two months. Even though the time was brief, I still learned a lot about General Aviation and the differences between an airport that handles small, regional Cessna planes and an airport which handles massive Boeing 747's. I also saw how noise restrictions encourage aerospace companies to develop quieter, more efficient aircraft and engines. In fact, aircraft like the Boeing 787 and engines like the General Electric GEnx were designed and manufactured to meet those requirements.

Thanks to both Teterboro and Neglia, I have acquired new skills in CAD and Excel and have experienced what it's like to work in an office environment. Thank you to all mentors who guided me throughout this past year!

Quality Policy: Week of 5/14

This week at Teterboro Airport, I had the pleasure of learning the accounting department's staff and responsibilities, how they interact with Airport Ops, and how expenses and revenue are recorded. Various services, fees such as landing fees, and other charges are the primary source of revenue for the airport.

I also had the responsibility of updating old Quality Policy certificates to the new certificates and policy statements that represent the new, updated Quality Policy.

I also met an Operations Manager who further exposed me to the operations side of the airport. He told me I could re-visit the runways and taxiways and possibly tour the FBO's and/or the Control Tower, but both cases require approval from FBO management. Visiting the tower requires approval from the airport manager and the FAA as well.

My First Time on the Runways

This week at Teterboro I was given the opportunity to explore other branches of the airport such as the airport maintenance crew and operations. Operations are responsible for the day to day activity on the runways and working with incoming aircraft. Along with FBO's such as Atlantic, Meridian and Jet Aviation, they work to provide the massive traffic of general aviation services from refueling to aircraft maintenance. Unlike maintenance who is responsible for maintaining airport grounds, operations take care of aircraft maintenance, refueling and other aviation services. I also saw the rooms in which they are able to communicate with the Air Traffic Control Tower and learned that Air Traffic Control is managed by the FAA and not airport staff.

I also observed as maintenance crew closed a runway and started doing necessary maintenance. As I am looking at the runway from one end, I could not see the other end! The runway is much longer than one would think and in fact, it even has enough length for an airliner to land should there be an emergency.

It was truly fascinating to see the behind the scenes of Air Traffic in a busy airport and see planes as they are maintained and runways as they land one aircraft after another!

Getting Settled: Weeks of 4/16 and 4/23

This week at Teterboro was mostly a week in which I did several different things to help Mr. Panarello and Ms. Nagrashna. I helped transcribe certain written records and other documents into spreadsheets for easier access. I also learned about how service crew, ground equipment, and other essentials of the airport are required to meet certain quality standards. Since there are several documents that specify quality guidelines and other specifications for equipment, they must be reviewed, and any old standards that are still used are to be noted for revision.

I also started scanning physical copies of expense reports into digital copies for easier access and to facilitate archiving past years. These basic skills of working with reports, physical and digital, will help me in the future when working with various Port Authority and AvPorts projects that will involve a multitude of filing, recording and scanning.

Moving On: Week of 4/9

This week was the last time I went to Neglia Engineering for my internship. After getting the final approval and the start date from Teterboro Airport and my new mentor Mr. Panarello, I said my final goodbye to Neglia and Mr. Intindola. From CAD to Excel spreadsheets, I really did learn a lot from Neglia and acquired skills that will prove to be valuable in my future Aerospace career.

My first day at Teterboro Airport involved mostly paperwork. Since Teterboro is managed and operated by a company called AvPorts which reports directly to the Port Authority Of New York and New Jersey, the owners of the airport and other airports in both states, there are many legal documents to complete even as an intern. After the day of paperwork, I got to do my first few assignments and received a general outlook of my duties as an intern and some upcoming projects. Unfortunately, due to legal reasons, all airport matters are confidential and no information or pictures are allowed to be shared.

Traffic Reports: Week of 3/19

This week at Neglia, I mostly focused on tasks I have done before. Since I have done traffic reports and other traffic engineering related tasks, I was tasked of mostly reviewing traffic reports and proofing that the numbers of analysis sheets, report drawings, and maps coincide with each other.

Since employees at Neglia are busy with many tasks, there is not enough time for them to review several reports before submission. Therefore, I help out by reviewing the contracts and spreadsheets for errors. I also have to calculate peak hour rates and other ratios crucial for the contract.

Government Officials: Week of 3/12

This week I met some former city government officials for Nutley. I met a former mayor of the town, a former municipal judge and other officials. Through them I learned how the basic structure of city government is set up, how it interacts with its constituents, and how it affects the work of Neglia and other engineering firms and contractors.

For instance, contractors are subject to rules and regulations made by city officials and the overall government. If differences or complaints happen during a project or a law has been broken by the contractor, the municipal justice system deals with such issues. Engineering firms are usually hired by approval from mayor and important city officials known as the council.

My First CAD Draft: Week of 2/26

This week I worked on a CAD draft for a street fair in Woodridge. The borough has requested Neglia to estimate the number of vendors that could be fit on one side of the street in order to determine to whom the spots will be leased during the fair.

I learned quite a lot this week from encountering problems with the program and troubleshooting which gave me the chance to explore features and functions of AutoCAD. Commands such as the offset, align, snapping tools and much more are not only there to make it easier to draft but essential for an accurate representation of the drawing.

Here is a photo of my very first CAD draft:

Site planning and Takeoff: Week of 2/12

This week at Neglia I did a contract for a certain project in Rutherford. In order for a borough to authorize a project and a bid award, a contract must be drafted by the borough engineer and reviewed by the borough attorney. All bid prices, engineer responsibilities, contractor responsibilities and the time frame required to complete the project must be explicitly stated on the contract.

Moreover, I saw a site in North Arlington where there was a wire clearance issue between the light pole and the power lines. In order for the project to be continued, the minimum clearance has to be met. During that day my mentor and I talked with several construction workers and supervisors to try and resolve the issue and finish the project.

Takeoff and Site planning. Week of 2/5

This week at Neglia was a very interesting week. To begin I first was tasked to ensure the accuracy of the area of a certain design using CAD software. This is to ensure that no money is wasted by ordering too much of the material or no delays occur by ordering too little. The procedure is known as a Takeoff measurement for the area of the site. There is two ways to do a takeoff measurement of the area:

1. By Hand: using the drawing and a triangular prism shaped scale ruler (shown below), multiple polygons are drawn and their sides measured using the appropriate scale to estimate the sum of their areas. The polygons are drawn as a mosaic that covers the entire area of the site that will be constructed with the material. Their areas will then be summed up to give a close estimation of the area of the constructed part of the site.
   
2. By CAD: using the CAD drawing, curves, lines and points are marked on the area needed to be found and then using those points and lines as a reference, the software calculates the exact area the points and line cover over the drawing. the process using CAD is more accurate than by hand since it can incorporate curves as compared to the hand method in which only polygons are used.

I also visited a site with my mentor where a large warehouse is to be constructed and designed by Neglia. Pictures attached below:

Spreadsheets and Surveys: Week of 1/29

This week at Neglia I helped decode a traffic accident report in an area close to a shopping mall. The accident occurred due to possible lack of signage on the road. Therefore, it is Neglia's job as traffic engineers to determine whether or not special signage is needed or if it was just driver error. The report has multiple codes that state important information about the accident. To know the meaning of these codes, I had to go to the state accident report website and find the meaning of these codes and incorporate them in a spreadsheet for easier access.

I also helped Mr. Intindola photograph parking restriction signs in Newark to prepare for the upcoming parking survey. I helped set up the spreadsheet and put the pictures of the signs where they belong in the survey map.

CAD and Spreadsheets: Week of 1/22

This week at Neglia I planned to design more rudimentary sketches of objects such as a graphics card and a winglet of an airplane wing. Unfortunately, my winglet did not look very acceptable so here is a picture of the turboprop engine sketch I did instead :)

I also constructed a spreadsheet for my mentor to use for recording data in an upcoming parking analysis/report for a certain intersection in Newark. Due to an upcoming construction job on a main road in Newark, a number of parking spots will be unavailable. Therefore, Neglia must insure that enough parking spots remain for people to utilize during the length of the construction job.

CAD and Design: Week of 1/15

This week was a very exciting week for me at Neglia! It was the first time I used an official CAD software in more than two years. I was first assigned to draw a preliminary drawing of a field on the AutoCAD 3D software to practice the program and get accustomed to it.

A fellow designer named John who is a recent college graduate taught me a few basic commands to help get me started. I soon learned how to draw basic shapes and tailor them to my needs and alter measurements and the overall appearance of the model. After I showed Brian, my mentor, the final result, I was allowed to draw something of my own creation so I decided to draw part of a turbofan engine.

I will include pictures soon of my drawings so stay tuned!

Contracts: Week of 1/8

This Week at Neglia I helped draft contracts and other legal documents for multiple contractors and other parties. This is mainly used as a means of legal and binding agreement between a certain Borough/Town as a 1st party, Neglia Engineering as the 2nd Party, and the contractor as the 3rd.

This week the Borough of Rutherford decided to upgrade their firehouse's heating system. I was responsible for drafting the contract and sending it to the contractor for approval and signature.

I also drafted contracts for a contractor who will sell the Borough of North Arlington an ambulance vehicle and a snow removal/dump truck. Contractors interested in providing such services for towns like Rutherford and North Arlington have to send bids to the town hall and the town hall's mayor and council chooses a winning bid and contractor to do a certain job.

Qualifications: Week of 12/18

This week at Neglia, I helped Mr. Intindola file numerous qualifications packets for different towns and cities. These packets are done annually for every town Neglia serves. This is done in order for towns to decide which firm will serve the town and its engineering needs for the upcoming year.

These packets could be as huge as numerous copies of 400 page portfolios. Therefore, organization skills are vital for this time of the year.

Some of the towns I helped Neglia fill out portfolios for included Verona, Hackensack, Little Ferry, and River Vale.