Alumni Profile - Eric Hersh, E01, GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc.

GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. has 500 engineers and scientists at 20 offices across the Northeastern and Midwestern United States providing geotechnical, environmental, civil, and water resources engineering services. Eric Hersh is currently a PhD student at the University of Texas at Austin in Civil Engineering and has had a great experience with GZA, a company with strong ties to Tufts engineering. Eric was a Staff Engineer with the Geocivil and Water Resources Group.

Q: What are the best things about working for your employer?

A: Generally I’m working on 3-8 diverse projects at any given time, sometimes as the sole engineer working with a Professional Engineer/ Project Manager, sometimes on a larger team of engineers- a wide range of exposure and experience. The chance to be a part of the whole spectrum of engineering: writing proposals and meeting potential clients, scoping and bidding jobs, getting to visit some nice project sites (rivers and lakes across New England), conducting analyses and modeling, coming up with designs, recommendations, and solutions, writing reports and presenting results, watching the end-result get built or implemented, often while providing oversight and responding to changing conditions on-the-fly. A dynamic and diverse experience- lots of fun!

Q: What are some challenges you face?

A: Engineering in college is about calculations, analysis, and problem sets. Engineering in practice certainly includes these things but it’s largely about people- managing clients, collaborating with coworkers, interacting with regulators and contractors, etc. These are things you never really ‘study’ in college. Be honest with yourself and others about your knowledge and skill set, be realistic about goals and time frames, and be pragmatic about dealing with uncertainty (potential foreseen and unforeseen circumstances).

Q: Do you have any advice for students looking to gain experience in your industry?

A: A Bachelor’s degree in engineering is, by necessity, mainly about the basis and foundations of engineering. Take as many electives as you can in fields that might interest you. Spend summers interning at engineering firms who perform services you might want to do, ideally a different firm each summer. Go to talks. Meet with working friends/recent alums to discuss what they do. Take the FE/EIT while you’re still in school or as soon as possible thereafter. Practice and get good at technical writing- you’ll appreciate this skill!

Did you know?

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