We’ve all been watching from the sidelines as the excitement builds around the construction of the $550 million Parklands Project, but five Griffith University students are seeing it from an entirely different perspective.
Since December 2015 five students from a range of study areas have been completing internships with Grocon, Australia’s largest privately owned development, construction and real estate investment company.
For third year Bachelor of Civil Engineering student Kristian Santro his internship has been more than just a unique opportunity, it has reignited his motivation and passion for his studies.
“Working with Grocon has enabled me to see how theory is converted into practice in a way that I was not aware of before,” he said.
“In some ways it gives you more motivation to understand the concepts at University so that you can successfully apply and build on them while working in the industry.”
Kristian has been working with both the Development and Design teams, attending meeting, looking over tender proposals, partaking in site inspections and communicating with contractors and sub-contractors since he began his internship in January.
“Being able to put theory into practice and watching how engineering issues are solved and analysed is invaluable experience as a student,” he said.
“I believe that in order to secure future employment after graduation it is important to not only have good academic results but relevant and reputable work experience.”
Take a virtual tour of the Parklands Project inside the Red Zone
Griffith University and Grocon together share a vision to help provide practical work experiences through internships, research endeavours and student learning projects.
The Parklands Project forms part of the Health and Knowledge Precinct, which comprises of Griffith University and the Gold Coast University Hospital also.
Grocon Parklands Project Manager Steven Grimes said he had been impressed with the input and attitude of the Griffith student interns and look forward to providing further intern and work experience placements in the future.
“We are proud to have Griffith University as our community education partner,” he said.
“A key aspect of this is to engage with students and provide real practical experience based placements to complement their tertiary studies.”
Other Griffith student interns include:
- Brent Lauder, Bachelor of Electrical Engineering — Design team intern
- David McClelland, Bachelor or Architecture — Design Team intern
- Dean Barker, Bachelor of Business & Arts — Development team intern
- Caitlin Virtue, Bachelor of Communications — Development team intern