(ANGOLA) - Six Trine University civil engineering seniors traded the classroom for the field this fall during a hands-on road trip to major infrastructure sites across southern Indiana. The annual trip, hosted by Trine's Reiners Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was led by department chair Dr. Gary Greene and faculty member Dr. Tim Tyler. The goal: give students a real-world look at the kinds of large-scale projects they've been studying.
The group's first stop was the Heidelberg Materials cement plant in Mitchell, where students toured the facility, rode to the top of a 400-foot tower, and saw a cement kiln operating at nearly 3,000 degrees. The plant produces thousands of railcars of cement each month.
Next, students visited the Newburgh Lock and Dam on the Ohio River, where engineers from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers showed them how massive gates control river levels and allow barge traffic to pass through safely.
The trip wrapped up with a visit to the Ohio River Crossing project, where students toured bridge construction sites and saw bridge piers, girders, and deck work underway.
Students say the experience helped connect classroom theory to real-world engineering -- and they credit faculty for going the extra mile to prepare them for careers after graduation.