Engineer Trainee Program Preps New Engineers for Careers at PA Turnpike

Payton Gonzalez and Evan Snyder have seen it all in just a year. The sweeping landscapes of the Hawk Falls bridge-replacement project, the large, earth-moving gear needed to build the next phase of the Mon/Fayette Expressway, the subtleties of contracts.

In other words – everything an engineer needs to know.

“My brain grew 10 times the amount that it did in college, that’s for sure,” Gonzalez said.

He and Snyder are the latest graduates of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s perennial Engineer Trainee Program. They became full-fledged engineer project managers May 22 in the program that has been giving new engineers the experience they need for successful careers for several decades now.  

Hear from Gonzalez at the start of his Engineer Trainee experience and at the end of his time in the program in this video:

Engineer Trainee Program: Payton Gonzalez (vbrick.com)

And from Snyder at the start of the program and the end in this video:

Engineer Trainee Program: Evan Snyder (vbrick.com)

 “It provides a unique opportunity for them,” Engineer Project Manager Demetri Koutsokostas said about the Engineer Trainee Program. “Rather than coming out of school and going into a very specific role, with this program, they’re able to explore different options that we have here at the Turnpike.”

Koutsokostas is a recent graduate of the program, himself, and led Gonzalez and Snyder through their year as trainees.

“The technical knowledge you have coming out of school is really important, but it’s just a small piece when it comes to working in the engineering world and the transportation industry,” Koutsokostas said. “The program really gives them that opportunity to see different aspects and have a big-picture view of what a project involves, not just one little aspect.”

Gonzalez is from Wyomissing and went to Penn State to earn his engineering degree before coming to the Turnpike. He is now an engineering project manager who will be taking on open-ended projects, he said, like leading a new resurfacing project.

And Snyder is a new engineering project manager with the Turnpike’s Bridge Unit. He’s from Montrose and also went to Penn State, coming to the Turnpike with an interest in civil engineering.

Both have grown and gotten to see and be part of some amazing projects over the last year, they said. They are looking forward to all of the challenges and fun that lie ahead in their careers at the Turnpike.

Not only are they new engineers, but Gonzalez and Snyder are also running the next group of four engineer trainees through the program, as Koutsokostas had done for them, continuing the cycle of training the next generation of Turnpike engineers.

By Steve Marroni, PA Turnpike Communications Specialist