Archives: News Items

Congratulations to Brock Schulz, Recipient of the 2023 Reilly Family Memorial Scholarship

Congratulations to Brock Schulz, this year’s recipient of the annual Reilly Family Memorial Scholarship, which honors the late owners (Wayne, Patrick, and Emmett Reilly) of the John W. Danforth Company, one of the preeminent and charter members of MCAA. Kevin “Duke” Reilly presented the award during the Awards of Excellence Breakfast at MCAA23 in Phoenix, AZ.

Brock studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nebraska and graduated in May 2023. He was an active member of his MCAA student chapter and served as the Fundraising Chair. Brock has been interning at MCAA Member, MMC Contractors since May 2021 and upon graduation was hired as a full-time Project Engineer.

“I joined MCAA for several reasons. At first it was another way for me to find an internship and get involved. I had been informed of what MCA was by a fellow member. However, after joining I quickly realized how much this organization has to offer. I think a better answer for this question is why I have come back over the last three years as a student member. I have returned to MCA not only for all of the benefits but also for all the opportunities to give back to both my community as well as those who have helped bring me up. I have enjoyed all the volunteering, helping out the younger generations get excited about their futures or giving a relaxing night to our contractors through our wine tasting fundraiser/networking event. The people in this industry have not only helped me open up and branch out as a person but have also led me along a path helping me grow up and become a better and stronger man. I am very appreciative for all MCA has giving me thus far and will do my best to give back as much as possible throughout my future career.”

MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Brock on this prestigious scholarship and thank John W. Danforth Company for their commitment to supporting students interested in pursuing a career in the mechanical contracting industry.

Congratulations to Amaya Caggino, Recipient of the 2023 ATP Inspiring Future Leaders Scholarship

Amaya Caggino is the recipient of the brand-new ATP Inspiring Future Leaders Scholarship. The scholarship was established to recognize, support and inspire students in the mechanical industries.

Amaya studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland – College Park and graduated in May 2023. She was an active member of her MCAA student chapter and served as both Vice President and then President. She has been interning at MCAA Member, The Poole and Kent Corporation since May 2021 and upon graduation was hired as a full-time Project Engineer.

“I initially joined the MCAA student chapter because the faculty advisor recruited me, as he felt I would be a good fit and asset to the team. At that point during freshman year, I had never heard of mechanical contracting, however I was open to learning about something new. After shadowing the team for the semester, I was amazed at how the team was able to work together so effectively through different challenges to create a full-scale bid proposal that not only had real components of a construction project, but was a bid for a real-life construction project. Overall, after watching the team work to create the bid, I was in awe and I knew that this type of work in the mechanical contracting industry was something that I wanted to do with my career. I then decided to join the student chapter team myself for the following three years.

Five years after graduation, I see myself leading my very own project with Poole and Kent. I see myself as a project manager working on large scale projects, specifically data centers, and working towards earning various certifications such as the PMP and attending the Institute for Project Management.”

MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Amaya on this prestigious scholarship and thank ATP Learning Solutions for their commitment to supporting students interested in pursuing a career in the mechanical contracting industry.

Congratulations to Brodee Paul, Recipient of the 2023 Alan P. O’Shea Memorial Scholarship

Brodee Paul is one of the two recipients of the Alan P. O’Shea Memorial Scholarship. The Mechanical Contractors Association of New Jersey established these scholarships to honor the memory of Alan P. O’Shea, it’s former Executive Director, and to memorialize his many contributions to the mechanical contracting industry. The scholarships were presented by Richard Tomaiko (MCA of New Jersey President) and Phillip Petillo (MCA of New Jersey Executive Director).

Brodee is the President of his student chapter at the University of Nebraska and will be graduating from their five-year program with a Master’s in Architectural Engineering in May 2026. He’s currently interning with MCAA Member, The Waldinger Corporation.

“I joined my MCAA student chapter for two main reasons: First, to connect with fellow chapter members, as well as other student chapters and industry professionals across the nation. I wanted to join a body of people who have similar interests as me, but different experiences in their route to success.

The second reason was because of the many opportunities to give back to the organization. When I joined the chapter, I was elected as Recruitment Chair and I was taken out of my comfort zone in order to inform the students within my program what the MCA-Omaha student chapter provides as an organization. I had one of the most successful years of recruitment in Omaha and I’m proud to share it!

I’ve also been selected for multiple MCAA conferences where I had the honor of meeting so many individuals in this industry, as well as the individuals who lead our organization. I joined because of the benefits I could receive, but stayed because I want to contribute more to my chapter.”

MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Brodee on this prestigious scholarship and thank the MCA of New Jersey for their commitment to supporting students interested in pursuing a career in the mechanical contracting industry.

Post on the GreatFutures Job Board Now and Meet Your Candidates this Fall!

The MCAA GreatFutures Job Board is a tool to post entry-level full-time positions and internships that are directed at MCAA Student Chapter Members. Post a job now and then register for the GreatFutures Forum (student-focused conference) to meet candidates in person in Milwaukee on September 28-30th. The Job Fair is on the morning of September 29th and registration for the entire conference is complimentary for MCAA Members. Registration is currently available and closes August 30th .

LEARN MORE & REGISTER

How to Post an Entry-Level Job or Internship

  • Login with an MCAA username and password
  • Click on the job board within the Career Development page
  • Click Manage My Jobs and Add a Job to create your posting
  • Jobs remain active for 1 month to ensure postings stay fresh
  • When the job is set to expire, a reminder will be sent for you to either “mark as filled” or “duplicate” and repost for another month
  • Interested students can view postings and submit their contact information and resume
  • Your office will be notified via email when interested students submit their resume
  • From there, your office is encouraged to continue with your company’s application and interview process
VIEW JOB BOARD

Congratulations to Morebodi Sebadieta, Recipient of the 2023 Viega – Joe Pikus Scholarship

Morebodi Sebadieta is the recipient of the Viega – Joe Pikus Scholarship. Upon the news that Joe would soon be retiring, Viega wanted to commemorate his passion for student learning by naming a scholarship in his honor. This new scholarship is available to an active participant of an MCAA student chapter, who is a junior or senior, majoring in construction management, with a 3.5 GPA or higher, who participated in the student chapter competition, and most importantly, who is committed to a career in mechanical contracting, demonstrated through an internship.

Morebodi is studying construction management at California State University, Chico and anticipates graduating in December 2023. He has been interning at Kinetics since May 2022 and is planning on continuing his internship with them this summer as a Project Engineer.

“The technicality of mechanical systems is what has kept me interested in this industry. I’ve learned quite a lot from my internship, especially with process piping. I consider mechanical contractors specialists in the construction industry, which really intrigues me.

Five years after graduation I see myself being a Project Manager and running projects for a mechanical contractor. The more I hear about something, the more I want to learn and perfect it. Mechanical construction is not any different. I’m eager to learn more about mechanical and joined the MCAA and ASC competitions to help me gain as much knowledge and experience as I can before graduating.”

MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Morebodi on this prestigious scholarship and thank Viega for their commitment to supporting students interested in pursuing a career in the mechanical contracting industry.

Congratulations to Alayna Trautman, Recipient of the 2023 Ferguson WiMI Scholarship

Alayna Trautman is studying construction management at Alfred State College and is one of two recipients of the Ferguson – Women in the Mechanical Industry Scholarship. Ferguson underwrites these scholarships which recognize high-achieving female students working towards a degree relative to the mechanical industry.

Alayna has been an active member of her student chapter by serving as both Secretary and Vice President. Next year, Alayna will take on the role of Student Chapter President. She has been interning with MCAA Member, D.V. Brown and Associates since 2021 and will continue on with her internship this summer as a Jr. Project Manager.

“Five years after graduation I see myself as a successful project manager with a mechanical contracting company. I’d like to work on multiple capital improvement projects and provide mentorship to young female students the way I was mentored. I will also continue to be an active member of the local, state and national MCAA chapters to show my commitment to the association that assisted in my growth by sponsoring scholarships to college students.

The mechanical side of construction is something that intrigues me on how all intricate details and facets come together. Watching a project go from nothing to final completion is amazing to me. The way project managers collaborate to ensure timelines are met and cooperatively work with other contractors is true partnership.

For the past two years I have had the opportunity to intern with D.V. Brown and Associates during the summer and college breaks. This experience has reinforced that I was making the right choice.”

MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Alayna on this prestigious scholarship and thank Ferguson for their commitment to supporting students interested in pursuing a career in the mechanical contracting industry.

Congratulations to Jakob Balgemann, Recipient of the 2023 DEWALT Patriot Scholarship

The DEWALT Patriot Scholarship, now in its second year, was created to recognize two veterans, or those who are currently serving in the United States Military, who have valiantly served their country and have chosen to enter a career in the construction industry. Thank you to DEWALT for honoring our military and to our scholarship recipients for their service to our country. These two special scholarships were presented at the MCAA Awards of Excellence Breakfast in Phoenix on March 29th by Jake Sullivan (U.S. Marine Corp Veteran) and Jon Howland (U.S. Navy Veteran).

Jakob Balgemann served in the United States Marine Corps from 2016 – 2020 where he maintained and operated approximately 20 variations of radio networks across multiple platforms of equipment. He supervised and led teams across multiple deployments for the purpose or rapid response force for embassy reinforcement training and was awarded meritorious promotion for performance during 2 deployments.

Jakob will be graduating in May 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Construction Engineering from Iowa State University.

“I selected the word Perseverant to describe myself because this describes me as a person, as well as how I choose to live my life. Throughout my childhood and young adult life, I was fortunate to have excellent role models that demonstrated this trait to me and this was reinforced and built upon my life throughout my time in the Marine Corps.

Working for a Mechanical Contractor would appeal to me because of the challenges that are presented as well as always working in an environment that is changing and evolving. Whether it be technology or challenging circumstances to accomplish a task, this draws my attention because of the satisfaction of figuring out a way to accomplish a task and executing the plan in order to make things work correctly.”

MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Jakob on this prestigious scholarship and thank DEWALT for their commitment to supporting students interested in pursuing a career in the mechanical contracting industry, as well as for recognizing the courageous service of our country’s Veterans.

School’s Out for Summer! 

Classes are officially finished for the year and student chapter members are on the hunt for new opportunities.  Now is an excellent time to post your Fall ’24 internships (or to catch a few stragglers still for summer employment).

How to Post an Entry-Level Job or Internship

  • Login with an MCAA username and password
  • Click on the job board within the Career Development page
  • Click Manage My Jobs and Add a Job to create your posting
  • Jobs remain active for 1 month to ensure postings stay fresh
  • When the job is set to expire, a reminder will be sent for you to either “mark as filled” or “duplicate” and repost for another month
  • Interested students can view postings and submit their contact information and resume
  • Your office will be notified via email when interested students submit their resume
  • From there, your office is encouraged to continue with your company’s application and interview process
VIEW JOB BOARD

Tell Us About Your MCAA23 Intern & New Hire Successes

Did you successfully hire an intern or full-time new hire in 2023? We’d love to hear about it! Reach out to MCAA’s Michele Hoffman at mhoffman@mcaa.org. 

Congratulations to Macy Deck, Recipient of the 2023 Foster McCarl, Jr. Memorial Scholarship

Macy Deck, a May 2023 graduate who studied Mechanical Engineering at Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville, was awarded the Foster McCarl, Jr. Memorial Scholarship at MCAA23 this past March during the Awards of Excellence Breakfast. This national scholarship honors Foster McCarl, Jr.’s many contributions to advancing the mechanical contracting industry, including his efforts towards establishing what is now known as the John R. Gentille Foundation (JRGF). McCarl’s Inc. is the scholarship sponsor.

Macy co-founded her student chapter, which was officially chartered during the Phoenix convention. Macy previously interned at MCAA Member, Icon Mechanical and their sister company, iENG Design and is excited to start her career there full-time this summer.

“There are so many exciting changes with technology and in the structure of the construction industry that I’m thrilled to be a part of. During my summer internship, a project was assigned to all the interns called the Intern Innovation Project. The purpose of the project was for each intern to find an inconvenience in the company that could be improved upon and then to present it to a panel of judges. At first, I had trouble coming up with ideas and a mentor suggested that I try to standardize certain methods of HVAC designing. Standardizing required gathering senior mechanical engineers to agree on what should be done. At the end of my internship, I was shocked to find out that I had won the Intern Innovation Project award.

My project brought together employees with unique and vast experiences to decide on a common ground. Through this experience, I realized that my strength is promoting collaboration. Construction projects succeed only when people communicate and collaborate effectively to build a building.”

MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Macy on this prestigious scholarship and thank McCarl’s Inc. for their commitment to supporting students interested in pursuing a career in the mechanical contracting industry.

Congratulations to Mesa Kelly, Recipient of the 2023 Alan P. O’Shea Memorial Scholarship

Marissa (Mesa) Kelly, one of the two recipients of the Alan P. O’Shea Memorial Scholarship. The Mechanical Contractors Association of New Jersey established these scholarships to honor the memory of Alan P. O’Shea, it’s former Executive Director, and to memorialize his many contributions to the mechanical contracting industry. The scholarships were presented by Richard Tomaiko (MCA of New Jersey President) and Phillip Petillo (MCA of New Jersey Executive Director).

Mesa is the Recruitment Chair for her student chapter at the University of Nebraska (Omaha campus) and will be graduating from their five-year program with a Master’s in Architectural Engineering in May 2026. She’s currently interning with MCAA Member, Grunwald Mechanical Contractors & Engineers in Omaha, NE.

“I really like the atmosphere at my company and the work that I’m doing. I love that I’m doing actual work and not just typical intern work. I have always known that I wanted to be an engineer, but that sounded kind of boring to me, but then I found Architectural Engineering and I instantly knew this was the degree for me. I joined the MCAA student chapter because I knew I wanted to go into the mechanical emphasis and that the student chapter provides unique opportunities that I would not get with other student groups.”

MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Mesa on this prestigious scholarship and thank the MCA of New Jersey for their commitment to supporting students interested in pursuing a career in the mechanical contracting industry.