Justin Ferguson (JF), a fourth year Geological Engineering student at UNB Fredericton, is half way through his second summer with Irving Wallboard. Originally from the outskirts of Truro, Nova Scotia, Justin agreed to sit down with us to discuss what he's learned so far and what's still to come:

What brought you back to JDI as a summer student?
JF: I came back for my second summer work term at Atlantic Wallboard because the people here create a positive and friendly work environment which I really appreciate as a student. My other reason for returning is because this job allows me to experience many different aspects of a project that all directly relate to my degree.

What were you most exited about this summer?
JF: This summer I am most excited about the first day gypsum extraction begins at the Upham Quarry. The Upham Quarry was my main project last summer and is what I will be working on mostly this summer. I am excited to see production at the quarry start because being involved with this project close to the start I have seen all the work that has gone into getting to this point so I am excited to see the quarry get up and running.

What does it mean to be part of the Build Your Career program?
JF: I am excited to be a part of the build your career program because it offers ways to develop non-technical skills and gives me the opportunity to learn things that will help me in my career after graduation.

What was your most interesting learning from last summer:
JF: One of the more interesting things to me now in my second work term at Atlantic Wallboard, is seeing the development of the environmental plan for the quarry project that is the result of work by scientists, engineers and public input. In my first work term the team at Wallboard worked on developing the Environmental Impact Assessment and many other documents. Now in my second work term I am collecting water samples from residents wells and rivers near the quarry as we record the benchmark before operations start. I like that I was involved in the technical aspect of developing the plans and I am now doing what we committed to in these plans to reduce our impact on the environment.

What do you hope to learn this summer?
JF: This summer I am hoping to learn more personal and management skills. I have learned technical skills in school and am able to apply them to my job. I want to learn and get better at the management aspect of being an engineer because that is very difficult to learn in a classroom setting.

Why would you recommend this program to other students?
JF: The people here are awesome, they make work more enjoyable. I have been given many opportunities to learn more about what I want, and I get to see what other types of job positions do. As a student I think that is very valuable experience because it gives me a better idea of what I want to do after graduation.  

Interested in becoming a Build Your Career student? Check out our opportunities here.