Jose Barrios Lopez, a civil engineering student at San Francisco State University, worked as a project engineering intern on the project management team, contributing to a range of cross-functional tasks. His responsibilities included coordinating trades, managing mockup processes and calculation reviews, analyzing spool sheets, organizing the material board and sample room, and participating in a site tour and commercial filming and editing for DBC.

What is your most memorable moment at DBC?

Oh man, everyday was memorable. I had a lot of fun, but I would say when we hosted the DBC site tour. It was great to talk about the work we do here and give the other interns a tour of the production floor.

What did you learn working at DBC?  

I learned a lot about exterior skins, building envelopes, and what prefab for construction looks like. I have only been on tenant improvement projects before, so I never had experience with exterior skins.

What was a challenge you faced and how did you solve it?  

When I started developing the material board for the EIFS at Vantage AZ21, I had no idea how we made EIFS panels or the products we used, so it was difficult for me to figure out a starting point. I decided to break it up into pieces by starting small and picking a general EIFS detail, and from there I reached out to multiple teams, our production team, craft, and PM team to learn how we make EIFS and I was able to produce a board the team and I was happy with.  

Henry Nation is a mechanical engineering student at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. As a project engineer intern, he supported a variety of tasks across teams, gaining hands-on experience in project coordination, technical reviews and day-to-day engineering operations.

What is your most memorable moment at DBC?  

Definitely giving a DBC plant tour to all my fellow interns in Phoenix.

What did you learn working at DBC?  

I learned a ton about the manufacturing process and how it couples with design. If your product is difficult to manufacture, you don’t have a good product. 

What was a challenge you faced and how did you solve it?  

Having mentors across the country was difficult in some ways. I was able to overcome that by turning it into a benefit for myself by getting out of my comfort zone and connecting with the people at DBC to help me understand the IMP product and the manufacturing process.

What does “Advancing the way people build” mean to you?  

Advancing the way people build means to always strive for improvement and to never take “good enough” as an answer.