Staff Spotlight: Alexander Mairena, EIT

Staff Engineer

We’re so happy to have you on our team! Now that it has been a few months, we’d love to know a little bit more about you! Let’s get started, shall we? 

What did you do before joining Civiltec? (Work/School) 

I was a part-time field engineer for a small general contractor business. We mainly specialized in residential retrofit. My typical role was creating/logging RFI’s, quantity take-offs, and drafting. After work, I would join my study group in Alhambra’s city library to study for my fundamental engineering exam.

What made you decide to pursue engineering? (Is there a particular specialty that you lean more towards? Water, wastewater, drainage, transportation, etc.)

Growing up, I always loved my mathematics classes in high school. I knew that I wanted to pursue a career related to math. I was always fascinated with projects around my community, from roadway expansion to residential property improvements. Putting my two interests together with civil engineering is my main calling. There are two fields in civil engineering that stand out the most to me and those are transportation and water resource engineering. The reason for my decisions comes down to projects I had the chance to visit in my area. The main one is the new Long Beach freeway connecting Long Beach and San Pedro. I would get so excited driving by during the construction. 

What drew you to work for Civiltec? 

The main reason why I decided to apply to Civiltec was the variety of different types of projects that I would have the chance to participate in. There are so many different types of work from land development to wastewater, it makes it really exciting and special every day.

What do you enjoy about your day-to-day work? 

What I enjoy the most about my work is the learning. There hasn’t been one single day where I feel like I haven’t improved. I am always being challenged and there are many people here that teach me how to be a better engineer.

What has been one highlight over the past three months?

My biggest highlight in the past three months has to be the submittal of the project I worked on. I received many markups throughout the project, but after every review, I was getting closer to the end. Submitting the project after all the corrections is one of the best feelings ever. 

What is the number one thing on your bucket list? 

My ultimate goal is to become a licensed engineer. There are many challenges in the way, but I am taking it day by day setting small goals for myself. 

What do you do outside of work?  

I like to visit new locations around my area. Recently, I took a trip to Catalina Island. It was one of my all-time favorite trips I had done. Some of my favorite activities I did during my visit were, jet skis (with the dolphins), renting electric bikes, riding around the coastline, and they also have zip lines. I would highly recommend a day trip to Catalina Island.