Most Iowans can’t go for a drive without driving under or over a bridge. Troy Asche, 2017 civil engineering alum, wants to make sure that bridges all around the state are high quality and long lasting for the community.
When deciding his degree, Asche combined his interest in creativity and infrastructure with his fascination for bridges and decided on a degree in civil engineering. And with a civil engineering degree, Asche can now implement his passion for building and bridges in his role as an Iowa Regional Engineer for Rinker Materials.
“I’ve always been interested in creating and building things,” Asche said. “Civil engineering and the knowledge I gained from Iowa State gave me the ability to do so.”
Asche started with Rinker while in pursuit of his degree. In 2015, he was an operations intern for Rinker, following as an engineering intern the next year. Asche stayed on the team through his senior year, and officially became a full time employee after graduation in 2017.
The limitless possibilities for safer and stronger infrastructure with concrete
Asche’s hands-on career with Rinker Materials all started at the engineering career fair, he says.
“I discovered Rinker Materials at the engineering career fair,” Asche said. “They have a great team here in Iowa and I wanted to be a part of it. With Rinker, I was amazed and continue to be amazed with the various uses of concrete and how you can tailor the mix to match your needs.”
Bridges have always been a high-impact design, bringing people together and to and from the places they need to go. So having a high quality bridge is a high priority goal, Asche says.
“My favorite part of my job is building quality infrastructure to last for many years to come. It’s rewarding to drive past a project and know you had a hand in creating it,” Asche said. “I hope to better society by designing/building quality products to improve our infrastructure.”
Asche credits a lot of his career path to his initiative for internships while in school. Without that first internship with Rinker in 2015, Asche could be in a completely different spot than where he is now.
“Study hard and make the most of your internships,” Asche said. “Nothing beats hands-on experience in the industry.”
