Travelers rely on bridges to carry them over rivers, highways, swamps and more. It’s Samuel Osei’s job to ensure when they are built, they stay standing. 

Osei is an engineer at Aetna Bridge Co. in Pawtucket, RI. Training to be a superintendent, the civil engineering alumnus (’13) helps manage a litany of contractors and building supplies at bridge sites around southern New England. On a typical day, he may need to organize 50 workers, coordinate among a dozen contractors and serve as a liaison to state officials.

“There’s a lot of responsibility involved,” he says. “Obviously you want to make sure that everything is being done correctly.”

The North Providence, RI resident takes a methodical approach to ensuring the bridge rising from the ground matches the plans drawn up at the office. It helps that he knows what state inspectors will check because he interned at the R.I. Department of Transportation construction management office during college.

In the classroom, Osei learned about construction management, design calculations, structural engineering and other subjects that he now applies in the real world.

“You go to school to gain knowledge so you have the capabilities to do your job,” Osei says. “URI was a great place for me to learn and they gave me the proper tools I need to do my job.”