Laying the Groundwork

A unique internship and other opportunities at Villanova form a foundation for a student's success

Dallianny Perez Lantigua ’25 CE arrived at Villanova eager to build her future as an engineer. What she didn’t expect was to play a role in building the future of Villanova Engineering.

Last summer, Perez had the opportunity to intern with Wohlsen Construction, the company leading the College of Engineering expansion project. Working within the construction perimeter, Perez got an insider’s look at the 150,000-square-foot project while gaining insights and skills related to her Civil Engineering major.

It’s a unique experience Perez doesn’t take for granted. In fact, it’s one of several connections that she’s built with Villanova since even before enrolling as a student.

“I feel like I’m getting a sneak peek,” she says about the internship. “My friends are all very excited about the expansion, but they just know how it looks from the videos posted online. I feel guilty sometimes, but I also feel very proud that I’m part of the process of the whole expansion.”

A Peek Inside

Perez was never quite sure what to expect each morning as she arrived at the Wohlsen trailer. As a project engineer intern, she was tasked with acting as a liaison between the construction company and Villanova. This often involved poring over submittals and requests for information to ensure “everything’s where it’s supposed to be, how it’s supposed to be, and we’re contacting the people that we’re supposed to,” she says.

Working alongside Wohlsen’s staff engineers and the construction crew, she was fully part of the team, learning to remain flexible and encounter challenges head-on—like when stubborn gneiss rock at the expansion site resulted in slight alterations to the project’s plans.

On one workday, using a digital platform, she was measuring each wall in the building to form an estimate on the amount of paint that would be needed. Though this technical work could be seen as tedious, Perez says it spoke to the detail-oriented side of her personality.

With blueprints and specs at her fingertips, Perez was able to view the expansion from a vantage point available to only a select few. 3-D imaging software allowed her to peek into individual classrooms and labs to begin picturing her future as a student engineer.

One of Perez’s first stops in her virtual exploration was the Water Resources Lab, where she works during the school year as an undergraduate research assistant. While the size and new features of the lab impressed her, she was most excited by its proximity to related areas of research.

“If Water Resources wants to do something with the Soils Lab, now we’ll be just steps away from each other, rather than having to leave one building and go into another,” she says. “I love that everything is going to be in the same place. It’s really more like a community building.”

The communal aspects of the project stretch beyond the learning spaces, Perez notes, to the open and airy commons area and the expanded café—a spot she can’t wait to frequent as part of her morning routine her senior year.

Until this internship, Perez had been focused on the science side of Civil Engineering, drawing on her love of biology and chemistry. However, even without formal construction experience, Perez says she felt prepared to arrive at the job site, thanks in large part to the Civil Engineering Fundamentals course required of first-year students. “I’m very comfortable talking about anything related to the drawings,” she says. “And if I don’t know something, I know where to look for it. That class really set me up for success.”

Checking the Boxes

Perez’s interest in engineering began in childhood while growing up in the Dominican Republic. Her father, a trained industrial engineer, helped spark her interest in the STEM fields. “He said to me, ‘Well, if you want to be an engineer, you need to be tough, detail-oriented and very passionate, and I was like, check, check, check,” Perez recalls. Her passion only grew after her father passed away. After moving to the US with her mother and sister, Perez followed in his footsteps by pursuing an engineering program at a technical high school in Northeast Philadelphia.

“The school had multiple fields to choose from, and I picked engineering—and I loved it,” she says. “I was good at science and math, and engineering was just an obvious fit. I was like, ‘If I have to do this every single day of my life, I will do it without a doubt.’”

In 10th grade, Perez participated in Villanova Engineering, Science and Technology Enrichment and Development (VESTED), a program offering mentorship and training to students from under-resourced communities in the Philadelphia area. Held on campus each spring, the seven-week program provides students with an in-depth engineering experience, with activities taking place on campus in Villanova’s classrooms and labs.

Although the pandemic cut Perez’s VESTED experience short, the program helped bring her future into focus.

“I told myself, ‘You know what? I’m applying to Villanova,’” she says. “It’s just where I wanted to be.”

Villanova has fully lived up to Perez’s expectations, providing a rigorous educational experience, coupled with warmth and personal care. When the transition to college coursework proved challenging, Perez found support through Villanova’s Center for Access, Success and Achievement (CASA), a student resource for tutoring and counseling. “If I were at another school, I don’t think I’d have felt the same support that Villanova offers to us,” Perez says. “This is the place where I feel comfortable.”

Though Perez isn’t sure whether her career path will lead back to construction, she’s grateful for her internship opportunity—and for the foundational experiences that Villanova has provided to help her shape her future.

“Villanova does a great job having Civil Engineering classes that are focused on team building and group projects, which is very much part of the job,” she says. “No decision is made without first consulting with others. It’s really good that I’m getting that experience, not only from the internship but in the classroom as well.”

"If I were at another school, I don’t think I’d have felt the same support that Villanova offers to us," says Dallianny Perez Lantigua ’25 CE. "This is the place where I feel comfortable."