Senior Gira Abdou is a Project Engineer for New Jersey’s Newest State Park
NJIT alumni and students are assisting with construction of New Jersey’s newest state park, a nine-mile greenway that will convert a former Norfolk Southern rail line into a linear state park spanning from Montclair to Jersey City in Essex and Hudson Counties. AECOM Tishman is the construction manager for the first phase of the project, a nearly one-mile stretch in Newark.
Shortly after the park broke ground last July, Michael Kasian ’85, the company’s executive vice president, contacted Marjorie A. Perry ’05, president and CEO of MZM Construction & Management Company, for assistance in staffing. Gira Abdou ’26, a civil engineering major, received an intriguing message from Perry on Handshake, the NJIT career networking app. Would she be interested in working on a landmark project? Following interviews with Perry and Rosana Caputo ’99, a senior project manager for AECOM Tishman in charge of the Newark section, Abdou signed on. Below, she describes her experience as a project engineer working full-time on a one-of-a-kind green infrastructure project in her home state.
What compelled you to take on the job and the extraordinary time commitment it requires?
I hadn’t heard of the greenway project, but I was interested when I learned it was a park. I’d always thought of civil engineering in terms of bridges, roads and buildings. But a park brings so many experiences: building the site from scratch, installing the playground equipment and decorating the overall site with trees and greenery. This would be my first experience with construction, and I would be learning on the spot. I’m interested in construction management and so this project seemed perfect for me.
What are your duties?
I work full-time as a project engineer at the project’s site office, just a block away from active construction. Part of what I do is assist with daily and monthly reports, which include record-keeping of all site activities taking place and overall project updates. I keep up with contractors regarding their due dates, ensuring they are on time and submitting all of the required paperwork. I’ve started taking some of the construction progress photos. I also log and check submittals, which include information about materials being used onsite, including descriptions about how they will be manufactured, installed and used, such as the rope swing for the playground. I cross-reference this information with the specifications provided by the design team to ensure it meets their standards. I assist with requests for information from contractors. For example, there may be a problem with tree pit locations shown on drawings that interfere with light poles or pipes. The contractor will ask the design team for approval to move the pits. For the record, I submit this information to the app Procore, which keeps track of all of the paperwork and questions submitted.
How are you able to balance your job with classes?
I take classes online, at night and on campus one morning a week. Because I’d taken some courses over the summer, my load is not heavy. AECOM Tishman has been very flexible about my need to be on campus Tuesday mornings. I finish work between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. and have several hours for homework and studying.
What do you enjoy most about the job?
My previous work with the engineering firm NV5 was focused on design. Here, I get to go on site, walk around and see it in progress. The project is so much fun. A park has so many elements and there’s so much new to see. Throughout the nearly one-mile corridor, there will be a multiuse walking and biking path, picnic areas, a sports court, stage, playground and water-play area. When I started last semester, they were still excavating and it looked so empty. Now it’s really coming to life. We have retaining walls, underground stormwater infrastructure, lighting components, benches and stairs. They’re preparing to bring in certified clean fill to place on top of the historic fill, with a highly visible demarcation barrier between the two. It’s very interesting to observe how it all gets put together. I like being part of something so important for the environment, which will really help Newark.
What are your career plans?
I plan to start with a general contractor as a project engineer. I want to be there for the entirety of a project, rather than coming in to do just a piece of it, like installing a playground in the case of a park, for example. I like to see a project start from a bunch of dirt and watch it grow. I want to stay in New Jersey. We need new buildings in cities with overcrowded sections that will help the flow. There are also so many cool places with a lot of potential for new infrastructure, including parks and greenways, because you can never have too much green!