The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) employs close to 40 interns to work on everything from urban planning to engineering and construction management projects.

This year, ADOT teamed up with Arizona State University. Meteorology interns provided real-time forecasts to teams managing highways, which helped crews respond rapidly to storms and other weather-related challenges.

ADOT recruits interns from high schools and colleges every spring. Interns can work for the ADOT throughout college and up to six months after graduation.

“The interns I talk to love the program,” Candee Samora, ADOT’s intern project coordinator, said. “They say they love school, but there’s nothing that can replace the hands-on training they’re getting at ADOT.”

Interns work on a variety of projects, such as choosing the best plants for areas along roadways or choosing graphic design elements for a bridge. Intern project work often parallels classwork done in college. 

“Interns help us meet our project development goals and schedules,” LeRoy Brady, ADOT’s chief landscape architect, said. “They bring in new ideas and new ways of looking at things.”

For more information on ADOT internships, visit www.azdot.gov/internships.