Public works water department summer hire keeping it in the family

LOMBARD, Illinois—When Owen Dean reports to work this summer to the Village of Lombard's Water Department, he's not unfamiliar with what to expect.

Dean, who will be a senior civil engineering major at University of Wisconsin-Platteville, is quite used to hearing about items common to civil engineers. His father James Dean is the Civil/Environmental Engineer for the City of Naperville and his elder sister Joanna works in the engineering field in drafting.

When searching for a summer internship did not pan out, Owen decided to look for summer employment related to his field. “I figured this would be the next best thing,” he said. Owen is working with Public Works Water Department Supervisor, Tom Ryan.

“He (Ryan) told me that if there's anything I want to learn or want to try, to let him know and he'd make it happen,” Owen said.

According to Owen, although only on the job since Monday, he has learned a great deal. “I know that I'm just getting my feet wet and that there will be so much more,” he added. His biggest thrill during the first week was learning how to grade a swale, he added, as well as observing how to replace a chlorine colorimetric meter.

When asked what advice he had for others looking to enter the civil engineering field, he simply said, “like math and science because there's a lot of it.”

With a concentration on the environmental aspects of civil engineering, Owen hopes to someday be employed in a municipality. Who knows? Maybe he'll end up working with his father.