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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT � EDGAR BANDA
Edgar
Banda has found an opportunity to get valuable real world job
experience for his future career right here on campus as a
student worker. While studying architecture at the University of
Houston, Banda is also working as an AutoCAD drafter for the
Office of Facilities Information in Facilities Planning and
Construction.
As a student drafter, Banda, a southeast Houston native, is
assigned to specific buildings on campus to measure each room
and space then translate those dimensions into AutoCAD. AutoCAD
is software used for computer-aided design and drafting. These
drafts are used for the university�s annual building and room
inventory report required of all higher education institutions
by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). The
Office of Facilities Information maintains the inventory and is
currently updating the floor plans for every UH and UH System
building. It has brought on a team of architecture, engineering
and construction management students to assist them in the
project.
�As one of our student CAD drafters, Edgar has the knowledge and
skills to help us successfully complete the facilities update
project. He also has a very positive attitude that makes him an
asset to our team and a pleasure to work with,� said Camille
Porter, Space Inventory Manager for Facilities Planning and
Construction.
A friend from architecture told Banda about the job back in
December 2010, and he jumped at the opportunity. He said he has
been able to complete the drafts for Science and Research 2 as
well as the Roy G. Cullen building.
�I really like how it�s not just about being inside of the
office, it�s getting out and getting to know these buildings
personally, taking the measurements and then drawing them out in
AutoCAD. Especially for Roy G. Cullen � there were no computer
records at all, just the hand drawn floor plans, and I was the
one in charge of creating that,� he said.
Banda hopes to have an architecture career that is primarily
focused on the construction phase of the design build process
because he said he thinks it is more hands-on than other areas
of architecture. He said the opportunity to work on this project
has given him valuable experience that he will be able to take
with him after college.
�I think it�s helping me become more familiar with the
difference between what�s on paper and what�s out there. It is
so different and our professors in architecture always talk
about it. To actually deal with wall thickness and very specific
things like that will be very useful to me,� Banda said.
Outside of architecture, Banda said he is minoring in Mexican
American studies and is also training for the Houston marathon,
his first marathon. He said running is an �escape� and helps to
clear his mind.
Banda will graduate with his bachelor�s degree in architecture
in May 2012. He said he hopes to get a job at an architecture
firm and then will consider returning to his studies to pursue
his master�s degree after taking a year off. Eventually he hopes
to get into residential architecture and said he would love to
refurbish homes.
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