Internship leads to innovative business

When internship opportunities plunged last spring due to the pandemic, Austin Fitzgerald ’20 learned to be persistent and creative.

Eventually, Fitzgerald found a core drilling company that was willing to take on the business management major as an intern.

“Core drilling companies drill holes for plumbing, electrical, window or door installation or other jobs,” explained Fitzgerald, a Howell resident. However, if they don’t have specifics about the building, they may damage underlying infrastructure, such as utility lines.

Fitzgerald kept logs of his work for his internship and developed detailed strategies to improve the business. After talking to employees at various job sites, he conceived the idea of using subsurface imaging to locate utilities through concrete, soil and asphalt. As a class requirement, he developed a presentation to show his boss. Although the man wasn’t interested in converting to this technology, he had a better proposition: He loaned Fitzgerald the money to start his own scanning company.

Slightly more than a year after beginning his internship, Fitzgerald heads up his own thriving business, Scan Tech Services Corp., directing a team of 25 people. The company provides ground-penetrating radar and electromagnetic location services for construction teams working on large projects, scanning concrete for rebar, electrical conduits, gas and water lines, and other areas that must be avoided. Workers map out these zones on the floor or ground and send clients a detailed report.

The need for this service is growing, Fitzgerald explained, as more companies require crews to scan for infrastructure before drilling. Further boosting his business’s potential, Fitzgerald and his former boss refer work to each other.

Fitzgerald continues to apply skills that he gained from the internship and his RCB courses and resources, such as networking, developing an entrepreneurial mindset and public speaking. He recently turned to a former professor for advice.

Though we are still in a tough job market, Fitzgerald offers this advice to students graduating during the pandemic: “It is possible to get a job,” he said. “Hard work pays off. If I didn’t work hard during my internship, my boss wouldn’t have given me a loan to start my own business.”