Colin Schneider ’25
Major: Engineering Management
Hometown: Stockton, California
Extracurriculars: Pacific ASCE Chapter, Pacific Project Management
As he walks around the construction site, Colin Schneider ’25 occasionally stops to snap a photo on his phone. He examines each storm drain to make sure it’s free of debris. Then, he continues his route.
The engineering management graduate has a rare opportunity: He’s part of the team building the new Southwest Hall on University of the Pacific’s Stockton Campus. It’s a complex that will soon house nearly 400 students.
For Colin, it’s not just a project at his alma mater. It’s a continuation of his family legacy at Pacific. His story is also a great example of the opportunities available to Pacific students.
Intergenerational Pacific Tigers
Colin’s story at Pacific began when his parents were Tigers in the 90s.
“Back in the day, they were civil engineering students here. They met here and actually got married at the chapel on campus,” he says.
Though his parents, Colin got acquainted with construction work early in life. His dad worked in engineering design, which really helped him understand what the field was. He turned that interest into field work in high school.
“Over the summers, I worked on survey crews to go out and stake,” he says. “And I worked for a construction company in Elk Grove right before I came to Pacific. I really fell in love with the engineering management side of it.”
When it came time for college, Colin was drawn to Pacific’s engineering management major and its small class sizes. What sealed the deal was the program’s focus on design alongside construction management.
“Just get out there.”
Colin describes his ethos as, “Just get out there,” which he put into practice at Pacific. He stayed busy with summer internships, campus jobs and student clubs. His experience is a good example for other engineering students who are looking to build experience before they step into the working world full-time.
He’s worked at the Fletcher Jones Foundation Makerspace since it opened in 2024 and even helped design the layout for the woodshop. Student workers like him are the backbone of the center. They get to apply their knowledge in a hands-on setting and help other students understand and use the tools available to them.
“I’ve enjoyed helping students fulfill their ideas, like getting them into 3D modeling and then 3D printing it for their senior project. They just come in and say, ‘Hey, I have this idea. I want to build this.’ We’re there to help them,” he says.
Over the summers, Colin interned in Sacramento to help build a 16-story, $3.7 billion health care building, the California Tower. He originally got the internship himself, but it later turned into his Cooperative Education experience, a required, paid internship for engineering students. Four years in, he’s seen it go from a pile of dirt to an entire structure.
Outside of paid work, Colin also got involved with Pacific’s chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Each year, the chapter takes part in the ASCE Mid-Pacific Student Symposium. The event challenges participants to tackle several challenges. Students put their creativity and problem-solving skills into action.
“The past two years, I’ve been the captain of the steel bridge team. Actually getting to build and design a mini bridge to hold weight has been really interesting,” he said.
With such a busy schedule, Colin gives a lot of credit to his advisors, Professors Abel Fernandez and Medhi Khazaeli. With small class sizes, professors like his are able to spend more quality time with students.
“They both helped me through my journey. Whether it was picking classes or asking them, ‘Hey, I have this problem,’ or even going to them for personal things. I have a strong personal connection with them,” he says.
A new Southwest Hall for the Stockton Campus
Southwest Hall stood on campus for just over a century before the current rebuild. The project strives to maintain Pacific’s distinctive, red brick feel, preserving architectural details from the original 1924 building. But students who live there will experience modern benefits in an energy-efficient residence hall.
Among his other jobs, Colin also works for Stockton-based Siegfried Engineering. It’s responsible for the civil engineering and survey engineering at the site, which is why he visits the construction site every Friday.
“My job is to do something called a SWPPP report, a Solid Waste Protection Prevention Plan. Basically, I do weekly inspections. I make sure no dust, dirt or anything gets in the storm drains. They don’t want anything going in there, because that directly feeds into the Delta. I’m here to monitor that, take photos and write reports,” he says.
Colin himself never lived in the prior Southwest Hall, but he knows people who did.
“So, hearing their stories and getting to see the new rendering, it makes me happy,” he says.
A new chapter at Pacific
Although he just graduated, Colin’s not going anywhere just yet. He’s going directly into Pacific’s Master of Science in engineering. After that, he wants to work for a construction management company and, eventually, start his own.
For other students who want to follow in his steps, Colin has a simple piece of advice. It’s the same one that led him to work so many different jobs on and off campus: “Get out there.”
“If you’re interested in the work, be interested in the work. It’s not just about your grades. Be curious, ask a lot of questions. Go to career fairs and find internships. Talk to your professors. They have lots of advice and, possibly, connections in the field that you want to get into,” he says.