Engineers Week: In-house training sparked a career leading Phoenix-area projects

Jimmy Naujokaitis knew the Arizona Department of Transportation was a good fit for him, even during his first training at the agency.

“I had always hoped to make ADOT a career,” said Naujokaitis, who now serves as a Senior Resident Engineer in ADOT’s Central District in Phoenix.

“With all the different projects I’ve been able to work on over the years, it has been a wild experience,” said Naujokaitis. “But it’s something for which I’m grateful.”

It all came down to getting his foot in the door.

“I was studying civil engineering at ASU and that sparked an interest in transportation engineering. I decided I wanted to work in what’s known as the heavy civil industry, as either a designer or a construction manager,” said Naujokaitis.

He graduated from ASU in 2011, then worked at a local structural engineering firm before another door opened. Jimmy earned a spot in ADOT’s Engineer in Training (EIT) program in the summer of 2013.

“Being in the EIT program meant working in groups ranging from traffic and roadway design to maintenance and materials testing,” said Naujokaitis. “One of the biggest benefits from rotating among specialties was making business contacts that have continued to pay dividends during my career.”

And among the highlights from his training at ADOT?

“The field visits were the highlights,” he said. “There were site visits and field investigations with every group. It could range from a Traffic Design group’s roadway striping review to a Roadway group’s guardrail field inspection. There were valuable months spent working in a construction field office in Flagstaff where I learned a lot by being involved with several projects.”

The experience was an important step in becoming an engineer at ADOT. The EIT program confirmed his interest in staying with the Department.

“I was able to see how each group within the agency interacted and supported each other in the development and construction of roadway projects,” Naujokaitis said. “I was able to work with a number of ADOT engineers and supervisors who all told me to keep learning and to keep asking questions. That’s what I would pass along to future engineers-in-training.”

In fact, he’s already done that. Most recently, Naujokaitis has led teams working on big projects including the reconstruction of the Interstate 17 bridges over Central Avenue; the modernization of the I-17 regional drainage system between Dunlap Avenue and Greenway Road; as well as important pavement improvements along I-17 in north Phoenix. They all involved challenges.

“I’ve had the opportunity to host a number of E-I-T members in our office over the years, knowing how important it is to provide them with institutional knowledge and some wisdom,” said Naujokaitis. “You’ll benefit by being willing to participate, putting in the extra effort and experiencing new things while rotating around the Department. You truly will get out what you put into it.”