Post on 19-Jul-2019
CIVIL ENGINEERING CURRICULUM
� Course: Construction Project Management
� Satisfies the PM student outcome for program (main student outcome)
� Workshop leader and PBL/ACL/EML mentor: Andy Gerhart
� Since there are no civils at this conference, main takeaway from presentation is there is
no “d” in Gerhart
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QUICK DIGRESSION: YOU SAY PECHA KUCHA; CIVIL ENGINEER THINKS MACHU PICCHU
� Don’t think about:
� Presenting
� Marketing
� Sales
� Entrepreneurship
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CONSTRUTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT
� Could be managing construction; also managing design
� Civil and Architectural students: some will be construction based and some design
based—ALL will manage projects
� Project management course—NOT typical engineering design course
� Photo: renovation of small casino on Vegas strip
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PMBOK5: FRAMEWORK FOR COURSE
� Mostly project-based content
� Scheduling
� Changes
� Risk Management
� Logistics Management (MOT)
� Generally discuss concept of “making the business case” pre-initiation processes
� PM’s responsibilities have expanded (not just coordinating/scheduling) for project
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INITIAL SPARK FOR THE PRESENTATION
� Lightbulb is hackneyed; not sufficiently muscular or dangerous or interesting
� Keen Entrepreneurially Minded Learning (EML) workshop
� Converting PBL to EML
� Workshop leader and PBL/ACL/EML mentor: Andy Gerhart
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INITIAL REACTION TO KEEN WORKSHOP: WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?
MORPHED INTO PROBLEM STATEMENT: CIVIL ENGINEERS DO NOT DO WIDGETS
� Knee replacement: Biomedical Engineering
� Engine thing: Mechanical Engineering
� Distribution Equipment: Electrical Engineering
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CIVIL ENGINEERS MAKE MEGA-WIDGETS!
� Dams
� Roads
� Buildings (structure/foundations)
� Bridges
� Electrical Distribution Towers (tower and foundation/anchoring: structural)
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EPIPHANY: HOW TO APPROACH ASSIGNMENT
� Must be in equation form (need an equation or engineers will not understand)
� Need to tie entrepreneurship into expertise
� X = Developing, Marketing, Selling, etc. SERVICES
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INITIAL DISCUSSION WITH PM STUDENTS; PERPLEXED
� No concept of marketing or selling
� What they do is not connected to product development
� Never taken a business course
� Vague understanding if on a competition team—need to advertise and raise money tdr
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WHATEVER THE ASSIGNMENT WOULD BE—NEEDED TO BE TWO COMPONENTS
� Assignment: Asset Management
� Left Brain: Engineering analysis ; spreadsheet (template) creation; separating
components
� Right Brain; Synthesis: making sense of whole; determining benefits and marketing
� Would do over two terms—try with two different classes
� Students need to think about product development
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WHAT ARE ASSETS? WHAT IS ASSET MANAGEMENT? WHY IS IT NEEDED?
Tight coordination means good project management skills
� Gas/Electric: private entities; highly regulated by the state
� Paving: roads, sidewalk
� Stormwater: local; but likely county controls
� Water: hydrant; cutoff valve
� Traffic signals
Basic services
Maintain asset
Limited resources
Tax dollars
Operation and maintenance
Recordkeeping
Legal considerations
PRIVATE OWNERS COULD ALSO EMPLOY ASSET MANAGEMENT
� Usually think of public owners
� Private owners need asset management too
� Universities
� Research campuses (automotive, pharmacy, etc.)
� Manufacturing operations
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COURSE EXECUTION
� Preparation: Online Lectures: 2 lectures; total about 70 minutes
� Preparation: “Articles” used broadly; included EPA asset management introductory
document
� Two guest speakers (supposed to discuss engineering and marketing)
� 1 civil engineer; focus on facility AM (interior)
� 1 mechanical engineer; focus us on exterior asset management (city/county
infrastructure)
� EML execution (Lecture regarding engineering, marketing; initial team discussions)
� Initial discussion; review assignment
� Team discussion; plan of attack
� EML is actually an ACL/PBL
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ASSIGNMENT DELIVERABLES
� Written component: report to boss that includes:
� Overview
� Template with discussion on how to use
� Marketing/sales approach
� Oral component: report to boss and firm
� Left up to students how to present
� Demonstrate template
� Discuss benefits
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EXAMPLE RUBRIC DIMENSIONS USED FOR ASSIGNMENT
� Original rubric tweaked to address entrepreneurship
� TEMPLATE ADAPTABILITY actually includes aspect of entrepreneurship
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ADDED ENTREPRENEURIAL DIMENSIONS TO STANDARD RUBRIC
� Marketing focus: big picture
� Sales focus: selling the product developed
� Had to keep relatively brief; would be more extensive if in a capstone course
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THE POTENTIAL CLIENT
� City of Southfield, MI; suburb of Detroit
� Lower middle class to middle class
� Tax base coming back (improving economy)
� Assets are tired; poor roads, other concerns (Flint water crisis)
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NO TEAM PERFORMED BETTER THAN “MEETS EXPECTATIONS”
� Marketing Strategy: Little demonstration on understanding a “strategy”
� Most did explain benefits; probably just naturally followed a discussion on how to use
the template
� Obviously no research on how to market or sell
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LESSONS LEARNED: IMPLEMENTATION IDEAS FOR 2016 FALL TERM
� Article on importance of marketing—probably won’t read
� Try to better explain to practitioners the SELLING point of their lecture
� Invite a marketing/business development person from a construction or engineering
firm to discuss marketing and selling considerations
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WHAT DO STUDENT ENGINEERS NEED TO TAKE AWAY FROM ASSIGNMENT?
� Diligence at a job means diligence in more than just engineering—it also means
marketing firm services
� Selling yourself is constant—not just to get a job; selling yourself and your firm is a
constant requirement
� “Kings” is (can be) a symbol for people with means or people that control the money
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