|
|
A Message from the Director:
Christine Fiori, PhD, PE
|
G
reetings, alumni, industry partners, students and colleagues. The faculty, staff and students of the Construction Management Program have been very busy over the past few months as we start the new school year.
We welcomed a new group of students to the Drexel University Construction Management family at both the undergraduate and graduate level, as well as several new faces to the Construction Management Advisory Council. Ms. Jessica Cruz is working hard to ensure our students are successful and Ms. Jessica Atchison is assisting with the administration of all our programs and activities.
Our faculty have been busy engaging with industry, presenting at conferences and working with high school students to promote the field of construction. Specifically, Dr. Kenneth Sands attended the Bluebeam Extreme conference to work with the industry to integrate the latest Bluebeam advances into the curriculum; Dr. Jeffrey Beard presented his paper entitled, “Contracting blunders and innovative regulations of US military construction 1861 to 1918,”at the 6
th
International Construction History Conference in Brussels Belgium; Douglas Carney presented his paper entitled,” A Case for Dynamic Glazing in Pediatric Patient Rooms,” at the GlassCon Innovation in Glass Technology Global Conference in Chicago, IL;and Dr. Kathleen Short participated in the Let’s Build Construction Camp in Allentown, PA to introduce girls ages 14-18 to the world of construction. Lastly, the General Builders and Contractors Association of Philadelphia and the Construction Management Program have nominated Dr. Charlie Cook for the Associated General Contractors of America 2018 Outstanding Educator award.
The newly formed Alumni committee has met and begun to develop new ideas and ways to engage alumni and encourage active participation in Program sponsored activities. Our education and curriculum committee is assisting with development of our senior design sequence and some other courses as well as assisting with accreditation. We continue to work on our new marketing and branding campaign and hope to release a new recruitment video focusing on the difference of Co-op early next fall!
Lastly, as you will read, our Associated Schools of Construction Competition teams took home two first place trophies in the Region 1 competition in Albany last week! Congratulations to these amazing students.
It is an exciting time to be a CM Dragon!
|
|
|
|
Upcoming Events - 2018 Schedule
|
Wednesday November 28, 4:30 PM-7:00 PM
Bossone Research Center, 3rd Floor Atrium
|
Thursday, November 29, 9:00 AM-2:00 PM
Behrakis Grand Hall
|
|
 |
Allan Myers in the Classroom
During the week of October 1
st
there was an invasion in the Construction Management classrooms. It was not a hostile invasion, but a take over by Allan Myers employees. The curriculum take over is a collaboration between the Program and Allan Myers in an effort to present to our students field applications of the material they are learning in the classroom. The Allan Myers employees worked directly with the instructor for each course to develop a classroom session that would engage the students by presenting information from a field perspective.
|
|
|
|
ASC Region 1 Student Competition
The Dragons are on Fire!
Two teams of students from the Drexel University Construction Management Program traveled to Albany, NY on November 8-10th to participate in the Region 1 Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) competition. They returned with a first place finish in the Commercial Building competition out of 10 teams and a first place finish in Heavy/Civil competition out of 8 teams, continuing the era of Drexel dominance at the competition.
|
|
|
|
Technology in Construction
|
|
Is your organization ready for drones?
By Dr. Kenneth Sands
|
Technological innovation in the construction industry is changing traditional workflows to improve efficiency in many ways. One such process-improving technological innovation, includes the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly referred to as drones, on project sites. As covered in the article,
“Is Your Organization Ready for Drones?”
, there are various organizational considerations before adopting drone technology.
Your company must first take an internal assessment of the organization’s resources (including human capital) to understand if there is an opportunity for efficient use of drone technology. Also, an organization must understand whether the use of drones serves as a value add for its processes. If it doesn’t add value to your business, then it’s basically a company toy.
After an internal assessment, your organization needs to identify an individual who eventually will be commercially certified as a UAV operator, which means investment in someone who will need to study for the examination, pass the examination, and will serve as the main remote pilot-in-command (PIC) for flight operations. The examination and training required for passing the Part 107 examination does not involve actual flight operations, which requires a separate training (but no exam). In addition to this, dedicated personnel known as visual observers (VO) may be required to conduct operations, possibly project engineers or other personnel who will be part of your job cost as well.
Then there’s one more major thing, the UAV itself. Do you want a UAV solely for progress photos or do you a more sophisticated device with features such as infrared technology? Also, what will the UAV cost, what parts may need to be replaced often, do I need/want backup batteries, what software are available to make the data captured useful and how much do these software licenses cost, what about liability/risk, how often does my remote PIC need to re-certify, and do we need insurance for operations? All-in-all, the decision to engage in drone operations should not be limited to the first cost of a UAV, there are various considerations that may lead to unintended expenditure if you don’t broaden your analysis and take a deeper look at the true cost of ownership and operations.
With digital natives being at the forefront of technological innovation, it is important that you leverage this generation of practitioners to engage in a discussion about process/workflow improvement, while considering various alternatives. For more information, read the full article in
Construction Today
, a publication of the General Building Contractors Association which can be found
here
.
|
|
|
|
Professor Carney's construction management materials class recently built and tested balsa wood bridges to learn more about structural Dynamics and the types of failures that occur with structural systems.
|
|
|
|
ACE Mentor program is an after school program for high school students that introduces them to careers in architecture, construction management, engineering, and other disciplines.
Driven by the committed and enthusiastic participation of volunteer mentors who are practicing professionals in their respective fields, this is a nation wide effort to encourage students to pursue careers in STEM.
Construction Management Program Director Christine Fiori serves on the Board of Directors for the Eastern Pennsylvania Affiliate of this program, and last year we hosted our first ACE team of 20 students Audenried and Mastery Charter School. Team mentors included Kenneth Sands, Kathleen Short, Andy Signore, Vinny Adamo, Ben Strauch and Josh Loser. Valerie Melecio, an ACE Alumni and Drexel Civil Engineering student also helped with the team.
Drexel is also supporting the ACE program by hosting the 4th Annual Giant Jenga Tournament in the Creese Student Center on Thursday, February 7th.
|
|
|
|
|
Drexel Dragons in the Field
|
|
Construction Management Students in the Field
|
You could win a $20 Home Depot gift card just for tweeting a picture of yourself wearing your Drexel Construction Management hard hat on the job!
Just follow us on Twitter, snap a selfie (or have a friend snap a picture for you) and post it to twitter, tagging
@DrexelUnivCM
. It's that easy! We will be holding quarterly drawings to award the gift card.
All are welcome to participate, but only current Construction Management students are eligible to win the gift card.
|
|
|
|
We build things that matter. The clean water that comes from your faucet, the transportation network that connects you to essential goods and services, the neighborhood where you live and raise your family. We build careers and provide a pathway to the American Dream. We are your neighbors, working every day to improve the world around us, making it Better, Faster, Safe.
|
|
A history of promoting skill, integrity and responsibility. As one of America’s oldest trade associations, we advance commercial construction in the Philadelphia region by serving as a powerful voice, an industry watchdog and a critical resource.
Established in 1891, we are the Philadelphia chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). We provide more than 250 member companies with access to proven advocacy, networking opportunities, safety services, education and training programs.
|
|
|
Sponsorship Opportunities
|
|
If you are interested in having your company featured in our "Sponsor Spotlight"
Contact us
about sponsorship opportunities!
|
|
If you have an idea for a newsletter item, please
contact us!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
