Message from the President |
Dear IISE Construction Engineering and Management Division Members,
As a research engineer that works in an academic environment, I am always interested in the perspective students have of the “real world” once they exit college and work out in industry. I recently came across a video account of a young civil engineer giving his perspective of his expectations and the realities of working in the construction field. The testimonial can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGsBWGA4N2k.
His first expectation coming out of college was that he would use a lot of what he learned in school in the field. In reality, he found that largely to not be the case. He went on to explain that the technical knowledge that he did learn was useful, but only about 20% was directly used in his day-to-day activities. His role as a construction contractor primarily used basic trigonometry and adding/subtracting fractional inches, both of which are skills that don’t require a college degree to learn. A lot of his co-workers did not have degrees and were very capable in their positions. He also found that a lot of the “means and methods” of how things are done are company-specific. Newly hired employees will have a steep learning curve because they must learn how their company does project work and what the specific expectations are. He found it surprising that the amount of knowledge he needed to retain from school was minimal. His current position required about 30% technical knowledge and 70% general working effort.
The second expectation was that the bigger the project he could work on, the better for his career. In reality, he found this to not necessarily be the case. Bigger projects equaled bigger teams and more resources, which were good for the project, but not always the best for his career. Large jobs generally assigned him to one specific area (like concrete), and while he became an expert in that area over the duration of the project, he did not get the opportunity to learn other important aspects of the overall construction project’s needs. He found that, by being put on a smaller project, he was forced to think about the bigger picture and could understand how all the pieces come together. This was more valuable in the long run because he gained a broader level of knowledge and experience, and it lessened the risk of getting pigeon-holed into one area for the next project.
The third expectation he had was that construction is difficult, and he was correct in that assumption. He has found this career path to be stressful with tight schedules, tight budgets, and sometimes a terrible work-life balance. He explained that construction is an experience-based industry, which equals having to work a lot of extra hours, especially early on in a career. He found his job to be very hard on family life and relationships. Another aspect that made the industry be difficult for him was the large number of different people that he had to work with during projects. Not having much experience from school on working with people with many different personality types, experience levels, and differing backgrounds made project work more challenging.
The fourth expectation was that he thought he would not have a say in a lot of the project’s major decisions because he was new. He quickly learned this to be false and felt as though he was “thrown into the fire” from the beginning. He was personally given a lot of responsibility in the beginning, and this was very stressful for new employees. He has found this to be common among his peers, with the general intent to see how they handle a lot of responsibility. In the construction management field, he found that it was his job to pull everything together for a project, and he rarely had mentors for advice. Learning through suffering was his experience in this industry. He had a good outlook about it and saw it as an opportunity to grow and try to find good mentors.
The final expectation was that the higher up the corporate ladder he moved, the less he would have to deal with difficult people. In reality, difficult people are at every level of a company. He found that, as a general rule, he made sure his decisions were for the betterment of the project, and the people he just had to learn to deal with.
We look forward to seeing everyone again at the 2023 Annual Conference scheduled for May 20-23 in New Orleans, LA. The track chairs and board are hard at work planning our track and special sessions. As always, please feel free to reach out to me at ewall@cavse.msstate.edu, or any of the other board members, if you wish to get involved.
Thanks,
Emily Wall, Ph.D., P.E.
President, Construction Engineering and Management Division
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Call for Abstracts for IISE Annual Conference and Expo |
The IISE Annual Conference and Expo will be back in May 2023! We look forward to seeing your abstract submissions, which are due by Dec. 2, 2022, for consideration.
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Mary Margaret Mitchell is a Research Industrial Engineer in the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). She serves as a board member for the IISE Construction Engineering and Management division. This year, Mary Margaret is also serving as Chair for Emerging Technologies for the 2023 Annual Conference’s CEM Track.
Mary Margaret recently graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering. She works on several projects in the ITL’s Institute for Systems Engineering Research, where she applies many of the skills she learned in her Industrial Engineering classes. While at Mississippi State, she became interested in engineering management, specifically from a construction perspective. As the world becomes more interconnected and demand grows, construction engineering will have to evolve continuously. Mary Margaret hopes to contribute to the growing body of knowledge. Belonging to the CEM Division is one way for her to stay connected and aware of advancements in construction engineering and management.
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Hello, everyone!
A recent article that I stumbled across discusses how recent federal investments in infrastructure are encouraging states to adopt advanced digital construction management systems (ADCMS).
The article "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Brings Digital Construction to DOTs" talks about how these ADCMS serve as decision-support tools that can provide data to support engineering managers. Because so many projects in the realm of construction cost more than expected and take longer to finish than expected, the ability to leverage ADCMS may provide stakeholders with a means to examine the entire lifecycle of proposed projects and acquire a better sense of the unique engineering design, management, and sustainment elements inherent in construction engineering applications.
The 2023 IISE Annual Conference and Expo will happen in just over six months (May 20-23, 2023). Abstract submissions are due on Dec. 2, 2022, and you should hear back from the CEM Track Chairs about your submissions’ acceptance status in mid-December. We look forward to seeing you present for the Construction Engineering and Management Track in May, and to gleaning new knowledge about the ways in which you leverage construction engineering and management principles every day.
The Division is always looking for new members to sign up and provide great insights –from industry, academia, government, or somewhere else. Please contact us to find out more about getting involved with the CEM Division today!
Respectfully,
William Leonard
Newsletter Editor
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Call for Entries to Division Newsletter |
What’s going on in the world of construction engineering and management today? Let us know! Contact William Leonard about any content that you think needs to reach the community in the next CEM Division newsletter.
We always value your input in such areas as construction design, value engineering, project management, engineering management, research, safety, and ergonomics. We benefit from any content related to applications of industrial and systems engineering in the construction industry.
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Media and Connect Information
Be sure to follow the CEM Division on social media! We are on LinkedIn (IISE Construction Division) and Twitter (@IISEConstrDiv).
We’ll keep you updated about all the important deadlines for the next IISE Annual Conference & Expo (scheduled for May 20-23, 2023). Be sure to submit your abstract before Dec. 2, 2022, and look out for decisions on abstract acceptance, which will be coming out in mid-December. We look forward to seeing you and the rest of the IISE membership in New Orleans in May. To keep up with all the latest things happening with the CEM Division, please follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. We’ll also keep you apprised of IISE events, workshops, and activities related to industrial engineering and construction.
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