Campus Construction as a Research Laboratory: Model for Intracampus Collaboration

Capital construction projects on university campuses produce experience opportunities and archived data. Meanwhile, construction engineering faculty seeks research projects and funding for graduate students who, in turn, seek additional practical experience. In response, symbiotic relationships, between an academic department with construction engineering proficiency and the administrative office that oversees campus construction, have formed at both The University of Alabama (UA) and The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). At each institution, the intracampus collaboration provides funded opportunities and access to projects, which enable graduate students to successfully complete thesis research (M.S. and Ph.D.). Further, campus construction offices at both institutions are also realizing benefits from the collaboration, including a connection to academia, and have committed to continuing the relationship indefinitely. Aimed at helping other institutions establish and benefit from similar collaboration, this paper describes a model for research partnerships made possible by campus construction. The development of a model for intracampus construction collaboration is explained using separate experiences from UA and Penn State. Both positive results and lessons learned are shared.     

Educating Students via Distance Learning for Civil Engineering Design

Two structural engineering courses were taught using distance-learning technology. One course was a graduate level, steel design course and the other was an undergraduate, elective, timber design course. Two-way live video and audio connections linked classrooms at San Jose State University and San Francisco State University. The interaction between student and teacher is discussed. These courses were the first time the California State University system offered students academic credit at either of two universities for a course taught via distance education from a single location. The challenges of teaching engineering design concepts via distance learning are discussed. Assessment of the teaching method was performed using student surveys and review of student grades. The assessment survey revealed that the students’ overall impression was positive. Grades received by the students at the Remote Site were lower than those at the Home Site, but this discrepancy may not have been a result of the distance-learning environment.     

Stringless Portland Cement Concrete Paving

This paper describes results from a study evaluating stringless paving using a combination of global positioning and laser technologies. A concrete paver manufacturer and a machine guidance solution provider developed this technology and successfully implemented it on construction earthmoving and grading projects. Concrete paving is a new area for considering this technology. A concrete paving contractor in Iowa agreed to test the stringless paving technology on two challenging concrete paving projects located in Washington County, Iowa during the summer of 2003. The research team from Iowa State University monitored the guidance and elevation conformance to the original design. They employed a combination of physical depth checks, surface location and elevation surveys, concrete yield checks, and physical survey of the control stakes and string line elevations. A final check on profile of the pavement surface was accomplished by the use of the Iowa Department of Transportation Light Weight Surface Analyzer. Due to the speed of paving and the rapid changes in terrain, the laser technology was abandoned for this project. Total control of the guidance and elevation controls on the slip form paver were moved from string line to a global positioning system (GPS). Results indicate that GPS control is a feasible approach to controlling a concrete paver. Further enhancements are needed in the physical features of the slip form paver hydraulic system controls and in the computer program for controlling elevation.     

The Civil Engineering Resource Library

The delivery of civil engineering projects requires civil engineers to address a broad spectrum of issues generated by both project participants and regulatory agencies. Providing tools that assist team members in addressing these issues through the use of information and knowledge from previous projects may reduce project errors by creating informed decision makers. Recent advances in communications and computer technologies provide the opportunity to enhance professional and student access to these resources. The Civil Engineering Resource Library research effort explores this opportunity by combining an introduction to civil engineering processes with emerging web-based technologies for an electronic classroom supplement. The electronic library uses case studies to provide students with illustrations of emerging civil engineering practices and regulatory compliance strategies.     

Innovative Final-Year Undergraduate Design Project Course Using an International Project

This paper describes the organization and conduct of a 4th year capstone project for civil engineering students at the University of Calgary that embodied a very significant international component and the difficulties inherent to that component. The project design education process results in numerous contributions to university, industry, and society by permitting students to develop innovative design solutions that reflect multicultural influences, while also recognizing that Civil Engineering design is universal. This paper explains the novel approach adopted for the final-year civil engineering design course in 2002–2003 using the largest urban renewal project currently underway in Europe, for which the students had the opportunity to develop designs. The concept, structure, challenges, and contributions as well as the successful outcome of the civil engineering design course are also explained in the paper. Overall, this design project provided the students with valuable experience in communication, design, professional practice, and organizational skills that will be useful in their future careers, in addition to the challenges of dealing with a real and international client of a complex project.     

Evaluation of an Emerging Market in Subsurface Utility Engineering

Subsurface utility engineering (SUE) is a fast growing industry segment in the civil engineering arena. Subsurface utility engineering is gaining credibility as a significant tool to reduce the risk from informational uncertainty associated with underground facilities in a construction project. Subsurface utility engineering can minimize the risk primarily through mapping existing underground utility facilities, utilizing surface geophysical technologies, surveying and data management systems. This paper presents a comprehensive evaluation of SUE to facilitate a better understanding of this emerging industry by the many in the construction domain that are relatively unfamiliar with it. Topics investigated include quality levels in SUE, incorporation of SUE strategy at different stages in the construction project, and cost–benefit analysis of SUE based on 71 actual construction projects where SUE was employed. In addition, the results obtained from questionnaire surveys of State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and the SUE industry are analyzed, which reveal the trend of state DOTs in the use of SUE and various aspects of SUE business in private sectors.     

Bridging the Gap between Academics and Practice: A Capstone Design Experience

As part of graduation requirements, the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison requires a minimum of one three credits course in a capstone design experience. The main objective of this course is to allow students the opportunity of undertaking and completing an open-ended design project. Supervision of the projects is performed by practicing engineers and department faculty. The course is a practice oriented design class that integrates several civil engineering areas. Special emphasis is placed on integrating constructability concepts with structural engineering, mechanical systems, electrical systems, and other project details. Student groups not only complete project designs, but also perform feasibility studies, value engineering, and prepare a construction schedule and cost estimate based on the designs they have generated. The objective of this paper is to describe the senior level capstone design experience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.     

Center for Excellence in Construction Safety

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has funded the establishment of a Center for Excellence in Construction Safety at West Virginia University. The overall objectives of the Center include: (1) The promotion of hazard control components in engineering curricula; (2) the promotion of hazard awareness and safety‐related knowledge and skills specific to the construction industry; and (3) the promotion of the consideration of safety issues during project design for the purpose of reducing injury during construction. Specific tasks to be accomplished by the Center include: (1) The development of course materials and instruction on construction safety for civil engineering students at the undergraduate and graduate levels; (2) the promotion of such course materials for adoption by other civil engineering academic institutions; (3) the design and conduct of projects related to the improvement of current construction practices that would develop design parameters to reduce trauma during the construction phase; and (4) the establishment of techniques for the collection and dissemination of construction safety information, educational materials, developed guidelines, and design criteria to engineers, architects, contractors, and trade unions.     

Best Practices for Integrating the Concurrent Engineering Environment into Multipartner Project Management

The use of the Internet, e-mail, and other technologies has been steadily filtering into the building process, creating a concurrent engineering (CE) environment, and enabling collaborative efforts in the building process. The concurrent engineering environment is established by a variety of tools, including internet accessible servers, e-mail, mobile telephones, and many other existing CE tools. Organizations involved in the construction process recognize the need for assessment of benefits resulting from CE tools, but find the evaluation of these benefits difficult and complicated. The project presented in this paper, “project management and organization in the concurrent engineering environment (ProCE),” is applicable to both researchers and practitioners. The ProCE project developed a measuring model, which may be used by future researchers in this area, attempted to measure benefits derived from using the CE environment in construction design and project management routines, and developed guidelines for best practice implementation by practitioners, based on four case studies. The project included the measurement of both the quantitative and qualitative benefit of CE environment implementation in building construction projects using tools that were readily available through application service providers. Measurement of cost and other quantifiable benefits have been extensively studied. Therefore, the majority of the discussion in the current paper will address the ProCE project’s measurement of qualitative benefits.     

Educating Civil Engineering Professionals of Tomorrow

Engineering education is currently facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Engineering institutions are being called upon to educate the architectural, engineering, and construction (A/E/C) professionals of tomorrow by complementing their traditional engineering education with the transfusion of information technology and process automation concepts through the necessary reorganization of classes and academic curricula. This paper presents a framework for an interdisciplinary course sequence in civil engineering, project management, and information technology centered on the concepts of fully integrated and automated project processes (FIAPP). The described sequence enables students to benefit pedagogically from working in truly multidisciplinary teams, to enrich their educational experience by bringing real world projects to academic settings, and to teach them fundamental principles in integration and automation of project processes highlighting the value of such integrated project management systems (information management, planning, design, construction management, procurement, operations, and maintenance). Furthermore, the course sequence addresses deficiencies in current one-dimensional educational curricula and needs expressed by educators, students, and industry professionals. The paper presents experiences and knowledge gained from the aforementioned academic sequence on FIAPP and on the utilization of three-dimensional computer models and associated databases in the management of A/E/C processes.     

Benchmarking the World Wide Web in Student Collaboration

The introduction of new communication technologies such as the World Wide Web is creating unique opportunities for civil engineering educators to develop new classroom collaboration methods, where student teams can interact remotely in a virtual team environment. Whereas traditional project collaboration requires regularly scheduled face-to-face meetings, technologies such as the Web are introducing concepts such as asynchronous collaboration, remote videoconferencing, and centralized information centers. These remote forms of collaboration introduce a unique set of questions and issues into the civil engineering domain such as the efficiency of the technology and the appropriateness of the technology. This paper introduces one approach to examining these issues through the use of benchmarks developed specifically for analyzing remote collaboration within Web-based teams. This paper introduces and summarizes results from the first 4 years of a benchmarking study focusing on Web-based collaboration technologies within the civil engineering classroom.     

Hydraulic Engineering Education: Evolving to Meet Needs

Washington State University, by virtue of the presence of the Albrook Hydraulics Laboratory, maintains several courses devoted to hydraulic engineering. The evolution of hydraulics offerings reflects the needs of the day. Fluid mechanics was emphasized following the World War II dam construction boom, including hydraulic structures and water hammer problems. Present undergraduate offerings are less detailed and more diverse, incorporating introductory level material from several past courses into fewer classes. Offerings are supplemented by other departments. Such a diversification is indicative of civil engineering curricula in general and reflects the smaller number of faculty specializing in hydraulics. Current graduate offerings are evolving to include partnering with neighboring institutions. Such partnering is an effective way to increase the breadth and depth at the graduate level and continue to offer comprehensive graduate education. For example, a total of 17 graduate courses are available from Washington State University and the University of Idaho. The future will likely require further creative partnering, whether on a regional or on a national basis, with video streaming and distance education. European efforts in the field of hydroinformatics merits more attention and discussion.     

Recreating Romance of Civil Engineering: 2001 Summer Camp at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India

This paper describes an initiative to enthuse undergraduate Civil Engineering (CE) students in India about the profession. Various issues impacting CE students are addressed in a novel approach, the 2001 Summer Camp at IIT Kanpur. A select group of undergraduate students who had completed their second year of the Bachelors program in CE were chosen for the camp from different engineering colleges across the country. The objective of the camp was to provide an exposure to technology through motivation, personality development, fun-filled schedules, and excursions. For one month, through a series of activities, these students (1) interacted closely with the captains of CE industry in India to share their present concerns and future dreams in the CE profession and to understand expectations of the industry and society, (2) visited various sites with impressive engineering projects and some outstanding projects under construction, and (3) took part in diverse technical, nontechnical, and extracurricular activities, such as technical video shows, personality development workshop, debates, quizzes, sports, and entertainment. The camp proved to be an eye opener to all participants, the CE industry, and institutions imparting CE education. A questionnare administered at the end of the camp revealed that the perceptions of the students about the CE profession and their self-esteem underwent a positive change. The camp also helped bring the industry and academia in India onto a common platform.     

Telecommunications and rural health care

Telehealth has many applications, including the education and training of health professionals. This article describes the use of advanced telecommunications technology to educate family nurse practitioners in rural areas of Kansas. Four Kansas universities use compressed video technology (an interactive audio and video system) to offer five common core courses in primary care to students enrolled in FNP programs at the respective institutions. Using technology to educate FNPs in rural communities has resulted in a greater percentage of graduates (approximately 67% of 258 graduates) going to work in rural underserved communities. In addition to learning the course content, students learn to use technology as a tool to access telehealth information and services Knowing how to use these technologies provides greater opportunities to rural health care providers, as well as the recipients of health care.     

Integrating Sustainable Design into Architectural Engineering Education: UNL-AE Program

Given the profound impact of the built environment on the resources of the earth, a growing number of institutions of higher education are preparing engineers to make sustainable design a standard in the construction industry. This paper looks at the diverse ways in which education in sustainable design can be integrated into engineering curricula using the architectural engineering (AE) program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) as a case study example. The UNL program is unique in that it prepares students for careers in sustainable development through a curriculum that promotes both traditional and hands-on, experiential learning. Through coursework, research, workshops, student competitions, and even interaction with the UNL engineering facility, students learn how to make our built environment more sustainable. A key facet of this program is to connect the institution with the local community and industry to give students an opportunity to apply skills learned in the classroom to real-world problems in professional settings. Hence, this “green” integration actually takes place on two levels, within the UNL curriculum itself and within the larger context of the community and industry. Together, academia, the industry, and the community are preparing engineers to help ensure a more sustainable future for our world.     

Virtual Teams: Guide to Successful Implementation

The successful initiation and execution of a virtual team is gaining increasing attention in the design and construction community. From opportunities to integrate international and multidisciplinary teams to the opportunity to leverage the best resources in an organization on a given project, virtual teams can transform the concept of project planning and execution. However, potential barriers exist in several areas to the successful implementation of virtual teams. The needs of increased management emphasis, social and cultural understanding, and emphasis on common goals are only a few of the nontechnical factors that can turn successful virtual teaming into virtual frustration. When combined with traditional technical challenges including compatibility of systems, security, and the selection of appropriate technologies, the line between leveraging virtual technologies for enhanced solutions and introducing additional complications into the project process is one that can be easily crossed. This paper presents the findings of research that addresses the opportunities and potential barriers to successful virtual teams in the engineering, procurement, and construction industry. Combining results from current research, industry practices, and early results from nonconstruction industries, the research findings provide an initial path to successful virtual team implementation.     

The Pavement Enterprise at Michigan Technological University

A project-based student Enterprise program was established at Michigan Technological University as part of an effort, funded by the National Science Foundation, related to reform of engineering education. The Enterprise program represents a separate degree track available in all departments of the College of Engineering. The Pavement Design, Construction, and Materials (Pavement) Enterprise was established in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in conjunction with the Thompson Scholars program. The Thompson Scholars program is an asphalt-paving-industry-supported scholarship program. The Pavement Enterprise is composed of a team of students that work in a businesslike setting on projects related to the asphalt paving industry. In addition to their project activities, students are required to participate in paid summer internships in associated industries and organizations. An Advisory Board composed of industry and government leaders meets three times a year to provide advice, guidance, and feedback to the students and associated faculty. The team project activities of the Pavement Enterprise prepares graduates for careers in the pavement engineering field with knowledge and skills well beyond their peers in the traditional civil engineering curriculum. These team projects incorporate “active learning” techniques into the program. The performance of the Pavement Enterprise is demonstrated using student attrition as well as a peer review. Lessons learned in the operation of the program are presented for those institutions considering a similar program.     

Architectural Engineering Curriculum at Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly, the University of Missouri-Rolla) began a Bachelor of Science degree program in architectural engineering in the fall of 2002. The 4-year academic program’s curriculum at Missouri S&T requires the students to complete 128 semester credit hours during a period of eight semesters, with options for technical electives in one of four focus areas: structural engineering, construction engineering and project management, environmental systems for buildings, and construction materials. This paper presents the architectural engineering curriculum at Missouri S&T. It discusses the objectives of the curriculum, the constraints upon its structure, along with challenges that faced the establishment of an architectural engineering program.     

Use of Multimedia and the World Wide Web in Civil Engineering Learning

The case study method, which has been proven to be a very useful learning tool, can be further enhanced with the use of multimedia and the World Wide Web. This paper demonstrates multimedia and Web-based enhancement with the design and construction of a port, a large-scale civil engineering project. The main purpose was to create an educational tool that brings into the classroom a “real-life” design and construction problem, including the construction field, operation of equipment, and details of construction methods. This enables civil engineering students to better understand the details of the planning, design, and construction of a complicated project. Furthermore, through the use of evaluation tests, feedback on the students’ understanding of the case study can be provided to both the students and the educator. This application can be expanded beyond an academic environment for use as a learning tool in a business environment, which may be especially beneficial for new engineers.