Knowledge and Reasoning for MEP Coordination

The coordination of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems is a major challenge for complex buildings and industrial plants. The process involves locating equipment and routing connecting elements for each building system. This multidiscipline effort is time-consuming and expensive and requires knowledge regarding each system over the project life cycle. Current practice requires representatives from each MEP trade to work together to identify and resolve interferences. Effective MEP coordination requires recalling and integrating knowledge regarding design, construction, operations, and maintenance of each MEP system. Currently, designers and constructors use tailored CAD systems to design and fabricate MEP systems, but no knowledge-based computer technology exists to assist in the multidiscipline MEP coordination effort. The paper describes results from a research project to capture knowledge related to design criteria, construction, operations, and maintenance of MEP systems and apply this knowledge in a computer tool that can assist designers and builders in resolving coordination problems for multiple MEP systems.     

黄金行业科研管理探析

科研管理是指科研管理者对科研人员从项目申请到项目实施、完成的全过程管理,是一个有着众多变量关系的动态管理,是一项集策划、协调和服务于一体的活动.科研管理的主要要素包括科研管理体系建设、科研规划与计划、科研人员与资金调配、项目监管与协调、文化建设等.在分析中国黄金行业科研管理面临新形势基础上,提出了黄金行业科研管理需解决...     

Project Management is a Capital Investment Process

The paper reviews the results of recent research work at UMIST, United Kingdom with a major global energy company that has an ongoing need for engineering based capital investment projects. The research studied the company’s project culture and its concept of project management. In the course of this research there was evidence of a potentially significant holistic approach to improving the connection between corporate strategy and project strategy to secure the development of the business and improve its capital investment performance. The derived concept presented of a development process, places management in project mode in the context of business development and suggests the key benefits that can accrue.     

Optimal Project Organizational Structure for Construction Management

This study relies on the trend model to investigate various modes of coordination among team members of construction projects. According to the project network developed based on the characteristics of a project, the trend model establishes an activity relationship matrix (ARM) to identify the activity relationships within the construction process. ARM is used to construct an organizational structure for project management and a communication resistance matrix that shows the efficiency of communication and coordination among the members of the project team. To evaluate various organizational structures and their coordination efficiencies, this study utilizes the analytical hierarchy process to quantify the strength of an organizational structure and identify the optimal structure for project management. Through quantitative modeling of communication efficiency among organizational team members, an objective function for calculating the total resistance index is used to determine the optimal organizational structure available to execute the project. This study demonstrates how the trend model may be applied in the future for evaluating the coordination efficiencies of various organizational structures.     

Construction Coordination Activities: What Is Important and What Consumes Time

Coordination is an important function in the building process. Recent research has shown that poor or inadequate coordination is the best that is achieved on construction sites. Nevertheless, many authors of textbooks on construction project management have not discussed this vital topic. A literature review carried out in this present study revealed that there is a lack of formal understanding on how day-to-day coordination is actually achieved on a construction project. This research was directed at identifying what activities are performed to achieve coordination and, which among those are the most important and more time-consuming for a construction coordinator. In the absence of previous research, texts on the duties and responsibilities of project managers, clerks of works, construction engineers, etc., were reviewed from the contractor's project manager's perspective during the building phase of a construction project, and an array of issues relevant to achieving coordination were identified. Initially, the array included 64 coordination issues; a questionnaire was developed for construction project managers to indicate the relative importance and time consumed on a 3 point scale (i.e., high, mid or low). Thirty-three responses received from practitioners in the Hong Kong and Singapore construction industries indicate that identifying strategic activities and potential delays and ensuring the timeliness of all work are the most important activities. Conducting regular meetings and project reviews and analyzing the project performance, detecting variances and dealing with their effects (16th and 17th, respectively in order of importance) appear to be the most time-consuming activities.     

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.     

Project Management Application for Engineering Program Accreditation Preparation

This paper presents guidelines for applying project management tools and techniques to the process of preparing for a program accreditation site visit. The premise of the paper is that the proven tools and techniques of project management are effective in managing all the steps required in accreditation preparation as well as postvisit followups. The basic lesson offered by the paper’s approach is that accreditation preparation should not be turned into a last-minute crash project. Rather, proactive preparation steps should be instituted early to facilitate communication, cooperation, and coordination of the entire process. The guidelines provided in the paper are useful not only for program review, but also for continuous process and curriculum improvement. The paper cites two graduate program examples of Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. preparation at the Air Force Institute of Technology.     

Developing a Draft Schedule Using Templates and Rules

The effort required for the initial drafting of a plan is often a real barrier to developing a useful and high quality schedule for a construction project. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate how an expert system with an editable rule base can be combined with standard templates of modifiable, predefined knowledge within a project management system in order to generate draft schedules based on limited user input. The user can capitalize on past experience by creating a template for each recurring project type. The knowledge contained in the templates is broken down into a physical view (i.e., what is being built), a process view (i.e., how it will be built), and rules for scaling the templates and computing durations based on user input. The physical view is a hierarchical breakdown structure of components that describes (without quantifying) the physical and spatial characteristics of the project type. The process view contains a list of typical activities and the logic relationships that describe their sequencing. The rules serve to link and then expand the two views in order to generate a draft schedule for the project-at-hand once its scale is specified. The feasibility and capabilities of the proposed approach are demonstrated in the context of a full-sized project composed of three buildings.     

Organizational Alternatives for Large Projects

Organizing large construction projects can be as confusing and challenging as managing them. Many organizational variations are possible. This paper describes five major organizational alternatives and reviews the advantages and disadvantages of each. The alternatives include: (1) Strong functional organization; (2) functional organization with area coordination; (3) functional organization wth area management; (4) area management with craft discipline staff; and (5) autonomous area organization. This paper also proposes a method for selecting a project organization that involves developing organizational criteria and using these criteria in an evaluation matrix. Such a process could aid managers in meeting the challenge of effective project organization.     

基金会现场总线技术在工程设计中的应用

在制造业数字化转型的浪潮下,工业过程控制系统产生的工业数据在企业生产运营管理中的价值日益提升,规模化应用现场总线技术是提高工业过程控制系统数字化水平的重要手段。基金会现场总线技术能够提供优于传统硬接线方式的传输速率和稳定性,收集更多与生产相关的数据用于生产管理和运维。文章总结了基金会现场总线技术的工程应用优势,并结合某中非铜钴选冶项目的实践案例,论述了在工程设计工作中采用基金会现场总线技术作为工业过程控制系统解决方案的工作内容和相关注意事项。     

Design Review Checking System with Corporate Lessons Learned

Design reviews are critical to the success of a construction project. They eliminate costly rework and conflicts, and promote creative and innovative design and construction. This paper discusses a unique way to improve design reviews by gathering and including direct corporate experience that can be used company- and industry-wide. The Design Review Checking System (DrChecks) and the system called Corporate Lessons Learned (CLL) were developed by the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory to collect personal experiences and lessons learned on projects and incorporate these data into corporate knowledge, expressly for the design review process. DrChecks provides a framework for a standardized review process. Typically, exchanges of personal experience and knowledge have occurred informally by word of mouth. With DrChecks and CLL, direct personal experience can be collected into a database while the design review process is on-going. Lessons learned, success stories, and good work practices, which can be identified easily by experienced staff members, can then be shared throughout the organization. DrChecks and CLL both take advantage of the Internet and facilitate the management of design review process and the collection and reuse of corporate lessons learned asynchronously and remotely.     

Joseph B. Margolin (1921-2006).

Presents an obituary for Joseph B. Margolin. In the 1940s, Margolin was in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. During that period, he was stationed at an Army hospital in California, and it was there that he developed an interest in clinical psychology. After being discharged, he returned to New York, where he received his doctorate in clinical and social psychology from New York University in 1954. He was always interested in combining his clinical activities with professional and political involvement, and held several positions including president of the District of Columbia Psychological Association, chair of the Maryland Board of Examiners for Psychologists, and staff member of the 1960 White House Conference on Children and Youth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhancing Civil Engineering Education and ABET Criteria through Practical Experience

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has adopted a revised set of criteria for accrediting engineering programs. Nevertheless, as in the past, civil engineering departments will be required to demonstrate proficiency in specific subject areas which are included in the ABET program criteria. This paper investigates how civil engineering students at Lamar University improved their understanding of various subject areas required by ABET and listed in the Program Criteria for Civil and Similarly Named Engineering Programs and the General Criteria (professional component) by being involved with cooperative, part-time, and summer work experiences. In particular, the findings suggest that both undergraduate and graduate students believe that three areas have been greatly enhanced with engineering work. They include structural engineering, project management/scheduling and estimating, and teamwork. In addition, undergraduates perceive that their understanding of health and safety issues and ethical considerations has also increased. In contrast, graduate students believe that their knowledge of hydraulics, hydrology, and water resources, constructability, and economic factors has been enhanced by civil engineering work experiences.     

Management of Daily Progress in a Construction Project of Multiple Apartment Buildings

This paper presents the methods used and a case study of a project management system (PMS) to manage daily progress in the construction of multiple apartment buildings in South Korea. A dilemma encountered in previous research in the field of progress management is that efforts to enhance data accuracy cause the data handling workload to soar. A main feature of the method presented by the writers for calculating the budgeted cost work schedule is to allocate the project budget into control attributes, activities, and tasks that are defined in a work-packaging model, according to daily weight value. The method offers enhanced practicability by reducing data-handling workloads while not sacrificing the rationale of progress management. The work-packaging model is designed to enable project managers to acquire and process data for progress management at various levels of detail. The budgeted cost of work performed is measured daily at the tasks level using the earning percentage rate from daily work reports. The implementation of PMS focuses on functions to distribute the budget according to daily weight values and acquire the earning percentage from the daily work report. The PMS was applied to a construction project of 54 apartment buildings in South Korea. The case study of its use shows that company headquarters and managers in the field can acquire data for progress management without additional data-handling workloads, and can analyze the progress daily at various levels of detail.     

Implementation of Project Management in Public Engineering Organization

The Bureau of Engineering is a part of the City of Los Angeles' Department of Public Works and is responsible for the planning, design, and construction management of capital improvement projects for the city. In February 1997, the Bureau of Engineering executive staff and the Board of Public Works mandated a dramatic shift to improve project delivery. All of the non-wastewater elements of the Bureau were organized into a program-based matrix organization with a Project Manager as the focus for project delivery with project conception-to-conclusion responsibility. This paper describes the project management method of project delivery being implemented at the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering and explains the implementation elements and their status. The paper reviews the new project management organizational structure and the organizational options considered by the Bureau. The work details the roles and responsibilities for the project delivery team members. The new tools used to manage projects are described, and the problems and solutions encountered are documented for use on future engineering management efforts.     

Development of Causal Model of Construction Accident Causation

Accidents occur in all types of construction activities. The accident causation process is complex. Accident prevention requires a comprehensive understanding of this complex process. This paper proposes a conceptual, but practical, model of accident causation for the construction industry, highlighting the underlying and complex interaction of factors in the causation process. The model describes the constraints and responses experienced by the parties involved in project conception, design, and construction, which may affect accident causation. This paper details theoretical findings of research currently being conducted at UMIST. Both proximal and distal factors are considered (for example, operative factors, site environment and systems of work, and project management and organizational issues). A study of 500 accident records provided by the U.K. Health and Safety Executive shows that accidents in construction projects involve inappropriate construction planning (28.8%), inappropriate construction control (16.6%), inappropriate construction operation (88.0%), inappropriate site condition (6.0%), and inappropriate operative action (29.9%). Data currently available are, in some respects, inadequate and will need to be supplemented, in the future, by extended accident investigations.     

Cladding Systems: Technological Change and Design Arrangements

The growing use of technologically complex building components is changing the traditional pattern of design roles, activities, and responsibilities. By describing the characteristics of thin stone veneered cladding systems, the paper discusses the delivery challenges of this technology. Its design and engineering process, as it was observed in practice, consists of three main tasks: design definition, design finalization, and design realization, each characterized by its own intents and leadership. The observed process is a continuum that spreads these tasks throughout the construction activities of a project. It is implemented with multiple contributions of specialty subcontractors and manufacturers that need to be coordinated. Current American Institute of Architects (AIA) standard agreements assume that the design process is concluded ahead of construction and individually developed. These agreements do not properly address the coordination of the shop drawings submitted by subcontractors. New contractual agreements and the management of building projects should recognize the changing intents of the tasks comprising the design process and the role of subcontractors and manufacturers, define the nature of their design work, and assign related responsibilities for performance and authority for design coordination.     

Work Structuring to Achieve Integrated Product–Process Design

This paper presents “work structuring,” a term used to describe the effort of integrating product and process design throughout the project development process. To illustrate current work structuring practice, we describe a case study involving the installation of door frames into walls in a prison. We analyze why various problems existed. To improve the work structuring effort, we apply the “five whys” to develop local and global fixes for the system of precast walls and door frames. The five whys is a technique to elicit alternative ways of structuring work without being constrained by contractual agreements, traditions, or trade boundaries. We discuss the importance of dimensional tolerances in construction and how these affect the handoff of work from one group of workers to the next. We argue that these constraints and tolerance management practices are so embedded that project participants can miss opportunities to better integrate product and process design. We propose shifting the focus of work structuring from maximizing local trade efficiency to improving overall performance in the delivery system of a capital project.     

Innovation in Construction Engineering Education Using Two Applications of Internet-Based Information Technology to Provide Real-Time Project Observations

Improvements in construction engineering education result when innovative information technologies are incorporated into academic curricula. Through the use of internet-based communication technologies, no longer must students physically travel to a construction project site to observe and hear construction operations. This paper discusses two applications of internet-based, audio and video technologies currently being piloted at Iowa State University (ISU) and at the University of Calgary (UC) for the purpose of bringing live construction projects into the university classroom. Virtual Project Tours have been piloted at Iowa State University in which real-time video and audio are delivered from active construction projects to a remote classroom through the internet. The second application discussed in this paper, Virtual Supervision, is being piloted at the University of Calgary and consists of the monitoring and analysis of construction projects by using imagery gathered by web-enabled, digital cameras of fixed location transmitting video through the internet. This paper also presents a vision of a globally networked organization of engineering and construction education institutions each sharing the unique engineering and building techniques of their respective part of the globe with design and construction students located around the world. This exchange of construction project observations among the institutions will be enabled by the internet-based applications of virtual project tours and virtual supervision systems described in this paper.     

Interferon-alpha in the idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome: consideration of five cases

A consortially developed continuing education series for rural nurses was implemented using videoconferencing technology. This article provides an overview of distance education technologies, the history and goals of the demonstration project at Edinboro University, and the coordination activities and instructional issues faced by the faculty. Participants became acquainted with distance education technology as they developed a process for program development, delivery, evaluation, and for awarding continuing education credits. The project was well received by instructors and students and testified to previous findings in the literature that distance education is a viable delivery system in terms of a teaching tool, learner satisfaction, and cost effectiveness.