Group 8

            Deneb Bosch

Construction Management 3 was a challenging yet rewarding class.  The main topic of the class was Value Engineering.  During the ten week quarter the class learned about the systematic process of Value Engineering and its five phases gather information, brainstorm, analyze, propose and final report.  A very important point of the class was that Value Engineering was not just cost cutting but the balancing of cost, reliability and performance.  The course revolved around a value engineering study of an elementary school less than two and a half miles away from our campus.  The project consisted of three phases.  The first phase had each group determine the basic functions of the building, the project goals and performance levels, the budget based on the Ohio standards and an estimated project schedule. When that was complete each group did a Value Engineering study on the configuration of the building (i.e. building layout) and the placement of the building on the specific property based on a design by a student in the Architectural Engineering Technology program.  The second phase of the project focused on a study of the structural system of the new building.  The groups studied the original system of the AET students design plus two alternative systems and compared them.  The groups decided on a proposed system based on cost, reliability and performance.  The final phase of the project consisted of a study of the roof system and the exterior walls of the proposed design.  Again, we studied the original design and two alternatives for each system.  Each group decided on a proposed system based on cost, reliability and performance.  We also had to present the information we had compiled at different times throughout the course.  Construction Management 3 will help me in my future by applying the specific knowledge of Value Engineering on my projects, using the new presentation skills I have learned along with improving my previous knowledge of presenting and also the teamwork skills I have gained while working with my VE team.

            The knowledge I have learned in Construction Management 3 starts with the aforementioned five phases of Value Engineering.  One of the most important parts of the information phase and maybe the most important part of the VE process is determining the basic functions of a project.  Whether your project is a school and your basic functions are education, safety and security or your project is a hospital and your basic functions are patient care, cleanliness, safety and security your whole VE study revolves around fulfilling those basic functions and eliminating aspects of the project that are not satisfying those basic functions.  An example would be does a small elementary school with no sports teams and plenty of outdoor space really need an indoor gym maybe, maybe not, more evaluation would be needed.  This is one of the key ideas in value engineering and will be extremely valuable in our future.  Brainstorming was used in the VE process to come up with alternate systems that may better satisfy the basic functions of a project.  It is important to note here that not all of the alternative solutions are less expensive than the original but they may have other attractive qualities that make them a better choice.  Like during our roofing study we found out that although we could use a less expensive built-up system the more expensive white PVC roof had properties that would help with the energy cost of the building leading our group to choose that system even though its’ initial cost was more.  The analysis phase was where each group choose the systems they would recommend in their proposal.  In this phase the groups used tools like weighted evaluation and life cycle costing to determine the systems that best fit their criteria.  Even though each group choose similar systems to analyze almost all the groups had chosen different systems for different reasons.  There really is no wrong and right answers in these kind of studies because as long as you have good reasons for you choices and good information to back up those choices than you have a valid proposal to present to your client. 

             The proposal phase of the project was where the groups really got to display and improve their presentation skills.  Each group had to present their findings three times which is the most presentations we have had to give in one class.  Professor Suckarieh was very good about giving the class ideas on how to better our presentations rather than attack individual students’ skills.  Some of the major suggestions were to use at least 22 font on our presentation slides, watch were we stand during our presentation as to not block the slides and to convey a cohesive group and to dress and act professional during all presentations because this was really a rehearsal for something we will be doing a lot during our careers.

            During the quarter the class was given valuable articles and hand outs on how to manage and work with a team.  In the construction industry a lot of the work we do is in teams and it is important to have the skills to function in that environment.  From when we are just starting our career and we just need to fit in and come up with good ideas to when we are more vested and need to make important decisions with those ideas.  One of the things that stood out to me in the articles was that personalities play a big role in team dynamics.  There are those people who are assertive and outspoken and those people can have good ideas but there are also those  people who are more timid and less apt to speak up and you need to let those people have a chance to state their ideas too because they will have good ideas as well.  I also learned about professionalism in a group dynamic.  I missed one of the presentations because of other things I had to take care of and I did not get a hold of my group before the class.  I made myself look bad and I also made my classmates look bad.  I will never do that again because in the real world that could lead to bad co-worker relationships and more importantly it makes our program look bad to other professionals.  It was a big part of my growth in the class and in the program.

            I really do believe that this course will help me in my career because of the Value Engineering knowledge I have obtained, the presentation skills I have learned and the teamwork experience I have gained.  Professor Suckarieh taught the class a lot of valuable information in ten weeks and is always available if we have questions.  He even took the time to teach us useful information about real estate investing.  It tied into the class because we used life cycle costing to determine if a property was a good investment.  He also just wanted to give the class a jump start on our financial future. Construction Management 3 was a very important class for me and my classmates’ future endeavors because it will help us as individuals save money, it will help us save our future companies money and it will not only help us save our clients money but it will also help us build them more efficient and useful buildings.

                                                                                                                                    THANH-AN SAM

       An architect is or can be creative and persistent with his concept idea. That was a challege for this value engineering project. This course is designed to challenge the CM to work with the AET as a team in accepting critique and technique. The CM can only insist with their findings; however, it is up to the AET to accept the proposed idea. Throughout the project, I faced with a difficult idea understanding what value engineering is. We worked together with the AET as a team; however, the result did not have any correlation between this course and AET course. The result the CM presented was only based on the material selections, the cost, and the function; however, I did not see influence the CM had on the AET's project. After this project, it left me with a question whether or not each gained from another. 

    I think it is much better to have the CM and the AET present together in front of the class to make their case/idea much stronger. The result of our project was that the response to changes to the layout was not taken into consideration. By working on the project, I gained a much deeper understanding for value engineering; however, I felt that this course should be concentrating on the way to influence the AET with our findings. In the real work environment, people work together but not everyone is considering another's ideas and findings. Having an architecture experience, I feel that the architect can be unbending when it comes to their idea. It would be better if the CM and the AET meet in between for this project.  From having done this project, I can now balance the design aspect with the value engineering aspect.

  Before taking CM III, I did not have an understanding of what value engineering is. Like everyone else, I thought value engineering is cost cutting. However, I learned from this course about value engineering is focusing on the main idea of the project. This course is extensive in estimating, structural, architectural, and  economics. As mentioned about, I have the experience in architecture. I feel that I contributed architectural information to the group and the others contributed structural and estimating to the group. Working together, we had no problem getting things done on time. I would have liked to express to the group why the AET has such idea for his design; however, we never intended to meet the AET to discuss his design. We did not get a strong argument on his design and the AET thought our design proposal was not strong enough since we followed the focus of value engineering. 

  I have a strong skill in working with people as a team. I am always professional in this area since I expect my teammates to do the same. I cannot expect from someone else what I cannot give. I met my team on time and completed assigned tasks. Through this course, I learned a lot from my project in term of value engineering. I learn to find values for estimated costs, structural, and functions of the project. This course is truly a helpful method to help the students work together and understand more about the construction industry. I learned a valuable experience working with everyone. Some people take the leader role, someone took the mediator role, and someone just want to take part in the team.

Nathen Miller

Construction Management III Reflection

During this class I was faced with different problems and situations.  In my experience the construction industry as a whole is nothing but problem solving.  If someone can problem solve and come up with answers to fix the situation and keep a project moving they will make it in the industry.  I feel that this class more than anything else strengthened that skill in me.  This class made me problem solve in a limited amount of time and produce a quality answer.

The skills that I learned this quarter were not only problem solving but also value engineering.  My eyes were opened up more to the skills of value engineering.  There were many articles that we were provided with to read about the process.  This was a big help to future my understanding of the process.  These really helped during the project of the course because I could not only use the information that I learned in the readings but also go back and reference them if I needed a question answered. 

The team environment is not new to the construction industry and is something that we here at school have been apart of throughout our college carrier.  My team had its ups and downs.  We had scheduling issues from the start.  Every team you are in though has different problems to work out and issues to resolve.  As a whole we worked through them well and were able to complete the goal that the team set.  By putting the little issues aside we completed the project and ended up with a quality project and presentation that was informational.

This course also helped me to develop my written and presentation skills.  Theses are skills that I will use for the rest of my life.  I feel that throughout the quarter my presentation skills more than anything improved and this is a good skill to have in the real world.  Also the understanding that I must always be continuing to improve myself and learn more about what is going on in the industry and also global issues. 

Over all I enjoyed this course and it thought me new skills and helped me to refine old skills.  It gave me life lessons that I will carry with me throughout my career and I will apply in every day life.      

David Boley

Construction Management III Reflection

            At this point in our education, we as students should gain as much as possible from every class that we take.  It is no longer acceptable to aim at passing a course, but rather take everything the course has to offer and apply it towards the rest of our future.  This class has delivered a very challenging work load with a diverse mixture of course material.  This course has challenged myself as a student and strengthened my professionalism.

            This course delivered many different subjects and required knowledge and understanding of all aspects in order to do well.  Economics, Structures, and Estimating were a major focal point for all lectures which required full participation from each of the students.  The course also required in depth reading on Value Engineering throughout the duration of the quarter.  Although it seems trivial, the readings proved to hold an immense amount of information that became very useful later in the quarter.  I paid more attention to detail in these readings and found that I was able to remember a lot more than I did when I would simply scan the articles.  This showed heavily in my favor as I did very well on all of the quizzes and exam questions.

            The work load for this class heavily outweighed that of all other classes and it demanded high levels of concentration and organization to get the teams together and work on the project.  As a team, we faced a few difficulties and communication problems, however we were able to put all things aside and come together to finish the projects and presentations with high quality work.

            As a professional, I feel that I am starting to overcome my weakness of speaking in front of large groups of people.  I have matured as a professional and still demand the best quality work from my colleagues and myself.  After watching other groups, it is becoming increasingly obvious on what to do and what not to do during presentations.  I feel that it is important to focus too much on impressing the judges by shear looks and props, but to rather professionally deliver high quality content.  Again, I feel that it is very important to have confidence in the material that I am delivering because ultimately that is what people are there to hear.

            In conclusion, this course was very informational and enhanced my professional growth.  I feel proud of the effort that I have given and feel that I have done everything with the most of my effort to ensure a high mark for this course.  One of the most fulfilling aspects of this course was the amount of building and municipal code issues that I was able to address.  I was very interested on how to read the code and interpret it and through some research and help from our architect I have become much more knowledgeable on the building codes.