BCS holds Third Annual Awards & Recognition Banquet

May 13th, 2013 Comments Off

The Building Construction Science Program held the Third Annual Awards & Recognition Banquet on Friday, May 10, 2013. Friends, supporters and alumni joined the students, faculty and guests for the event, held at The Ritz in West Point.

The event has been sponsored for five years by Billy Painter, Vice President for the Construction Division of Regions Insurance Group Inc.

The banquet honored scholarship and award recipients in the program as well as this year’s graduating seniors.

The Class of 2013!

Class of 2013:
Kyle Barnes
Matt Boehm
Trey Jacobs
Tashun Jones
Adam Moore
Mason Phillips
Chad Schwarzauer
Mark Simpson
Brad Smith
Luke Stoker
Tabitha Townsend
Adam Trautman
Bo Walters
Terrance Watson

Bo Walters, left, was the recipient of the 2013 Director’s Medallion. Walters stands with Dr. David C. Lewis, interim director.

Director’s Medallion:
The recipient of the Director’s Medallion is a fourth-year student chosen by the faculty and director. Selection criteria include academic effort, participation, leadership abilities, strong moral character and a concern with the sustainability of the program. He or she must work diligently in the classroom, participate in BCS extracurricular activities and be a role model to students.
2013 Director’s Medallion Recipient: Bo Walters

2013 Students of the year include (left to right): Adam Moore (fourth-year), Devin Compher (third-year), Allie Salas (second-year) and Jackson Parker (first-year).

Students of the Year:
One student from each studio level is selected as the Student of the Year based on Academic Performance. The student with the highest Grade Point Average at the conclusion of the fall semester receives this award.
First-Year: Jackson Parker
Second-Year: Allie Salas, second-time recipient
Third-Year: Devin Compher, third-time recipient
Fourth-Year: Adam Moore , third-time recipient

Scholarship recipients are acknowledged at the banquet.

Scholarship Recipients:
• Abbey Burnett Bridges Endowed Scholarship ($1,000): Devin Compher
• Associated Builders and Contractors Scholarship ($1,000): Joseph Witherspoon
• Hearin Foundation (renewal, $5,000 each): Savannah Harvey, Allie Salas
• Boral Bricks Scholarships ($1,000 each): Savannah Harvey, Josh Moore
• Chip & Jennifer Crane Endowed Scholarship ($1,000): Josh Rushing
• Kline Mechanical Systems Annual Scholarship ($1,000): Owen McVitty
• State Board of Contractors Scholarships ($2,000): Owen McVitty
• State Board of Contractors Scholarships ($1,000 each): Josh Moore, Josh Rushing

Building Construction Science students learn by doing

May 1st, 2013 Comments Off

Mississippi State University junior Thomas Vinton, of Decatur, Ala., left, and senior Taylor Britt, of Madison, are among building construction science majors completing renovations of Howell Hall. The work is sponsored by the Mississippi State Board of Contractors’ Construction Education Fund. Photo by: Beth Wynn

(Story by Leah Barbour | University Relations)

To best direct teams of construction workers, site managers need to know how to do the work, too.

With that concept in mind, building construction science majors at Mississippi State are getting hands-on experience by renovating the interior of Howell Engineering Building, a two-story, 1940s-era brick building. In addition to learning theories of reliable decision making and problem solving, students are applying their knowledge in an actual work setting.

Assistant professor Tom Leathem said MSU is one of only two construction management programs in the country that offer a studio-based curriculum conducive to providing hands-on work experiences as part of the classroom environment.

“It’s talked about in construction education — that the field is plagued by a shortage of a skilled labor workforce,” he said. “When I started teaching, I saw students didn’t know the difficulties of the craft because many of them have never been exposed to construction prior to entering the program.”

The BCS program, part of MSU’s College of Architecture, Art and Design, moved into Howell about two years ago. Student interns have taken out walls, added new ceilings and put in flooring, among other related tasks.

“We received funding from the Mississippi State Board of Contractors’ Construction Education Fund, and it’ll pay for the rest of the work we’re planning on for the summer,” Leathem said. “The funds help us purchase materials and tools and pay the student workers to do the work.”

The project is part of an elective course Leathem will offer during the summer term: Craft of Construction.

“Students have to do all the preparatory work before they do the physical work; they have to figure out how much time and how much it’s going to cost. Then, they are required to apply the theory-based ideas and compare the physical activity to what they were anticipating,” Leathem said. “It’s what they’re going to have to do in construction management when they get into their careers.”

While Leathem is in charge of scheduling and coordinating the budget, he said the students are responsible for completing the work, including adding concrete and masonry, updating electrical and mechanical equipment, and installing woodwork and flooring.

“We want the students to realize what they’re doing here is implementing the master plan, not putting a Band-Aid on something,” he said. “This now is our space that the public is going to see, and it’s going to be seen by a lot of people.

“This is something our students can take pride in, and when they graduate, they can come back and show off.”

Leathem expressed appreciation to the state contractors’ board and its Construction Education Fund for giving students the opportunity to work.

Read the story at WCBI.com!

Fourth-year BCS students present final projects

April 30th, 2013 Comments Off

 

For their final project, the senior BCS students in Michele Herrmann’s studio were asked to select a project similar in type to what they anticipate working on when they begin their careers.

They were then asked to develop a project estimate, overall schedule and propose and negotiate a contract that could be no longer than one page in length. They were then asked to produce a detailed three-week look ahead schedule.

The class developed equipment, weather and/or labor problems for each student to encounter during that three-week period, and each student had to react and adjust to the problems.

Students presented their final projects on Monday, April 22 in Howell Building.

Tony Carroll of Sanderson Construction served as a guest juror.

Second-year BCS students present final projects

April 30th, 2013 Comments Off

BCS student Savannah Harvey, right, presents her collaborative project for the guest reviewers.

Second-year Building Construction Science students in Professor Chris Cosper’s studio presented their collaborative projects on Tuesday, April 23, in Giles Hall.

The students worked on intermittent assignments throughout the semester with the third-year architecture students, allowing both studios time to work independently and as a team. In addition to BCS Professor Chris Cosper, AIA, the faculty included architecture professors Alexis Gregory, AIA; Emily McGlohn, and Todd Walker, FAIA.

The group worked on a project for a Community Arts Center project located in Birmingham, Ala. The students researched and created the project programs consisting of three different focus areas for the Community Arts Center – Film/Performing Arts, Visual Arts and Historic/Industrial Arts. The architecture students were allowed to choose one of the three possible program types, and they used this to create their building design. The students were also tasked with utilizing brick as a major component in their building but in a new and innovative way.

The reviewers of the student work included Glen Clapper, AIA, architectural services manager for the Brick Industry Association in the Southeast Region; Patrick Nelson, AIA, and Jermaine Washington, principals of Regarding Architecture in Birmingham; Brittany Foley, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, project architect with Williams Blackstock Architects in Birmingham; Matt Foley, NCARB, LEED AP, associate at Davis Architects in Birmingham; and Roy Decker, principal of Duvall Decker Architects P.A. located in Jackson.

The “final” review did not mean an end the BCS students’ work. In addition to their collaborative work, the BCS students worked on a separate project that includes a construction sequence, a construction schedule, a quantity take-off of specific structural items and a cost estimate of the same structural items. The students were assisted by BCS Advisory Council members Bill Burnett and Robert Robison, who spent a studio class with the students answering project-related concerns.

Students hard at work on their collaborative projects:

Final reviews:

First-year BCS students end the year with final project

April 26th, 2013 Comments Off


First-year Building Construction Science students in Professor Chris Monson’s Studio B (BCS 1126) recently finished their final projects for the semester.

For the project, they worked on developing a construction sequence for four specific parts of a large, multi-purpose studio building and parking ramp just east of Howell Building and the MSU water tower.

The site included a very limited area for construction layout and logistics.

Project content included a large retaining wall, a precast concrete parking deck, long-span steel trusses and a custom site-cast concrete cladding system.

Third-year BCS students present final projects

April 25th, 2013 Comments Off

Professor Tom Leathem critiques a third-year BCS student’s final project for the year.

Building Construction Science (BCS) students in Professor Tom Leathem’s third-year studio presented their final projects for the year on Wednesday, April 24.

Students’ poster presentations demonstrated their work over the semester in estimating, scheduling and aspects of project controls such as the people, process and forms involved in contractor pay applications and the submittal process. With respect to scheduling and estimating, their work was focused on the latest technologies/softwares used for this work and incorporating building information modeling (BIM).

The presentation boards the students developed were unique in that this was the first time any of them have presented work in this format, which is a common presentation format for design students. Support was provided by Hans Herrmann, professor in the School of Architecture; David Lewis, associate dean for the College of Architecture, Art, and Design and interim director for BCS; and Laura Mitchell, office associate for BCS.

The project focused around the construction of a two-story office building provided to students in the way of a Revit Model that they used to get all their information for estimating, scheduling and materials. Software used in the project consisted of Microsoft Project, Autodesk Revit, Trimble Vico, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.

BCS professor participates as advisory board member for science grant at Stanford

April 23rd, 2013 Comments Off

Christopher Monson, RA, LEED AP, Assoc. DBIA

Christopher Monson, associate professor of Building Construction Science, recently participated as an advisory board member for a National Science Foundation grant currently underway at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.

The “Design.Loft STEM Project” is introducing middle school students to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) engineering careers during intersession camps. Its inspiration is the “Design for the Other 90%” movement where professional designers, engineers, scientists and technologists devise low-cost solutions for people around the world who lack basic services and products. In the three-year D.Loft project, Stanford University students will learn design thinking methods, work with middle school students on creating design solutions to local community problems and introduce the idea of STEM careers to these underserved students who traditionally don’t study STEM subjects in college.

Monson was joined on the grant advisory board by Dr. Karen Cole, director of STEM learning design at the District of Columbia Public Schools in Washington, D.C.; Peter Han, founder of Inventors Without Borders, who works with design solutions and youth in Houston, Texas; Ben Grossman-Kahn, a design thinking expert with Nordstrom, Inc. in Seattle, Wash.; and Caroline Payson, the Director of Education at the Smithsonian Institution Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City, NY. The principle investigators on the NSF grant from Stanford University include Dr. Shelley Goldman, professor in the School of Education; Dr. Sheri Sheppard, professor of Mechanical Engineering and a senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; and Dr. Bernie Roth, professor of Mechanical Engineering and a founder of Stanford University’s famed design school called the “d.school.”

BCS students build sample masonry panels

April 15th, 2013 Comments Off

(Photo by Professor Chris Cosper)

(Photo by Professor Chris Cosper)

As part of the Architecture-Building Construction Science collaborative/tectonic studio, second-year BCS students recently built sample masonry panels.

After researching standard and innovative masonry construction, the students designed, estimated and scheduled work on the masonry panels. The panels were not only a valuable educational experience for the BCS students, but they also helped the architecture students better understand wall section drawings.

The collaboration has continued as the BCS students have redlined the architecture students drawings.

Columbus Brick Company donated 1,000 bricks, a cubic yard of sand and mortar to facilitate the project.

BCS professor leads workshops in South Africa

March 21st, 2013 Comments Off

Professor Chris Monson, left, during one of the workshops

Chris Monson, associate professor in the Building Construction Science Program, recently led two days of instructional workshops in Cape Town, South Africa, for construction educators interested in applying studio-based learning in their coursework.

The workshops, titled “What Is a Construction studio?” and “Designing a Construction Studio Problem,” were hosted by the Association of Schools of Construction of Southern Africa (ASOCSA) and the ESKOM Center for Applied Research and Innovation (CARIN) at the University of Johannesburg.

Ten construction academics from institutions across South Africa participated, including faculty from the University of Cape Town, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the University of Johannesburg, the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Pretoria.

Faculty participants were introduced to studio-based learning through a hands-on collaborative project and then developed their own series of construction studio projects through multiple iterations.

Fourth-year BCS students visit New York City

March 14th, 2013 Comments Off

4th-year BCS students at Newtown Creek

Mississippi State Building Construction Science students in Michele Herrmann’s fourth-year studio recently went on a trip to New York City. Below is a breakdown of the trip:

Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant

Tour Guides:
• Jim Pynn, Plant Superintendent – NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Wastewater Treatment
• Nat Federici, P.E., Accountable Manager – NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Engineering Design & Construction

Tour Highlights
• First, a presentation about the processes involved with treating the wastewater
– Newtown Creek is the largest of NYC’s wastewater treatment plants, serving lower Manhattan and Brooklyn (1 million residents in a 15,000-acre drainage area)
– From the farthest point in the system, it takes 26 minutes for material to reach the plant (in a predominately gravity-fed system)
• Also part of the presentation – an overview of the 10+ year expansion of the facility – all while the plant was fully functiona
– The $5 billion expansion began more than 10 years ago
– Scheduled for completion by 2014 – the project is currently ahead of schedule
• Then, the tour/sprint/marathon.
– Jimmy was incredibly passionate, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic about his job. He “walked” at a near sprint – even up the stairs. He gave the group a tour of the entire plant and pointed out specific places in the facility that have been used in recent movies and television shows.
– The highlights of the facility are the visually iconic digester eggs.
– 8 eggs, clad in stainless steel
– Under the eggs is a 9 foot thick concrete slab
– Each egg took up to 3 months to weld together
– The eggs digest sludge – organic material removed from sewage. The digested sludge can be further processed and is used as fertilizer
• Website for Additional Info: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/environmental_education/newtown_wwtp.shtml

Newtown Creek


Both the following site tours were compliments of Turner Construction Company. The group also had lunch at Turner’s office which included a presentation about Turner and its use of building information modeling (BIM).

DSNY Garage (Department of Sanitation of NY)

  • on the West Side Highway at Spring Street
  • Turner was serving as a Construction Manager – advising and representing the owner, but not responsible for the construction itself
  • $200 million garage with office spaces for DSNY on a 2 acre site purchased from UPS
  • 11,000 tons of steel
  • $9 million in stainless steel or epoxy coated rebar (all horizontal rebar)
  • poured-in-place wheelstops and reinforced walls to prevent a rolling sanitation truck from breaking through the exterior wall
  • anticipated LEED Silver project – vegetated roof, exterior solar shading devices that move with the angle of the sun
  • because of the proximity of the site to the Holland Tunnel, sensors were placed to monitor any potential disturbance related to the construction
  • neighborhood residents (many of them famous, who had views to the river from their expensive condos, views that will be blocked by the garage) adamantly opposed the garage and filed a lawsuit to prevent construction of the garage in their neighborhood – http://thevillager.com/villager_302/opponentsdump.html
  • http://ny.curbed.com/tags/garbage-garage

    DSNY garage

    DSNY garage

    DSNY garage

7 Bryant Park

  • will be a 28-story building with views of Bryant Park, which is reflected in the design of the building with maximum window exposure on the corner facing Bryant Park
  • The site was vacant when Turner began. It had previously contained 3 buildings, which had been demolished prior to the start of construction.
  • In the early stages, excavation not yet complete
  • Approximately 70 dump truck loads of earth are excavated from the site per day and taken to a landfill in NJ.
  • A historic wall on the northwest corner of the site contains sensors to monitor potential disturbance. There are also sensors monitoring any potential disturbance of the subway running below the site.
  • www.7bryantpark.com

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