May 18 2011
Large end-of-year design projects are a mainstay of architecture and engineering curriculum. It’s for good reason, in the real world you jump from project to project and usually juggle multiple projects at the same time. As a teacher, it’s rewarding to check back in with students that I taught in their first semesters. This year [...]
Apr 05 2011
This weekend I returned to my alma mater, the University of Michigan, for the North Central Regional student conference. It was the first time that I had attended the annual Steel Bridge and Concrete Canoe competition in at least five years. The last time, I helped a team rebuild their broken canoe with left over [...]
Nov 02 2010
Every year it seems like more and more students are attending the ASCE Annual Conference. I haven’t seen the numbers, but it did feel like the attendees were younger and more diverse this year. Many I have this perception because the conference organizers have tried hard this year to combine what used to be separate [...]
Sep 23 2010
I was recently approached by high school student with some great questions about my chosen profession as a structural engineer. He must have been prompted by a teacher. At any rate, he asked some great questions, and I thought that you might also be interested in my answers. 1. What are the specific skills that [...]
Aug 15 2010
Is civil engineering on the cutting edge of technology? While almost all civil engineers remain devoutly proud of their chosen profession, some forward looking engineers are challenging the status quo. Are civil engineers followers – mostly implementing the ideas developed by others? Is there a stagnation of ideas in the profession? Certainly, we are living [...]
Dec 30 2009
On December 1, I shared the story of one young engineers defining moment. Erin Fletcher was asked to make an important public presentation at the last minute. I shared this story on ASCE ‘s Linked-In group and posed the question: How do you prepare yourself for having to give a major public presentation for the [...]
Nov 12 2009
As nationwide unemployment tops 10%, recent grads face increasing competition from laid-off professionals. Adding to the bad news, the National Association of Colleges and Employers released a report stating that companies expect to hire 7% fewer new grads than they did in 2009. The silver lining is that the new estimate represents an improvement from [...]
Nov 10 2009
The annual conference wasn’t all fun and games, but the best part was. Each year, the conference is followed by a service and outreach event. It is a great opportunity to shed the business attire, escape the meeting room and give back to the community. This year ASCE members volunteered to make improvements to the [...]
Sep 24 2009
According to USA Today, about 1 in 6 students enrolled in higher education registered for an online course this semester. Growth in such classes surprises some experts, but as online teaching tools become more refined, students and teachers are finding advantages to this form of learning. Geographical freedom is one advantage of online courses. This [...]
Loading ...