Reflection

AE 481W/482 Course Reflection

Senior thesis began in a hot day in May while I had just started with Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse for the second summer. When I examined the stacks of drawings in the estimating department, I realized that there was only one ongoing new construction project SBER is working on. I lugged the five spec books and two half-size drawings to my car and thesis had thus begun. Over the summer, I visited the project twice, got the permission from the owner, and conducted two interviews to understand the problems affecting the project. Here I met up with Ally Diaz, an AE grad, from whom was a great contact.

 

The fall semester was divided into two assignments, the management assignments and the CM technical assignments. The management assignments were easy and forced you interact more with the drawings and project team. The technical assignments are most closely identified as class projects, where basic information like cost, site, and schedule were prettied up and expanded upon. Overall, this semester was very undemanding and impossible to find good feedback.

 

The spring semester was a completely different experience. It is important to set aside time to manage yourself in this process and get advice from your classmates in the thesis lab. It is also important to do as much preliminary research as possible in the fall semester and adjust your proposal accordingly. I began early in January researching my construction management topic and in-depth structural calculations. In this area, the Engineering Library can be your best tool. I accessed Construction Management papers in the ASCE Journal section, checked out reference books like structural detail manuals, and even ventured to the back thesis corner to examine previous research.

 

By the time February had started, I had started my paper and the ETABS models I required for slab design. I am a slow-learner, so I averaged about 8-12 hours a day in the thesis lab working. At the end of February, I had completed only one-third of the content of my paper (58 pages) and was about 8 days behind on my schedule. In addition, I did not decide on a Mechanical Breadth until March 1st. Thus, I spent nearly all of my Spring Break in the labs working about 14 hours a day. Doing this allowed me to finish my two main assignments and focus on Mechanical on the home stretch, that 3 week span before submission. I submitted about 6 days early and used the rest of that time helping my fellow AE's who were the best of help in the thesis labs. About 740 hours of work have gone into my thesis, for which needs to be condensed to a 14 minute presentation.

Overall, my senior thesis was an enlightening experience. I realized that the best resources for thesis are the people sitting next to you in the labs, not the stressed-out advisors. I realized that in order to WIN thesis (as the CM advisors repeat), it is not enough to have the most-thorough paper, understand many complicated design criteria, have the best results, give an awesome presentation, or answer all of the faculty's questions. It is better to do the "best that you can" than "win" because the selected winners can be a big surprise, for which I still do not know how the field was actually separated.

 

Some folks do not think thesis should be a requirement for graduation. Some believe the project should be in groups, as in the Arch projects.

Some believe thesis is the best thing in the world. I believe that thesis has great intentions and I thank the faculty that take it very seriously. However, there are problems with getting assignments back on time with appropriate feedback, for which I believe the competition suffers.

CPEP & Discussion Board Reflection

The Capstone Project e-Portfolio (CPEP) has allowed me to present my senior thesis research and results online. While an initial template was provided to organize the website, we were given the freedom to customize and personalize the design (of which I've taken advantage of). The webpage was maintained and updated over the course of two semesters to reflect the most current work and obtain feedback from our advisors.

 

The discussion boards were useful question and answers that were conveniently sent to my email. Although I did not require the use of the discussion board, I see that it is the best use of the practical experience from professionals where experience on the side of the advisors is lacking.

ABET Outcome Survey