TRAVIS ANDERSON SMITH BIO

Travis, a Long Island native, has been surrounded by construction and engineering his entire life. Enamored with the New York City skyline, stadiums and residential estates, Architectural Engineering was the only path to take. He began constructing decks, docks and retaining walls at a young age and matured into steel construction at the age of 14. Stony Brook Manufacturing gave him his first chance by hiring him to do structural layout in the shop, and physically manufacturing and constructing overhead sign structures for many of New York’s major parkways, highways and thruways. It was not long before he was moved into the office to coordinate, purchasing, scheduling, bidding and engineering.

In 2005 he switched gears from structural steel and finally broke into the building industry. Skanska U.S.A. Building Inc. hired him as a project engineer for the Mall at Oyster Bay project. While at Skanska, he was given the responsibility of coordinating engineering for the structural steel and pre-cast concrete for both the mall building, and parking deck. His tasks grew to include bid-package and contract work for a number of disciplines. Travis was granted the opportunity to work in Miami this past year. A seven-million dollar mall expansion was necessary to prepare for an incoming anchor store at Dolphin Mall. The project had an intense schedule, as well as very limited construction management personnel, and provided a chance for Travis to portray his leadership, management and communication skills, while taking on responsibility typically withheld for a senior manager. Trade coordination, contract enforcement, project engineering, superintending and owner correspondence were required daily.

Travis is interested in exploring construction throughout the United States, as well as internationally in the future. He is expected to graduate from The Pennsylvania State University in August 2007 with both his Bachelor, and Master degree in Architectural Engineering, a five-year, professional, ABET accredited degree. He was the President of The Design Build Institute of America, Penn State chapter, and led a team in November 2006 that was named Northeast Champion at a design-build competition against multiple engineering schools from Virginia to Maine. He was also the Vice-President of S:PACE and active in a variety of their activities. He was an Architectural Engineering Undergraduate Intern and assisted Dr. Horman with AE475, “Construction Engineering” and AE476, "MEP coordination.” Travis is an avid sports fan (Mets, Jets, Islanders, anything Blue and White) and outdoor enthusiast, and is proud to be a part of Penn State. You can now find him at the WTC, rebuilding Ground Zero!