Reflection

CHEMISTRY BUILDING

MICHAEL GALLAGHER

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

Note: While great efforts have been taken to provide accurate and complete information on the pages of CPEP, please be aware that the information contained herewith is considered a work-in-progress for this thesis project. Modifications and changes related to the original building designs and construction methodologies for this senior thesis project are solely the interpretation of Michael Gallagher. Changes and discrepancies in no way imply that the original design contained errors or was flawed. Differing assumptions, code references, requirements, and methodologies have been incorporated into this thesis project; therefore, investigation results may vary from the original design.

MICHAEL GALLAGHER’S

REFLECTION

SENIOR THESIS MAIN PAGE PENN STATE ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING AE COMPUTER LABS CONTACT MICHAEL AT MJG5094@PSU.EDU

CPEP Reflection

The Capstone Project Electronic Portfolio (CPEP) webpage was clearly the best way to display our work. There were many benefits of this. One of the major ones was the elimination of turning in hard copies. Therefore, all of the comments and grading of our reports were done electronically. Besides eliminating the high costs associated with printing the reports, this process was greener and better for the environment. The other benefit of the CPEP page was potential employers could easily view your work online. Finally the discussion board was also helpful for students. Having the ability to ask professionals in our industry questions related to your thesis project was very useful. This discussion board was also nice because you could view other student’s questions and the responses to those questions. The answers to other student’s questions a lot of the time contained useful information to your project also. It is very nice that the industry members take time out of their busy schedule to help the AE students because they are a very valuable resource to us and this course.

Senior Thesis Reflection

The AE senior thesis is a major part of achieving a degree in Architectural Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University. This course is a full year which takes place in your 5^th year and incorporates everything you have learned throughout your educational career. This project makes you apply what you have learned to a real life situation. It does not only make you apply the knowledge you learned in your core classes for your option, but makes you apply what you have learned in the other disciplines within AE. This course is an excellent way to finish up with. It really ties everything you learned together and makes you implement what you learned on a real life project based on engineering decisions. Throughout your research and trying to implement new techniques on a project you learn a lot. You realize sometimes your initial plans and hypotheses looks good on paper, but when applying it to a project it does not always work out as planned. Each change you make impacts another thing for better or worse. However, completing these engineering exercises within a class are extremely valuable and prepares your to be a successful engineer. The student’s resources, advisors, and industry members that guide them through their thesis project, really make this class what it is. The requirements of this class make the students learn a lot, have a high work ethic, and give them a solid foundation for a successful career.