FIU Students win ABC National Grand Championship

The team of four Construction Management students from Florida International University won the National Grand Champions Award in the 6th Annual Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Student Chapters Construction Management Competition. FIU students Paul Becks, Tony Ferrer, Ted Gadoury and Jason Lopez competed against 22 other teams, the most ever for this national ABC program.

The event was held during the 2006 ABC National Convention in Las Vegas, March 15-19. Other participating schools with top tier construction programs included University of Florida, Georgia Tech and Texas A&M.

Prior to arriving in Las Vegas, each school prepared a baseline estimate, a project management plan and a safety plan for a negotiated project, including addressing owner requirements. Once in Las Vegas, they worked on two alternate plans within a rigorous 6-7 hour period. Five schools were

selected for the final round. The five finalists, after only 2-3 hours of further preparation, competed in “Round Two” - a verbal presentation and defense of their submission to a live panel of judges who acted as owners, owner representatives and design professionals selecting a potential general contractor.

Of the win, Tony Ferrer said, “It symbolizes the excellence of FIU’s Construction Management program and the flourishing South Florida construction industry. continued on page 7

Irtishad Ahmad, Ph.D., P.E. Professor and Chairperson

I am very happy to present the first issue of Constructioneer, a newsletter published by the Department of Construction Management at Florida International University. Our goal is to keep you abreast of Department activities, programs and achievements on a regular basis. We invite you to provide us with your feedback on this publication and our programs as your input is valuable.

The 2005-2006 academic year was very exciting for our Department, with many notable achievements. Our ABC (Associated Builders and Contractors) Student Chapter was named National Grand Champions of the 2006 Construction Management Competition held in Las Vegas. They also won two other major awards (see cover story).

Two new faculty members, Dr. Mehmet “Emre” Bayraktar and Dr. José A. Faria, will join the Department in August (see page 6). We welcome both and look forward to working together to build a strong and highly productive Department. Professor Ronald A. Baier, Undergraduate Advisor, will join us in the fall as a regular full-time instructor after three years in a visiting position. Enrollment is at an all-time high with 241 undergraduate and 112 graduate students currently in the Department. This represents about 50% growth over the last two years. Since fall 2004, the Department has been offering graduate courses online. Please visit our online website www.cm.fiu.edu/mscmonline. Our Department, with the participation of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, is currently developing the Master of Science in Construction Engineering degree program to begin in fall 2007. This will be the first construction engineering degree program in the state of Florida and will offer tracks in Building Construction Engineering, Construction of Infrastructure, Construction in Disaster-prone Regions, and Automation and Emerging Technologies in Construction.

I would like to underscore that the FIU administration is strongly committed to supporting the Department of Construction Management in its mission to serve the construction industry. FIU recognizes the importance of the construction industry to South Florida’s economy, and the contribution the Construction Management program makes to this industry. We look forward to forging and maintaining strong industry partnerships. Together we have the opportunity to make Construction Management at FIU a world-class program dedicated to construction education and research in South Florida. As a valued member of the South Florida construction community, your support is essential for the continued growth of the program.

I sincerely hope you will enjoy reading this newsletter and will keep in touch with us.

Message from the Chair

www.cm.fiu.edu

FIUFlorida International University

Department of

Construction Management

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND COMPUTING

Inside this issueAlumni Spotlight/Stellar Graduates

Learning in the Field

Publications/Grants/Assistantships

New Faculty

Student Organizations

Catalfumo Program for Excellence

Career Expo Spring 2006

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Salman Azhar, completed his Ph.D. in construction. He was a student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Irtishad Ahmad was his Major Professor. His dissertation titled, “Information Systems to Support Decision-Making in Construction Owner Organizations: A Data Warehousing Approach,” was well-received by the academic community as manifested by his publications in reputed journals and conference proceedings. Salman holds a Masters degree in Structural Engineering from Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. He won the FIU Outstanding Graduate Student Award in 2002 and 2003. Salman will be joining the Building Science Department of Auburn University as a tenure-earning Assistant Professor in August 2006.

Alumni SpotlightChad Moss Bachelor of Science, 1995Construction Management

For Chad Moss, business also happens to be a family affair. He is Vice President/Project Executive at Moss & Associates, a company founded three years ago by his father, Bob Moss. He manages multiple projects, preconstruction, buyout, scheduling, contract management, billing, public relations, and new project pursuits.

When determining where to earn his degree and what academic program would best prepare him for achievement in the business world, Moss chose FIU. He explains, “The professors at FIU come from all walks of life within the construction industry. Many are adjunct professors that teach real life experience, and I just don’t think you can get that anywhere else. Also, I love South Florida’s people and business opportunities.”

Operating in a highly competitive market such as South Florida presents many challenges to the Moss team. Among the most important are maintaining a dynamic culture and cultivating relationships with subcontractors in order to manage price increases and man power shortages. One of the rewards of meeting these challenges is connecting with clients, having a comprehensive understanding of their objectives and exceeding their expectations. But there’s another, equally important reward, according to Moss. “Seeing our team members thrive and celebrating their successes with them,” he says. “We have known many of our team members a very long time and we consider them family, which really adds to the experience.”

Proud as he is of his professional accomplishments, Moss points to his involvement with charities and giving back to the community as the most gratifying on a personal level. “I would also add that a personal reward for me is to be on the Industry Advisory Council for the Construction Management Department. It is a way for me to contribute to a program, the University and our industry’s future.”

Jason (Wehiua) Mao completed his master’s thesis titled “The Integration of Structured and Unstructured Data Using Meta-Model for Document Management in Construction Industry” in fall 2005. As a result of this work, the fragmented construction industry will perform better with the integration of both structured and unstructured worlds in document management in construction. His thesis supervisors were Dr. Irtishad Ahmad and Dr. Yimin Zhu. After graduation Jason accepted a position with a construction company in South Florida.

Aarti Pandit received her Master of Science degree in Construction Management in spring 2006 with her research titled “Applying Ontology to Systems Integration for Supply Chain Management of Engineer-To-Order Products in a Construction Project.” Aarti has developed an electrical transformer ontology to provide successful integration between the information systems for the evaluation of design alternatives for Engineer-To-Order (ETO) products. Her thesis supervisor was Dr. Yimin Zhu. Aarti is now employed with a construction company in Miami.

Juan Zheng completed her master’s thesis in spring 2006. Her research is titled “A Process - Based Integration of Safety and Quality Management Systems for Construction.” She developed a process-based safety and quality management system to assist safety and quality management personnel in construction to deal with information and decision-making processes related to quality deviation or safety nonconformance of construction projects. Juan’s thesis supervisor was Dr. Syed Ahmed. She is currently working in a construction company in South Florida.

Constructioneer

Victor Cernius is well known around FIU as the star center of FIU’s Golden Panther football team. He received his Bachelor of Science in Construction Management in spring 2006. When asked about his plans after college, he stated, “I either plan to play professional football or begin my career in the construction industry with aspirations of becoming a Project Manager.”

Recent Stellar Graduates

Learning in the Field

October 10, 2005“The Atrium” mid-rise luxury residential condominiumsNorthern Miami-DadeCatalfumo Construction

Moss & Associates, DadelandNovember 14, 2005Residential condominiums, Downtown DadelandMoss and Associates

Periodic field trips expose students to real projects in the community and allow them to interact with professionals on site. These sessions include both discussion and observation of project requirements, review of project designs, and practical applications such as inspections, safety practices and site utilization. The students then are able to apply the knowledge gained to their own research and studies.

Catalfumo Construction, Aventura

The field trip to “Downtown Dadeland”, which has been undertaken by Moss & Associates, was organized by Dr.

Boong-Yeol Ryoo and attracted both undergraduate and graduate students. The project is being built on more than 7 acres of land and undertaken as a CM-at-Risk project with a cost of $90 million. The project includes the construction of seven buldings, each seven

floors high, with connecting boulevards in between. The project is unique because the buildings and roadways will be sitting on top of a two story parking structure which is 13 feet below the water table. The continuous dewatering efforts, the methods of dewatering and the challenges that the company has been facing gave the students the valuable opportunity to observe such a unique project.

Catalfumo Construction hosted a field trip at The Atrium condominiums in Aventura. Catalfumo Construction is the

general contractor responsible for building the two tower, 192-unit, luxury mid-rise condominium on the waterfront. Dr. Boong-Yeol Ryoo organized the trip with 22 students in attendance. Students of the Department of Construction Management had the opportunity to visit one of the most interesting residential construction sites in the Miami area.

Constructioneer

CITC-IV Australia 2007The fourth international conference on Construction in the 21st Century (CITC-IV) will be held July 11-13, 2007 in Gold Coast, Australia with the theme Accelerating Innovation in Engineering,

Management and Technology. The conference is jointly organized by the FIU Department of Construction Management and the Center for Infrastructure Engineering and Management, Griffith University (Australia). CITC conferences provide an international forum for the discussion of topics important to develop new knowledge in construction and engineering disciplines. Please visit www.fiu.edu/~citc.

2005-2006 Graduates

Bachelor of Science

Fall 2005

Davidson FevrierJoshua Goldfarb

Roberto InguanzoZackary LancasterWinston Vidiella

Alaina Waas

Spring 2006

Gina M. BrackettVictor CerniusFancisco Ferrer

Aaron GoldbergMatthew Johnson

Jack Brigham LeanderMichael LopezJustin Mcrae

Marc RobinsonFranklyn RubioTony SanchezWilliam Tracy

Kevin VegaPaula Yasser

William Zulueta

Constructioneer

Recent GrantsDr. Syed M. Ahmed received the grant, “Development of a Strategic Model for Improvement of Construction Project Management Education, Research and Practice in Pakistan,” in partnership with Dr. Sarosh H. Lodi of NED University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan. The sponsoring agencies are the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Government of Pakistan. The total amount of funding is $405,000.00 ($130,000 FIU and $275,000 NED). The duration of the project is two years, from January 2006 to December 2008.

Dr. Yimin Zhu received two grants from the National Electrical Contractors’ Association (NECA). “The Impact of Seismic Requirements on Electrical Installations.” (Amount: $59,252. Duration: Jan. – Dec. 2006) and “An Integrated Information System for Electrical Contractors.” (Amount: $52,706. Duration: Jan. – Dec. 2006)

Dr. Syed M. Ahmed has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure in 2006.

Professor José D. Mitrani received the Government Engineer of the Year Award from the South Florida Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers in May 2005.

BOOK

Dr. Syed M. Ahmed is the co-author of the book Construction Quality Management published in 2005 by the Hong Kong University Press. Co-authors are: Dr. S.L. Tang and Dr. R.T. Aoieong.

JOURNAL PAPERS

Yimin Zhu, Aarti Pandit and Weihua Mao, “A Framework to Support the Representations of Semantic Mappings of the Hybrid Integration Strategy in AEC,” ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 2006.

Yimin Zhu and Godfried Augenbroe, “A Conceptual Model for Supporting the Integration of Inter-Organizational Information Process of AEC Projects,” Automation in Construction, 2006.

Weihua Mao, Yimin Zhu and Irtishad Ahmad, “Capturing Implicit Structures in the Unstructured Content of Construction Documents,” ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 2006.

Yimin Zhu, Weihua Mao and Irtishad Ahmad, “Applying Metadata Models to Unstructured Content of Construction Documents: A View-Based Approach,” Automation in Construction, 2006.

Boong-Yeol Ryoo and Miroslaw J. Skibniewski, “e-Portal for Construction Engineers: Korea Example,” The International Journal of Construction Management, 2006.

Syed M. Ahmed, R. T. Aoieong and S.L. Tang, “A Comparison of Quality Management Systems in the Construction Industries of Hong Kong and USA,” International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 2005.

Publications

Congratulations

Sarah Goodridge, a doctoral student, has earned the fellowship sponsored by a consultancy company in Arizona for 2005-2006. She was the recipient of the Latin American & Caribbean Center Scholarship for two consecutive years, 2003-2004 and 2004-2005. She is also assisting the department as a graduate research assistant.

Kamalesh Panthi has been admitted to the PhD program in fall 2005 with the Graduate Assistantship offered by the Department of Construction Management.

Christin Perkinson, a doctoral student, has earned the fellowship for 2006-2007 provided by the Catalfumo Program for Excellence in Construction for the second time.

Recent Graduate Assistantships and Fellowship Awards

Construction Industry Advisory CouncilThe Industry Advisory Council now has 32 members representing all sectors of the construction industry, including successful business owners in construction, high-level executives in nationally reputed construction companies, and FIU Construcion Management alumni employed in public and private organizations.

Manuel Aguiar Community Asphalt Agustin R. Arellano, Jr. Arellano Construction Larry Casey Skanska USA Building Diego Clavijo, PMP PBS & J Jorge L. Costas Current Builders of Florida Mark Croft FDOT, District Six William Cuesta Cuesta Construction Douglas DePhillips Turner Construction Rick Derrer James A. Cummings Hector Garcia Southern Homes Online Gary Glenewinkel Pavarini Construction Steven C. Hood Bovis Lend Lease Edward Keeter Tidewater Skanska Rex Kirby Suffolk Construction Larry Leiby Leiby, Taylor, Starnes, Linkhort & Roberts, P.A. Ed Meinzinger Catalfumo Construction & Development Len Mills Associated General Contractors South Florida Chapter Timothy Moore Stiles Construction Chad Moss Moss & Associates Jorge Munilla MCM Charles Nielson, Sr. Nielson & Company Luis Arditi Rocha Parsons-Odebrecht Don Rolfe GSD Contracting Fred Sanchez Century Homebuilders Dan Shaw Associated Builders and Contractors Florida East Coast Chapter John Siegle Construction Association of South Florida Steve Svopa Centex Homes Steve Tally Duffey Construction David Valdini Valdini and Palmer, P.A. Richard Waas Waas Construction Torry Watson Centex Construction Dan Whiteman Coastal Construction Group

2005-2006 Graduates

Master of Science

Fall 2005

Carlos BonillaEric Cao

Rena EspositoWeihua Mao

Carmen MercadoGary MerchanCharles NunezBrian Perantoni

Joed PerezBetty Quintana

Spring 2006

Sumeet BansalTamera Baughman

Harold BedoyaJennifer Bernabe

Laura BowlegCarolina Colon

Kingsley CornwallArnold Elsner

Alejandro GaitanDavid Gutierrez

Sunki HongTavares JohnsonGerard Kleiman

Jeffrey KleissRuben Mantilla

Analucia MoysesAarti Pandit

Manuel PernasRicardo RodriguezAntonio SevillanoCristina Tavarez Alice TavassoliSteven VargaJuan Zheng

Constructioneer

The Department deeply appreciates the scholarship support provided by the following companies and industry associations to FIU Construction Management students. Scholarship support is a critical need and of profound importance to the University. By providing promising and deserving students with the opportunity to flourish in their chosen field of endeavor, these companies and associations are helping to build the leaders and problems solvers of tomorrow. For more information about providing scholarships to promising students, on an annual or endowed basis, please contact Avy Weberman, Director of Development at 305-348-6051 or weberman@fiu.edu.

American Society of Professional Estimators Bruce Morris Memorial Fund* Catalfumo Construction Centex Construction* Consul Tech* Coscan Construction Association of South Florida* Condotte-America* Moss and Associates Victor A. Bonachea Memorial Fund Turner Construction

*These scholarships have been permanently endowed.

Construction Industry Sponsored FIU Scholarships

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Sigma Lambda Chi (SLC) is an international scholastic honor society that offers students the opportunity to be recognized locally and internationally for their academic accomplishments as a construction major. It is the sole student honor society for Construction Management students. There are over forty SLC chapters across the United States and FIU is home of the SLC Omega chapter.

Sigma Lambda Chi has three objectives: to render service to the major field of study; to develop good relationships between the University, industry, and the public; to recognize outstanding professional persons in construction. SLC is always looking for candidates to be a part of this historic organization. Any Construction Management major with a GPA in the top twentieth percentile has the potential to be eligible for membership.

The current executive board members are: President, Christopher Dassau; Vice President, Umut Artuk; and Treasurer , Elizabeth Lamborghini. Our academic advisor is Dr. Bong-Yeol Ryoo. SLC is looking forward to expanding our presence in the academic community. Our activities this year will include networking events such as conferences, seminars with leading professionals in the industry, community service activities and social events.

For students who are interested in becoming part of this distinguished organization, please contact Christopher Dassau at cdass001@fiu.edu.

Sigma Lambda Chi Honor Society

Earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University in June 2006. Dr. Bayraktar’s research interests include development of innovative computer based risk assessment and strategic management decision support systems for construction engineering and management. Dr. Bayraktar has been engaged in cutting edge research in construction funded by various state departments of Transportation (DOT) and the Construction Industry Institute (CII). He has authored and co-authored six journal papers, four peer-reviewed conference papers, and several other publications.

Earned his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in 2005. Dr. Faria’s research is about mixed integer optimization applied to land development, mathematical decomposition and hybrid techniques to solve mixed integer programming problems. Future areas of research are decision analysis applied to capital allocation, probabilistic optimization models, and analysis of project management networks under uncertainty. He taught courses in project management and life cycle cost estimating. Dr. Faria is the author of three journal papers and several conference papers.

Mr. Baier holds a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Florida and a practicing structural and geotechnical engineer. He has been a visiting faculty member and the Undergraduate Advisor in the Department of Construction Management for the last three years.

Constructioneer

New Faculty Ronald Baier, P.E.Undergraduate Advisor

Jose Faria, Ph.D.Assistant Professor

Mehmet Emre Bayraktar, Ph.D. Assistant Professor

ABC FIU Student Chapter

Christopher Dassau

Tony Ferrer

The Associated of Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national trade association representing 23,000 merit shop contractors, subcontractors, material suppliers and related firms in 79 chapters across the United States. The ABC Student Chapter at FIU is affiliated with the Florida East Coast Chapter of ABC and is part

of a dynamic network of nearly 50 colleges and universities offering construction-related degree programs nationwide. Being part of such a large association provides benefits to student members such as: scholarships, excellence awards, annual construction management competition, faculty teaching awards, fellowships to attend the ABC Legislative Conference, annual essay contest and more. In addition to these benefits, students get the opportunity to network with each other, alumni, faculty, and industry leaders through events such as: networking nights, professional/career development events, job site tours, industry/government issues lectures, regular meetings, community service projects, and much more.

Most of our members are full-time students while working full-time in the industry. Joining ABC provides these students with a break from the routine and an opportunity to build relationships with fellow students, faculty, and leaders in the industry. We have many good things planned for next year. Don’t miss out. Join the ABC FIU Student Chapter! Please contact me: Tony Ferrer, President, ABC FIU Student Chapter, aferr006@fiu.edu.

Department of Construction Management

Faculty

Irtishad Ahmad, Ph.D., P.E., Professor and Chair (University of Cincinnati)

Syed Ahmed, Ph.D., Associate Professor (Georgia Institute of Technology)

Ronald Baier, P.E., Undergraduate Advisor (University of Florida)

Mehmet Emre Bayraktar, Ph.D., Assistant Professor (Purdue University)

Amaury Caballero, Ph.D., P.E., Lecturer (Energy Institute of Moscow)

José A. Faria, Ph.D., Assistant Professor (University of Maryland)

Eugene Farmer, A.I.A. Associate Professor (University of Florida)

José D. Mitrani, P.E., CPC, CGC, Associate Professor (University of Florida)

Boong-Yeol Ryoo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor (University of Wisconsin)

Yimin Zhu, Ph.D., CCE, Assistant Professor (University of Florida)

Staff

Bernadette L. Chung, Coordinator, Administrative Services

Monica Mesa, Senior Secretary

Graduate Assistants

Umut Artuk

Beste Gul Durmus (starting in Fall 2006)

Sarah Goodridge

Clayton Owens (starting in Fall 2006)

Kamalesh Panthi

Christin Perkinson

Rizwan Farookui (starting in Fall 2006)

Tomas White

Sigma Lambda Chi Honor Society

Constructioneer

FIU Students win ABC National Grand Championship

continued from page 1

We are excited to bring home the championship and we look forward to making this a tradition at FIU.”

Teamwork also played a key role, according to Paul Becks. “Each one of us contributed to every aspect of the proposal… Our experience under pressure will certainly help us during the remainder of our schooling and in the high-stakes construction industry that we work in.”

The members of the FIU team were accompanied by faculty mentor Dr. Yimin Zhu. They also credited their real world experience as interns with local companies (Bovis Lend Lease, Centex and Hensel Phelps) as providing them with an extra edge.

FIU also won first place in estimating and second place in project management. Colleges and universities competing in this year’s event included:Auburn University; Bemidji State University; Brigham Young University; Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo; Colorado State University; Florida International University; Georgia Tech; Louisiana State University; Minnesota State University, Mankato; Montgomery College; Pennsylvania College of Technology; Texas A&M University; University of Alabama; University of Arkansas at Little Rock; University of Central Florida; University of Cincinnati; University of Florida; University of Houston; University of North Florida; University of Southern Mississippi; University of Washington; University of Wisconsin, Stout; and Virginia Tech.

Ronald Baier, P.E.Undergraduate Advisor

FIU College of Engineering and Computing has received a significant donation from the Daniel S. Catalfumo Family Foundation to establish the Catalfumo Program for Excellence in Construction Management. Catalfumo Construction and Development CEO Dan Catalfumo presented the gift to FIU President Modesto Maidique , Executive Dean Vish Prasad, and Department Chair Irtishad Ahmad during a ceremony at the FIU Engineering Center on April 29, 2005. Mr. Catalfumo was accompanied by Catalfumo’s Vice President for Construction, Ed Meinzinger, who has joined the Department of Construction Management’s Industry Advisory Council. The Catalfumo Program provides support for the recruitment and education of outstanding students, including full scholarships for three undergraduate students and one graduate fellowship. The grant also assists faculty in research endeavors, helps attract prominent speakers to campus, brings students to various jobsites, and offers high caliber continuing education and training seminars for the construction industry.

Catalfumo Program for Excellence

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND COMPUTING10555 West Flagler Street http://www.cm.fiu.eduMiami, Florida 33174 mail:cminfo@eng.fiu.edu(305)348-3172

Constructioneer CreditsContributors: Christin Perkinson

Juan Zheng Avy Weberman Photographs: Umut Artuk Editor: Estela Garcia Designer: Enrique Obando

Bayview FinancialBovis Lend LeaseCatalfumo Construction and DevelopmentCentex ConstructionCentex HomesCoastal ConstructionCoscan ConstructionFormWorksGryphon ConstructionHensel Phelps Construction James A. CummingsKaufman LynnLennar HomesLink Construction Group

MCM MJF Construction Moss and AssociatesOdebrechtOptimum Services, Inc.Pavarini ConstructionSkanska USASouthern HomesStiles CorporationSuncon, Inc.The Tower GroupTidewater SkanskaTurner ConstructionUnited Forming

Beginning April 2005, the CM department has held three very successful Career Expos with enthusiastic participation of the industry. The next Career Expo will be held on October 10, 2006. To register or for further information, please contact the department at 305-348-3172, or cminfo@eng.fiu.edu.

Career Expos’ Smashing Success Constructioneer

Participants in Spring 2006 Career Expo (April 5, 2006)

Alumni Night October 20, 2006 The Department has planned an Alumni Dinner Night at the FIU Graham Center Ballroom on October 20,2006. Please mark your calendar and stay tuned for details.

The department is very proud of its more than 1400 alumni. We want to keep in touch with our alumni and would like to hear from you. Please visit our website: www.cm.fiu.edu for news and important developments concerning our department. In future editions of Constructioneer, we will feature an Alumni News Column to publicize and recognize your accomplisments, achivements or other news that you would like to share with your fellow alumni. Please contact us by e-mail: cminfo@eng.fiu.edu.

Nicholas Ceavers and Valentina Henao are the winnersof the 2006 CASF Scholarships. Each winner was given a $2,500 scholarship award

at the CASF Annual Installation Ceremony that was held on June 16, 2006.

Congratulations Nicholas and Valentina!

Construction Association of South Florida (CASF)2006 Scholarships