Construction Division News

I am pleased to announce that the recent IIE Conference in Cancún, Mexico, was a success. Once again, the Construction Division sponsored two sets of presentations: the Solutions track that consisted of practice-oriented presentations, and research sessions in the IERC program.

I would like to thank Jorge Cossio, President of ITN de Mexico SA, a Mexican consulting firm, who helped as co-chair to have a successful Solutions track. Laura Ikuma and Craig Harvey of Louisiana State University served us well in managing the IERC research sessions, and I would like to thank them both for their leadership. More from the president

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Invitation for annual conference papers

We are inviting all members (and their colleagues) to sign up to present a paper at the Reno, Nevada conference in May next year. Submit an abstract for a paper or presentation on a construction-related topic.You are free to choose from a wide variety of topics. The papers should demonstrate or describe the use of techniques such as: lean construction, lean project delivery, integrated project delivery, quality management, productivity, Six Sigma, green technology/sustainability, ergonomics, simulation, optimization, automation and basic IE tools/applications.

There are two types of Construction tracks available: the Solutions track features practice-oriented presentations and the IERC (Research) track features theoretical papers.

In order to sign up for a paper or presentation, you have to first submit an abstract online through a submission site. There are two sites: one for the Applied Solutions track, and the other for the IERC track. Please check the IIE Home Page, click on "Annual Conference" and follow the instructions for navigating to the submission sites. When submitting your abstract, the title is limited to 10 words and the abstract is limited to 200 words.

You may also contact the conference co-chairs:
IERC co-chair: Laura Ikuma
Solutions co-chair: George Gardner

The deadlines for submission will be posted on the IIE website; abstracts should be submitted by mid - November, although later entries may be considered. Please visit our website.

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Membership chair's message
By George P. Gardner, State Partnering Coordinator, Virginia Department of Transportation

Hello members!

I hope everyone who went to Cancún made it back safely! We continue to expand our member involvement in the Construction Division. Many new faces have appeared and are interested in writing and contributing their expertise. The Construction Division is somewhat different than the other IIE divisions in that we apply IE methodologies and concepts to a non-traditional IE area. This month we are featuring a profile on Paula Eick, and articles from: Brent Robertson (Canada) and student liaison Bobby Smyth (U.S.). We will continue to stress articles from our talented membership ranks.

Happy reading,
George Gardner

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Profile of Paula Eick, Regional safety director for Adolfson & Peterson Construction, Tempe, Ariz.

As the regional safety director, Paula has responsibility for risk management, safety and environmental compliance, quality control and warranty issues. Previously, Paula worked as the director of risk for a production homebuilder. She has both a B.S. in industrial engineering and an M.B.A. from Arizona State University.

We asked Paula a few questions about her background and about IEs in construction. Full profile

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Announcement of the student competition
For presentation at the IIE Annual Conference and Expo - May 21-25, 2011 - Reno, Nev.

(Students -Get an early start now that the fall semester is beginning!)
Thanks to the CONAM Group of Companies, we are pleased to announce the Student Paper Competition for 2010-2011. The CONAM Group of Companies is a builder and developer of residential projects throughout the United States, and is sponsoring a student competition for papers and projects demonstrating or describing the use of industrial engineering tools in a construction environment.

The papers should demonstrate or describe the use of techniques such as lean methods, quality management, Six Sigma, green technology/sustainability, simulation, optimization, automation, and basic IE tools/applications. Both undergraduate and graduate students are invited to submit papers.The winner will receive a cash gift of $1,500 and up to an additional $1,000 for air/hotel/miscellaneous travel expenses. The winning paper will be presented at the IIE Annual Conference and Expo 2011 in Reno, Nev.

Papers will be due by March 4, 2011, and the winner will be notified by April 4, 2011. Papers must be no more than 10 pages in length and follow the requirements summarized in the Competition Guidelines.

As this is a student competition, papers co-authored by professors are excluded from the competition, but your professor's assistance is welcome.

For more information, including Competition Guidelines

To ask questions and submit papers via e-mail, contact Bonnie Cameron or (800) 494-0460, ext.105.

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International Article:

Quality In construction projects
By Brent Robertson, program quality manager, Suncor Energy, Calgary, Canada

Canadian construction projects typically have three broad classifications: residential, commercial, and industrial. In residential construction, quality is often defaulted to the civic code inspectors. If it doesn't contravene code, it passes. In commercial construction, there is fundamental quality and as long as you can show the architect that the basics have been met (typically codes, structural, electrical, and safety components), it is okay. Industrial quality is much different because when something goes wrong it could involve a plant shut down or someone getting hurt - or both - and the cost involved is massive. Full article

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Article

Building trust with a proper approach
By Bobby Smyth, student liaison,The Ohio State University

To make a difference in a new industry, industrial engineers need both sound tools and a proper mindset.The industrial engineering toolkit is constantly studied and perfected, but the approach to presenting those tools is often overlooked. Industrial engineers claim to have strong people and interpersonal skills. In order to gain the trust of construction companies, they need to work on showcasing those people skills by developing techniques that will build long lasting relationships and trust in the industry. With ample practice, these skills can be refined just like the "hard" engineering and mathematics skills; enabling IE's to command a spot in the construction industry. Full article

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Student's liaison's message - Bobby Smyth

Hello, everyone,

"Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence." -Vince Lombardi

First, thank you to Lincoln Forbes and the leaders of the construction division for working hard to provide a construction track at this year's conference in Cancún. Attendees were impressed by the presentations as each one offered great insight into the use of IE tools in the construction world.

Congratulations again to Scott Cody, our student paper competition winner. After spending some time together, I am certain that Scott was the best choice for the award. He has great experience to draw on, and the sky is obviously the limit for his future. More from student liaison

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Wanted: Construction articles for Industrial Engineer magazine

The Construction Division invites members to submit articles on construction topics through our Publications Committee for publication in the monthly Industrial Engineer magazine. We would like to see IE-related articles about construction included in the Industrial Engineer magazine on a regular basis, and we are starting by determining which members are interested, and the topics that they would like to write about. At this point, we would just like to see a brief outline of the topic(s) that you wish to write about. Following that we plan to provide you with the detailed publication requirements, such as the format and length to be observed for each article. By working together, we can organize our articles in a sequence that will be most interesting and informative for our readers!

Please contact our newsletter editor, Paula Eick

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Pearl of Wisdom

"As you climb the ladder of success, check occasionally to make sure it is leaning against the right wall."
- Unknown author

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AUGUST 2010