Georgia Tech School of Civil and Environmental Engineering -------------------------------------------------------------- CEE 4100: Construction Engineering & Management | Spring 2024 SYLLABUS NOTE: This syllabus is subject to change. Any changes will be communicated in advance. COURSE: Construction Engineering & Management | 3 Credits M W | 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM | Mason 2117 Canvas | http://canvas.gatech.edu INSTRUCTOR: John E. Taylor, PhD Frederick Law Olmsted Professor, Civil & Envir. Eng. Coda 1642B | jet@gatech.edu | www.ndl.gatech.edu Office Hours: by appointment GRADER: Pareese Pathak ppathak39@gatech.edu COURSE OBJECTIVES The course is designed to give students an understanding of the construction project lifecycle from the initial conceptual design phase of a project through the completion of construction and start-up. Students will be exposed to the broad range of roles required of construction engineering and management personnel from project planning, to project economics, to project scheduling, and to project execution. The course will go beyond these core roles to examine aspects of becoming a successful construction engineering and project management leader. On completion of the course, students will be able to: • Describe the total construction process/lifecycle. • Understand the steps needed to prepare the documentation used to call for bids and enter into a construction contract. • Determine the productivity of relatively simple cyclical field operations and understand the techniques that are used to analyze and improve them. • Prepare a construction cost estimate for a relatively simple operation and understand how this estimate is carried forward into the bidding and cost control processes. • Construct a simple project schedule using appropriate methodologies and understand how this is used as a basis for short term planning and control. INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH Your learning experience will occur by four means: (a) lectures/activities in the classroom, (b) homework assignments from an integrated case study about a project’s lifecycle, (c) reading assignments from the text and supplementary materials, and (d) a team-based final project. You should complete the reading materials recommended for a particular class session prior to that session. Assignments reinforce all of the material covered, and are required to be done by the due date. The course is broken into 5 modules: (1) Planning, (2) Economics, (3) Scheduling, (4) Execution, and (5) Leadership. The “Leadership” module will involve multiple team-based, inclass exercises that will occur at several times during the semester, as well as the Contemporary Topics in Construction Leadership in-class discussions described below. CEE 4100: Construction Engineering & Management – Page 1 of 4 ASSIGNMENTS 1. Reading Assignments: Reading assignments should be completed prior to class. These are identified on the detailed schedule at the end of the syllabus. 2. Homework Assignments: Due dates are indicated in the “A due” column. All homework assignments are individual assignments (not team-based). You should electronically turn-in assignments when they are due. We will use Canvas for electronic submissions. 3. Contemporary Topics in Construction Leadership Assignment: The contemporary topics Q&A assignment is designed to increase awareness of contemporary construction leadership issues and prompt class discussion about these topics. You will be placed into teams for this assignment. The contemporary topics Question & Answer (Q&A) assignment will require each team to select a contemporary topic. In a maximum of 5 minute presentation, no more than 2 members of the team will describe the contemporary topic to the class and ask the students in the class 2 thought-provoking questions relating to the issue. 4. Final Project Assignment: The final project assignment is due as indicated on the detailed class schedule. You will complete this final project in the same team groupings as your contemporary topics team. In executing this project you will examine an engineering marvel to understand the Planning, Economics, Scheduling, Execution and Leadership aspects of that project. Behind every engineering marvel is an equally interesting story of how it was conceptualized, developed and constructed. The project will synthesize and reinforce aspects covered in the five course modules. There are interim deliverables that will also be included in the final grade for the project, including; a marvel bid and a schedule for how you will complete the final project, and an outline detailing the sections of the final report and a list of all references you will use to obtain information to complete the project. All students must sign the cover page of the Final Project Assignment to receive credit. It will be assumed that all members of the project team contributed equally; if this is not the case then the project report should contain a statement to this effect and indicate the relative contribution of each project team member. MODULE COMPREHENSION EXERCISES At the end of each course module, a module comprehension exercise will be completed in class in semester project teams. Only team members present and who sign the exercise sheet will receive credit for the work. COURSE MATERIALS Textbook: All students are strongly recommended to have a copy of: Halpin, D., Senior, B. and Lucko, G., Construction Management (2017). 5th Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York. [The previous edition will also work for the course and may be less expensive: Halpin, D. and Senior, B., Construction Management. (2011). 4th Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Other required readings: Other materials will be available on the course Canvas site or distributed in class. STUDENT EVALUATION/GRADING The final grade for the course will comprise seven parts: • 5% Module Comprehension (grade made up of four end-of-module group exercise submissions). • 5% Contemporary Topics (grade based on the quality of your team’s presentation and Q&A session). • 5% Class Participation. • 10% Homework Assignments. • 25% Exam 1. • 25% Exam 2. • 25% Final Project. CEE 4100: Construction Engineering & Management – Page 2 of 4 POLICIES Academic Integrity: Georgia Tech aims to cultivate a community based on trust, academic integrity, and honor. Students are expected to act according to the highest ethical standards. For information on Georgia Tech's Academic Honor Code, please visit http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/policies/honorcode/ or http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/rules/18/. Any student suspected of cheating or plagiarizing on a quiz, exam, or assignment will be reported to the Office of Student Integrity, who will investigate the incident and identify the appropriate penalty for violations. Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: If you are a student with learning needs that require special accommodation, contact the Office of Disability Services at (404) 894-2563 or http://disabilityservices.gatech.edu/, as soon as possible, to make an appointment to discuss your special needs and to obtain an accommodations letter. Please also e-mail me as soon as possible in order to set up a time to discuss your learning needs. Assignments: Assignments are due as assigned in the detailed course schedule, unless otherwise indicated. Assignments will NOT be accepted for credit or graded if late unless an excused absence occurs on the day the assignment is due. Assignments must be well organized to get full credit. All necessary materials and assignments will be posted on the course website (Canvas | http://canvas.gatech.edu). Students are expected to regularly log in to the Canvas website and check for updated announcements, course materials and assignments. Exams: You must attend exam sessions; if you have a conflict with an exam session or miss an exam session, then you must provide me with an official document (e.g., from the Dean of Students) indicating why you have a conflict at least 2 weeks in advance or why you missed the session. Missing the session without a valid reason will result in a “0” grade for the exam. Classroom Engagement: I expect you to be ready to begin at class start time and I expect your attention until the conclusion of class. I will make a concerted effort to keep each class session organized, interesting and occasionally humorous. I tell terrible jokes and I tell them frequently. Be prepared to laugh at a few of them. My philosophy is that a little humor increases engagement and that when people are engaged, they are more likely to learn. Students in the past have told me they really enjoy being in this class, I hope you will have the same experience/reaction. Missing Class: If you have a valid reason for missing a class session, please provide me with the evidence of such at least 48 hours prior to the session. Office Hours: Students are encouraged to make use of Instructor office hours as needed. Please keep two general principles in mind: (1) make sure you have read the material and attempted the work prior to seeking assistance and (2) it is better to ask for help earlier than later. Dean of Students Office, CARE Center, Counseling Center, Stamps Health Services, and the Student Center: The CARE Center and the Counseling Center, Stamps Health Services, and the Dean of Students Office will offer both in-person and virtual appointments. Student Center services and operations are available on the Student Center website. For more information on these and other student services, contact the Dean of Students or the Division of Student Life. Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools: You may use generative AI programs, e.g. ChatGPT, to help generate ideas and brainstorm. You should be aware that the material generated by these programs may be inaccurate, incomplete, biased or otherwise problematic. Also, use of these tools may stifle your own independent thinking and creativity. Generative AI derives its output from previously created texts from other sources that the models were trained on yet does not cite sources. Per Georgia Tech's Honor Code, you may not submit any work generated by an AI program as your own. If you include material generated by an AI program, it should be cited like any other reference material. When/if you use AI platforms in your assignments, please write a note to clarify where in your process you used AI, include the prompt used to generate the material, and which platform(s) you used. See this article for how to cite AI properly: https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt. Note that using any AI tools during an exam in this class is not permitted. CEE 4100: Construction Engineering & Management – Page 3 of 4 Georgia Tech School of Civil and Environmental Engineering -------------------------------------------------------------- CEE 4100: Construction Engineering & Management | Spring 2024 DETAILED COURSE SCHEDULE NOTE: This course schedule is subject to change. Any changes will be communicated in advance. Session Date Day Topic 1 1/8 M Introduction I: Admin & Overview 2 1/10 W Introduction II: Project Lifecycle 3 1/17 W Leadership I: Team Formation 4 1/22 M Leadership II: Achieving Synergy in Teams 5 1/24 W Planning I: Design Development 2.1-2.5 6 1/29 M Planning II: Pre-Construction Estimates 17.1-17.2 7 1/31 W Planning III: Contract Types 4 8 2/5 M Planning IV: Procurement & Construction Documents 4 9 2/7 W Planning V: Project Delivery (Guest Lecture) 10 2/12 M Economics I: Financing Projects I 11 L3 11 2/14 W Economics II: Financing Projects II 13 L4 12 2/19 M Economics III: Equipment I 14 L5 13 2/21 W Economics IV: Equipment II 15 L6 14 2/26 M Economics V: Bid Preparation 17.3-17.10 15 2/28 W Scheduling I: Overview & Methods 16 3/4 M EXAM 1 17 3/6 W Leadership III: Project Leadership (Guest Lecture) 18 3/11 M 19 3/13 W - Chapter MC Topics Project Marvel Conception 1 Form Teams Teambuilding 2.6-2.17 L1 1 2 A1 L2 A2 Marvels ITB A3 L7 Marvel Bids Due 7 L8 Marvels Announced Scheduling II: Critical Path Method 8 L9 Scheduling III: Resource Loading & Management 12 3 SPRING BREAK L11 Schedule Due L12 Outline Due 3/25 M Execution I: Project Control I 21 3/27 W Execution II: Crashing 22 4/1 M Execution III: Project Control II + Project Issues 23 4/3 W EXAM 2 24 4/8 M Leadership IV: Project Meeting and Progress Update 25 4/10 W Leadership V: Negotiation & Collaboration 26 4/15 M FINAL PROJECT PRESENTATIONS 1 Presentations 27 4/17 W FINAL PROJECT PRESENTATIONS 2 Presentations 28 4/19 F Final Project Report Submission Due at 5pm 4/22 M Conclusion: Course Wrap-up 28 A4 L10 20 Chapter Project A due A due Chapter in text to be studied BEFORE session in preparation for discussion Project due dates (due before class unless otherwise noted) Assignments due before class (Underlined assignments = double points.) 18.1-18.8 3, 19, 20 4 L13 A6 Project Update MC Topics Module Comprehension group exercise Contemporary topics assignment CEE 4100: Construction Engineering & Management – Page 4 of 4 A5
