Greetings! From Chuck Jahren, Construction Engineering Professor-in-Charge
W
e have had a good year. Our undergraduate enrollment is increasing and our high placement rate is attractive to prospective students. Our largest enrollment increases percentagewise have been in our graduate program. In 2010 we had 14 graduate students, three of which were PhDs. Last semester we had 32 grad students, nine of which were PhDs (a threefold increase in PhD students!). What is causing this big increase in our graduate program? There has been a considerable increase in research activity with many practical topics being investigated. Examples include: how to manage complex construction projects, using big data in design and construction, what project delivery systems are best under what circumstances, use of LiDAR to track construction progress and verify as built conditions, how to economically maintain and rebuild roads, how to use electronic contract documents for local road construction, how to acquire right-of-way more efficiently, how to educate our students so they are ready to be leaders when they graduate, and how to balance online and face-to-face learning for the best student outcomes. Funding comes from Iowa and neighboring states, the National Academies, the Federal Highway Administration, the Construction Industry Institute and our own College of Engineering. Our research project listing (see page 16) gives further details. Our students continue to distinguish themselves in competition with wins at the Associated Schools of Construction Regional Competition, ELECTRI International Foundation Green Energy Challenge, AGC of America Student Chapter of the Year Contest, and others. We have exemplary peer mentors for our learning community, and Beth Hartmann was featured on the 2014 Women Impacting ISU Calendar. Adviser and Learning Community Co-Instructor Kristin Mauro earned her PhD in December 2013 (Congratulations!) and left our group in May as she searches for an opportunity that matches her new qualifications (Best wishes!). More on these items are available in the news articles and letters from the staff; I encourage you to read them all! High enrollments have been a good problem to have across the campus. Iowa State strives to provide classroom space, living arrangements and eating facilities for more and more students. In our Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, eight faculty members are expected to join next academic year. Several will pursue structural engineering teaching and research, which is good news for our construction engineering students who work to complete their structural engineering sequence of classes. We are looking forward to another good year and eagerly anticipate reading your greetings in this issue of the Erector Set. We hope to see many of you at a game, an alumni reception, or an industry event. Please stop by and see us if you are in Ames. Have a good year and GO CYCLONES! Warm Regards,
Charles T. Jahren, P.E., Ph.D., MBA Assistant Chair W. A. Klinger Teaching Professor Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Iowa State University 456 Town Engineering Building Ames, IA 50011-3232 515 294-3829 cjahren@iastate.edu
7