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Construction Management

The New Dickinson School of Law

University Park, PA
  
User Note:
● “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 Steven Ayer. 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.”

 
 
AE 481W / AE 482 Reflection

This senior thesis assignment was the most in-depth assignment of my college carreer. It required me to look at a variety of aspects of a building project beyond the scope of most of my prior college projects. The technical assignments from the first half of the year gave me a good overview of the building. This overview helped to shape my thoughts about the building so that I could generate a series of potential areas of further investigation for the second semester during the actual thesis research work. This second semester forced me to look to a myriad of informational sources and contact numerous people who worked on the Dickinson School of Law project. Overall, I think I learned a great deal through this project. While it involved a great deal of effort and late nights in the thesis lab, I am glad to say that I survived this assignment because I feel that I have learned a great deal of information as a result of this thesis project.

 
CPEP and Discussion Board Reflection

The CPEP websites were established to document the academic progress of students in their thesis work. I, personally, liked this as a method of turning in documents. I found that, more than a few times, people in industry would ask to see my work and it was very easy to simply give them my website address. The only constructive suggestion that I would make about turning in thesis work is that it seems that all submissions (or all, except the final thesis reports) could be submitted electronically. This would allow students to save a great deal of paper and printing costs.

The discussion board was also established to help students to obtain information from industry professionals about different engineering and construction topics. This was a good tool for making contacts with industry members. Because I had the unique opportunity of being able to work part-time on my project site throughout the year, I never felt the same sense of frustration related to obtaining information. For the students who occaisionally would have difficulty finding contacts to ask questions to, the discussion board certainly provided significant help.

 

ABET Outcome Survey

ABET Outcomes
for
AE 481W/482

Outcome not able to be assessed

(Score of 0)

Level of ability demonstrated but below acceptable

(Score of 1)

Minimum acceptable level of ability demonstrated

(Score of 2)

More than minimum level of ability demonstrated

 (Score of 3)

a. An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering

 

 

X

 
         

b. An ability to analyze and interpret data

 

 

 

X
         

c. An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs

 

 

 

X
         

e. An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems

 

 

X

 
         

f. An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility

 

 

 

X
         

g. An ability to communicate effectively

X
         

h. The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context

X
         

i. An ability to engage in life-long learning

X
         

j. A knowledge of contemporary issues

X
         

k. An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice

X
         

o. Engineering design capabilities in at least two (2) of the (3) basic curriculum areas of architectural engineering, and that design has been integrated across the breadth of the program

X
         

p. Communication and interaction with other design professionals in the execution of building projects

X

 

  
         
Penn State General Description
● The Capstone Project Electronic Portfolio (CPEP) is a web‐based project and information center. It contains material produced for a year‐long Senior Thesis class. Its purpose, in addition to providing central storage of individual assignments, is to foster communication and collaboration between student, faculty consultant, course instructors, and industry consultants. This website is dedicated to the research and analysis conducted via guidelines provided by the Department of Architectural Engineering. For an explanation of this capstone design course and its requirements click here.