Brief summary of what's going on in classes this week. I will not be on campus on Monday.

What's Going on in Classes

CM 10: Kurt Frandrup from Flatiron will be our first guest speaker. You can find out more about Flatiron here. 

CM125: This week we will cover preconstruction services during both lectures. In lab, you will be working on SFHS Dining Hall. Not a whole lot of hard work was on display regarding SFHS last week, but I strongly advise you to get going on this. 

CM 127: On Tuesday we will finish up scheduling by hand. On Thursday, if you behave, we"ll start using Microsoft Project to create a real adult schedule. Again, only if you behave.

CM 135: On Tuesday, we will be continuing our discussion of trenching.Thursday we will switch to soil volume calculations. Lab will be a site visit to the Steve P. Rados pipeline project downtown. I'm not sure exactly what we will be doing on site, but bring full PPE just in case. Be sure to turn your labs in on time (see SacCT for details).

OK, starting to recover from the Reno madness. Time to get back to business.

Job Leads

A lot of jobs on Talent Exchange page. It's not even updated so there's even more jobs than those listed. Seems like the whole world is hiring. Good time to be in CM. 

What's Going on in Classes

CM 10: Tuesday will be a recap of the Reno competition. We will also be discussing careers in construction management. I'm in the process of arranging guest speakers, but I think our first one will be on February 17. The class is about to get more interesting! Once I have a concrete speaker schedule determined, I'll post an updated version of the syllabus.

Many of you have sent me e-mails over the last week and I haven't answered them. My apologies. Please ask your questions in class tomorrow.

CM125: This week we will cover contractual incentives on Tuesday and proposals on Thursday. In Tuesday's lecture, I'll also be discussing the first major lab assignment. In teams of 4 max, you will be putting together a proposal for your old friend the St. Francis High School Dining Hall. 

Some people have asked about moving between lab sections. I discussed this with Mike Penney since it's really his call and he's cool with it so long as the lab sizes stay pretty even. In theory, if one person from Thursday's lab joins a team of people from Tuesday's section, then one from Tuesday should join a Thursday team. If things get out of whack, we reserve the right to disband your teams and reformulate them as necessary. In other words, be cool about it.

CM 127: On Tuesday we will discuss factors that affect project schedules. On Thursday we'll actually start scheduling with baby steps. We will create some bar charts using Excel and then ramp up into performing the Critical Path Method by hand.

CM 135: On Tuesday, we will be discussing soil properties. You should have watched the Auburn video on shrink/swell. On Thursday we will actually be getting into construction issues when we discuss trenching.

In lab this week, we will be performing the sieve analysis test. Shortly after I post this, I will be posting the lab. Read the lab AND the ASTM standard on how to perform the lab. If you have time, read the CalTrans specs provided as well; it will help you perform most of the assignment and reduce the amount of homework you have.

Classes on Tuesday. Reno the rest of the week. Go get 'em Hornets!