Good Team Work at NTW

The team from New Tech West has been extremely dedicated in their ACE mentoring sessions.

Earlier in March they learned about Estimating.  Groups of students were given a floor plan of lab casework and 4 bids from sub-contractors.  They needed to select the bid that they would use on the project. Students needed to measure all of the equipment and review the bids for accuracy and completeness.

Another session in March stressed the importance of Scheduling. An overview of construction management services was presented by mentor Kyle Jones.  The year's lessons have been providing the students with knowledge to help them work towards their final project.

Half Way Point at NTW

Our ACE Mentoring sessions are over half way through for this current year.  Earlier in February we hosted guest speaker Dr. Donald Visco, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, from The University of Akron.  He gave great advice on how NOT to pick a college major.  The easy to understand presentation explained the many different types of engineering and their related careers.  Dr. Visco gave several highlights of the fun projects and opportunities the students would have as engineering majors at the University of Akron.  Though most of our students are not Seniors, it never is too early to start thinking about their future.

Dr. Visco on "How Not to Choose a Major"

Our second meeting in February focused on Google Sketch-Up.  Students were shown several designs of bus shelters, ranging from the traditional to artsy.  Students were given one hour to sketch a design of their choice.  They were able to apply finishes to the designs and also made several views and which they were able to animate.  At the end of class, each student explained key features of their bus shelter and why they designed it like they did.

Michael and Yuuki work on their bus shelter designs.

Mentor Katie Land from Stantec showed advanced sketch up
projects that she completed.

The students had a lot of fun with this.  One design looked like a boom box, one looked like a fire place (all red brick), one had numerous sky lights and plug in stations for cell phones, one had a love seat and individual chairs instead of benches.  The designs were as unique as the students.

Transportation Guest Speakers at NTW

New Tech West was pleased to host two special guest speakers on January 17^th: Joe Shaffer, Director of Engineering and Project Development at RTA and Myron Pakush, ODOT Deputy Director for District 12.

Mr. Joe Shaffer of RTA

Mr. Myron Pakush of ODOT

Mr.  Shaffer and Mr. Pakush spoke to the students about the variety of engineering needs at their respective employers as well as some of their recently completed projects.  A few of the more interesting projects discussed included the current construction of the inter-belt bridge, the Euclid Corridor project (Health Line) and the Airport Tunnel project.

SLOW UP          HANG UP          LOOK UP

Mr. Pakush handed out orange thumb rings to the students and mentors as an important reminder to not text and drive. 

The Project Managers (near) and the Engineers (far)

Team Architect

Students divided into teams (Contractor/Project Manager, Architect and Site Engineer) for the final RFP project.  Another committee was also formed, a sustainable design committee.  All of these groups will work together in subsequent meetings to produce the required deliverables as per the RFP.