IMMMMMM DDOOOOONEEEEEEEEEE
'sooooooo doneeeeeeeee
no morreeeeee4eee painnnn
dobyyyyy noooooooo
dobbyy no freeeeeeee
gahhhhhhhhhhhhh
love me voldemort like the father i never haddddddded
peace
Jose
Monday, June 1, 2015
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Blog 23: Final Lesson Reflection
(1) Positive Statement
What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?
I am extremely proud of the depth of research in my project and the real life experiences i had. My months of researching grading helped me cultivate a deep understanding of the subject and my on the job experiences allowed me to see what i learned in real life. To see my months of hard research come of the paper and become life experiences was amazing and something i am very proud of.
(2) Questions to Consider
a. What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation (self-assessment)?
I would give myself an AE Due to the fact that i hit all P considerations and still went above and beyond through my mentorship examples, use of effective research and display of my project through a field trip.
b. What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?
I would Give myself an AE. I effectively researched and presented my senior project topic as well as successfully answered my EQ. I did more than the necessary number of mentorship hours and went above and beyond through my in depth relationship with my mentorship and the learning experiences it provided.
(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?
Finding research was difficult at times especially due to confidentiality and the lack of scholarly articles available. I was able to over come this later however by going through the works of civil engineers if i had a time machine i would have started that process earlier.
(5) Finding Value
How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors? Be specific and use examples.
The senior project has deepened my knowledge of the construction field immensely and has made the work much more relatable. My time at Earth Tek has also given me great worker experience and something to put on my resume. This year long project has also been a great exercise in patients, I had to keep a calm head while navigating all the tiny aspects of a project that could keep me from graduating. In the end my senior project gave me a window into the engineering world a world in which i wish to work this insight has better prepared me for my career and is an amazing experience.
What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?
I am extremely proud of the depth of research in my project and the real life experiences i had. My months of researching grading helped me cultivate a deep understanding of the subject and my on the job experiences allowed me to see what i learned in real life. To see my months of hard research come of the paper and become life experiences was amazing and something i am very proud of.
(2) Questions to Consider
a. What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation (self-assessment)?
I would give myself an AE Due to the fact that i hit all P considerations and still went above and beyond through my mentorship examples, use of effective research and display of my project through a field trip.
b. What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?
I would Give myself an AE. I effectively researched and presented my senior project topic as well as successfully answered my EQ. I did more than the necessary number of mentorship hours and went above and beyond through my in depth relationship with my mentorship and the learning experiences it provided.
(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?
Finding research was difficult at times especially due to confidentiality and the lack of scholarly articles available. I was able to over come this later however by going through the works of civil engineers if i had a time machine i would have started that process earlier.
(5) Finding Value
How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors? Be specific and use examples.
The senior project has deepened my knowledge of the construction field immensely and has made the work much more relatable. My time at Earth Tek has also given me great worker experience and something to put on my resume. This year long project has also been a great exercise in patients, I had to keep a calm head while navigating all the tiny aspects of a project that could keep me from graduating. In the end my senior project gave me a window into the engineering world a world in which i wish to work this insight has better prepared me for my career and is an amazing experience.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Blog 22: Mentorship
Literal
- See side of blog
- Mentor contact
- http://www.earthtekeng.com/
- Earth Tek Engineering
- 909-393-2000
- Tom Chavez (mentor)
- 714 412-4017
- thoschv@msn.com
Interpretive
What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?
My time at Earth Tek Engineering was amazing. It was such an experience to see the construction world first hand. I learned lots of things in my time there but nothing impacted me as much as sitting in on real life construction meetings. It was so amazing to see all the things i researched in practice. During these meetings arguments over contract disputes took place and almost every single factor in construction and argued over the table. It was hard to keep up with all the terms but i was able to observe construction at its most involved level. Almost all of the staff was present at these disputes and every member had their own knowledge to contribute. THe fact that I was able to see all elements of grading at once and how they interacted made it the most amazing experience of my senior project. Being able to sit in and understand was the culmination of months of hard work.
Applied
How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ? Please explain.
My mentorship was my primary source for answering my EQ, What is the most important factor in ensuring a profit in a grading operation? My work there has helped in in so many ways. Discussions with my mentor helped me define terms and overcome obstacles such as lack of sources. Talking with my mentor helped me come up with my eq and my three best answers. Tom was there the whole time to help me and guide me in my research. My mentorship also provided me a great place to learn about grading and focus my project. I was able to work with various employees in various sections of the company giving me a broad sampling. My mentorship also allowed me to comb through their old construction reports which was essential to answering my EQ. By looking through what went wrong in various old jobs and dissecting the various factors I was able to accurately answer my EQ with primary sources. I was able to look at how factors affected construction profit first hand. The work at my mentorship gave my EQ answer so much more depth and validity.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Exit Interview
(1) What is your essential question, and what are your answers? What is your best answer and why?
My essential question is: What is the most important factor in ensuring profit in a grading operation?
Through my work at my mentorship as well as personal research I came up with three answers.
1.Proper Estimation.
2.Proper Pre-construction Planning.
3. Proper management on all levels.
All of these fully answer my EQ and are each highly supported by in the field experiences. However my many discussions with my mentor and my second independent component all pointed toward one answer being the best. My first answer( proper estimation) is the best answer to my essential question for four reasons. First, It is the answer that best encompasses and affects construction profit, the main focus of my question. Second, estimation has the most direct relationship to profit (estimation sets up crucial contract prices). Third, Estimation has the most impact on the construction process as a whole due to compounding factors. Finally it was the most heavily supported,coming up time and time again as the root cause of errors in the grading process.
2. What process did you go through to arrive at your best answer?
The process of finding by best answer was the focus of my second independent component. I looked through various old jobs that my mentorship completed and searched for a pattern or theme with the ones in which profit was not optimal. The most common factor turned out to be errors in estimation. Estimators had improperly predicted the construction cost by not calculating for soil contamination, the possibility of high material price or simply failed to understand the complete scope of the project. I then had many discussions with my mentor about common factors and he agreed with me. estimation is so often a cause for error because an extremely minor error will compound throughout the project in a butterfly effect. My best answer was also eluded to through my research as improper estimation came up all the time.
(3) What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?
The first problem i encountered was a lack of sources. There are not many sources on grading and construction, most of the knowledge is learned on the job and the sources i did have from my mentorship were confidential. I was able to overcome this by searching harder for sources and relying more on discussions with my mentor. My second problem was defining proper estimation. Estimation can encompass a lot. talking with my mentor kept helped me define it and differentiate it from construction planning. (the focus of estimation is to calculate the completion price of a project for use in bidding.)
4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?
My mentor was my most significant source in finding the answer to my eq, he is extremely well qualified and knowledgeable in the field of grading and estimation. Through sitting in on his meetings and my interviews I learned so much about the problems graders commonly face and how profit is generated throughout the project. My second most significant source was the Earth Tek company records of current and past projects. In these huge files i was able to look through old projects and find out what went wrong. I was able to see the effects of estimation compound through a project and i was able to see how commonly estimation came up as an error. These real life examples were an excellent primary source that showed my essential question in real life.
My essential question is: What is the most important factor in ensuring profit in a grading operation?
Through my work at my mentorship as well as personal research I came up with three answers.
1.Proper Estimation.
2.Proper Pre-construction Planning.
3. Proper management on all levels.
All of these fully answer my EQ and are each highly supported by in the field experiences. However my many discussions with my mentor and my second independent component all pointed toward one answer being the best. My first answer( proper estimation) is the best answer to my essential question for four reasons. First, It is the answer that best encompasses and affects construction profit, the main focus of my question. Second, estimation has the most direct relationship to profit (estimation sets up crucial contract prices). Third, Estimation has the most impact on the construction process as a whole due to compounding factors. Finally it was the most heavily supported,coming up time and time again as the root cause of errors in the grading process.
2. What process did you go through to arrive at your best answer?
The process of finding by best answer was the focus of my second independent component. I looked through various old jobs that my mentorship completed and searched for a pattern or theme with the ones in which profit was not optimal. The most common factor turned out to be errors in estimation. Estimators had improperly predicted the construction cost by not calculating for soil contamination, the possibility of high material price or simply failed to understand the complete scope of the project. I then had many discussions with my mentor about common factors and he agreed with me. estimation is so often a cause for error because an extremely minor error will compound throughout the project in a butterfly effect. My best answer was also eluded to through my research as improper estimation came up all the time.
(3) What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?
The first problem i encountered was a lack of sources. There are not many sources on grading and construction, most of the knowledge is learned on the job and the sources i did have from my mentorship were confidential. I was able to overcome this by searching harder for sources and relying more on discussions with my mentor. My second problem was defining proper estimation. Estimation can encompass a lot. talking with my mentor kept helped me define it and differentiate it from construction planning. (the focus of estimation is to calculate the completion price of a project for use in bidding.)
4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?
My mentor was my most significant source in finding the answer to my eq, he is extremely well qualified and knowledgeable in the field of grading and estimation. Through sitting in on his meetings and my interviews I learned so much about the problems graders commonly face and how profit is generated throughout the project. My second most significant source was the Earth Tek company records of current and past projects. In these huge files i was able to look through old projects and find out what went wrong. I was able to see the effects of estimation compound through a project and i was able to see how commonly estimation came up as an error. These real life examples were an excellent primary source that showed my essential question in real life.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
extra april post
Senior project is almost done!!!!
This month the majority of my time was spent on my independent component. Getting hours and recording meetings/ other proofs. I was also able to finalize my activity with la Russa. I am not changing it much from the first one i am just making sure to include elements related to my EQ.Things are really wrapping up, i am almost done with all my sources as well. Im almost done with the paper and my best answer is very well suported. The highlight of my essential question was walking around and going over my mentors project in our parking lot. Earth tek is doing the grading and it is amazing to see them solve problems in real time. There is really not much else to say. I am happy to be done with the required hours but i will most likely keep getting hours for above and beyond. Here is a summary of my mentors qualifications. All is going well and i hope i get a good grade
Tom Chavez
Tom Chavez is Vice president and oversees the estimating and project management team at Earth Tek. Together with staff, they prepare hard competitive bids and also provide value engineering for negotiated projects becoming more prevalent on large projects today. Upon successful award or negotiation, the team coordinates oversight until closeout and completion.
Mr. Chavez began in the construction industry in the early 1980's. Working with several local real-estate developers, the importance of recognizing regional trends and adjusting to changing conditions became apparent. Participation in the successful development of residential and commercial developments has brought a unique perspective to Earth Tek in providing site development and earthwork services to Southern California builders and developers.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Independent Component Blog
(a) Include this statement: “I, Joseph Mirabal, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”
(b) My primary source for sure was my mentor tom Chavez he was extremely helpful in helping me answer my eq, understand estimation and profit in construction and providing activities to help me learn while attaining hours. He also introduced me to other workers and contractors to help me expand my knowledge. My other source is stated below it was great at helping identify things that were going wrong in many of the reports.
Rawlinson, Simon. "Successful Projects." UK Building (2009): n. pag. Web. http://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Internet/Capabilities/Program,%20Cost,%20Consultancy/Cost/Procurement_SuccessfulProjects_10Feb06.pdf
(d)For my independent component I learned about the various factors in construction and how they affect profit, in order to best answer my eq. I looked through old construction reports and summaries looking for what went wrong when profit was lost and what went right when profit was generated. I hoped to find a pattern in which a single factor affected profit time and time again through various projects. I attained my thirty hours through reading report after report, talking to my mentor and having my mentor giving me hypothetical situations so that i could try determine what will go wrong. After narrowing down my answer i then had to discuss differences between estimation and pre construction planning in order to better answer my eq. My independent component was imperative in answering my eq.
INTERPRETIVE DEFEND THE WORK!
How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped.
My EQ is What is the most important factor in ensuring a profit in a grading operation? I focused my research primarily on my first and second answers. During the project i realized that these answers overlap a lot and i had to differentiate between the two (estimation and pre-construction planning). My independent component had me looking through case after case for factors that affected construction proffit. Time and time again i found that initial errors that should have been accounted for in estimation compounded and deeply affected profit. Cases like the Costco project where they failed to account for large amounts of asbestos when estimating time and profit and are now facing serious consequences. Or the Case where they simply read the contract wrong and graded one foot too deep. These simple errors should have been prevented by properly estimation the scope of the job at the beginning (the estimation stage). Not only were these errors bad but through my cited source reading and the scenarios I went over I saw how these errors compounded through the project. These repeated occurrences deepened my knowledge and proved my first answer as the best answer. It came up the most out of the three and was by far the most impactful due to the compounding effect. I Am very proud of how well i have gotten at understanding the world of grading and being able to sit in and understand many complicated meetings. By the end both my mentor and i agreed with my first answer and i am very confident in it thanks to my independent component.
I primarily focused in on determining which essential question answer had the most support in the real world. I also had to clarify the difference between my first and second essential questions. In order to find out which factor occurred most often and had the most profound effect on the grading process i had to look through old construction spending reports I had to look for what went wrong in failed construction jobs and try to find a pattern or common theme. The only way to do this was to parse through report after report each one taking over an hour to fully comprehend and read. I also sat through many construction meetings as well. In these meetings problems they were experiencing were often the topic. Through viewing factors that affect profit in grading first hand i was able to answer my eq and support my findings.
Most of the work i did in finance was confidential and difficult to get evidence for. Here is what i could get
4
APPLIED
(b) My primary source for sure was my mentor tom Chavez he was extremely helpful in helping me answer my eq, understand estimation and profit in construction and providing activities to help me learn while attaining hours. He also introduced me to other workers and contractors to help me expand my knowledge. My other source is stated below it was great at helping identify things that were going wrong in many of the reports.
Rawlinson, Simon. "Successful Projects." UK Building (2009): n. pag. Web. http://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Internet/Capabilities/Program,%20Cost,%20Consultancy/Cost/Procurement_SuccessfulProjects_10Feb06.pdf
(d)For my independent component I learned about the various factors in construction and how they affect profit, in order to best answer my eq. I looked through old construction reports and summaries looking for what went wrong when profit was lost and what went right when profit was generated. I hoped to find a pattern in which a single factor affected profit time and time again through various projects. I attained my thirty hours through reading report after report, talking to my mentor and having my mentor giving me hypothetical situations so that i could try determine what will go wrong. After narrowing down my answer i then had to discuss differences between estimation and pre construction planning in order to better answer my eq. My independent component was imperative in answering my eq.
INTERPRETIVE DEFEND THE WORK!
How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped.
My EQ is What is the most important factor in ensuring a profit in a grading operation? I focused my research primarily on my first and second answers. During the project i realized that these answers overlap a lot and i had to differentiate between the two (estimation and pre-construction planning). My independent component had me looking through case after case for factors that affected construction proffit. Time and time again i found that initial errors that should have been accounted for in estimation compounded and deeply affected profit. Cases like the Costco project where they failed to account for large amounts of asbestos when estimating time and profit and are now facing serious consequences. Or the Case where they simply read the contract wrong and graded one foot too deep. These simple errors should have been prevented by properly estimation the scope of the job at the beginning (the estimation stage). Not only were these errors bad but through my cited source reading and the scenarios I went over I saw how these errors compounded through the project. These repeated occurrences deepened my knowledge and proved my first answer as the best answer. It came up the most out of the three and was by far the most impactful due to the compounding effect. I Am very proud of how well i have gotten at understanding the world of grading and being able to sit in and understand many complicated meetings. By the end both my mentor and i agreed with my first answer and i am very confident in it thanks to my independent component.
I primarily focused in on determining which essential question answer had the most support in the real world. I also had to clarify the difference between my first and second essential questions. In order to find out which factor occurred most often and had the most profound effect on the grading process i had to look through old construction spending reports I had to look for what went wrong in failed construction jobs and try to find a pattern or common theme. The only way to do this was to parse through report after report each one taking over an hour to fully comprehend and read. I also sat through many construction meetings as well. In these meetings problems they were experiencing were often the topic. Through viewing factors that affect profit in grading first hand i was able to answer my eq and support my findings.
Most of the work i did in finance was confidential and difficult to get evidence for. Here is what i could get
4
This is some audio of some of the meetings I sat in as well as some of the discussion I had with my mentor.
3/20/2015 completed jobs folders. These folders contain tons of information on past jobs by earth tek, especially on where they went right or wrong.
looking through contracts and estimation plans to find common factors in grading. This work at tustin legacy was quite successful and i noted how well written the initial contract was as well as communication between the owner and earthtek.
here I observed the construction process unfold and how it is well documented.
Here i was able to sneak a picture of some of the finance reports. in this particular project they were very behind schedule due to an error in acquiring supplies. the time delay is noted and cost the company profit.
Here i looked at the building of a school. in the construction there was a wage argument with the construction workers that caused delays. they wanted higher wages and almost started a strike. my mentor stated that they should have finalized the wages in the initial estimation.
http://www.groton-ct.gov/meetings/Handouts/08-22-13%20Building%20Construction%20Scenarios%20%28REVISED%20for%2009-26-13%29.pdf
Link to the scenarios my mentor tested me with. He gave me building criteria and information and i had to explain how certain factors would affect the construction job at hand as well as how to correct them. We also discussed how an estimator must factor in the season as well as the proximity to sewage and water lines. This was actually quite fun.
Very important report on parking lot contract. Earth tek failed to properly grade a surface. they dug one foot to deep and lost a lot of money. I discussed with my mentor how they could have avoided this. It was a greed that if they had properly read the contract an essential part of estimation this could have been avoided.
observing work at ipoly noting the placement of gravel and the savings caused by a light rain. this saved money on water needed for dust prevention. Discuessed the scope of the project 80,000 cubic yards of dirt must be removed and the problem of where to put the dirt.
Looking over more cases this was their current work with a costco and the problems they are facing with asbestos contamination. They did not expect so much asbestos and failed to account for it in the initial estimation. because of this they are behind schedule and over budget.
Sitting in on meetings.
observing budget effects of unaccounted for asbestos in construction project.
"Estimation deals with determining a proper price,
in order to do this the entire job must be planned out to the finest detail in
order to calculate the most accurate price. Estimation should cover all of the planning;
they can be interchangeable in a broad sense. My mentor stated, “A proper
estimation needs to include the site plan, you cannot estimate without planning
the construction out, it is simply impossible”. Planning includes the scheduling of a project another
essential aspect in the construction industry. The deep relationship between
planning and estimating strengthened my first finding greatly."
excerpt from my findings paper that discusses estimation vs pre-construction planning.
Pre-construction planning deals with the actual building plan and estimation deals with the cost of making the plan a reality. You can not complete a plan without an estimation. Estimation affects profit and the construction process more and therefore is the better answer and what i focused my component primarily on.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Extra March Post
March has been quite the month. I have finished my first independent Component and have started my second one. Unfortunately i have run into some hangups. My initial idea of of going through accounts was becoming impossible due to concerns with privacy and my inability to show proof. I was able to get 6 hours however and I did learn a lot about the various factors that impact my EQ. I am now shifting my IC to something that has to do with external factors and their effect on profit. I am still developing the idea with my mentor as well as getting hours, I will discuss this with him more on friday. I have also discussed my problem with rivas. Last friday we worked on contaminated soils and the problems that they can cause, my IC will be along these lines.
Fun Fact: to treat contaminated ground water molasses is often pumped into aquifers in order to feed microorganisms, who will then eat the contaminants.
My mentor tom, great guy.
So things are startingggg to get back on track which is great. I just need to work more on my WB and work on my activity. The main achievement was the completion of my first component and i plan to finish my second one before the deadline as well as secure my second interview.
Fun Fact: to treat contaminated ground water molasses is often pumped into aquifers in order to feed microorganisms, who will then eat the contaminants.
So things are startingggg to get back on track which is great. I just need to work more on my WB and work on my activity. The main achievement was the completion of my first component and i plan to finish my second one before the deadline as well as secure my second interview.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)