Random monthly extra progress blog for September

Mentorship progress:
Hurray! I have a mentor, my life is now compete. So as i mentioned before I mentor at  Tom Chaves grading  company every friday from 1 to 4:30. Usually I am given some project or I help out this guy Leo who does all the auto cad work for the company (He thinks I'm an intern). I mostly photocopy important stuff and read boring reports (boring as into bore…like drill a hole….well i guess boring in both senses really.) I also help around with all there tech problems (I'm like their paul now) fixing broken scanners and computers, they are not tech savvy at all. As i learn more I get more responsibilities around the office, for instance sometimes I have to summarize long reports for Tom to save him time reading the entire thing. I wish I had some pictues but those will be hard to arrange as in the contracting world corporate espionage is common. People want to steal estimation data in order to out bid another company so i cant just go around snapping photos. Next time I will have some for sure though. Heres their website  (http://www.earthtekeng.com/employees.php). Um Not much else to report on I'm just joe the intern. I'm learning a lot about what it takes to survive in the construction world and as time progress i hope i will be able to help the office in even more ways.

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Approval

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

 For my Independent Component I plan to basically go through the entire process of grading. Let me explain, so there are a series of steps that must be followed to properly  grade a site and I'm basically going to go through them on one of the companies old contracts. For example every grading process starts with a company receiving  construction plans and then estimating the price it would take them to complete. Next they submit their bid and if they are chosen they go through the construction process starting with drafting on auto cad. They then review soils reports,provided data, specs, etc etc. Once they get everything together they then will often subcontract other companies to do work they cannot do, and the list goes on. Basically i will do each of these steps on an old contract with my mentor helping me along to get an even more complete understanding of the grading process.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

To prove my thirty hour commitment I will record the process as I go along with photos and other physical evidence such as drafts and other things I've had to do for my independent component. I can also have my mentor sign of that i had worked for 30 hours as he will be there with me most of the time.

3.  And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

By basically going through the entire grading process in depth I will get an even greater understanding of how to successfully complete a grading project. I will know everything aspect in detail as well as how they all come together to form a successful operation.

Blog 6 - Second Interview Preparation

 Interviews

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?

My mentor is tom Chavez. He works for EarthTek industries and is the  V.P estimator. EarthTek is a construction that primarily focusses on Grading, they do however subcontract other construction companies for things such as demolition. They are based in Chino hills but work on projects as far as nevada. My mentor Tom is the main estimator. This means that he looks at potential contracts and estimates how much money it would cost to complete said project. This is a very important job because an accurate estimation is needed to create the best bidding proposal and ensure profit.

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

1.How did you get in to the field of construction and more specifically grading?

2.Did you receive any training or education prior to becoming a grader? What is needed to successfully enter this field?

3. How long has this been your profession and would you recommend it?

4. What originally got you interested in construction and is this job still interesting/exciting after all these years?

5. How have you processed in this business? Have you always been with the same company ect ect?

6. Do you know any books or resources that could help me learn more about grading and the field of construction?

Blog 5 - Mentorship and Research Reflection

1. Mentorship question: Describe your experience in how you found your mentorship?  If you haven't found one yet, describe your experience so far in the search of a mentor.

Unfortunately there is no grand story as to how i found my mentor, I've honestly known him my entire life. My mentor is Tom Chavez, and, well I've been seeing him every sunday for quite a while.    I'd known he was a construction man for quite a while but i guess i really got to know Tom when had a discussion on Venice. We were both amazed how the entire city was supported by thousands of wooden pillars buried deep under the marshland and unable to bio-degrade due to the lack of oxygen. Over time we had several extremely interesting conversations after about his work and the importance of a foundation. So when the time came to find a mentorship and chemistry was not working out I just Simply asked him to be my mentor and after checking with his work, he agreed.


2. Research question: What has been your most important article you have read so far and why?

So far in my research the most important article i read was  "Taking the Measure of Methods for Estimating Earthwork Volumes" by Duffy, Daniel P. On the surface this magazine article seemed relatively simple, for it was only on the mathematical methods for solving area, but this single article encompassed much of the grading world. It explained not only the importance of getting a good earthwork measurement but also explained why. This article also detailed the different technologies currently being used to calculate said area, such as gps and satellite images. Because this single article was able to encompass so much and really give you an idea of what goes on during a grading article it has definitely been the most important one i have read so far.