Articles

CE Club March 2016 Update

Land Development with Foresite Group

Maria Eichhold, Josh McNeil, David Norris, John Kim, and Travis Pruett from Foresite Group all took time out of their day to present the CE Club.  They led a group activity that illustrated to the high school students how land development teams must work together to achieve an under-budget, efficient, profitable, and welcoming community.  Each student was given a specific role to personify on a development team:

•       Developer – interested in getting the most return on investment
•       Home Owner’s Association Chair – concerned with the long term residents of the community and the impact the development will have on property values, quality of life, and comfort
•       City Planner – concerned about boosting the city’s economy while also meeting the community needs
•       City Economic Developer – interested in the revenue the new development will generate and the jobs that will be created
•       Mayor – up for re-election and interested in making the community members as happy as possible; gives the final approval of the layout

Students were given a site plan with four blank city blocks that was bordered by a neighborhood, a major highway, and commercial land.  They were given a budget and a list of possible buildings and spaces that could fill up these four blocks, along with a cost associated with each building or space.  Students then had to assume their roles within the development team and decide where and how many grocery stores, houses, apartment complexes, strips malls, pharmacies, parks, homeless shelters, schools, and community centers would be placed on the site plan.  Students quickly realized the importance of patience and communication when each team member has a different agenda for the development.  Each group then had to present their new development to the whole class while justifying the decisions they had made. The Foresite Group engineers then offered constructive feedback of each team’s development.  Additional photos of Foresite Group’s visit to the WWHS CE Club can be found online here.

Structural Engineers with L.A. Fuess Partners

Jared Boyles and Phillip Pesek of L.A. Fuess Partners started a two-part series with the Civil Engineering Club by talking to students about the engineering design method and how it is applied to structural engineering. Jared started off by defining terms such as engineering, structure, load, and structural engineering. He also showed the students examples of different types of structures that are around them every day. The intent of the exercise was to illustrate where structural engineering is used in obvious and not-so-obvious ways. Phil then led the students through the design example using a simply supported beam with a concentrated point load applied at mid-span. He pointed out to the students that it is important for structural engineers to design for strength AND for serviceability. A beam may not break due to strength, but if it is deflecting so much that it is making building occupants uncomfortable or damaging non-structural components then the structural engineer still has problems they need to address.

Phil and Jared then told the students they would be given the opportunity to build and test their own beam design in a couple of weeks for a “Build-A-Beam” challenge. The students were just beginning to learn about shape and section properties in their class curriculum, and the Build-A-Beam activity would be a great way to practically apply the lessons learned in Mr. Carver’s class.

The students also had the opportunity to ask Jared and Phil questions about college and the different paths they took to becoming a structural engineer. Jared obtained a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering from Oklahoma State University, while Phil has a bachelor's and master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas. Despite the different study programs, both found their way into building design and explained why they love what they do so much.