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Task Diminishment: Construction Value Loss Through Sub-Optimal Task Execution John R. Patton Ledbetter & Burati [1] defined quality as "conformance to requirements". This definition assumes that a requirement has been communicated, and mutually accepted by the contract purchaser and the contract holder. This research describes the persistent, or undiscovered and un-restored lack of conformance to requirements as value loss in the delivered project. Construction value is lost through sub-optimal execution across all tasks and events throughout the construction process. This sub-optimal execution is failure to conform to a task requirement. The contract purchaser (client) expects to receive a specified value through letting a contract to a construction service provider (contract holder). When the project is delivered, it may be significantly devalued compared to the expectations implied in the contract documents. Tasks executed in a non-conforming manner, which are never discovered through normal QAQC process and are therefore never corrected or restored, remain in the delivered project to degrade the project/contract value. These diminished tasks, persist across all trades, disciplines, and specialties in the construction process. This task diminishment impacts all tasks from the contract purchaser, and the contract holder – all tasks can be diminished through poor task execution. Diminishment of tasks from both the contract purchaser, and the contract holder, can rob the project of its implied or expected value. The task diminishments are un-restored, and uncorrected during the construction phase, and linger to degrade the value of the delivered project.

Global Trends in Patenting Ben D. Cranor, Matthew E. Elam, & Jerry D. Parish The United States’ historical dominance in the issuance of patents is being threatened.

Globalization Issues in the Industrial Technology Transfer Supply Chain Todd D. Myers As more and more equipment and tools for manufacturing are produced in one country and used in another, differences between quality dimension standards and usage specifications become apparent.

A 2.4 GHz High Performance CMOS Sub- Harmonic Mixer Alireza Saberkari & Shahriar B. Shokouhi In this paper a low power CMOS sub-harmonic mixer based on the Gilbert cell for 2.

A Classroom/Distance Learning Engineering Course on Wireless Networking with Virtual Lab Jai P. Agrawal & Yakov E. Cherner Paper presents the design of an engineering course on “Wireless Networking” in a traditional classroom /distance learning format.

Teaching Circuits to Multiple Disciplines: Hardware, Software, Both? Dr. Noureddine Bekhouche & Mr. Terry Marbut The importance of appropriate laboratory activities has long been recognized in electronics technology programs.

Building Information Modeling: An Academic Perspective Vivek Sah & Clark Cory The last decade has seen a tremendous rise in object oriented and parametric modeling technology.

Integrating 3D Vision Measurements into Industrial Robot Applications Frank S. Cheng & Xiaoting Chen Vision systems are used more and more in recent industrial robot applications for enhancing robot flexibility and intelligence.

Design and Construction of a Rapid Prototyping Machine: A Breakdown of the Machine Sub-Systems Used to Learn Multi-Disciplinary Engineering Skills David Culler, Noah Anderson, & Stanley Ames Described by local professors and students as a “semester project on steroids”, students at the Oregon Institute of Technology set the lofty goal of designing and constructing a Rapid Prototyping (RP) machine based on an international community of “Rep-Rappers” (Replicating RP Machines) that was started at the University of Bathe, England [1].

A University's Approach to Teach a Freshman-Level Introductory Course in Industrial Engineering Matthew Elam, E. Delbert Horton, Sukwon Kim, & Bob Wilkins An increased emphasis on the development and implementation of freshman-level introductory engineering courses and programs at colleges and universities has occurred in recent years.

Integrating Student Experience into the Classroom Terri Lynch-Caris & Daniel Ludwigsen Engineering educators seek to inspire their students to integrate classroom theories with their own experience.

Problem-Based Teaching and Learning in an Introductory Level Lean Manufacturing Systems Course Alister McLeod & April Savoy Problem based learning (PBL) is a widely used technique in the development of technical curriculum delivery (Putnam, 2001)18.

Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: Designing Program Educational Objectives Jane Fraser Industrial Engineering programs prepare graduates for a wide range of jobs in a wide range of industries.

Adjusting the Curriculum in the Fluid Mechanics Course by Modifying the Laboratory Setting David Torick & Dan Budny Many fluids laboratory facilities and their associated student laboratory experiences were built back in the 1960-1970 time frames.

A New Approach to Soil Mechanics Laboratory Curricula: Incorporating the BOK into a Workshop Orientated Laboratory Laura Hernandez & Stanley Vitton The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has recognized the need for change in how current undergraduate education is conducted to better prepare civil engineers for the 21st century.

Web-Based Virtual Laboratory for Water Resources Engineering Education Steven Burian, Alfred Kalyanapu, Dasch Houdeshel, Dasch Houdeshel, & Christine Pomeroy This paper describes a virtual laboratory website used in water resources engineering courses at the University of Utah.

Using Cell Phones as Audience Response System Transmitters in Civil Engineering Classes Paul Richards Most university students and faculty have cell phones. A Harris Poll in 2008 found that more than 90% of adults in the United States have cell phones.1 Ownership rates are higher among university students, approaching 100% on some campuses. All these phones result in potential distractions in the university classroom. Campbell and Russo reported that students frequently complain about the distraction from ringing during class time and that university classrooms are perceived to be one of the least acceptable places for mobile phone use.2 Another survey by Campbell found that most university students and faculty would support university policy against mobile phone use during class time.3

Miniature Open-Channel Weir for the Standard Classroom: Implementation and Assessment Nurdan Yurt-Beyenal, Cara J. Poor, Paul B.Golter, Gary R Brown, David B.Thiessen, & Bernard J Van Wie A miniature open-channel flow system with weirs was used to teach characteristics of open-channel flow, flow control and measurement in a Civil Engineering Water Resources Engineering class.

Implementing a Faculty Development Model at the National Military Academy of Afghanistan Eric Crispino, Andrew Bellocchio, Scott Hamilton, Aaron Hill, & Stephen Ressler Now starting its fifth year of existence, the National Military Academy of Afghanistan (NMAA) in Kabul has recently graduated the first class of cadets with a major in civil engineering.

Project Managers, Architects and Engineers, Oh My: An Interdisciplinary Collaboration David Lambert, Allen Estes, & Craig Baltimore The Architectural Engineering (ARCE) Program at the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo is creating a unique and novel interdisciplinary course where architecture, architectural engineering and construction management students collaborate to design and plan the construction of a building structure.

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Upcoming Events

10/27 - 10/29/2010	2010 ATE PI Conference The American Association of Community Colleges with the support of the National Science Foundation will hold the seventeenth national ATE Principal Investigators Conference, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. The conference brings together approximately 800 people to focus on the critical issues related to advanced technological education. Key people working on ATE projects across the country participate in the conference. Conference attendees represent community colleges, business and industry, secondary school systems, four-year colleges, and research and development centers covering projects in a wide variety of areas such as: information technology, engineering technology, micro- and nanotechnologies, chemical technology, biotechnology, and others. Click here for more information	Washington, DC

10/27 - 10/30/2010	2010 ATMAE Annual Conference Click here for more information	Panama City Beach, FL

11/3 - 11/4/2010	National Workshop On Challenges To Innovation In Advanced Manufacturing: Industry Drivers And R&D Needs The objective of the workshop is to identify key industry drivers for advanced manufacturing technology innovation, and the measurements and standards related R&D needs required to enable these innovations. Drivers, needs, and technologies that span multiple manufacturing sectors are of particular interest, as are needs in infrastructural technology areas including measurements, performance metrics, test methods, and standards. Click here for more information	Gaithersburg, MD

10/27 - 10/30/2010	40th Annual Frontiers in Education Conference The 40th Annual Frontiers in Education (FIE) Conference is the major international conference about educational innovations and research in engineering and computing. FIE 2010 continues a long tradition of disseminating results in these areas. It is an ideal forum for sharing ideas; learning about developments in computer science, engineering, and technology education; and interacting with colleagues in these fields. Society sponsors are the IEEE Education Society, the IEEE Computer Society, and the ASEE Educational Research and Methods Division. Education sponsors are University of Virginia School of Engineering, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Click here for more information	Arlington, VA

10/31 - 11/3/2010	2010 STEMTech Conference STEMtech is an interactive learning experience with a strong focus on STEM disciplines – science, technology, engineering, mathematics – in general education and workforce training and in technology use across the institution. In addition, STEMtech continues the 25-year legacy of the Conference on Information Technology (CIT) and its predecessors as the fall "tech" conference: the place to explore the intelligent application of information technology in educational institutions Click here for more information	Orlando, FL

Click here for our complete calendar of national events!
Recently Added Links
Engineering Go For It! A 64-page comprehensive guide to a career in engineering & technology. A colorful, inspiring magazines designed to attract high school students, counselors, parents, and teachers to the exciting world of engineering and technology. Northwest Indiania's Career Exploration Northwest Indiana's Career Exploration was developed by Goal Team 2 of the Community Workforce Compact. AMC2 The Advanced Manufacturing Career Collaborative (AMC2) was established because of a shared sense of urgency concerning Southwestern PA's ability to provide a technically trained workforce in the numbers needed by the region's manufacturing sector. New Jersey Next Stop…Your Career Manufacturing - Jersey makes, the world takes. New Jersey’s history is rooted in manufacturing products, everything from food to chemical production in Northern New Jersey, to glass manufacturing in Southern New Jersey. Manufacturing processes have become much more high-tech and workers are increasingly likely to spend their days monitoring a computerized control center instead of manually operating cumbersome tools or machines. But like everywhere else, New Jersey’s economy is becoming much more dependent on services and information technology, rather than goods manufacturing, much of which is moving overseas. That said, New Jersey won’t be losing touch with its heritage anytime soon. Career Podcasts Choose from 350 different podcasts to learn more about options in 16 career fields - everything from finance and engineering to education and government. You can download these files onto your iPod or play them on your computer. Select a category and video below and then click on "Play Video." The running time of most videos is approximately 2 minutes. Career OneStop Career Videos See "real people doing real work". Each career video below may be viewed using either Windows Media or RealPlayer. View over 300 videos in Spanish. Jobs With A Future Do you like cars? Ever wondered where the parts for those cars come from? In Canada, more than 100,000 people are in well paid and secure careers designing and manufacturing $35 billion worth of parts for the North American automotive industry. Another 55,000 Canadians are employed in the actual making of cars and trucks. The number of automotive manufacturing jobs will grow 10% in the next few years. Automotive parts jobs lead the way, having risen by about 33% since 1992. Most parts makers plan to further expand their skilled trades workforce beyond 2003 thanks to increasing business, the need for updating to new technology, and the need to replace the thousands of workers anticipated to retire over the 10 years. Automotive Parts Manufacturing is Canada's #1 Manufacturing industry! Click on Careers ClickonCareers.com connects the most progressive companies and training providers with the most qualified career-minded individuals, offering outstanding listings and superior services that help individuals find the training they need to get the career they want. Center for High-Rate Nanomanufacturing The Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing is developing tools and processes to enable high-rate/high-volume bottom-up, precise, assembly of nanoelements (such as carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, etc.) and polymer nanostructures. The center's nanotemplates are utilized to conduct fast massive directed assembly of nanoelements by controlling the forces required to assemble, detach, and transfer nanoelements over large areas. The developed technology will accelerate the creation of highly anticipated commercial products and will enable the creation of an entirely new generation of applications in electronics, energy, material, bio/medical areas. National Center for Learning and Teaching in Nanoscale Science and Engineering The mission of NCLT is to develop the next generation of leaders in nanoscale science and engineering teaching and learning, with an emphasis on NSEE capacity building, providing a strong impact on national science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. The guiding theme of NCLT is learning and teaching through inquiry and design of nanoscale materials and applications. Virginia Nanotechnology Initiative VNI was initiated in 2002 (as INanoVA) with seed funding from the Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) and has remained a program within CIT to work with Virginia’s universities, federal laboratories, industrial partners, and state agencies to promote collaborative nanotechnology research, workforce development, technology transfer, and commercialization. As you look through the following pages, you will see the considerable activity in nanotechnology across the Commonwealth. MOLO Molecular Logic The goal of the Molecular Logic project is to improve the ability of all students to understand fundamental biological phenomena in terms of the interactions of atoms and molecules. The Molecular Logic project aims to do this by enhancing biology courses with guided explorations of powerful atomic and molecular computational models. These models are embedded in an easily implemented database linked to both typical textbooks and standards. nanoHub A resource for nanoscience and technology, the nanoHub was created by the NSF-funded NCN and its development is driven by themes in: nanoelectronics, NEMS/nanofluids, Nano-Bio Devices, Nanophotonics. Sloan Career Cornerstone Center The Sloan Career Cornerstone Center is a non-profit resource center for those exploring career paths in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, computing, and healthcare. Support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has made the resources on this site possible. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a philanthropic nonprofit institution, was established in 1934 by Alfred Pritchard Sloan, Jr., then President and Chief Executive Officer of the General Motors Corporation. Tech Group Resources - Plastics Tooling This list of resources was prepared by the SME Plastics Tooling & Mold Design Tech Group. This group provides plastics part designers, tool designers, moldmakers and molders with the knowledge, educational and technical resources required to work as a manufacturing team to successfully compete in the global economy. SMC Business Councils SMC Business Councils is the Premier Business Association in Pennsylvania. SMC can help you get connected to people, programs, and services you need to succeed in today's rapidly changing market place. We serve smaller businesses of all kinds - our 5,000+ members include some of Pennsylvania's leading smaller businesses.

>> Rapid Prototyping

>> ATETV Episode 28: Careers That Will Make a Difference

>> Project Lead The Way, Leads the Way

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