Institutional Support to NCSU. CE&C specialists
support the Construction Engineering and Management Group of the Department
of Civil Engineering at NCSU. In addition to teaching courses both at the
graduate and undergraduate levels, CE&C specialists developed the first
distance-learning course in "Fundamental Aspects of Concrete Technology"
followed by "Project Management in Construction", "Legal Aspects
of Contracting", and now under development, "Risk and Finance in
Construction". These courses fulfill a significant educational need detected
within engineering and construction professionals currently unable to access
this knowledge through regular on campus for credit classes.
Training and Educational Support to NC Organizations.
The extension specialists developed short courses taught twice a year by NCSU
as part of the North Carolina Home Builders Association's Graduate Home Builders
Institute. The Builders Mutual Insurance Company agreed to have CE&C specialists
as their sole resource for safety training to their Spanish-speaking members.
The CE&C specialists in partnership with the student organization Engineers
Without Borders are teaching a safety class for Spanish speaking workers.
This effort has caught the attention of the NC Department of Labor and is
being used as a model to attract and train an elusive Spanish speaking workforce.
CE&C provided support to the NC Associated General Contractors to inform
and recruit young students on the benefits of working in the construction
industry. In close cooperation with the American Concrete Institute, CE&C
specialists are providing courses leading to certification in concrete technology.
Applied Research and Product Development Assistance.
Working through the Institute of Construction in the Department of Civil Engineering,
the CE&C specialists actively reach out to construction related industries
and offered technical assistance in this new area of civil engineering and
construction services. A recent success has been the work in a project titled
" Investigation of Porous Concrete". As a result of this investigation,
CE&C specialists are contributing to the development of criteria and guidelines
for "best management practices" to develop land utilizing a material
that can satisfy environmental concerns related to water run-off, while maximizing
land utilization. The goal is to deliver quality technical services to the
manufacturing community in NC with the expectation of providing NC clients
with a significant economic impact.
International Outreach. CE&C specialists initiated
an effort to engage international organizations and expand the reach of products
and services in areas of potential benefit for North Carolina and NCSU. As
a result of this effort, CE&C specialists have been instrumental in the
development of two cooperative educational projects with two Universities
in South America: The Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas-Venezuela
(UCAB) and the Escuela Politécnica Nacional (EPN) in Quito-Ecuador.
As a result, the UCAB and NCSU has provided a civil engineering "practicum"
for Venezuelan engineering students during the summers of 2001 and 2002. Also,
through a partnership with the Industrial Extension Service (IES), the CE&C
specialists continue to promote IES's Quality and Process Improvement know-how
to support a comprehensive quality initiative by the Ecuadorian government.
Generic Technical Support. All previously described
activities have been originated and complemented by a day to day contact of
CE&C specialists with individuals, organizations and institutions involved
in the construction industry. Contacts of CE&C specialists have ranged
from that of an elderly woman needing help with a foundation in her home,
to a large corporation requiring testing to develop a new construction product,
to a foreign government inquiring about a new technology where IES and/or
the extension specialists have knowledge and experience.
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