The students and client meet and identify a problem on which they'll work and then devise a project plan to solve the problem. In the second semester, theory meets reality as the students work their plan to solve the particular construction field or management problem. Working with such clients as Detroit Edison and General Motors, students have successfully ferreted out contract inaccuracies and scheduled work crews, improved project conceptual planning and helped establish criteria for matching types of construction contracts to types of projects. The Michigan program and others like it are hopeful signs that civil engineering education is becoming more relevant and that there is meaningful dialogue going on between educators and practitioners, a change from recent teaching practices. This bodes well for the industry as a whole.
C hanging a firm's management structure always is a dicey issue.
Now, technology is bringing a new issue to the forefront. One side argues that, as key players, CIOs should be in the boardroom. But that is the problem. Top-down support needs to be more than just an empty platitude. But many construction executives have yet to integrate computers into their daily business activities and may not be fully aware of information technology's potential for improving business processes and profits.