Abstract
Seven West Point Cadets recently competed in the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Steel Bridge Competition for their capstone project. West Point capstones allow cadets to demonstrate their practical, innovative, and hands-on solutions to complex problems, serving as an opportunity to demonstrate characteristics required of Army leaders. For purposes of meeting guidelines established by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), the capstone serves as a culminating major engineering design experience in at least two civil engineering contexts. It incorporates engineering standards and allows students to apply knowledge and skills from previous coursework. Historically consisting of all civil engineers, this year’s interdisciplinary Steel Bridge Team included a systems engineer major for the purposes of improved project management. As tomorrow’s leaders are asked to solve complex problems and win in an uncertain tomorrow, the need for graduates to have the skills required to organize chaos, manage risk, establish a schedule and plan, and adapt to change are more important than ever. This paper, organized by the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Process Groups of Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing, documents the implementation of project management principles towards the West Point Steel Bridge Team’s success and their development as future leaders.
Highlights
The 2018-2019 West Point Steel Bridge Team, consisting of six civil engineering cadets and one systems engineering cadet, was given nine months to design, fabricate, erect, and test a steel bridge to assist the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park following earthquakes in a fictional scenario
As outlined in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide 6th ed., the project charter is a partnership between those performing the work and those needing the results of the work
As often attributed to Benjamin Franklin, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” for the Steel Bridge Team, issues with schedule, change, and quality management occurred throughout the project, leading to delays in how to handle them and issues with how they were handled
Summary
The 2018-2019 West Point Steel Bridge Team, consisting of six civil engineering cadets and one systems engineering cadet, was given nine months to design, fabricate, erect, and test a steel bridge to assist the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park following earthquakes in a fictional scenario. The Hawaii Volcano National Park Commission, the “client” for the project, expected teams to optimize their design using value analysis based on aesthetics, construction speed, lightness, stiffness, construction economy (function of total time to erect the bridge and total number of builders), and structural efficiency (function of weight, aggregate deflection, and load test penalties) These West Point engineering majors, less than a year from commissioning as 2nd Lieutenants in the US Army, were tasked with applying learned knowledge and skills from their undergraduate coursework using best practice tools and techniques within the Project Management community to successfully plan, design, and build a bridge for the AISC Student Steel Bridge Competition. Acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies
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