Engineering in a Mountain Resort Town: A Record of a Study.

摘要

This Record of Study (ROS) summarizes the experiences and lessons learned while an intern with Peak Land Consultants (PLC) in Vail, Colorado. The objectives of the internship were designed to provide benefits to myself; the United States Air Force Academy, and PLC. The first objective was to develop a business plan for a similar company in a mountain community. This provides a useful tool to begin a second career after retirement from the Air Force. The second objective was to build lesson plans based on the experience at PLC for the Air Force Academy cadets. Through the use of real engineering examples and by integrating civil engineering subjects across the curriculum, Air Force Academy cadets will be better prepared for their professional life as a civil engineer. The last objective was to provide PLC with an objective management review. The management review highlighted good practices and provided recommendations for further improvement in areas such as marketing, communication, project management, training, and company goals. Each one of the objectives was tested. The business plan was provided to a loan officer at Wells Fargo bank. The loan officer remarked that the plan was well researched. He also indicated that the bank was willing to provide a loan for the business. This positive result indicated that the objective to develop a business plan for a similar company in a mountain community was met. The second objective to build lesson plans for the Air Force Academy was also met. These plans were presented to a senior class in April 07. The cadets liked the idea of seeing how an engineer solves problems in the private sector. In addition, the cadets recognized the usefulness of AutoCAD in solving problems in their other classes. Finally, the objective for providing a management review of PLC also proved to be successful. PLC has already implemented a number of recommendations from the review and is using the review to build new company and employee goals.