PRE Students Enthralled by Professor Paul Carr
Cornell PRE students recently completed a challenging semester-long project that took them through several stages of the design and construction process. The project is part of one of the PRE’s core courses – Construction Planning and Operations, which is taught by Adjunct Associate Professor Dr. Paul Carr, an alumnus of Cornell’s College of Engineering. Dr. Carr began teaching the course in 2001, shortly after retiring from eighteen years as the Chief Executive Officer of Bernier Carr and Associates, P.C., a multi-disciplined engineering, architecture and construction management firm located in northern New York.
The course is rare in its practicality and Dr. Carr takes a unique approach to the structure of the curriculum, having students form groups at the beginning of the semester and participate in several phases of a design and construction project, under very realistic conditions. The group work gives PRE students the opportunity to work with students from Cornell’s Engineering program, which furthers the PRE’s objective of providing students with multi-disciplinary exposure and opportunities for cross-departmental collaboration.
During the initial project phase, students conducted conceptual design and estimation work and prepared a detailed project plan for an assisted living facility. They considered issues ranging from site infrastructure, transportation networks, parking facilities, site planning, construction costs and various other aspects of design. Under the auspices of design-build firms, the groups prepared a conceptual design package and presented their project concepts to a mock investment committee.
During the next project phase students participated in a detailed cost estimating process, interpreting plans and specifications, reviewing bids from subcontractors and preparing a comprehensive cost bid package that reflected the whole range of project work. Students worked late into the night with their groups over the course of more than a week, assembling a makeshift bid preparation room in Hollister Hall.
During the final project phase students participated in a mock construction arbitration. Groups were assigned the role of attorneys,fact and expert witnesses, and prepared an arbitration proceeding for a panel of real-life industry practitioners. The arbitration exercise challenged students to prepare statements, direct and cross-examine each other, conduct critical path scheduling and to understand all of the dynamics important to succeeding in the arbitration process.
A hallmark of Dr. Carr’s course is its realism. During the bidding process, groups were required to submit sealed bids that included signed and sealed Non-Collusion Certificates and nominal bid security. Students were also under strict bid submission deadlines, down to the minute. For the detailed cost estimate process, students were provided with real plans and specifications and were given a multitude of actual vendor quotations, which they were asked to analyze in order to select the appropriate subcontractors for their bids.
Dr. Carr has structured a curriculum that provides students with a deep appreciation for the various aspects of the construction industry. Even for those not intending to pursue a career in real estate development or construction, the course has proven to be an enlightening experience. Dr. Carr has stressed the importance of students understanding the relational dynamics of the various stakeholders in the construction process and the importance of being able to bring projects to a successful conclusion by managing those often disparate interests. His teaching methods yield some of the most stimulating class discussions that PRE students enjoy throughout their curriculum.
Dr. Carr has become a perennial favorite of PRE students, recognized for his passion for teaching and depth of industry knowledge. First-year PRE student Nana Akowuah remarked that, “Professor Carr is one of those rare people who both really know what they’re doing, and really love what they’re doing. His joy for teaching is apparent. When students are presenting in class or someone strikes a lively conversation during a lecture you will inevitably see Professor Carr’s face light up like a lamp. My fellow students and I all hope that we love what we do when we graduate even half as much as Professor Carr loves teaching at Cornell”.
For more information regarding Dr. Carr and other PRE faculty, please visit the PRE website at http://realestate.cornell.edu.