Teaching goals and approach
My current teaching focuses on construction engineering or technical support of field operations. The overall purpose is to provide a technical foundation for graduates to learn rapidly and long-term from their experience in design and construction. The courses cover concrete work, structural steel work, and mechanical and electrical work. Topics shared between these courses include construction properties of materials, construction-applied resources, alternative methods for field operations, design-construction integration, and meeting quality requirements. See publications related to education and career development.

Each of the graduate courses involves a group project to investigate a topic related to the course and present the results to the class. These projects typically involve collecting information from an active design and construction project in the Bay Area, analyzing this information using the course material, and highlighting conclusions regarding the new insights gained and their potential application in future assignments. We are extremely fortunate that progressive owners, designers, and contractors in the Bay Area willingly share knowledge from their extensive experience and offer our students access to interesting and challenging projects.

My prior teaching included a concrete construction course, a course on high-tech and industrial construction, a case study course, a management of technology course, and the cost engineering and materials management portions of our project control course co-taught with John Fondahl.

Abstracts and objectives for current courses
Abstracts of my courses from the Stanford Bulletin are listed below, followed by the objectives for selected courses. The 100 numbered courses are part of our undergraduate curriculum for civil engineering and are required for the structures and construction specialization in that program. The 200 numbered courses are electives in our graduate construction program and our degree specialization in design-construction integration.

CEE156. Building Systems—Introduces the design, integration, materials, fabrication, installation, and commissioning of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems for commercial buildings. The mechanical portion focuses on heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems that maintain temperature and air quality. The electrical portion includes power supply for electrical equipment and lighting. Coverage of plumbing includes water supply, drain, and vent systems. Concurrent registration in CEE156A is required. The objectives for CEE156 are:
• gain a basic understanding of active building systems: purpose, loads, operation, components, materials, design, coordination, fabrication, installation, commissioning
• learn how to analyze the technical scope of an active building system
• gain experience in designing the HVAC system for a small office building (156A)
• gain additional experience with multiple design disciplines, construction trades, other design and construction professionals, and with technical communication
• provide a basis or framework for considering MEP systems in structural design, providing technical support for fabrication and installation, and continued learning with experience.

CEE156A. Building System Design Experience—Design of the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system for a commercial building project that is shared with CEE181A and CEE182A. Requires considering multiple types of design constraints.

CEE183. Introduction to Building Design—Overview and scope of a building design experience; design constraints and processes for the architect, geotechnic engineer, structural engineer, mechanical and electrical engineer, and contractor; integrated architecture/engineering/construction; regulatory and social considerations in design. The course includes individual assignments and a group building design project to produce schematic drawings following a given architectural program and considering constraints from structural and MEP systems.

CEE197. Professional Development Seminar—Weekly presentations by practicing engineers on topics relevant to students planning to enter the engineering profession. Environmental, structural, and construction perspectives.

CEE252. Construction Engineering for Concrete and Steel Structures—Provides an overview of materials and field operations required for construction of concrete and steel structures. The steel work includes detailing, fabricating, erecting, and connecting. The concrete work includes batching, transporting, placing, finishing, and curing. Course also introduces the construction engineering activities needed to provide construction resources and temporary facilities and to technically support field operations for safe, quality, and productive construction. Student groups analyze and present results for a topic from concrete construction and another from steel construction. The objectives for this course are:
• gain overview of materials, resources, operations required for steel and concrete work
• provide fundamentals to help students identify and analyze options for construction resources and methods, provide technical input to plans and estimates, integrate design and construction, obtain materials and resources, obtain technical information to support construction operations, avoid or solve field problems, foster quality and safety
• provide a foundation for rapid learning in field assignments on traditional construction projects or in design or pre-construction positions on integrated projects
• gain experience in analysis of construction, group processes, and presentation

CEE256. Building Systems—Introduces the design, integration, materials, fabrication, installation, and commissioning of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems for commercial buildings. Mechanical portion focuses on heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems that maintain temperature and air quality. Electrical portion includes power supply for electrical equipment and lighting. Plumbing portion includes water supply, drain, and vent systems. Student groups analyze the design, installation, and integration of a building system on an active project. The objectives for CEE256 are the same as listed for CEE156.

Updated by C. B. Tatum