Deliver Faster and More Innovative Solutions with Agile Project Management

Agile project management is often overly simplified as the project management practice of varying scope. This simplification loses the emphasis on the true benefits of Agile which are speed, innovation, leadership, and control. Proof that Agile can deliver these benefits in even the most complex environments is shown in its history. Agile project management can trace its roots back to World War II, when Kelly Johnson formed “Skunkworks” within Lockheed Martin. Johnson used his 14 Rules of Management to run Skunkworks and create the world’s first fighter jet, the P-80, in just 143 days. Kelly Johnson’s 14 Rules of Management . . . continue reading

Not Your “Average” Engineer: Project Management Alumni Pursue Nontraditional Career PathsUniversity of Maryland project management alumni wear a wide variety of hats – including many of the non-construction variety. While the project management program is housed within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and designed with engineers and architects in mind, 80 percent of UMD project management graduate students hail from technical backgrounds other than civil engineering.  Yet, in cases where graduates go on to assume career roles outside the realm of engineering, there seems to be a common sentiment: the skills one masters through engineering education come in handy when faced with a host of problem-solving challenges. “For . . . continue reading

Intelligent DisobedienceWorkshop with Bob McGannon

If you would have told Bob McGannon that his life would turn out this way, he would have never believed it. As the Founder and Principal of Mindavation, McGannon has managed to take his passion in helping others and create a consulting business to guide others in reaching their full potential. Watch Bob McGannon’s Presentation As a certified Project Management Professional by the Project Management Institute, an Executive Project Manager with IBM, and a Certified Project Management Coach for the Boeing Corporation, McGannon has more than 25 years of experience in IT, project management and project analysis. Through the experiences in his professional and personal . . . continue reading

PM Alum Creates Authentic Engineering Experiences for Youth

Michael Addis, a 2015 Master of Engineering (MEng) graduate, sees a need for summer camps that do more than provide kids with fun activities related to STEM topics. That’s why he and two colleagues launched the BeSTEM!! Summer Camp program, which offers full-immersion camps designed to create an authentic engineering experience. Following a successful inaugural season in 2018, BeSTEM! will again offer its four robotics camps for kids aged 9-14 again in summer 2019 (for more information, or to register, visit the program’s website). “The goal was to create an environment where campers could see how science and mathematics are used to make decisions about engineering design elements while . . . continue reading

UMD Risk Expert Contributes to National Academies Report on National Drone Policy

Originally Published June 13, 2018 by Anjanette Riley at eng.umd.edu. University of Maryland (UMD) Professor Gregory Baecher is one of 14 authors of a new National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report calling on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to update its methods of authorizing drone operations. Released June 11, 2018, the report was mandated by Congress and sponsored by FAA. Baecher and the other committee members found that the administration’s current safety regulations are hindering the spread of commercial drones by overestimating the likelihood and severity of the risks posed by their operations. FAA risk assessment techniques, originally developed for manned aviation, . . . continue reading

PM Graduate Student Participates in PMDoS

For the first time since its inception, a project management student from the University of Maryland (UMD) participated in the Project Management Day of Service (POMDoS) which has been held at the Stamp Student Union and hosted by the Project Management Center for Excellence at the University of Maryland for the last three years.  Developed and organized by Project Management for Change, the PMDoS is held each year on Martin Luther King Jr. day and provides project management professionals the opportunity to give back to the community by assisting nonprofit organizations. Using project management best practices, project management volunteers guide . . . continue reading

Experiential Learning: Bringing Classroom Concepts to Life

A construction site is not traditionally what you would consider a standard classroom environment for a university undergraduate course.  However, if you understand the concept of experiential learning, then the setting is absolutely perfect. Approximately 50 University of Maryland (UMD) undergraduate students visited the site of the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Innovation that is currently under construction on the UMD College Park campus.  The students went to “experience” construction management, courtesy of The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company. The visit marked one of several the Introduction to Construction Project Management class will take over the course of the semester . . . continue reading

PM Graduate and Faculty Win ARCOM Emerald Research Methodology Award

The UMD Project Management Center for Excellence is pleased to announce that a paper entitled “Happiness for Project Managers: Framework and Empirical Analysis” won the Emerald Research Methodology Award at the Annual Conference of the Association of Researchers in Construction Management (ARCOM) in September 2017 in Cambridge, U.K..  Authors of the paper include Clara Cheung PhD, Qingbin Cui PhD and Jocelyn Davis. Dr. Cheung is on faculty at the University of Manchester, U.K. and a May 2016 PhD graduate from the Project Management Center for Excellence at the University of Maryland.  Dr. Qingbin Cui is associate faculty and Jocelyn S. Davis is adjunct faculty . . . continue reading

D.C.-Area Nonprofits Tap Into Local Project Management ExpertiseUMD's Project Manamanet Center for Excellence Hosts 2017 Project Management Day of Service

Representatives from 45 nonprofits teamed up with 220 project management experts January 16 to write and codify strategic goals, create fundraising plans, or take additional steps towards boosting worthy projects. Hosted by the Project Management Center for Excellence at the University of Maryland (UMD), the 2017 Project Management Day of Service (PMDoS™) provided an estimated $550,000 value to D.C.-area nonprofits. Paul Oyelakin consults Brainy Camps Association on marketing for fundraising “The impact is not just that my job is easier,” said Adrienne Fikes, executive director of the Parent Leadership Training Institute of Alexandria), who worked with a team of volunteer . . . continue reading

The Wharf at Southwest WaterfrontCatriona Winter

As a Project Executive for The Clark Construction Group on the District Wharf Project in Washington DC, Catriona Winter led the design partners through an accelerated design period on its half-billion mixed-use waterfront project. The District Wharf project in Washington DC, is the result of the client, Hoffman-Madison Waterfront’s commitment to revitalizing the Southwest waterfront. Watch Catriona Winter’s Presentation In Winter’s presentation at the 2016 Project Management Symposium, “The District Wharf at Southwestern Waterfront, Washington, DC,” Winter discussed the development and execution of The Wharf, which is scheduled to open in 2017. Located along the historic Waterfront Channel, The District Wharf project aims to . . . continue reading