As the College of Technology’s May 2015 graduates move into their careers, we are profiling a few and finding out their future plans and how they arrived at this point in their lives.
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Alex Lande, Carmel, Indiana
Project engineer, Walsh Construction Company, Chicago, Illinois
Education
Bachelor’s degree in building construction management with a specialization in healthcare construction and minors in building information modeling and organizational leadership and supervision
Job duties
As part of a team, I will assist in the day-to-day labor operations and schedule of a construction jobsite. I will also work on cost management of a construction project or estimating a potential project for the company.
Purdue classes that helped Alex prepare for his job
Considering how specific my major is toward my intended career, I see almost all of them as being helpful. My safety class, healthcare class (I’ll be working primarily in healthcare construction for Walsh), and all of my intro classes have been a great stepping stones. Outside of my department, my leadership and advanced project management class taught by Bob Bowen was useful in understanding leadership roles in a company.
Other ways the College of Technology and/or Purdue provided preparation and assistance
I have taken advantage of the opportunity to join clubs, Greek life, and competition teams through Purdue and the college. The clubs and fraternity I participated in allowed me to gain leadership roles that taught me a great deal about working with a team of people for the betterment of an organization. The competition teams also did this for me, and I was able to get a slightly more realistic view of what my industry had in store.
The construction management department hosts great career fairs for its students, which allows us to network and meet potential employers. An important reason for these career fairs is to get a summer internship or co-op experience. Only so much can be taught in a classroom, and these internships are priceless in teaching students about the industry. My friends and I always came back in the fall with amazing stories about what we did and learned during the summer. BCM would not be the same educational value without these experiences.
Thanks
I would like to thank everyone in the Department of Building Construction Management for getting me to where I am today. This includes the administrative staff, faculty, and students. I learned a lot from all of these groups of people. Specifically, thanks to:
- Prof. Brad Benhart as a competition team coach and mentor during my time at Purdue.
- Loretta Lonz for helping me to get my classes in order to actually graduate on time and for always being there for a good conversation.
- Fran Misch for helping me and the department with all the club and competition events over the years.
- My family because, even though they were all Indiana University graduates, they supported me in coming to Purdue to pursue my desire to be in construction.
- My friends for keeping grounded and for teaching me so much.