M.E. RINKER, SR. SCHOOL of BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONCOLLEGE of DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION and PLANNING

Volume 71 Issue 1 Spring 2007

ORANGE & BLUEPRINTS

Billy Latsko (FB, #42)

A Message From

Dr. Abdol ChiniDirector

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Dr. ChristopherSilver, Dean

In the Fall 2006 BCN newsletter, Interim Dean Tony Dastabid farewell and announced that the new Dean of DCP wouldbe coming on board shortly. Included in that issue of Or-ange and Blueprints was a photo and a brief biographicalsketch identifying the new Gator. It is a great pleasure toannounce, on my own behalf, that I am here now, that it is agreat honor to serve in the College of Design, Constructionand Planning. We’re already hard at work to elevate ourenterprise to even greater heights.

It has been immensely satisfying to work closely with AbdolChini and the BCN faculty in support of a variety of BCNactivities. This has included the BCN Advisory Council Ex-ecutive Committee (chaired by Steve Palmer who inci-dentally was on my search committee), a 70th anniversarydinner hosted by the West Palm Beach Alumni Club, a GrandGuard Luncheon in Rinker Hall (dominated by BCN alumsfrom the early 1950s) and the BCN graduation dinner inDecember at the Paramount Resort here in Gainesville. Iam pleased to support BCN’s recent hire of two superb fac-ulty, and the search for a third. Our goal, which we’ll achievewithin another year, is to return BCN to a level of facultystrength that will allow for the modest, but highly desired,growth in enrollment. A new and improved undergraduatecurriculum recently was approved, and the master’s andPh.D. programs continue to attract and graduate top folks tostrengthen both the world of practice and construction man-agement education. A group of highly motivated BCN stu-dents recently attended the “Greenbuild” national confer-ence in Denver (with a little support from the Dean’s office)and BCN faculty are participating with faculty from otherunits in the College to create a curriculum on sustainabilityaccessible to the entire campus. Given my own backgroundworking in the area of affordable housing, both here andabroad, I am enthusiastic about several new initiatives inthe Shimberg Center for Affordable Housing that will el-evate the profile of its research nationally and internation-ally.

The enthusiasm of the BCN faculty for their work as educa-tors and researchers is infectious. I witnessed this firsthandwhen the students who graduated this past Fall recountedtheir most memorable moments and experiences during theprogram. Moreover, the quality of the BCN graduates hasbeen a continuing theme expressed by the representatives

I would like to congratulate Senior 2, Billy Latsko for beingan outstanding member of the 2006 national championFlorida Gators - the No. 1 football team in the land. Billy isa dedicated young man who has gained the respect of BCNfaculty and students for his character and excellent academicperformance. He is a perfect example of an athlete scholar.Billy will be graduating this spring and we are proud to listhim among our alumni.

An important news item of the past semester is the the re-view and update of the BCN curriculum. Construction is adynamic industry that changes rapidly in terms of techniques,management, financing, and technology. Teaching studentswho will be the future professionals and leaders in this in-dustry requires continual review and update of the curricu-lum. As part of the Rinker School’s program assessment, acommittee was formed in May 2006 to evaluate the under-graduate curriculum. The Committee studied the informa-tion collected from students, BCN alumni and their em-ployers, and recommendations of the industry focus groupsfor the past three years. In addition, the Committee reviewedthe ACCE curriculum requirements for accreditation and thecurriculum of the Rinker School’s peer institutions (ArizonaState, Auburn, Colorado State, Georgia Tech, Purdue, TexasA&M, and Virginia Tech).

The analysis of the collected data revealed that there is aneed for a major curriculum change. Students and the alumniexpressed their concerns over too much emphasis on thedesign and engineering side of construction, suggested mov-ing some senior-level courses such as safety and project man-agement to junior level, and recommended adding a con-struction Spanish class. There were also suggestions formore emphasis on internships, more plan reading and shopdrawing reviews, more elective courses to provide special-ization, and more focus on communication skills. Feedbackfrom employer and industry focus groups confirmed the stu-dents’ comments and recommended offering additionalcourses/topics such as design-build, pre-construction ser-vices, marketing and business development, risk manage-ment and cost control.

In response to these comments, the Committee proposedseveral changes in the curriculum that were approved, withsome modifications, by the BCN Advisory Council EXCOM,

continued on page 4continued on page 4

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Orange & Blueprints

Table of Contents

a bi-annual publication

The Perry Construction Yard...4Alumni Club Updates...5

70th Anniversary Banquet, W.Palm Beach...6BCN Advisory Council EXCOM...7

BCN Events...8-10

Student Organizations..10-15

Scholarships...16Alumni News...17-18

Friends and Donors...19Faculty News...20-21

Sponsorships...22BCN Brick Paver Campaign...23Advisory Council Membership...23

M.E. Rinker, Sr.School of Building Construction

304 Rinker HallPO Box 115703

Gainesville, FL 32611-5703

Phone: 352-273-1150Fax: 352-392-9606www.bcn.ufl.edu

Editor:

Stacey Rosenbergsirosen@ufl.edu

This newsletteris sponsored by:

Doc Wetherington’s RetiringAfter 22 years of teaching, Dr. Leon Wetherington is retiringat the end of this semester. We are inviting all members of theBCN family to celebrate Doc’s retirement and recognize hissignificant contributions to the Rinker School. Please markyour calendar for Saturday, April 14th and join us in show-ing Doc how much he has meant to us. A barbeque is plannedfor outside Rinker Hall 2 hours prior to the Spring FootballOrange and Blue game.

Dr. Christopher Silver Dean – College of Design, Construction and Planning

Dr. Abdol ChiniDirector – Rinker School of Building Construction

Dr. Paul OppenheimDirector of Undergraduate Programs

Dr. Raymond IssaDirector of Graduate and Distance Education Programs

Center DirectorsDr. Kevin Grosskopf

Center for Collective ProtectionDr. Charles Kibert

Powell Center for Construction and EnvironmentDr. Robert Stroh

Shimberg Center for Affordable HousingDr. Jimmie Hinze

Fluor Program For Construction Safety

If you are interested in joining us or would like more information, please e-mail Staceyor call the BCN office.

The Perry Crafts Awareness Facility Progress ReportConstruction is progressing steadily on the Charles R. PerryConstruction Yard, a demonstration area for crafts with anoutdoor teaching amphitheater adjacent to Rinker Hall. Thefacility will be ready for occupancy by mid-spring 2007 andit will have a green roof which will be the first of its kind onthe UF campus. The roof will consist of a six-inch depth ofsoil, underlain by two inches of green roof material. Plantsfor the roof will include a variety of native vegetation andother species which are able to adapt to the environment ofGainesville. While green roofs usually are installed for theirmany benefits, including the ability to reduce building heat-ing and cooling costs and to reduce storm water run off, thePerry Construction Yard’s green roof also will serve as aninterdisciplinary research project. The facility includes a100-seat amphitheater and will be furnished with a 300Ktesting frame; a 2-ton hoist; a moisture room for curing

concrete; a small loader with forklift and bucket to movebulk materials and pallets; and miscellaneous shop equip-ment such as grinders, welders, compressors and air tools.

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of industry that I’ve had a chance to meet since arriving.This broad-based commitment to excellence in BCN hashelped to reinforce my intention to do what I can to helpsustain the luster on the jewel that we all possess in the RinkerSchool. And, in turn, the Rinker School’s success will ben-efit our college and our campus.

As I have readily discovered, BCN is everywhere. My neigh-bor, Rick Smailes, is a BCN faculty. And when I sat downin the O’Connell Center to watch Florida tear up Ohio Statein December on the basketball court, sitting next to me

Dean’s Message Continuedwearing a BCN t-shirt was Stacy Diavolitsis, an August 2006graduate of the master’s program and now employed withTurner Construction in Atlanta. As she said, and so manyothers have echoed, the BCN program provided the founda-tion for an exciting and rewarding career. But, of course, allof you know this already. However, for the new Dean ofDCP, it is an important and persuasive message, one that Iintend to share with those who can help us to sustain ourtradition of excellence. Thanks to all of you for your sup-port of the Rinker School, and its 70 years of excellence inconstruction education.

Director’s Message Continued

the BCN faculty, the College of DCP and the University.The changes will be effective the Fall 2007 semester.

Major Changesa. Three new courses, Introduction to Building Con-

struction, Elementary Spanish, and Introduction toPublic Speaking are added to the lower division.

b. The three courses in design of steel, concrete, andtimber/formwork are replaced by two courses,Structures and Temporary Structures. Some topicsfrom the concrete course are moved to the Soilsand Concrete course.

c. Two courses in plumbing and HVAC are replacedby a 4-credit hour course, Mechanical Systems.

d. The Number of elective courses was increased fromone to three to allow students to choose an empha-sis. Currently the residential emphasis is available,and the heavy/civil emphasis is possible throughtaking courses from the Department of Civil andCoastal Engineering. The goal is to increase thenumber of faculty, develop new courses for otheremphases (commercial, industrial, specialty), andadmit more students to the upper division. Havingthree elective courses also allows students to select

a minor in other disciplines, such as business orreal estate.

e. The title of the Safety course is changed to Safety,Health and Environment and the course was movedfrom senior to junior level.

f. Construction Profession and Ethics is renamedIntroduction to Construction Management and in-cludes some of the topics currently taught in thesenior-level Construction Management course.This prepares junior students for their first struc-tured summer internship and provides room for ad-ditional topics such as DB, CM, and pre-construc-tion services in the senior-level management course.

I would like to thank those alumni who responded to oursurvey and provided feedback. Special thanks to the mem-bers of the BCN Advisory Council Curriculum Subcommit-tee: Rick Derrer, Tim Good, Bill Morthland, Charles Reid,John Sofarelli, and Dan Whiteman for their time and excel-lent suggestions. Thanks are also due to BCN faculty mem-bers Paul Oppenheim and Rick Smailes for numerous hoursthey spent in designing the revised curriculum. The newcurriculum will enhance the overall quality and success ofour graduates and keep the BCN program in the very topranks of construction education programs in the nation.

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BCN Alumni Regional Club Updates

Central Florida/Orlando

The Tampa Bay BCN Gator Club held their fall quarterlymeeting at R.J. Gators Florida Sea Grille in Sarasota onThursday, September 21, 2006. This was the first meetingoutside of Tampa, meant to target more of the many BCNalumni that are in the greater Sarasota/Bradenton area. Themanagement and staff of R.J. Gators went out of their wayto provide a venue for the club to meet including two wel-coming banners.

The M. E. Wilson Company sponsored the event, and alsoprovided 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers football tickets and aparking pass to be used in the raffle. Dwight Wilson, Princi-pal, addressed the gathering about the many changes in theinsurance industry and invited all to attend a seminar inSarasota that they were sponsoring the following month.

Dr. Abdol Chini, spoke to the club about updates from theSchool, changes in the curriculum and the demand nation-ally for our graduates. There is a waiting list for companies

to attend our career fair and the attending firms know thatFlorida BCN grads are among the best in the country.Dr. Svetlana Olbina from BCN faculty, Marcia Bourdon fromthe College of DCP and Greg Fulginiti from the FloridaFoundation also attended.

Approximately 40 BCN alumni, many from the Sarasota/Bradenton area, attended and were encouraged to attend thewinter meeting as well as watch for the announcement ofthe Second Annual Tampa Bay BCN Gator Golf Scramblewhich will be held in late spring of 2007. Special thanks

were also given to Dwight Wilson for sponsoring the event,to John McIntyre (BCN 1984) and Jeff Charlotte (BCN 1983)for their help with this meeting of Tampa Bay BCN Gators.

The Tampa Bay BCN Gator Club would like all alumni andfriends to join with them at any of their events. The wintermeeting will be held on February 22nd from 5:30 pm - 7:30 pmat Rick’s on the River. For information, contact Bob Angle atrpa@angle-schmid.com or (727)530-1467.

The Central Florida/Orlando BCN Alumni Club had theirfall/winter social on December 5th. After polling their at-tendees, they are going to have one more spring social andthen set the date for their fundraising banquet in fall 2007.No date yet, but the planning meeting will start later thismonth. They also held two board meetings in the fall to startdialog for the fall ’07 banquet. For more information, con-tact John Sofarrali at jsofarelli@rjray.com or (407)862-6966.

The Gainesville / Ocala BCN Alumni Club celebrated theirone year anniversary and elected new officers to lead theclub into the next year. They held a meeting on November9, 2006, and had a great guest speaker. Ben French ofWaldorff Insurance and Bonding who spoke about currenttrends in builder’s risk, general liability, and the bondingmarket. Upcoming events are a social mixer and guest speak-ers on such topics as building envelope water intrusion andconstruction market analysis. For more information,contact Brandon Tinckham at blt@ppicm.com or(352)331-1141.

Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay

Central Florida/Orlando

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The Rinker School wishes to thank all who partici-pated, especially those companies who sponsoredtables.

Table Sponsors

Anderson Moore Const.Burkhardt Construction, Inc.Butler Construction Co.Catalfumo Const., Inc.Centex ConstructionCharles S. Whiteside, Inc.Continental Florida MaterialsD & D Quality Const., Inc.Gen - X ConstructionHardrives, Inc.

The Palm Beach Region BCN Alumni Club held its 70th

Anniversary Banquet and Fundraiser on Thursday, October19, 2006. Almost 240 alumni, friends and sponsors attendedthe banquet, which was held at the Kravis Center’s CohenPavilion in West Palm Beach. The evening began with acocktail and social hour where current BCN students soldBCN merchandise. The Cocktail hour was followed by din-ner and a program.

Guests entered the ballroom while the sights and sounds ofGator football played in the background. Vince Burkhardt,BBC ‘72, President of the Palm Beach Region BCN Club,kicked off the program by welcoming everyone. DaleHedrick, BBC ‘80 led the Pledge of Allegiance and gavethe invocation. Next up was Dr. Christopher Silver, Deanof the College of Design, Construction and Planning. Dr.Silver thanked all in attendance for their support and intro-duced the Director of the Rinker School, Dr. Abdol Chini.Dr. Chini spoke about the current happenings at the RinkerSchool and introduced the School’s faculty in attendance:Professors Brown, Cook and Issa. Dr. Chini also playedthe exciting Traditions of Excellence video. Traditions ofExcellence features quotes from Rinker School alumni andstaff, which instills a sense of pride and accomplishment ineveryone connected to the Rinker School.

The Palm Beach Region BCN club was honored to have avery distinguished speaker give the evening’s keynote ad-dress. Marshall Criser, who was President of the University

of Florida from 1984-1989 and current Chairman of ScrippsFlorida Funding Corporation, spoke knowledgably abouthigher education in Florida. President Criser was introducedby Karl Watson, the retired President and Chief OperatingOfficer of U.S. Construction Materials for Rinker Materials.President Criser’s address focused on the importance ofalumni fundraisers and stressed the point that such alumnievents are, in large part, the reason the University of Floridais a world-class institution.

The banquet raised $30,000 for the Rinker School’s 70th

Anniversary Endowed Professorship. Many thanks go outto those who planned and sponsored this event. This eveningwould not have been possible without their hard work andgenerous support! Special thanks and a Gator “high-five”goes to Bill Zammit, BBC ‘74, Sarah Burkhardt Hoadleyand Emily Zammit for their efforts to assure the success ofthe evening.

Dr. Raymond Issa, Mr. Vince Burkhardt and Mr. Marshall Criser

Mr. Vince Burkhardt, Dr. Abdol Chini, Mr. Marshall Criser,Dean Christopher Silver and Mr. Karl Watson

Hedrick Brothers Const.Heritage ’76 Corp.Kaufman Lynn, Inc.Maschmeyer ConcreteMoore Construction Co.Rinker MaterialsSuffolk ConstructionThe Weitz Company, Inc.West Construction, Inc.

70th Anniversary Banquet in West Palm Beach

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Building Construction Advisory CouncilExecutive Committee

Sid Jordan, VP of the BCN Advisory Council EXCOMAfter a stint at Enterprise Building Construction, Sid washired in 1993 by Hyman Construction (now known as ClarkConstruction Group) as their Regional Executive Officer forClark’s Southeastern Region, headquartered in Hollywood,Florida. In 1996 Hyman Construction and OmniConstruction, both owned by Jim Clark, were merged. As apart of the merger, Sid was promoted to President of theSouthern Division which encompasses both the Southeasternand Southwestern regions of the country.

Since joining Clark in 1993, some of the interesting projectsSid has been involved with includes, Orange CountyConvention Center, Naval Air Station Pensacola, SOCOMHeadquarters at Mac Dill Air Force Base, as well as otherprojects throughout the country. Sid has been fortunate towork for Clark who is the nation’s largest privately heldbuilding contractor with its home base in Bethesda, MD.

Besides serving as the Vice Chairman of the ExecutiveCommittee for BCN at UF, Sid and his wife Donna spendcountless hours on community endeavors including:University Community Hospital Board and Foundation,Gilda’s House, Metropolitan Ministries, Habitat forHumanity and most recently remodeling a home to best fitthe needs of an U.S. Army soldier who lost his sight duringthe Iraq war.

Sid and Donna look forward to spending more time oncommunity deeds as their oldest son Bill graduated fromUF and now attends Stetson Law School and their other sonMatt is a freshman at UF.

Florida’s summer heat canmake an impression on anyoneand it certainly did for SidJordan. Every summer from thetime he was 12 throughgraduating college, Sid workedin the field from laborer toconcrete finisher for his father’sresidential constructioncompany in Tampa. It wasduring this time that he realizedtwo things; he loved

construction and wanted it to be his life’s work and getting adegree would be essential to furthering his career. Sid’s dad,T.J. Jordan, graduated from BCN in 1959 which began thelegacy at UF’s School of Building Construction. Since Sidwas born in Gainesville while his father was enrolled at UF,he and both of his sons had no other choice than to be Gators.It certainly didn’t hurt that their mother, Sid’s wife, Donna,not only graduated from UF, she also lettered on the runner-up National Championship women’s tennis team.

After graduating second in his class in 1981, and based onthe advice of his father, Sid started his career in commercialconstruction since the interest rates were high, which wasn’tconducive to Sid joining his father’s residential business.While at Federal Construction in St. Petersburg, he beganas a project coordinator and was quickly promoted to projectmanager in just a year and a half. At 26, only four yearsafter graduating, he became Vice President which is atestament to the education he received from UF.

The BCN Advisory Council EXCOM held their fall meet-ing on October 6, 2006 from 8:30am to 12:30pm at RinkerHall. Steve Palmer, Chair of the Committee introduced thenew Dean of the College of DCP, Dr. Christopher Silver andshared his experience as a member of the Dean’s search com-mittee. Dr. Silver thanked Steve Palmer for his kind wordsand praised the EXCOM members for their strong supportof the BCN program.

Dr. Chini introduced Ron Nunez, Senior Director of Corpo-rate Health, Safety and Environmental of the Fluor Corpo-ration and Ray Southern, CEO of Centex Construction asnew members of the Committee. Marcia Bourdon intro-duced Sally Morris as the new Assistant Director of Devel-opment for the College of DCP.

The BCN Regional Club representatives reported their ac-tivities during the past six months and their future plans.Dr. Chini reported the changes in the BCN undergraduatecurriculum and thanked the members of the Curriculum

subcommittee for their active participation and input. Dr.Oppenheim discussed the suggested format for the summerinternship program that will be made available to construc-tion companies for possible use. The registration fee forBCN career fair and criteria for being a major donor to theSchool were discussed and the Industrial Relation subcom-mittee volunteered to make a recommendation by mid-Janu-ary. The next EXCOM meeting is schedule for Friday, April13, 2007 at the Orlando International Airport Hyatt Regencyfrom 9:30am – 1:30pm.

Members who were present for the October 6th meeting in-clude: Robert Angle, John Bennett, Vince Burkhardt, CurtisCulver, Rick Derrer, Tim Good, Chris Hanlon, PaulHardaker, Sidney Jordan, John McIntyre, Harley Miller, BillMorthland, Ron Nunez, Steve Palmer, Charles Reid, DarrellSmith, John Sofarelli, Raymond Southern, WayneWadsworth, Breck Weingart, Don Whyte, Louie Wise III,Marcia Bourdon, Abdol Chini, Sally Morris, PaulOppenheim, and Chris Silver.

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Welcome ReceptionNew incoming BCN students were welcomed into the pro-gram on September 17th with a reception at the GainesvilleWoman’s Center. This event gave the Rinker Faculty andStaff an opportunity to introduce themselves and tell the stu-dents a little of what their role was at the school. Clancy &Theys Construction Company sponsored the event, and

showed a video about their firm, giving the students a glimpseof what awaits them in a few short years. Before the eveningconcluded, the crowd heard a brief history of the BuildingConstruction Program, and then were encouraged to meetwith the Rinker student clubs and organizations.

Back Row L to R; Anthony Harmon, Mark Kendall, DackVaught, Brice Miller. Front Row L to R; Gary Krieslerand Pete Pace

Fall 2006 Homecoming BarbequeThe BCN homecoming barbeque was held on October 7thon the lawn of Rinker Hall. With more than 100 alumni,students and faculty in attendance, the barbeque gave themall a chance to share in some great food while recalling memo-ries and catching up with great friends. A small ceremonywas held to award Bob Moss and Charles P. Reid with theirConstruction Hall of Fame Plaques, and unveil their nameson the Hall of Fame Wall at the entrance of Rinker Hall. BobMoss is President of Moss & Associates, a construction man-agement firm he founded in 2003 in Ft. Lauderdale. CharlesP. Reid graduated from University of Florida in 1976 with adegree in Building Construction. He is currently CEO ofCurrent Builders, one of Florida’s premier construction com-panies.

We would like to give special thanks to Holder Construc-tion for sponsoring this event.

Newly inducted Construction Hall of Fame members Mr.Bob Moss and Mr. Charles P. Reid pose with their plaques

Mr. Curtis Culver, Mr. Charles P. Reid, Mr. Bob Mossand Professor Emeritus Brisbane Brown

Mr. Mark Kim of Holder Construction, Dr. AbdolChini and Mr. Vernon Harris of Holder Construction

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Fall 2006 BCN Career Fair

THE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION CAREER FAIR

February 13, 2007 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM Stephen C. O’Connell Center

For more information, visit our website at:www.bcn.ufl.edu (click on Job Placement)

The Fall 2006 BCN Career Fair was held on October 17th atthe Stephen C. O’ Connell Center. Held each semester, thecareer fair offers students an opportunity to meet with re-cruiters from a wide array of construction companies. Withan average of 120 companies in attendance, along with morethan 450 students, the career fair was an enormous success.On October 16th, the Recruiters Reception was held atEmerson Alumni Hall. This provides the recruiters an op-portunity to mingle with past graduates, as well as with theBCN faculty and staff. Over 50 recruiters attended the re-ception.

Fall 2006 Homecoming FloatBCN had a strong showing at this year’s Homecoming Pa-rade. CIC helped recruit BCN students from Pre-BCN,Undergrad, and the Graduate program who all came togetherto make this year’s float a huge success! The theme thisyear was “Relive the Tradition.” The float had a swamptheme equipped with a rustic “Swamp Shack”. There wasalso a functioning crane, which lowered the LSU Tiger intothe jaws of a massive alligator.

Special thanks to J. Raymond Construction, Perry Roof-ing, Pinkerton & Law, Ralphs-House of Flowers, andRinker Materials for making the float a reality!

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Graduation Dinner

Germany Exchange Programcontact: Dr. Jimmie Hinze, hinze@ufl.edu

This past fall, six students from the Fachhochschule (Col-lege of Applied Sciences) in Detmold, Germany enrolledin classes in the Rinker School. The classes they were en-rolled in included International Construction, Project Man-agement, Advanced Scheduling and Construction Finance.These courses are similar to classes the students would oth-erwise take in Germany. In the four months they were withus, they managed to visit neighboring states, the FloridaCoast, and they went to some of the home football games.While they did not own a car, they managed to obtain trans-portation by various means. For example, several of ourBCN students had been hosted by these very students whenthey had been to Germany this past May and the hospitalitywas returned when the Germans came to Gainesville. All ofthe German students came to our campus with friendshipsalready established with some of our BCN students. Asusual, the students thoroughly enjoyed their stay, learned agreat deal (in and out of class), and lamented the day theyhad to return to Germany.

Pictured from the front row left (counter clockwise) areMarcel Bentler, Timo Becker, Massih Lali, Tobias Herbst,Dr. Jimmie Hinze, Lars Ammermann, and Bastian Drewes.

On the evening of December 15th, graduating students alongwith their families, friends and BCN faculty and staff gath-ered at the Paramount Resort and Conference Center for afarewell dinner. The evening started with Dr. Chini sayinga few moving words and then introducing Dean Christo-pher Silver. Dean Silver welcomed everyone and congratu-lated them on graduating from such a prestigious program.

After dinner, Dr. Kibert said a few words about the evening’ssponsor, WCI Communities, Inc. Following this was thepresentation of the awards. The first of our evening’s awardswas Outstanding Scholarship. This was presented to Brit-tany Lee, for having the highest GPA over her four semes-ters with BCN. She also received the award for the MostInnovative Capstone Project. Next was the student

leadership award, which was awarded to Nicholas Bieber.Following this was the award for the Best Overall CapstoneProject, which was awarded to Erin Young.

Jonathan Hill was the next award recipient actually receiv-ing multiple awards: the H. Duff Williamson Award in Esti-mating, the Fluor Award in Construction Safety and he wasthe runner up for the Outstanding Scholarship and Leader-ship Awards.

The evening concluded with each student introducing whothey brought with them, along with sharing a favorite BCNmoment with everyone. Special thanks to WCI Communi-ties, Inc. for sponsoring the graduation dinner.

Jonathan Hill receiving his runner-up award forOutstanding Scholarship and the Leadership Awards

Graduates Brittany Lee and Nicholas Bieber posing withtheir BCN awards

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Design Build Team

The UF Design-Build student team competed in the Associ-ated Schools of Construction (ASC), Region II competitionOctober 25-27, 2006 in Charlotte, N.C. The student teamwas given 30 hours to prepare a statement of qualifications,written proposal and oral presentation on a wastewater treat-ment plant expansion project. Given the complex nature ofthe project, design aspects of the project were excluded. Inaddition, students were given the flexibility to interpret thescope of the project including which subcontract packagesto include in their final estimates. Unlike most DB projectsusing integrated design and negotiated CM, the UF Design-

Construction Management TeamBy Kimberly Weeks

Armed with many practices and lots of helpful advice fromclassmates on the design/build team and their sponsor CentexConstruction, the CM Team headed to Charlotte, NC to com-pete. Many top schools in the Southeast donned their colorsand paced the hallways of the Renaissance Hotel as theyprepared for this real life enactment. The weather was coldand the stress was high, but the Florida Gators, Construc-tion Management Team didn’t let this affect their perfor-mance. They brought home a second place win and the pridein knowing that they represented the University of Florida’sRinker School very well. Not only did the team win secondplace, but they also generated interest in the job fair offeredeach semester. The sponsor of the competition, RodgersBuilders, who is involved in large construction projects suchas the Time Warner Building, was so impressed with theperformance of the team that they decided to participate inrecruiting students from Rinker School in the future.

Being a member of the CM Team offers students an oppor-tunity to make a connection with real life situations theywill be confronted with in the construction industry. It is aninvaluable experience for students who become involved andare dedicated to leadership in the industry. Many team mem-bers who participated in the Fall 2006 competition will bereturning in the Spring to prepare for next year’s

competition in Fall 2007. Applications will be accepted atthe beginning of Spring 2007 and the CM Team looks for-ward to new recruits who share interest in this endeavor.Team members include: Cristina Aguirre, Jonathan Hill,Chandra Hodoval, Jordan Keen, Jason Lovelace, DevonMathews, Christian Mercado, David Smith, MatthewSzporka, Kimberly Weeks and Eric Weiss. The CM Team’sFaculty coach is Professor Michael Cook.

We would like to thank Centex Construction for sponsor-ing the Construction Management team.

Build team was provided the exciting experience of com-peting for a hard-dollar public works project. A specialcongratulations is due to senior Keith Carr, who was selectedas best presenter for the 2006 competition. Team membersinclude: Justin Bray, Keith Carr, John Finch, Axay Patel,Kirk Bauer (ARC), Patrick Rauch (ARC) and ChrisMcCarthy (Alternate).

We would like to give a special thank you to The HaskellCompany for sponsoring the Design Build Team.

By Kevin Grosskopf

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Heavy Civil Team

National Association of Home BuildersBy Robert Stroh

The Student Chapter of the NAHB met in September andelected Jennifer Grinnan as the president for the 2006-2007academic year. At the October 16th meeting of the StudentChapter, C. J. Hamilton was elected as the club’s new sec-retary for the 2006-07 academic year.

The 2006 president of the Builder’s Association of NorthCentral Florida, David Painter, and the executive vice presi-dent of Robinshore, Inc., Adam Bolton, met with the Stu-dent Chapter on November 15th. Mr. Painter and Mr. Boltonspoke about the benefits and networking provided by par-ticipating in a professional organization like the BuildersAssociation of North Central Florida.

The Student Chapter also joined with the Student Chapterof the AGC to sponsor a pre-game barbeque on November18th prior to the Western Carolina vs. Gators football game.

The Rinker School for the first time competed in the South-east Region ASC-AGC Heavy/Civil Student Competitionheld from October 25-27 in Charlotte, North Carolina. TheHeavy/Civil competition prepares students for estimating,scheduling, materials, equipment, safety and financial as-pects of road, bridge, airport and other civil projects. In-creasingly, all ASC schools are training their students forthis segment of the construction industry. In 2005 only twoschools participated whereas in 2006 eight schools partici-pated in the competition. All teams worked on demolitionand re-paving scope of a three-phase project at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s Runway 4 in just four-teen and a half hours. Project cost was around $90 millionand had to be completed in a tight schedule of 60 days. Stu-dents were evaluated for understanding of the contract docu-ments, estimating, scheduling, profit margin analysis, indi-rect cost evaluation, and a presentation to a panel of Kiewitproject managers. The competition was sponsored by KiewitSouthern Company.

Mr. Jeffrey D. Nelson of Nelson Construction, Palm Harborand Mr. Alberto G. Ribas P.E., of A2Group, Miami devoted

countless hours to prepare students for the competition. Fi-nancial support, $3500, by Nelson Construction and $2500,by A2Group for travel and other expenses is greatly ac-knowledged. To sponsor the competition for October 2007,please contact Dr. Abdol Chini (chini@ufl.edu) or Dr. AjayShanker (shanker@ufl.edu).

By Ajay Shanker

Members of Heavy/Civil Team pictured from left to right Frank Guido,James Swick (alternate), Michael Parrish, Scott Usher, Alberto Ribas(Captain), Christopher Kieffer and Andrew Katzman. Dr. Ajay Shankerserved as faculty advisor.

Construction Management Association of AmericaBy Frank Horning

The CMAA BCN chapter is under the sponsorship of theWest Florida CMAA chapter in Tampa. With the departureof former President Cardiff Shea, Frank Horning is now thePresident, Joshua Markowitz is Vice President, StewartBennett is Treasurer and Mike Hilley is Secretary.

CMAA organized several events this past semester includ-ing a welcome back to school meet and greet at the Swamp.

We had near weekly Tuesday night meetings and severalgroup fishing trips to Cedar Key. Our most successful eventof the semester was the winter meeting attended by repre-sentatives from Tampa. Thanks to the enthusiastic and gen-erous support of Mr. Bill Brown of West Florida CMAA,the winter meeting was a huge success. Additional specialthanks go to Secretary Hilley and member Ken Collins forhosting the event.

continued on page 14

Sigma Lambda Chi

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By Nicholas Bieber

The Society for Leaders in Construction, Sigma Lambda Chi,has happily welcomed 13 new members into the Honor So-ciety this Fall. In addition to proving their academic excel-lence, these students have demonstrated a willingness to lenda hand to the Gainesville community through service activi-ties that benefited several local organizations. A few of thegroups that have welcomed the help are The Cotton Club,Peaceful Paths and Habitat for Humanity. They also striveto better their place of learning by helping the faculty at theRinker School and even assisted building the Rinker Floatfor the Homecoming Parade.

The new members have already taken initiative to strengthenthe presence of SLX by increasing the involvement of thesociety with other Rinker activities in the upcoming Springsemester, and will undoubtedly prove to be a tremendousgroup of students for the rest of their stay at the School ofBuilding Construction. Be on the lookout for future SLXcommunity service events and guest speakers that everyoneis welcome to!

Associated General ContractorsBy Travis Kolbjornsen

AGC strapped on the boots, put on the hard hats, and got towork this semester! On September 20th, the chapter startedoff the fall semester with a club meeting in which the goalsfor the semester were discussed. This semester in order toboost attendance and split costs we initiated a joint venturewith NAHB. This proved quite successful throughout thesemester for group functions including, but not limited tosocial functions, game day barbeques, and community ser-vice projects. Then, just in time for the BCN Career Fair onOctober 17th, we held a meeting in which a guest speakerfrom Gryphon Construction shared knowledge about resumesand job recruitment. On the 9th of November, AGC held asocial with the Nursing School at the Grog House. We hitmaximum occupancy for the venue and everyone who at-tended had a blast! Both AGC and NAHB will participate ina large two-part community service project in EastGainesville with Habitat for Humanity that will commenceSpring 2007. The wonderful and heartwarming experiencesthat occur during these volunteer projects each semester arerewarding for everyone involved. AGC anticipates a brightfuture with Habitat for Humanity in the future.

On Saturday, November 15th, AGC hosted a Game DayBarbeque at the Rinker School, serving up hotdogs and ham-burgers to the students, visiting alumni, and BCN faculty.That afternoon the Gators beat Western Carolina 62-0. Af-ter Thanksgiving, we decided to have our final meeting onNovember 29th, in which we held officer elections and dis-cussed the end of the semester plans. Our final social eventof the year was collaboration with the Interior Design Dept.at a venue downtown. It was a great way to end the year andhave some fun! Most importantly, we would like to thankour parent chapter South Florida AGC in Ft. Lauderdale formaking all of this possible.

SLX would also like to congratulate the graduating seniorswho proudly displayed their green and gold SLX honorchords at the commencement ceremony. We wish them wellin their future careers as leaders in the construction indus-try.

To learn more information about SLX, please contact MikeSchutt at skutter@ufl.edu.

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National Association of Women In ConstructionBy Colette Arnold

Thanks to Julie Williams, Marcella Cubides, SuezannBohner, Amber Edington and James Marini for taking thetime to coordinate all the activities of the day and creatingan educational and memorable trip that the brownies willnever forget!

On November 15, 2006, the UF NAWIC student chapterwelcomed Brownie Troops 300 and 474 from Hawthorne,FL to the Rinker School. Not only did NAWIC have anopportunity to do some great work for our community, theyoung Brownie Scouts were able to learn about UF as wellas earn their career badges! More specifically, they werepresented with information about the Rinker School,women in construction and sustainable construction.

Activities for their visit included a video with a lively ques-tion and answer session, as well as drawing and interactingwith the BCN students and staff. In addition, BCN gradu-ate student and guest speaker James Marini gave a veryinformative PowerPoint presentation on recycling and ourenvironment, using the Rinker Building’s recycling activi-ties as examples! The most fun however, was the visit tothe newly constructed Library West addition, where thekids saw the rewards of working in the construction indus-try first-hand in our brand new facilities.

Spring semester events will include a trip to Tampa. Trans-portation will be provided and we will tour two projects,one vertical and one horizontal. Past tours included a con-dominium project and the I-4/275 interchange rebuild. We

Associated Builders and ContractorsBy Bill Long III

The annual Student-Contractor Golf Tourney will be heldon Friday March 30th at Ironwood Golf Course. This tour-nament has continued to be a great success for the RinkerSchool and the ABC Student Chapter. We look forward toseeing all the companies on the course that continue to makethis event such a success. Please watch for registration fly-ers announcing the tournament.

This past fall ABC was fortunate to have the following guestspeakers for their monthly meetings: Dave Anderson ofHardin Construction and Jeremy Voss of PCL Construction.

Congratulations to our outgoing officers, Dan Seeley, JohnOrebaugh, Mark Hardee and Lance Price on their gradua-tion from the Rinker School. This semester the ABC chap-ter welcomes its new officers to their respective positions:Chris Evans, President; Bill Long, Vice-President; LucasWest, Treasurer and Ryan Reynolds, Secretary.

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Larry Muszynski as the newABC faculty advisor. Dr Muszynski began serving in theposition this past fall and has already made a terrific addi-tion to the organization.

continued from page 12

look forward to seeing what Bill Brown will arrange for thisSpring. We are also arranging to tour West Tampa, the cen-ter point of urban redevelopment in Tampa. We look for-ward to everyone joining us in these upcoming events.

Construction Management Association of America

15

Guest Speakers - Fall 2006We would like to thank the following people for donating their time and sharing

their knowledge and experience with our students

BCN 3027 - Construction Profession and Ethics-John Carlson, President of PPI-Carol Hurst, Chief Building Official for Alachua County-Philip Rickman, Architect, Principal in the RickmanPartnership-John Sofarelli, President of J. Raymond Construction Co.-Dan Whiteman, President of Coastal Construction

BCN 3423 - Timber, Formwork Design & ConstructionDavid E. Lewis, Engineered Wood Specialist with APA theEngineered Wood Association

BCN 4510 - Mechanical Systems 2, HVAC-Robbie Gronbach, Project Manager at Joyner Construction

BCN 4712 - Managing Construction Operations-Pete Pace, Vice President & CEO of the Florida Divisionof Clancy & Theys Construction Company

BCN 4735 - Construction Safety-Keith Brown, State of Florida OSHA consultant-J.D. Lewis, Area EH&S Director at Bovis Lend Lease-Allan Preston, UF Facilities Management-Joseph Roesler, Compliance Assistant with OSHA

BCN 4751 - Project Planning and Feasibility-Joe Aufmuth, Faculty, UF Science Library

-Dan Green, Senior VP of the Land Acquisition & Devel-opment of KB Home-Rob Johnson, President & CEO of the Florida CapitalBank of Gainesville-James Izzo, President of The 1220 Group-Patricia Roset Zuppa, PhD student at UF

BCN 4787 - Construction Project Delivery-Tim Good, Vice President with The Haskell Company

BCN 5470 - Methods ImprovementDr. Otto Fetterhoff from URS Corporation

BCN 5618 - Comprehensive Estimating-Russell P. Anderson, Sr. VP, Preconstruction Manager forMoss and Associates

BCN 5715 - Advanced Construction Labor Problems-Steve Johns, retired contractor-Morris Trimmer, BCN Emeritus Faculty

BCN 6585 - Principles of Sustainable Development &Construction-Bahar Armaghani, Project Manager at Campus Planning-Ken Fonorrow, President of Florida H.E.R.O. Inc.-Mark van Soestenberg, President of International CarbonBank Exchange

During the Fall Semester 2006, the students in Dr. CharlesKibert’s BCN 6585, Sustainable Construction worked withthe Florida Community Loan Fund’s initiative to promotegreen building in the nonprofit affordable housing industry.Teams formed in the class adopted several Loan Fund bor-rowers and prospects who have a desire to begin integratinggreen-building strategies in their future projects. The finalreports and presentations took place during class late No-vember 2006. The students’ work products were innova-tive, thorough, cost-specific and very creative. In additionto providing cost/benefit analyses on various green options,some teams created a marketing brochure, a resident educa-tion brochure, or re-designed plans and specs (several li-censed architects and engineers are in the class).

Air Force Major Patrick Suermann, a current Ph.D. student,led his team in creating a “Florida Green Building

Coalition Interactive Spreadsheet” that follows the currentFGBC Green Home Standard. It is intended to be used as aplanning tool so that developers can assess various optionsand quickly see how changing one component will affectthe points total and overall cost. Also, it allows the finalapplication to be submitted electronically or to print it outfor submission. In the spreadsheet the “Green Plan” are op-tions that will definitely be feasible for the project. TheYellow Plan are items that are possible, but still being ex-plored, and the red-highlighted items are either not feasibleor not applicable to this particular development.

This real-life example also provides some cost data (plus orminus) for various items which are then captured on theSummary Sheet. The spreadsheet will be posted on thePowell Center website for uploading and use by interesteddevelopers and builders.

Graduate Student Assistance to the Florida Community Loan Fund

H.H. BlockSean Horan $1,000

Builders Association of North Central FloridaRaymond Godfrey $1,500David Goldsmith $1,500Adam Robertson $1,500Shannon Stewart $1,500

Frank W. Reed –Central Florida Builders Exchange

Foote SteelJulian Miller $ 600Hubbard ConstructionMatthew Thomas $ 720Jack Jennings & SonSina Bazargan-Lari $1,200R.C. Stevens ConstructionAmanda Manthorne $ 600Tri-City ElectricJames Swick III $ 600Walker & CompanyColette Arnold $1,200

Clark Construction Group Inc.Guy Abi-Nader $1,500Chandra Hodoval $1,500Molly Maclaren $1,500Roya Mozaffanan $1,500

Arthur A. Coia & R.P. (Bud) VinallThomas Beagles $1,500John Elliott $1,500Maryam Ghatee $1,500

Ivan Mutis $1,500William Parrish $1,500Justin Berry $2,000

James A. Cummings, Inc.Marty Baker $2,000Jay Cherry $2,000Brian Orr $2,000Axay Patel $2,000Paul Scott $2,000

David E. PittsBrandon Griffith $1,000

Rinker MaterialsDiala Dandach $1,000Peter Donkor $1,000Supriya Ghule $1,000Jennifer Grinnan $1,000Kyle Huggins $1,000Deepak Sharma $1,000Wei Shi $1,000Chirag Upadhyaya $1,000Jeff Wright $1,000Wei Wu $1,000

Professor Anthony Section MemorialShayla Harris $1,500

Ronald TadrowskiAndrew Jefferson $2,000

H. Duff Williamson Award for ExcellenceJonathan Hill $ 200

BCN SCHOLARSHIPS - 2006-2007 Scholarship Awardees

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2006-2007 BCN Scholarship Recipients

BCN Alumni in Higher Education

on and estimated projects of all sizes during his 17-yearconstruction career. Prior to being a partner in his ownfirm, Hal held positions of project manager and superin-tendent in a variety of project types and sizes in Alaska,California, Florida, Louisiana, and Washington. He has aB.S. in Building Theory & Practice from Washington StateUniversity and a Master of Building Construction fromthe University of Florida. He is a Certified Professional

Hal Johnston is a Profes-sor in the ConstructionManagement Departmentof College of Architectureand Environmental Designat the California Polytech-nic State University in SanLuis Obispo, California. Heis a licensed General Con-tractor in California, withpast licenses in Washingtonand Florida. Hal has worked

Estimator (C.P.E.) and a member of The American Societyof Professional Estimators (A.S.P.E). Hal has co-authoredtwo books, Construction Site Management, published in1998 by Delmar Publishing (2nd Edition 2003) and Bid-ding and Estimating Procedures for Construction, publishedin 2001 by Prentice Hall. Hal is currently writing a booktitled The Residential Superintendent for Delmar Publish-ing and is involved with United Brotherhood of Carpen-ters in the management, development and delivery of theirSuperintendent Career Training Program, a national pro-gram to train Superintendents. He has authored and co-authored a variety of other construction-related publica-tions. Hal has been teaching at Cal Poly in the Construc-tion Management Department since the fall of 1988. He isactive in American Council for Construction Education(ACCE) and Associated Schools of Construction (ASC),both at the regional and national level. His current areasof research include Online Construction Education, MBE/WBE participation at the subcontract level, and The Build-ers of the Carnegie Libraries in California.

Alumni News1954George A. Poulos has been self-employed as a general con-tractor for 40 years, building homes, small office buildingsand apartments in North Carolina and Georgia. He is nowsemi-retired doing water colors of houses sold by realtorsnationwide. He is also still involved as a sellers agent forColdwell Banker in the Tampa area.1963Roger Maler founded Maler Construction Associates, Inc.in 1971. The company is licensed in Tennessee, Arkansas,Florida and Mississippi and soon possibly in Alabama andLouisiana. A new office will be opened just north of Tampa.1975Richard Buning joined Coastal Construction Company inMarch 2006 as a Senior Project Manager. He is responsiblefor a $140 million office building under construction in Mi-ami, FL.Carl Byars works for C.F. Evans & Company, Inc. locatedin Orangeburg, South Carolina.Bob Wight has been working for Linbeck Group, LP ofHouston, Texas for 31 years now. He is currently a VicePresident and Project Executive responsible for a number ofprojects at Rice University in Houston.1978Brian Axelrod joined Coastal Construction Company in 2004and recently completed construction of the Mosaic Condo-minium, a $53 million project on Miami Beach being con-structed for WCI Communities.

1980Eugene Kowalski founded ADD-Vantage Experience, Inc.in 1994. He is the Owner and President of the company.Some of the projects they have worked on include: The Or-ange County Convention Center, The Epcot Land Pavillionand The Grand Floridian Resort.Tim Lynch has become an Executive Vice President andPartner of DooleyMack Constructors of South Florida, LLC.Tim has been with DooleyMack for sixteen years. He is lo-cated in their Ft. Lauderdale office and currently resides inCoral Springs, FL.1981Mark Miller joined Coastal Construction in 2000 and is theSenior Estimator in the Miami office. He is responsible forpreconstruction services on approximately $250 million inwork annually.1987John P. Wiseman was installed as the President of the FloridaHome Builders Association. FHBA is the largest state homebuilding association in the country. He is also the Presidentof CORE Construction of Florida, where he is in charge ofresidential construction in Orlando, Naples and Sarasota.1990Allen Troshinsky is a Construction Executive with M.A.Mortenson Company. Currently, he resides in Kansas Cityand is managing construction of the $250 million Sprint Cen-ter, a facility that will house both an NBA and an NHL team.Allen and his wife, Stacey have 3 children.

Alumni News is continued on the next page

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Starting in the Fall 2006 Orange & Blueprints, we have highlighted accomplishments made by our graduates in highereducation. In this issue, we are highlighting Professor Hal Johnston of California Polytechnic State University in San LuisObispo, California. If you are a BCN alumni and currently teach at a post secondary construction education program,please send us a short bio of yourself for publishing on this page.

Alumni News

Let us Know!!!

Tell us about any job appointments,announcements, new contact information, etc.

E-mail: Stacey Rosenberg at sirosen@ufl.edu.

Update Your Contact Information

UF Alumni Association1938 W. University Avenue

Gainesville, FL 32603(352) 392-1905 or (888) 352-5866

http://www.ufalumni.ufl.eduufalum@uff.ufl.edu

If you have recently graduated, or have moved; pleaseupdate your information with the UF Alumni Association.

1994Robert Fowler is President of Fowler Construction andDevelopment. He is also a Partner in Fowler Real EstateLLC. Robert and his wife Christina, have 3 children; Amanda,Sean and Ali.Bill Nassal and his partner Matt Brown (BCN ‘94) own aspecialty construction company in Orlando, called The NassalCompany. They just completed the slide temple building forthe new Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. They also served asthe construction manager for a swim with the dolphins parkin the Grand Cayman.1997Daniel Minich is a Project Manager for Mathews Construc-tion Company of Tampa, Inc. Daniel and his wife Tatiana,have been married for 8 years. His wife recently gave birthto twin girls, Melissa and Gabriella.2002Daniel E. Whiteman taught at UF from 1991-93 while com-pleting his coursework for his Ph.D. and then joined CoastalConstruction Company in Miami, Florida as its President.Dan continues to teach at Florida International University asan Adjunct Professor in their Construction ManagementDepartment’s Graduate Program.2003Paul Darrow started his own development firm last year inLos Angeles. He has two projects he is currently workingon, one is a seven unit which is currently in City Planning for

Jeremy is survived by his father, Jerry; stepmother, Martha;sister, Kelli; and brother, Ryan. Please keep the Marlarfamily in your thoughts and prayers and for those of youwho had the opportunity to meet Jeremy and know him,remember he will always be with you.

Jeremy was an upper-division student in Building Con-struction. He started upper-division in Fall 2003 and inSpring 2004 he was diagnosed, went into remission andcame back to complete his Jr. II semester in Spring 05.Jeremy had every intention on beating this cancer to re-turn to school and complete his bachelor’s degree.

Carl A. Byington, passed away suddenly towards the endof last year. He was active for many years throughout thecountry with several major contractors before relocatingto the Tampa area. There he worked on small condoprojects as a state certified General Contractor. He gradu-ated from BCN in January 1954.

In MemoriamJeremy Marlar was a young man withgreat dreams and drive. He aspired todo great things in the construction world,but on October 11, 2006, after a threeand a half year battle with cancer, hepassed away due to complications of hisdisease, synovial cell sarcoma.

Synovial cell sarcoma is a rare cancer thataffects approximately 800 people a year. In February 2006,Jeremy underwent a stem cell treatment at the National In-stitute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda,Maryland. His youngerbrother, Ryan, was his stem cell donor for the treatment atNIH. Jeremy’s mother passed away from cancer when hewas 9 years old and he was determined to fight his cancer.

Jeremy was strong for his friends and family and his faithin God is what helped him persevere through his very dif-ficult treatment. Jeremy was a selfless individual who hadthe courage to fight and never give up in faith.

their entitlement. The other is a four-unit project which isstill in pre-development stage. The seven-unit project, willincorporate sustainable building practices.

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Thank you1950Jesse W. Childre, Sr.1952James G. Foster, Jr.1954Gerald L. Hester1955Paul C. GipsCarroll M. Nall, Jr.1956J.C FelixGeoffrey E. Smith1957Robert L. Claudy, Jr.Paul R. Dawkins1958Cecil GarvinNelson Romero1959George H. AustinCharles W. BrysonMichael A. FinnJohn W. Schneid1960Richard S. Black1961David W. Beebe, Jr.Robert N. Bridger1962Boyce H. BlackmonWilliam H. Squires1963John T. Sewell, Jr.1964Lt. Col. David Gray, Jr.Roger H. Stitt, Jr.1965Tayler M. Boyd, Jr.Donald H. Conkling IIIA. Ronald JohnsonAllen A. Kozich1966Randall F. BaukneyJohn M. McMahonDoss K. Watson1968John M. NeelThomas Shaughnessy1969Roger L. BassRobert B. EdwardsDennis E. LewisJose I. SarasuaR. Lance Walker1970Dennis A. BrammeierWilliam G. FischerEdwin I. Strayer1971Ludwig R. Byak IIJorge Echarte, Jr.J. Thomas Hamm, Jr.Paul R. Hardaker

1972Kirby S. BourgeoisMike E. GrandeyJohn Kish, Jr.Gary I. KlineRichard B. LaughlinRobert E. LiftonE. Vaughan RiversDavid T. Smith1973Robert E. BroxtonRobert W. Caldwell IIIAllen C. HamiltonRobert S. Hemstad, Jr.Donald L. SavageBrian R. SilasKarl E. Weis1974William R. Clark, Jr.Lionel Kier1975Harry P. AckermanLeonard A. GeronemusWilliam R. Giles, Jr.Paul W. KohlerLawrence S. NorthupJohn D. RemingtonBradford J. SeditoDarrell L. SmithWilliam L. StewartRichard E. TurkJames F. Wilder, Jr.1976Walter BajselSusan R. JonesMichael F. Lollis1977Bruce A. Gude1978Alan M. AlbertDouglas F. DavisClark L. Keator IIJonathan B. KurtisCedric L. MarPenny MoyerMichael D. SharonGregory A. VannCraig E. Wilson1979Robert D. ClarkGeorge W. McGonagillStephen R. PalmerRobert G. SampleDennis M. Suarez1980Francis J. HoffmanJames T. Lang, Jr.Thomas O. MartinRobert M. PatersonDavid E. Wagner1981Steven W. CsutorosDavid B. Dunnavant

Paul S. GoodwinNeil L. HammackDarrall R. HendersonRobert A. Isaac, Jr.Thomas W. KoulourisConrad J. LazoTony A. McMahonJohn R. Sofarelli, Sr.John E. Tori1982Richard A. BellLoretta Deziel-GallagherDonald F. Grill, Jr.Dean A. Thomas1983Kent M. BlocherWilliam M. CoyneThomas H. Mitchell IIIEddie MosleyMichael S. SantaroneDavid K. SchmitDaniel J. Waters1984Kenneth L. Anson, Jr.Jeffrey V. CarusoTimothy J. FlanaganBahman KhrosrowzadehNicholas D. ShelowStephen G. SiegelLeslie S. Terkiel1985William P. ByrneRobert T. Ossi1986Daniel W. GetsonTod R. HudsonRobert. T. LauramooreMikell A. McElroyKevin G. McMichaelL. Scott Ulm1987Robert O. GhiottoCraig E. HagedornAllen L. HandSheli A. Romer1988J. Ernesto BritoBrian D. HotchkissRichard P. Komosky1989James B. ClarkRonald E. Kirchman IIRoy D. McGeeRichard E. Yester1990Rose M. BrasgallaRichard C. CarboneLori A. MaglieriAllen G. TroshinskyRonald J. Whalen, Jr.1991Kenneth B. CoxDonald W. Roberts, Jr.

1992Stephanie L. LobnerTimothy R. Rushing1993Vasilios AthanasoulisBryan S. BoticScott R. LaymanTimothy R. Wiggins1994Michael C. HuskeyHeather G. MandelMichael J. Yepes1996Bobby R. LyonsGerald C. Parsons, Jr.Timothy J. SergenianRichard M. HickmanValerie L. HickmanRob Wubbenhorst1997Anthony W. IngrassiaKristen N. KoblegardZeljko M. Torbica2001Scott R. Milke, Jr.2004Matthew H. Butler2005Christopher H. HartmanFriendsMartha J. AndersonRonald E. AndersonJohn F. BennettChristopher L. HawkinsMaureen A. KowallAllen Reed LloydCompaniesBBI Construction ManagementBechtel FoundationBrasfield & Gorrie LLCCharles Perry Construction, Inc.Clancy & Theys Construction Co.Current Builders of Florida, Inc.D.F. McKnight Construction Co., Inc.Deerfield, Inc.Fasanelli Development Co.Gerdau AmeristeelHenkelman Construction, Inc.Honeywell International FoundationHugins Construction CorporationKVC Constructors, Inc.M. J. Harris, Inc.Mathur & Gerdes, Inc.Matthews Construction of Tampa, Inc.Mitch Burley Construction, Inc.Pooley Contracting, Inc.Sands Construction Co., Inc.Schlesinger Construction, Inc.Stiles CorporationTrigram LLCTritt & Franson, P.A.W.H. Keister Group, Inc.Zahn Luxury Homes

To all who donated to the M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Building Construction General Fund (8/1/06-1/1/07)

. VernerRobert W

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news

performance of firefighting equipment using water and aque-ous film forming foam. Improving firefighting effective-ness while reducing flow rate by a factor of 3-10 may greatlyreduce collateral damage, equipment footprint and cost forboth civilian and military aircraft facilities. Dr. Grosskopfpresented his findings at the 2006 World Conference onAccelerating Excellence in the Built Environment in Bir-mingham, United Kingdom.

Drs. Kevin Grosskopf and Paul Oppenheim along withTodd Kisida, Director of the College of DCP InformationTechnology, received continuation funding from AGC to pro-vide Internet-based mold prevention guidance to a nationalaudience through 2008. AGC and the University of Floridadeveloped a PC-based moisture control construction check-list (MC3) and training software that will enable builders toquickly identify mold-forming conditions during construc-tion, prevent the introduction of moisture into building ma-terials and assemblies, and mitigate mold growth followingexposure. The results of the MC3 software developmentwere presented at the 2006 Conference of Associated Schoolsof Construction, Ft. Collins, Colorado in April 2006 andpublished in the International Journal of Construction Edu-cation and Research.

Drs. Kevin Grosskopf and Charles Kibert received athree-year grant from the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) to develop “best management practices” toprevent moisture-related indoor hazards and asthma triggersin residential and commercial buildings.

Dr. Kevin Grosskopf and Drs. Ilir Bejleri and E. Kramerof Urban and Regional Planning were awarded grants fromAlachua and Nassau counties to computer model hurricaneand flood damage to residential and commercial buildings,evacuation shelters, and emergency response infrastructure.The research team has created “Katrina” scenarios for bothcounties, simulating the potential damage caused by a strongCategory 4 Atlantic hurricane striking Amelia Island and asimilar Gulf storm striking Alachua County from the south-west via Cedar Key. The goal of this research is to simulatethe reduction in damage and loss resulting from buildingcode changes and other hazard mitigation activities.

Dr. Kevin Grosskopf received agrant from the U.S. Departmentof Defense, Air Force ResearchLaboratory to conduct research onultra-high pressure (UHP) firesuppression systems for use in air-craft operations and maintenancefacilities. UHP technology hasproven to enhance the

performance green buildings. Over 220 attendees from 28countries presented their concepts of what the future holdsfor these buildings of the future. Information about the re-sults of RSC06 can be found at http://www/treeo.ufl.edu/rsc06

This past summer Dr. Kibert taught a 3-week course aboutsustainable development to students from 10 universities inPoland. The course, “Challenges of Sustainable Develop-ment in Poland,” was co-organized by Dr. Kibert with col-leagues in Poland and Austria and this was the 9th year itwas taught. The site of the course is in southern Poland, inCracow, and in addition to lectures and exercises, the stu-dents work with Polish companies, organizations, and com-munities to learn the real world application of sustainability.

As part of an effort to disseminate information on the U.S.Green Building Council’s LEED standard for green build-ings, Dr. Kibert has been organizing professional develop-ment classes for builders and other professionals around theSoutheast. There are currently two types of classes beingtaught, a one-day introductory course and a two-day coursethat prepare the student to take the USGBC’S LEED Ac-credited Professional Test. The most recent two-day prepa-ratory course was delivered to a group from Moss Associ-ates, Inc. in Ft. Lauderdale in early December 2006. InApril 2006 the two-day course was provided to a group fromBMK Architects in Sarasota and included members of theSarasota County School Board.

Dr. Charles Kibert organizedan international conference onsustainable construction whichwas held in Sarasota, FloridaSeptember 19-22, 2006. Theconference, Rethinking Sustain-able Construction 2006 (RC06)had as its purpose determining aroadmap to future high-

Faculty

Researchers from the U.S., Europe, China and Australia par-ticipated in the conference. The proceedings were publishedin two book volumes and one CD-Rom and contained over2000 pages of research.

Dr. R. Raymond Issa chaired the13th Rinker International Confer-ence on Construction and RealEstate Management (ICCREM2006): Collaboration and Devel-opment in Construction and RealEstate, which was held on Octo-ber 5-6, 2006 at the SheratonWorld Resort, Orlando, FL.

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Behavior from U.S. International University-San Diego in1977. He served in the US Naval Mobile Construction Bat-talions for a period of fifteen years working in the areas ofdrafting, surveying and soils/material testing. After mili-tary service, he first began working in scheduling and in-ternal auditing for San Diego Gas & Electric. He alsoworked for Ralph M. Parsons of Pasadena, CA as a projectcontrols engineer on a large mining project. Other posi-tions he has held include consultant and Director of ProjectDevelopment for Hill International Inc., a project manage-ment and construction dispute consulting firm with worldwide operations. In 1985, he returned home to the south asSoutheastern Regional Manager for Kellogg Corporation,a Denver-based construction consulting firm.

His next position was a project manager with Coastal Utili-ties Inc., an underground utility firm. Several years later,he established E. Douglas Lucas & Associates. He has beeninvolved in providing consulting, scheduling and expert wit-ness services on several hundred construction disputes. Heis a member of the Association for the Advancement of CostEngineering.

Jennifer Mashburn is the School’s new Senior Fiscal As-sistant. She is responsible for managing the School’s Rinkerand Holland funds, travel, and other administrative duties.She moved here from Indiana and loves being part of theGator Nation.

Julie E. Segura moved to Gainesville one year ago fromMiami, Florida with her husband and two-year-old son. Sheworked with The Tower Group, Inc. as an assistant to theProject Manager during the construction of Miami’s famousParrot Jungle Island. Julie is joining the school as theAlumni Liaison, she will cultivate the relationship withUniversity Alumni to assist current student and graduatesin finding careers, and coordinate the Career Fairs. She isexcited to become a part of the family and become an inte-gral part of the established history the school has built.

Faculty news

Contren Learning series. This standardized competency-based curriculum is taught by contractors, associations, con-struction users, and secondary and post-secondary schoolsnationwide. Students who receive training through anNCCER-Accredited Sponsor are eligible to receive tran-scripts and documentation of their training accomplishmentsthrough NCCER’s National Registry.

(JIIT) at Noida, Jaypee University of Information Technol-ogy (JUIT) at Waknaghat, and Jaypee Institute of Engineer-ing & Technology (JIET) at Guna from 10/28 to 11/5. Thepurpose of this trip was to assist Jaypee Education Systemin establishing a construction management program first atGuna campus and then at the other two institutions. A planwas developed to start an emphasis in construction man-agement within the existing undergraduate civil engineer-ing program and a master’s degree in construction manage-ment at JIET. In addition, Jaypee will send few of their fac-ulty to complete their PhD degree in construction manage-ment at the Rinker School to return to India and teach thenewly developed construction management courses.

E. Douglas Lucas recently joinedthe BCN faculty as a lecturer aftera two-year period as an adjunctprofessor. He graduated fromGeorgia Tech with a BIE in 1972,a M.S. in Systems Managementfrom the University of SouthernCalifornia in 1975 and a Doctor-ate in Leadership and Human

Dr. Paul Oppenheim partici-pated as a subject matter expertin the update and revision of theNational Center for ConstructionEducation and Research(NCCER) standardized HVACcraft training program. In partner-ship with Prentice Hall, NCCERdevelops and publishes the

Anne Williamson, associate di-rector of the Shimberg Center forAffordable Housing, recently re-ceived $180,000 in funding for ahousing condition study from theUniversity Area Community De-velopment Corporation, a non-profit organization serving an eco-nomically distressed area

New Appointments

Drs. Ajay Shanker and AbdolChini were invited to India by theJaypee Group, a well-diversifiedinfrastructure industrial groupthat has developed three highertechnical education institutes inemerging areas of technology inIndia. They visited Jaypee In-stitute of Information Technology

surrounding the University of South Florida. The results ofthe study will be used to plan and implement redevelop-ment activities. Ms. Williamson also received $32,500 infunding for providing housing expertise to the HillsboroughCounty Affordable Housing Study Commission that

culminated in a final report titled Attainable Housing forHillsborough County’s Growing Economy.

22

SPONSORSHIPS

The Rinker School does have a limited budget and there are many activities and items for which we could certainly useyour financial assistance. In return for your underwriting of these activities/items, we would provide appropriate publicityabout your support. In the case of events, we would be pleased to have a company representative attend the event and saya few words on behalf of your firm. For the Newsletter, we would include a prominent credit on the front page of theNewsletter. The following is a list of events and their approximate cost to us for which your support would be verybeneficial to the Rinker School and its students:

Available Event SponsorshipsGraduation Dinner Fall 2007 $3,000Graduate Student Reception Spring 2007 $1,500Graduate Competition Team Spring 2007 $5,000BCN Newsletter Fall 2008 $6,000Heavy/Civil Competition Team Fall 2007 $5,000NAHB Competition Team Spring 2008 $5,000LEED Competition Team Spring 2008 $5,000Welcome Reception Spring 2009 $5,000Homecoming Barbeque Fall 2009 $3,000

Future Event SponsorsWelcome Reception (Spring 2007) Holder ConstructionGraduation Dinner (Spring 2007) Hunt Construction GroupWelcome Reception (Fall 2007) Clancy &TheysHomecoming Barbeque (Fall 2007) Angle & SchmidBCN Newsletter (Fall 2007) James A. CummingsBCN Newsletter (Spring 2008) Gerdau AmeriSteelWelcome Reception (Spring 2008) The Weitz CompanyWelcome Reception (Fall 2008) Robins & MortonHomecoming Barbeque (Fall 2008) Weitz Golf International

Past Event SponsorsSpecial thanks to our past event sponsors.

Rinker School Event Name Sponsor Rinker School Event Name SponsorCommercial Team (1998 - present) Centex Construction Welcome Reception (Spring 2006) James A. CummingsDesign-Build Team (2002-present) Haskel Company Welcome Reception (Fall 2006) Clancy & TheysHeavy/Civil Team, 2006 Nelson Construction Homecoming Barbeque (2004) Brasfield & GorrieNAHB Competition, 2003 London Bay Homes Homecoming Barbeque (2005) Burkhardt Const.NAHB Competition, 2004 Centex Homes Homecoming Barbeque (2006) Holder ConstructionNAHB Competition, 2005 BCBE Construction BCN Newsletter (Fall 2001) Hardin ConstructionNAHB Competition, 2006 BCBE Construction BCN Newsletter (Spring 2002) Hardin ConstructionNAHB Competition, 2007 Mercedes Homes BCN Newsletter (Fall 2002) Hardin/ Prof. GunbyGraduation Dinner (Fall 1999) Beck Group BCN Newsletter (Fall 2003) James A. CummingsGraduation Dinner (Fall 2000) Brasfield & Gorrie BCN Newsletter (Spring 2004) James A. CummingsGraduation Dinner (Spring 2001) Hensel Phelps BCN Newsletter (Fall 2004) Hardin ConstructionGraduation Dinner (Fall 2003) Current Builders BCN Newsletter (Spring 2005) Stiles CorporationGraduation Dinner (Spring 2004) Rinker Materials BCN Newsletter (Fall 2005) James A. CummingsGraduation Dinner (Fall 2004) James A. Cummings BCN Newsletter (Spring 2006) Hardin ConstructionGraduation Dinner (Spring 2006) Clark Construction Group BCN Newsletter (Fall 2006) Stiles CorporationGraduation Dinner (Fall 2006) WCI Communities BCN Newsletter (Spring 2007) J. Raymond Const.Welcome Reception/(Spring 2001) Weitz Company Graduate Student Reception (Fall 2000) Ajax ConstructionWelcome Reception (Fall 2001) Brasfield & Gorrie Graduate Student Reception (Fall 2005) Turner ConstructionWelcome Reception (Spring 2002) Fluor Corp Plaques and Trophies (2003) Charles Perry Const.Welcome Reception (Fall 2002) Turner ConstructionWelcome Reception (Spring 2003) Weitz CompanyWelcome Reception (Fall 2003) Fluor Corp.Welcome Reception (Spring 2004) Brasfield & GorrieWelcome Reception (Fall 2004) Current BuildersWelcome Reception (Spring 2005) Weitz CompanyWelcome Reception (Fall 2005) Charles Perry Construction

If you need additional information, please contact Dr. Abdol Chini (chini@ufl.edu).

23

Advisory Council

The M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Building Construction is honored to have an active Advisory Council whose members, both individualand corporate, serve as an important source of advice and support for the School. Advisory Council is an opportunity for you andyour company to form a strong liaison with the School. In this way, we can be assured that our program is current and meets the ever-changing needs of the construction industry. We hope you will consider becoming a member of the Advisory Council for the M.E.Rinker, Sr. School of Building Construction.

HERE IS MY GIFT FOR THE M.E. RINKER, SR. SCHOOL OFBUILDING CONSTRUCTION

My gift in the amount of $ is made to the University of Florida Foundationfor the M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Building Construction

Be sure to put BCN in the Memo Line

Name_______________________________________________________________

Address_____________________________________________________________

City_________________ State______________________ Zip _______________

Signature_____________________________________ Date_____________

Please check the appropriate block:

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP in the BCN Advisory Council $100 Certificate $300 Plaque $500 $2000 - includes membership in the University President’s Council

CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP in the BCN Advisory Council $300 Certificate $500 Plaque

Please send gifts to 304 Rinker Hall, PO Box 115703, Gainesville, FL 32611

Help Build the Future with the BCN Brick Paver Campaign!

Want to have your name in Rinker Hall, the new home of the M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Building Construction?Buy a brick paver, support your School, and have your name etched in stone for the world to see! The 4” x 8” brick

pavers are available to students, alumni and friends for $125.00. There is a 3-line limit, with a 16-character limitper line. Each space, period or other such punctuation is considered a character.

Visit www.bcn.ufl.edu/brick for more information.

Please make checks payable to U.F. Foundation. Do NOT send cash. Be sure to note BCN Brick Campaign in theMemo Line. Please send checks to 304 Rinker Hall, PO Box 115703, Gainesville, FL 32611

Name:_________________________________________

Address:_______________________________________

City:_____________________ State:_______________

Zip: ______________ Phone: ____________________

Number of Bricks Ordered:_________

Total Amount Enclosed:_______________

NONPROFIT ORGU.S POSTAGEP A I DGAINESVILLE FLPERMIT NO 94College of Design, Construction and Planning

M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Building Construction304 Rinker HallPO Box 115703Gainesville, FL 32611-5703

J. Raymond Construction Corp. 465 W. Warren Avenue, Longwood, Florida 32750-4002 Phone: 407.862.6966 Fax: 407.571.3596

GCG 048800 www.jray.com

General Contractor / Construction Management

Commercial Retail Office Light Industrial

President/CEO – John Raymond Sofarelli Senior Vice President – Russ Suddeth

BCN Executive Council Board Member

Proud sponsor ofThe University of Florida’s M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of

Building Construction

90 % of Management are BCN Graduates!