Journals

Texas A&M System partners with City of Houston to implement capital improvement and energy efficiency upgrades at Hobby and Bush Airports

The Houston Airport System’s two international airports will undergo major infrastructure and equipment upgrades and much-needed renovations through a design and construction management agreement with the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), a member of The Texas A&M University System. The projects at William P. Hobby Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport will reduce the…

Port Houston Takes Action to Accelerate Widening of Houston Ship Channel

Keeps Greater Interests of Houston Ship Channel at Forefront The Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority met in special session Monday and moved to accelerate widening of the Houston Ship Channel, the nation’s busiest waterway. “The Houston Ship Channel is open for business for all and will continue to be,” said Chairman Ric…

AI, robotics safety a bigger concern to construction industry than job security

A Volvo Construction Equipment survey of 205 U.S. and U.K. construction workers found that 31% of respondents were fearful that artificial intelligence and robotics would replace them on jobsites. While that is a common conception about the technology, an even larger chunk, 46%, was concerned about perceived safety risks involved with that kind of machinery….

WHEN IS A PERMIT REQUIRED ON A RESIDENTIAL PROJECT?

Many home repairs do not require a permit, yet like clockwork, this time of year in late Spring, our phones start ringing with questions about when a permit is needed. From contractors to home owners and even house flippers, here are a few questions that we have answered. “We are widening our bathroom doors and…

ConocoPhillips Donates $1 Million to Support Data Science at the University of Houston

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) today announced a $1 million contribution to the University of Houston’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM) to help meet growing demand for data science education. This donation marks the first of several planned contributions by ConocoPhillips to support data science curriculum at multiple universities. The contribution to the University of…

OP-ED: Offshore Exploration Promises Jobs, Affordable Energy

Strong U.S. natural gas and oil production is revitalizing communities in state after state. It’s well-known that increased energy production has cut costs for families – at the pump and in-home utility bills. But leading the world in production has also given U.S. businesses a leg up, generating a manufacturing resurgence. To list just a…

Debt Collection, Part 3: Post-Judgment Remedies

Here we are at the final stage. You covered your bases during the pre-application process, decided to extend credit to the consumer, took steps to reduce your risk while the credit relationship was still good, followed the proper protocol when it came time to collect the debt, and won a judgment following a successful lawsuit….

US intelligence wants to develop tools to detect construction projects around the world

The U.S. Director of National Intelligence’s Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) office has issued a draft grant offer for the development of a system that can detect construction activity worldwide. The announcement is part of the agency’s Space-based Machine Automated Recognition Technique (SMART) program. The new machine learning technology must have broad-area search functionality…

Five predictions for what ‘human capital’ will mean for CEOs in the future workforce

As the workforce is augmented by AI, CEOs will need to prepare their organization for new ways of working. Over the coming decades, the whole experience of what it means to ‘work’ is likely to change dramatically, impacting our relationships with our colleagues, our employers and even ourselves. At the same time, the idea of…

Women in the Workforce MARGARET WU: BREAKING BARRIERS

For me, overcoming professional barriers is all in a day’s – or life’s – work. I began my career in 1976 as the first woman with advanced degrees to work at ExxonMobil’s renowned research lab in Edison, New Jersey. Fast-forward to today, a few years after my retirement, and I am the first woman from…

How is big oil transitioning to power the future?

Windmills. Electric cars. Solar panels. When the cost and performance of emerging technologies improves, incumbents get nervous. Eventually the oil age will end, and it won’t be because we’ve run out of oil. Something better will come along. Something cheaper. It’s inevitable, and the question is how the oil and gas companies of today become…

How a better project experience will win you more jobs

Selling your company’s services to prospective clients is challenging. While there’s a strong market for construction work and plenty of jobs to be won, competition is fierce and it can seem like owners are fixated on price. It’s understandably hard to balance your commitment to quality and your desire to innovate in an industry built on bidding wars….

Austin Commercial to manage construction of $240M soccer stadium in Austin, Texas

Precourt Sports Ventures, the primary investor and operator of the new Major League Soccer franchise Austin FC, has chosen general contractor Austin Commercial as construction manager for the club’s new $240 million stadium in Austin, Texas. Gensler has signed on as lead architect and CAA Icon will be the project manager and Precourt’s representative. Crews will break…

CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYMENT RISES BY 16,000 IN MARCH AND 246,000 FOR THE YEAR AS WEEKLY HOURS HIT NEW HIGH AND UNEMPLOYMENT A NEW LOW FOR MARCH

Hiring Rebounds from Losses in February, Suggesting Demand for Construction Remains Strong; Association Calls for Career Training Funding and Immigration Reform to Continue Growth Construction employment increased by 16,000 jobs in March and by 246,000 jobs, or 3.4 percent, over the past year, according to an analysis of new government data today by the Associated…

House Bill 4342 Moves Ahead

Following an April 16 hearing, House Bill 4342 was approved by the House Public Education Committee the next day. HB 4342 now advances with the committee’s full support. HB 4342 would add a licensed architect to the Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC) Board of Directors. TxSSC is the official, university-supported research center at Texas State whose mission is to…

Issue 38

May 2019

Creating Connections: The A&M System’s Construction Vendor Expo Helps Form New Business Connections

The Texas A&M University System Office of HUB and Procurement Programs recently collaborated with the Office of Facilities, Planning and Construction, SSC and general contractors to host a Construction Vendor Expo in an effort to ensure that HUB subcontractors are aware of upcoming opportunities and ways to do business with the A&M System. The Office…

Iron Sharpens Iron: IWA’s Mission to Shape Metal…and Their Students’ Futures

Texas has more welding jobs than any other state in the United States, with an estimated total of 50,000 employed welders and a growing number of jobs needing to be filled. This demand has made Texas the land of opportunity for welders, and the Industrial Welding Academy has made it their mission to properly train…

Houston Airport System and Edge4Vets Partner to Provide FREE Job Prep Workshop for Veterans:

The Houston Airport System, in partnership with the Edge4Vets team and other local sponsors, will provide training and job opportunities for some of our nation’s service personnel who are returning to the civilian workforce. It’s all part of the effort to identify talented personnel for local aviation jobs, while ensuring that the right consideration is…

Top contractors partner with AI firm to prevent jobsite accidents before they happen

Following up on a study in which Smartvid.io’s artificial intelligence engine “Vinnie” learned from contractor Suffolk’s data to predict roughly one in five safety incidents with 81% accuracy, nine major construction firms are partnering with the software company to further develop predictive analytics and therefore prevent incidents and reduce risk across the industry, according to a Smartvid announcement from…