“Career Opportunities Abound in Manufacturing & Construction Management”

Paul J. Resetarits, professor and chair, department of manufacturing & construction management, Central Connecticut State University

The Department of Manufacturing & Construction Management in the School of Technology at CCSU offers programs designed to prepare students to work in various leadership positions within the manufacturing and construction industries. In Connecticut, there is a critical workforce need for qualified professionals in these areas.

The bachelor of science in industrial technology degree prepares students to work in manufacturing related industries. Among the job areas that they work are project management, production control, quality assurance, Lean manufacturing, robotics, automation and environmental health & safety. The industrial technology program is accredited by National Association for Industrial Technology (NAIT). After establishing an NAIT student chapter in the fall of 2005, these student chapter members went on to compete in a national robotics competition in St. Louis, MO, winning 2^nd place. The skill sets acquired in the industrial technology program meet current workforce development needs as cited by a recent Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA) report. Students are learning to use state-of-the-art software and hardware in a variety of areas including CAD, CAM and electro-mechanical control systems, as well as in Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma Quality, leadership, management and accounting skills. This program is a hybrid that combines both technological skills and business skills, providing firsthand experience with various processes throughout the supply chain. Needless to say, this creates industry demand for our graduates.

The construction management program prepares students to work in the field as project managers and site superintendents.  Additionally, they work as project estimators and planners to handle job costing and scheduling. The bachelor of science in construction management program is accredited by American Council for Construction Education (ACCE). This program has grown significantly since acquiring ACCE accreditation, presently enrolling over 150 undergraduate students. It has a very active student organization whose members compete in regional competitions and regularly bring in speakers from industry to present current issues and trends in the construction industry. They recently sponsored a recruiting fair that brought students and approximately 25 construction firms together. Students were able to present their resumes, and the construction firms were provided with booths to showcase their companies.

The construction management program has dedicated faculty who helped grow the program to a high level of success. Currently they are working on establishing a Master’s degree in construction management to help meet the advanced education needs of people currently in the construction management profession.

The department currently has grant funding totaling more than $500,000. The funding sources include the National Aerospace Leadership Institute (NALI), the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), and the Masonry Contractors Association of Connecticut (MCAC).  This funding allows faculty to stay current with the trends in industry, which in turn benefits our students.

Every student in both of these programs is required to complete a 480-hour internship which many times leads to permanent employment. The skill sets that the students graduating from these programs have are so highly demanded that every student has multiple job offers. Our biggest problem is that we do not have enough graduates to fulfill all our requests for placement!

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