MPM Specialization Spotlight: Construction Management

Discover how the Northwestern Engineering specialization is designed to help professionals learn how to manage projects from start to finish.

The Master of Project Management (MPM) program recognizes the importance of infrastructure

The construction industry remains a major driver of the U.S. economy, with more than 7 million employees and more than a trillion dollars’ worth of structures built each year.

The Master of Science in Project Management (MPM) program recognizes the importance of infrastructure and gives students the ability to pursue highly specific specializations depending on their interest and experience. The Construction Management specialization focuses on the planning, scheduling and construction of projects in concert with time, cost and quality.

Longtime MPM professor and 40-year construction veteran Richard Tilghman offered his thoughts on the Construction Management specialization and the benefits it offers to potential students.

What is unique about this specialization?

One of the great benefits of the program is that all the faculty are working professionals. They are all in the industry, in the field. I have been retired for five years, but one of the great things was that I could walk into class and say, 'I can't believe what just happened today' and relate it to something we talked about in class last week. The expertise of the adjunct professors is a differentiator. That they are (in the classroom) and worked (in the field) that same day and have appropriate stories to share along with what they are trying to teach is a differentiator.

What types of students tend to pursue this specialization?

This specialization is intended to improve people who are running projects. The hope is they have a job in the industry, and this will make them better.

What courses do you teach?

I've taught a number of courses. Construction Management is an overview, meant to give an in-depth look at the industry. Building Construction Estimating gives a look at how you estimate a project. It's meant to give people who are in the business, but who may have not been on the estimating side, a look at what the estimator does and how he does it within the numbers. Now I teach Construction Business Strategy. That course is meant to say, here's how you make money in the construction industry. Here are some things you have to understand if you are going to run a company or a project, looking at factors of profit and risk.

How has the content of this specialization evolved?

The construction industry is not the tech industry. It's very stable, and for the most part, you do things the way you did them before. A lot of the students that come into the program have been in the industry for one-to-four years. They are getting their feet wet. They want to know more, and we give them more information about how it all works. Various tools, estimating schedules – simple, but not earth-shattering things. But they are really only tools. What we are really trying to do is help students use the six inches between their ears.

What are the most important takeaways you hope students get from your class and the program?

The construction industry is an exciting business. One of the first things we say is that 'people build buildings.' This is a people business before anything else. As a construction manager or a project manager, you have to get a lot of people going in the same direction to be successful. How does the construction management person manage those pieces? Anything we can do to make them better at that is what ought to be taught.

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