80/20 Principle as One of the Most Effective Ways to Increase Your Productivity

In 1895, Vilfredo Pareto, the Italian economist, became aware that people could be divided into two groups. The first one was the “vital few” that made up the top 20% regarding influence and money, and the second referred to the “trivial many” that made up the bottom 80% of the population. Then, he realized that […]

How to Cultivate Excellent Professional Relationships

  Professional relationships are key to success in any profession. Engineering is no exception. Success is fueled as much by who you know as it is by what you know. While this may seem unfair, there’s a perfectly logical reason for this: people do business with people they know, like, and trust. And how do […]

From Civil Engineering to Helping Civil Engineers in Texas Every Day – Ep 105

Helping Civil Engineers

In episode 105 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I speak with Lindsay O’Leary, PE, LEED AP about her career path from a civil engineer to now working full-time as the Executive Director for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Texas Section where she is helping civil engineers to achieve success on a daily basis. […]

Building Real Friendships That Can Get Engineers Hired

  It might sound contrary to the idea of career professionalism but building real friendships can and will get you hired. In fact, if you’re not making friends when you network, you’re not doing it properly. Networking is the most powerful job search strategy because it will lead to getting referred in for jobs that […]

Good Engineers Practice: Skills to Advance Your Career

As a younger engineer I occasionally spent time doing the wrong things. My eagerness caused me to accept tasks and work with unconfirmed assumptions. This lead to repeat work and disappointment from my mangers. My focus was on activity, not results. Keeping a journal helped me learned that I was spending much of my time doing tasks that did not contribute to my team. The best […]

Taking Your Meetings from Ordinary to Extraordinary – Ep 189

Taking Your Meetings from Ordinary to Extraordinary

In this episode, I talk with Paul Axtell about something all engineers are involved in, which is meetings.  Not just the “M-word”, these are the individual and team interactions that make projects happen, and Paul provides us with some great take-aways you can use to take your meetings from ordinary to extraordinary. Engineering Quotes: Here are some […]

Connected and Autonomous Vehicles and the Future of Transportation – Ep 104

Autonomous Vehicles

In episode 104 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I am taking you with me to the offices of AECOM to talk with Anthony Attanasio, B.A, Vice President and Senior Program Manager at AECOM. We’ll discuss his career which has spanned both the public and private sectors, and we also talk about connected and autonomous vehicles, […]

Who Are Quantity Surveyors and Why Are They Important?

Civil engineering is a discipline many people are not really familiar with. This is a real shame since civil engineering impacts our society so much. Namely, it comprises various professions, including structural, geotechnical, environmental, water resources, construction management, and transportation engineers. One particularly interesting area is quantity surveying, a profession that blends engineering, construction, and […]