Deconstruction

Females encompass only 14 percent of the construction industry’s employees. However, that number is only expected to grow as women take on more engineering and leadership roles.

What is it like to work in the construction industry as a female leader, and how can other women make a career in this industry?

On today’s episode of the VCC Women in Construction Spotlight Series, Host Michelle Dawn Mooney speaks with Michelle Luce-Gilson, Corporate Scheduler at VCC Construction, Project Scheduler for VCC, to discuss Luce-Gilson’s responsibilities, her experience as a female in the construction industry, and how the industry has changed throughout her career.

Mooney and Luce-Gilson also discussed…

• What Luce-Gilson does on a day-to-day basis as a scheduler and her experience as a female in a male-dominated industry
• What changes Luce-Gilson has noticed over the years in the construction industry
• Advice for women who may be hesitant about working in construction

How can females figure out the best role for them in the construction industry? “Do something you really love in construction. To get started, do anything in construction and try to figure out where your place is and then go with it,” Luce-Gilson stated. “The industry offers a lot—a really wide array of roles. It’s not just the operations side where there’s people physically building things,” she added.

Michelle Luce-Gilson is Corporate Scheduler at VCC Construction and has previously worked in roles such as Scheduling Manager and Senior Project Scheduler at VCC. Luce-Gilson has over 30 years of experience in the construction industry and is a certified Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP) per the AACE International.

Females encompass only 14 percent of the construction industry’s employees. However, that number is only expected to grow as women take on more engineering and leadership roles.

What is it like to work in the construction industry as a female leader, and how can other women make a career in this industry?

On today’s episode of the VCC Women in Construction Spotlight Series, Host Michelle Dawn Mooney speaks with Michelle Luce-Gilson, Corporate Scheduler at VCC Construction, to discuss Luce-Gilson’s responsibilities, her experience as a female in the construction industry, and how the industry has changed throughout her career.

Mooney and Luce-Gilson also discussed…

• What Luce-Gilson does on a day-to-day basis as a scheduler and her experience as a female in a male-dominated industry
• What changes Luce-Gilson has noticed over the years in the construction industry
• Advice for women who may be hesitant about working in construction

How can females figure out the best role for them in the construction industry? “Do something you really love in construction. To get started, do anything in construction and try to figure out where your place is and then go with it,” Luce-Gilson stated. “The industry offers a lot—a really wide array of roles. It’s not just the operations side where there’s people physically building things,” she added.

Michelle Luce-Gilson is Corporate Scheduler at VCC Construction and has previously worked in roles such as Scheduling Manager and Senior Project Scheduler at VCC. Luce-Gilson has over 30 years of experience in the construction industry and is a certified Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP) per the AACE International.

Community describes a group of people that live in the same place or share similar characteristics. Every community is different, but one commonly shared theme is how businesses can impact their respective communities. Corporate philanthropy can spure great societal impact. But what causes are companies giving back to the communities they operate in and why?

On today’s special episode of the Deconstruction podcast series, host Gabrielle Bejarano chats with panel guests Derek Alley, CEO of VCC, Stacy Bruce, President and Executive Director, Variety -the Children’s Charity of Texas, and Eric Coleman, Dallas Fort-Worth Regional Superintendent, KIPP DFW. The four examine….

• How large companies, like VCC, can give back to the community they operate out of
• Why VCC has chosen Variety and KIPP DFW as two organizations to create social impact
• What particular missions drive Variety and KIPP DFW to continue serving the community

“Regardless of what industry you’re in, community drives everything in our world and if you’re not an active participant in that…I think you’re missing a great opportunity to not only fulfill a deeper mission but also, you know, do real good that can be very much aligned with your corporate goals,” said Alley.

As the CEO of VCC, Alley has worked to help grow the company for the past forteen years. Prior to his role with VCC, Alley worked as an Analyst for companies such as BlackRock and DeutscheBank. Alley earned his B.S. in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University.

Stacy Bruce has been an active advocate within the child welfare system for over 25 years. She has served in various roles which include experiences in the direct delivery of services and administrative and agency leadership roles. Bruce is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a BA in Psychology and a MS in Social Work.

Coleman has worked for KIPP DFW for over twelve years. As the Head of Schools, Coleman works to encourage underserved youth and empower development in education. Coleman is a graduate of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge with a BS in Mathematics.

Jon Herring, the Quality Control Director of VCC, joins Gabrielle Bejarano in this episode to discuss the role of quality control at VCC and how substitutions in supplies create complications. The VCC's Total Quality Management (TQM) department starts by assessing risk on jobs. TQM ensures the plan is in place and its key players understand their responsibility. Once construction begins, the team is on the ground to ensure that what was agreed is happening. Herring said, “TQM is a real-time feedback loop of understanding the consequences of decisions.”

Battling with a shortage of supplies has forced VCC into more flexibility. Herring recalled, “No substitution policy, we don’t like to offer alternatives historically, but these days that’s not possible. Owners are demanding it, and designers need it.” Without substitutions, there are significant delays in building and supplier costs and lead times are rising. Project execution times have increased. It is expected that these trends will continue.

Due to the changing landscape, projects experience many iterations. “They have to have a design that works based on the materials available,” said Herring. Materials change, and designs are reworked. “Owners have a lot of options still, but it's a matter of timing and price they’re willing to pay,” noted Herring.

TQM's role has become more complex with the changes in the supply market. Each time a substitute is introduced, the product has to be thoroughly understood so that future impact and consequences can be considered. Herring said, “Every product is slightly different. Vetting products each and every time…Paying attention to the implications of the changes is the key.” To learn more about VCC, visit the website vccusa.com.

KEY POINTS:

• Design review should follow through the entirety of a construction project.
• Internal design team modeling can uncover issues not apparent from 2D documents.
• Modeling review reduces errors and keeps construction in scope with the original design.

Design plays a critical role in the pre-construction phase of a project. At VCC, their In-House Design and Construction Integration team gets involved in all projects from start to finish. Donn Calaway, Chief Design Officer at VCC, heads up the design and construction integration group. He sat down with Gabrielle Bejarano to talk about some of the essential aspects of his work.

One step in the pre-construction process Calaway’s team is involved with is peer reviews, which provide an in-depth study of the construction documents. “What VCC brings to the table is we have a fantastic group of architects, number one,” Calaway said. “But we have a great deal of experience on both sides of the project; in the design field and the construction side of the project.”

Technology is the crucial driver for Calaway to accomplish project missions. On the project front end, VCC utilizes Bluebeam Studio® software and Autodesk® Revit® to review drawings and specifications. “Or if the design team hasn’t modeled the project, we do a lot of internal modeling and check for coordination based on the contract documents,” Calaway said.

Calaway said they use Lidar technologies for scanning as the construction process progresses. It’s a way to capture a project at a point in time through point cloud generation. “We’re able to use that point cloud file to bring it into a Revit platform, compare it to our modeling and check the accuracy of the work in place. It’s been extremely beneficial in projects prior to placing concrete.”

In addition to Lidar, drones scan the exterior of a building through every stage of construction. This process allows Calaway and his team to review progress remotely without being on-site.