The Construction Engineering Show

The world of construction engineering has changed during my coming-up-on 40 years in the business. What used to be done strictly using pencils, paper and field books has morphed into all sorts of technological advancements.

And because you know me, you probably could anticipate how I feel about all the new-fangled bells & whistles that are available in our line of work.

This episode asks more questions than it answers. Here's the rub: I really want to know what you think. I really want your opinion on the questions I pose.

• What is working for you in your role as a construction engineer?
• What is not working?
• What benefits is technology providing for you?

And most importantly

• Technology can make you more efficient - But is it making you better?

I'm posing the questions to you - I'd love to get your feedback.

Leave me a comment here on Spotify. Find me at my website. Let's make this a conversation.

Connect with me anytime!!

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bob Hildebranski, PE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hildebranski.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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The term "lifelong learner" can mean different things to different people.

Certainly, as a licensed professional engineer, it goes without saying that we HAVE TO BE lifelong learners - Continuing education is a requirement for license maintenance. BUT, to be a true professional, we have a responsibility to stay as sharp and as current as possible in order to be effective in our day-to-day roles.

In this episode, I discuss several instructor-related topics:

• My current tour of duty this summer, working through two formal on-line instruction courses.
• A proposal to reduce my Construction Layout course from a 16-week 100% in-person format to an 8-week hybrid course and the challenges that change will bring
• The value of being on the "other side of the lecture," working as a student taking classes, and getting a chance to see what it's like to be a student again

I hope this episodes rekindles your drive to enjoy continual learning & training. We've got to be diligent and fight complacency!!

Connect with me anytime!!

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bob Hildebranski, PE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hildebranski.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠Contact Page Link

What's up Crew? Cool to be back with y'all.

In this episode, I answer a question that I received from a college student who is considering changing his educational trajectory into construction management.

Connect with me anytime!!

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠Bob Hildebranski, PE⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠Hildebranski.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

Contact Page Link

Hello construction types! It's great to be back with you - Let's get 2026 rolling!

This is somewhat of a scattered-topics episode as I had a few things on my mind to share with the crew:

• Engineering Management Institute
• Book Recommendation - Construction Surveying and Layout
• Being good at the basics
• Article - The Tailgate - A Discord for Construction Engineers

If you're interested in joining "The Tailgate" on Discord, email me, send me a DM on LinkedIn or hit me up at my Contact page and I'll get you on-board.

Connect with me anytime!!

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠Bob Hildebranski, PE⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠Hildebranski.com

⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Page Link

With this episode, I'm rolling something out that's a bit different. Maybe you'll like it, maybe not.

Like most of you, I do a lot of training, job and daily work activity preparation while holding onto a steering wheel. There is something about the austere environment that the front seat of a truck can provide. I try to use the time as best as I can. Occasionally, it'll be music in the background, but most of the times it's going to be a podcast. Trying to add some mind expansion while commuting.

For the past several months, I've been mounting my GoPro with my Hollyland Lark M2 microphone, and when the moment strikes, simply hitting "Record" and riffing. Most of what I'm recording ends up on the proverbial cutting room floor. But, I'm playing around with the combined mediums. I gaining confidence in posting. And I'd like to think that my brain dumps are somewhat interesting, sometimes thought provoking. So many podcast hosts have provided me with knowledge & ideas to incorporate into action items, or to write about, or to just dwell on, trying to tie their experiences & knowledge with mine in my industry.

So, I'm going to try to post more of these shorts. We'll see what happens.

In this episode, I riff on ideas surrounding "Consistency."

• How consistent am I being? How purposeful? How disciplined?
• Am I just talking a good game? Or am I genuinely trying to stay consistent in my daily routines and actions?
• How am I organize my day? My morning routines? How am I using OneNote? Jocko's "Eminently Qualified Human?" My Franklin Planner?

Links from the episode:

Franklin Planner

Jocko's EQH App

Order of Man's Battle Plan

Engineering Management Institute

The Cold Pod

Connect with me anytime!!

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠Bob Hildebranski, PE⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠Hildebranski.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

Contact Page Link

Welcome back Team! It's great to be with you again!

In this episode, I revisit (somewhat...) some concepts from Episode 20 - Preparing for the Operation. but with several new twists & angles.

Question: How prepared are you for the workday. In this episode:

--I dissect my performance on a recent EMA callout

--I discuss what it means to be Fit for Duty: What condition are we in? How is our performance impacted by:

• Rest & sleep
• Nutrition
• Exercise, fitness & health
• Hydration

--And I refresh some of the areas of focus we discussion in Episode 20:

• Preparations before you roll-out to the site
• Having your kit, your truck and your project documentation squared away before heading out
• Have communication plans in-place, practiced, references ready, etc.

I close out with a couple of ideas looking forward to our little construction engineering community

• A Discord server geared towards construction-types who are into the job
• A Construction Engineering conference this winter in Chicagoland

Connect with me anytime!!

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bob Hildebranski, PE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hildebranski.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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When you hear the term"shelter in-place," what do you think about? My first inclination has me needing to remain where I'm at. Indoors. In a safe place. Away from an impending event.

But, how appropriate would it be for me to consider that Ishelter in-place, say, when I'm in an uncomfortable position? Maybe I'm asked to push myself a little, to do something new, to go someplace I've never been, or to try a new skill that I'm not 100% sure is a good fit for me.

This week, I'm at the2025 American Concrete Pipe Association's Pipe School. As I'm finding out (this is my first time attending...), it's a gather of industry brothers & sisters who work with concrete pipe: Producers, suppliers, engineers, sales & marketing, and probably lots of other sects that exist.

Today is Day #1 of the conference, and already, I've take two Rite-in-the-Rain pages of notes. I would be doing a disservice to the Construction Engineering Show community if I didn't pass these along.

One of the themes of today's kick-off presentations is appropriate title of this episode. Pushing ourselves beyond our normal day-to-day doings and trying something new, extending a hand and meeting someone, being in the presence of humans (not on a Teams or FaceTime call) is the way we were meant to communicate with each other. We all pushed ourselves a little bit today, and it was a really cool reminder of the need for us to extend ourselves and our influence with each other. Start new conversations. Step into the unknown. Try to make an impact with something you know.

There will be more nuggets to pass on, I can guarantee it. I'm happy to publish this episode and push myself to get out there a little bit more & often.

Connect with me anytime!!

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bob Hildebranski, PE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hildebranski.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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"The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word...these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence."

--"On Writing Well" by William Zinsser

As professionals, how we communicate is a reflection on us. It's a reflection on our skill & acumen. It's a reflection on our team, our company, and our concern and respect for our reader.

Writing is a craft. It takes practice. Nobody is a great writer. We all write bad first drafts. It's in the revision process where bad writing gets better. It's in the editing process where better writing gets good.

It takes practice. It takes reps.

And the same goes for verbal communication. How we speak, how we convey messages, how we convey our knowledge clearing & concisely is also a reflection on us as professionals

In this episode, I dive in on both subjects. How can we become better communicators. I offer a few ideas for all of us (myself included...) to help us become better conveyors of information.

Connect with me anytime!!

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bob Hildebranski, PE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hildebranski.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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For the past several months, I've been working on a municipal improvement project. The project is located in a residential subdivision in a southwestern Chicago suburb and has required me to keep dozens of plates spinning simultaneously: On-site troubleshooting, design changes, coordination with the municipalities, residents, local police/fire/schools and of course, working hour-by-hour with the contractor and his activities. It has been one of the most difficult management projects I've been involved with, simply from the standpoint of the seemingly dozens of inputs & outputs that require me to have my finger on the pulse of all of them.

I've been managing projects for decades and have developed, over the years, numerous different ways and system for tracking open issues. I've used Expedition. I've used task apps. I've used Excel, in spreadsheet & pivot table form. I've tried Outlook task flags & To-Do's, and I've tried to incorporate Trello with it. And I know there are dozens of software & applications that are similarly built for managing issues and streamlining processes. But for me, through all the trial & error, the one fail-safe that never lets me down is the simple use of pencil & paper.

For this project, I've built a one-page, hand-written, 4-category tracking sheet that has been perfect for me. It's allowed me to review it when I start my day, refer periodically throughout the shift, and update it quickly when issues are added, updated or closed. I'm going to stick with this system as it is simple, easy & maintainable.

The 4 categories of issues I'm tracking are:

1. General List of Open Issues

2. Notifications

3. Tracking Today

4. Inspections

I've uploaded a sample here and have posted a similar link to the template at Hildebranski.com. Feel free to check it out. Use it. Change it. Let me know what of it works for you, and/or what you've tweaked to customize it for yourself.

Connect with me anytime!!

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bob Hildebranski, PE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hildebranski.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Page Link

As I was debriefing this past week (and really, much of this past month...), it occurred to me that I ought to consider sharing my personal "Lessons Learned" with the crew, thinking & hoping that maybe there are a few useful takeaways for all of us.

Topics in this Debrief include:

-Starting at a new company

-Filling-in for someone on another project

-Being curious & willing to ask questions

-The importance of relationships in the construction industry

Connect with me anytime!!

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bob Hildebranski, PE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hildebranski.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Page Link