An awful lot of attention is paid to sustainability and everything “green” in our economy and in our everyday walks of life. Our students get to see this in the classroom and beyond.
Students of the M.S. in Construction Administration program recently undertook a site visit to Staten Island. During this site visit, students got to recognize a number of things that are discussed in class, and were able to see them come to life on the job site.
“When you get to see sustainability and resiliency come to life, you realize that you are engaged in more than a memorable experience at Columbia University,” said Margo Riecks, CNAD student and president of the Construction Administration Students Association. “You come to appreciate that the work being done is making a difference in peoples’ lives. It is great to see our fellow students and scholar-practitioner faculty and alumni are indeed impacting the world around us.”
This site visit saw the installation of 135 KV substations on Staten Island that are part of the resiliency measures that will add to the robust and dynamic nature of the electrical grid supporting the sustainability goals of New York City. The directional drilling, and underground cabling and casement installation and tunneling are all parts of this infrastructure project, some nine miles long, across Staten Island in New York City.
The project has taken into account post-catastrophic storm implications, as well as the integration with and planning around the transportation network, including roads, bridges and the MTA’s operational Staten Island Railway. Another facet of this project that was so fascinating to observe in real-time was the level of engagement that it takes, with the local community, including neighbors of the myriad job site locations, to allow a project to move forward.
The critical nature of the work being done is focused on how this project will bring on-shore the renewable energy that is generated by the offshore wind turbines that will help deliver much needed additional electricity, sourced responsibly, to drive the current needs for electricity in New York and the planned additional capacity to accommodate future growth plans across the region.
“As a student in the Construction Administration program and an employee of Grace Industries with work experience on this specific project, this experience was enriching, exciting, enlightening and educational,” shared Sederick Dawkins, CNAD student and organizer of the student-led site visit. “It was a cherished full circle moment to see a jobsite I worked on become a classroom topic for curiosity and discovery.”
CNAD students (pictured l to r): Rudrakshi Choudhary, Jiajin Li, Margo Riecks, Sai Man Li, Rajdeep Chahal, Charith Reddy, Abhishek Garg, Sahil Yadav, Agus Trihan (front), Abdulaziz Alhassan, Jiahao Xiang, Nischal Saklecha, Luis Miranda Nunez, Shantanu Govardhanagiri, Sederick Dawkins
About the Program
Columbia’s Master of Science in Construction Administration program prepares graduates for a variety of careers at the forefront of construction and project leadership. Graduates develop rewarding careers with some of the world’s most respected architecture, engineering, and construction firms, entrusted with delivering some of the most impactful projects of our time.
