Guest lecturers address future architecture, engineering, construction management pros

Two members of the Construction Management Association of America’s College of Fellows visited campus to address students in Penn College’s construction management, civil engineering and architecture majors.

During a guest lecture in the Davie Jane Gilmour Center Presentation Room, Raoul Ilaw and Heather Shinn, both certified construction managers, shared their career journeys.  

Ilaw is vice president and senior program manager for STV, one of the top infrastructure-focused professional services firms in North America. He is a professional engineer, certified construction manager and Design Build Institute of America certified.

Shinn is vice president of business operations and acquisition integration for Parsons Corp., an international engineering firm with more than 20,000 employees. She is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional.

Raoul Ilaw and Heather Shinn, both fellows of the Construction Management Association of America, pose in front of Penn College's student-built Victorian House during a campus visit to speak with students in construction management, architecture and civil engineering courses.
 

Ilaw and Shinn discussed how they got into the industry (both started in civil engineering) and how their careers evolved.

They offered several pieces of advice:

• Find jobs with a mission that interests you so that you want to come to work. Ilaw shared an experience managing a project for a proposed sports facility that brought him into contact with several sports stars.
• Community engagement is important. Learn to work with the people living and working near the projects you will be building.
• Never stop learning. “Don’t just accept the salary,” Shinn said. “Take the opportunity to learn.” “This class is going to move up quickly in the industry because people will be retiring in the next five to 10 years, and you will need to train up the people behind you to help fill those gaps,” Ilaw added.
• Join a professional organization and contribute to it. It helps to build a professional network.

During their campus visit, Ilaw and Shinn also met with students in the Construction Management Capstone course to share information about Construction Manager in Training certification, a stackable credential students can attain through CMAA before graduation. They also met with construction management faculty and assistant dean Ellyn A. Lester to explore opportunities to enhance the program’s involvement in CMAA not just locally, but at the national level.

It was the second time Ilaw and Shinn have lectured on campus.

“It was great to have them back on campus this fall! Their insight into the construction process is invaluable,” Lester said. “When they first arrived on campus a few years ago, they were not familiar with Penn College. Now, they believe in the college’s mission and want to help out in multiple ways.”

Their visit aligns with the college’s strategic initiative to expand recruitment pipelines and build a powerful network of advocates, and its related strategic objective to create a network of industry leaders for on-campus guest lecture series, ultimately encouraging and deepening the speakers’ relationship with the college and empowering employees and students to act as brand ambassadors.