Orange County Branch Newsletter

February 2014

Younger Member Forum

Key Ingredients to become a Project Manager


By: Gyan Shina

The Key Ingredients to Become a Project Manager Workshop was held on November 14th at HDR, Inc. in Irvine. The Workshop consisted of two segments: first a webinar named “Engineer Your Own Success” and second a presentation by Ignacio Ochoa, Director of OC Engineering. All together we had 37 attendees.

The webinar discussed different topics like the importance of setting a career goal which will work is a daily motivation to progress throughout one’s career. It is very important to gain credential and to find a mentor. It is good to have multiple mentors to rely on instead of just one.  Being an effective communicator and organized are traits that will lead to success. Lastly, it is important to develop networking skills and to be a leader every day.

After the webinar, Ignacio Ochoa, Director of OC Engineering gave an interactive presentation about his experience throughout his career. Some key ingredients that Ignacio mentioned were to be responsible for your work, to be proactive and influence the outcome, plan though every step, communicate, follow through and manage and Champion the project. Ignacio went on to discuss one of OC public works project Haster Retarding Basin, Pump Station and Recreational Field Project. After going over the key facts he mentioned the challenges they faced. Lastly, he answered questions from the attendees. Everyone was very interested to hear about Ignacio’s experiences in different stages and areas of the Haster Basin project. Overall the workshop was a success and great learning experience for all.

 

Related Groups/Committees

Sponsors