Professor Now
Relevancy is the key issue for civil engineering associate professor Dr. Jorge Vanegas.
by Jane M. Sanders
AN IMPORTANT QUESTION constantly replays itself in the mind of Dr. Jorge Vanegas.
"Is what I'm doing relevant?"
The associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology asks himself this question often and in every aspect of his life.
photo by Stanley Leary
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What Vanegas does must be relevant. Why? It's all about change. If you're not relevant, you can't change things, he explains.
"It sounds corny, tacky and cliche," Vanegas admits, "but what I really want to do is change things. What really makes me tick is change — change toward the better."
A career develops
Vanegas' life mission developed early in his native Bogota, Colombia. He was an architect, and architects generally drive the construction industry there. But Vanegas found his education did not prepare him technically for the job he was doing.
In 1983, Vanegas enrolled in the graduate civil engineering program at Stanford University with one year of funding in hand. At year's end, he lacked one course to complete his degree, but had no money to stay.
"As I was about to leave, I asked my professor about financial aid," Vanegas recalls. "He was starting a project . . . if I wanted to do research. And I said, 'Oh, I've always wanted to do research.' Then I went to ask around, 'What is research?' Then he said it was in the area of constructability. And I said, 'Oh, I've always wanted to do constructability.' Then I went to ask around, 'What is constructability?' It turns out it was a very, very serendipitous coincidence where I used my background in architecture, engineering and construction."
The research, funded by the Construction Industry Institute, involved Vanegas in all aspects of the industry and established the basis for his doctoral dissertation.
"Once I started on the research path, there was no turning back.... " Vanegas says. "When I did my first proposal to do my master's thesis, it was too big, and my advisor said, 'This looks more like a Ph.D. proposal.' So on the spot, I asked him, 'Do you think I have what it takes?' He said yes. So I said, 'OK. Sign me up.' "
The path that followed took Vanegas across the United States to pursue "rich" research opportunities within some of the largest companies in the country. While having as much fun as "a little kid in a candy store," Vanegas realized the valuable role research could play in the real world, he says. After completing his Ph.D. in 1988, Vanegas joined the faculty at Purdue University as an assistant professor. There, he taught, conducted research and advised minority students. Vanegas wanted to do it all and give 100 percent to everything.
"So I broke a lot of rules. You're supposed to just get in your office, publish, do your research, establish yourself as an expert in one single area," Vanegas says. "But I think teaching, research and service feed into a continuum."
Changes begin
With this philosophy firmly entrenched, Vanegas began to see many opportunities for change. He became involved in educational innovation at Purdue. And a five-year National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award allowed Vanegas to implement a research and education program in integrated design and construction for infrastructure rehabilitation. That award and the encouragement of a former Purdue mentor opened the doors of Georgia Tech to Vanegas.
At the urging of Dr. Jean Lou Chameau, now dean of the Georgia Tech College of Engineering, Vanegas joined the Tech faculty as an associate professor in 1993. Within six months, he received three more grants, including $925,000 from General Electric. Those allowed him to pursue his research and curriculum development interests, particularly in the interdisciplinary area of sustainable development and technology.
"We were fortunate to 'steal' Jorge away from Purdue," Chameau says. "He brought his creativity and enthusiasm to the construction management program (which Vanegas manages) in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. In addition, he is a strong contributor to Georgia Tech's initiative in sustainable technologies.... Jorge's work is a perfect example of the integration of research ideas into curriculum development."
This collaboration of ideas and disciplines is necessary to achieve the change that makes Vanegas "tick," he says. Though he is sure of the means to achieve change, Vanegas is constantly searching for the right end to those means. "I heard a quote about the difference between effectiveness and efficiency.... I want to be efficient in being effective. In other words, I want to do things right and at the same time do the right thing."
Georgia Tech has encouraged Vanegas to do the right thing, he says. "Being in a place that has shown such a respect for the concept of sustainability tells me there is a respect for society, a respect for the environment, a respect for the world. You don't find that in many places. So here I have found a conscience that I didn't think I had, and it has come alive."
In his work with Georgia Tech's Center for Sustainable Technology and the Construction Research Center, which he co-directs, Vanegas employs his hallmark multidisciplinary approach to problem solving and change. It is in collaboration that change ultimately occurs, Vanegas says.
"I will never make a claim that what I have done or will do will be on my own," he says. "I have just been quite lucky at making the right type of connections.... I have a tremendous ability to visualize possibilities, develop strategic plans, concepts and approaches, to make that vision a reality.... So I can act like a catalyst for things to happen."
Vanegas' colleague Leigh McElvaney, a research associate at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, concurs with his self-evaluation. "Jorge has a strong vision for the future and the passion to try to reach that vision. His enthusiasm for the topic — whether it be the general context of sustainability or the dream of pulling together a research agenda in environmentally conscious design and construction — is contagious. It can be hard to keep up with him!"
The big picture comes into focus
This year is the last of Vanegas' research supported by the Young Investigator Award. The grant has helped Vanegas: understand the problems of facilities and civil infrastructure systems; develop a framework for integration in the architecture/engineering/construction industries; and develop several strategies, mechanisms and tools to enhance the performance and sustainability of the built environment. Now, it's time to put his results into action, he says. So again, he is exploring collaborative projects.
photo by Stanley Leary
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The NSF research is providing the cornerstone for other projects, as well. The Georgia Research Alliance recently awarded Vanegas a grant to purchase video conferencing equipment for a "virtual lab." It will bring together a team of experts on environmentally conscious design and construction of facilities and civil infrastructure systems. And it will establish a research effort in sustainable architecture, engineering and construction. Vanegas plans to leverage this initiative toward Georgia Tech-initiated economic development opportunities in Georgia and beyond.
On another front, Vanegas continues his "best practices" research. He wants to make the delivery of capital projects more cost effective. Working with an industry task force, Vanegas studied how one innovative company approached capital projects. This work led to a generic model to help other companies increase their productivity. The difficulty, Vanegas says, is getting companies to implement unconventional cost-effective practices. He is applying these "lessons learned" to his work at Tech's Construction Research Center.
"We will try to pursue more initiatives and implement research thrusts that are going to lead to tangible products that will affect change," Vanegas says. "We want to change the way the industry operates."
Vanegas also wants to initiate change on the educational front. He teaches professional-level continuing education courses for many organizations, including the Construction Industry Institute, which named him Instructor of the Year in 1995.
And he maintains a busy teaching schedule at Tech, where he wants his students to grasp the big picture, while being firmly grounded in the fundamentals of construction. He stresses integration of design and construction to make capital projects effective, efficient and sustainable. Though some students never grasp the big picture, Vanegas admits, he is gratified by the minority he reaches and inspires toward leadership in the industry.
The leaders Vanegas envisions are well versed in their field of expertise, but also have abilities in other arenas. "Engineers are extremely language impaired," Vanegas says. "They are great at science and math, but yet they cannot speak the languages that make society move.... They need to speak the language of Madison Avenue so they can market themselves better."
Somewhat lightheartedly, Vanegas says he knows he will have affected such change when: companies spend $10 million on engineering research instead of a 30-second Super Bowl commercial; "L.A. Engineer" is as successful a television series as "L.A. Law"; and when Congressional ranks include as many engineers as lawyers and business people.
Though his own leadership ability is not defined in these ways, Vanegas has learned to speak the "languages" of finance and sales, he says. And those skills have allowed him to initiate change.
An effective researcher re-evaluates
Now at what he calls a crossroads, Vanegas must decide which of his many interests are most worthy of the limited time he has. To continue to successfully change things, he must focus on the most pressing issues.
Again, he returns to the quote that is his motto. "I must do things right, but also do the right thing," Vanegas explains. "It is a simple truism that will guide me at this turning point."
For more information, contact Dr. Jorge Vanegas, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332- 0355. (Telephone: 404/894-9881) (E-mail: jorge.vanegas@ce.gatech.edu)
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