Eric Ackerman ’02, Janille Smith ’03 Trace Correspondence from the “Big Dig”

Eric Ackerman ’02 (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) has seen it only casually and Janille Smith ’03 (Kingston, Jamaica) has never seen it, but the two A.B. engineering majors have become intimately familiar with Boston’s massive Central Artery/Tunnel Project, better known as the “Big Dig.”

Ackerman began during the fall semester to study correspondence between property owners, contractors, and others involved in the Big Dig, which is generally described as the largest and most complex highway project ever undertaken in the core of an American city.

“My job is to classify the types of documents and trace their paths among the people involved in the project,” says Ackerman, an EXCEL Scholar working with David Veshosky, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and head of the A.B. engineering program.

Smith, also an EXCEL Scholar, began working with Veshosky over the interim semester and is continuing this semester, taking the categories and subcategories that Ackerman created and determining in which each piece of correspondence belongs.

“The whole goal in documenting the correspondence is to determine how intense communication was at various points of the project,” Smith says, explaining that the work can eventually help project managers determine ahead of time when and where they’ll need specific resources. “The project has helped me be aware of what happens behind the scenes and the level of communication skills that is required.”

Ackerman, who spent his recent summers working for a design engineering firm, at a water treatment plant, and for a construction company working on the Long Island Expressway, is developing a database that will display the results of the students’ efforts.

“In the end, we should have a flow chart dealing with the amount of information going from whom to where,” he says.

Veshosky, who spent a six-month sabbatical in Boston documenting correspondence related to construction problems, is pleased with the students’ work.

“Eric knows enough about construction and construction management that I can rely on his judgment in interpreting some of the data,” Veshosky says, adding that while Smith doesn’t have construction experience, “she’s a very good student and a good worker.”

Smith, who hopes to work for an engineering consulting firm, says she is glad for the chance to work one-on-one with a professor.

“I’ve always appreciated the professors’ concern for my well-being,” she says. “Professor Veshosky is great. He’s very flexible and encouraging and open to my ideas.”

Ackerman has accepted a post-graduation position in the construction field with Perini Corporation, for whom he worked this past summer and January interim session. He believes his EXCEL experience “would be a rare opportunity at any other school.”

“I think the opportunities afforded students to work with professors at Lafayette is phenomenal,” he says.

A graduate of Horace Greeley High School, Ackerman is vice president of Lafayette’s Leonardo Society for A.B. engineering majors and vice president of the Residence Hall Council. He also works part-time in the admissions office.

Smith spent a day in January shadowing Lafayette alumnus Pete Reinke at Opus East, a design engineering firm near Allentown, Pa. She is a member of the campus chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the International Student Association. She studied in Belgium during her sophomore year, volunteered with the Kids in the Community (KIC) program during her first two years at Lafayette, and was a member of the crew team during her first year. This spring, she will conduct a service project in Arizone through the Alternative School Break program.

Janille Smith ’03 (L-R) and Eric Ackerman ’02 manage documents and communication networks from Boston’s “Big Dig” in EXCEL Scholars research with David Veshosky, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.