Colorado State University’s Department of Construction Management is pleased to recognize Shantanu Kumar as the spring ’23 outstanding graduate student. Kumar is graduating from the CSU Civil and Environmental Engineering Ph.D. program with a focus in Construction Engineering and Management (CEM). The CEM focus is a collaborative effort between the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Construction Management.
Originally from Delhi, India where he lived his entire life until beginning his undergraduate degree in civil engineering, Kumar lived in different parts of India for jobs, travel, and his pursuit of higher education. He believes that experience prepared him well for his decision to pursue graduate school in the U.S.
Finding his passion at CSU
Kumar comes from a small family with no siblings. His dad still resides in Delhi, and his mom passed a few years ago. His mother was a lawyer, and his dad was a finance manager before retiring. Kumar started his graduate school journey seven years ago when he first came to the U.S. for his master’s degree in Construction Management. It was a unique first few months with a lot of “information overload.” But in time, admits Kumar, it became much easier.
Having applied to 11 institutions across the U.S., Kumar was accepted to a few, including an ivy league school. But through continuous and rigorous research of various universities, CSU and the Construction Management Program surfaced as the best fit for him. CSU was one of the institutions that aligned well with his passion to work with optimization models and sustainability. Additionally, it was a big decision-making factor when he was awarded a graduate teaching assistantship for his first year in the program.
Though he did not grow up in construction, Kumar had an affinity for engineering, especially the mechanical and civil disciplines. When in high school, he explored various engineering disciplines, and realized that he liked civil engineering.
“While pursuing my undergraduate degree,” said Kumar, “I worked on a few internships and my first one was in the construction of a huge power plant. This is where I started getting more interested in the construction side, especially construction scheduling. Over the years, I became savvy with different scheduling software, and got hired by an owner organization to assist in managing their construction schedules.”
Teaching and internships
Kumar attributes his construction internships and full-time work in preparing him well for life as a graduate teaching assistant. When the opportunity arose for him to interview for a GTA position, he knew he wanted to teach scheduling. After seven years – 14 semesters – of teaching various aspects of scheduling application to approximately 700 students, he becomes a bit nostalgic at the thought of not teaching in that capacity anymore. He was consistently a student favorite.
Several internships over the years had Kumar working with various areas of CSU’s facilities management, such as remodeling, and also with a company, Capital Construction. In this way, he has been able to participate in several campus projects: on the main campus, south campus, and foothills campus.
“One of the most fun projects was the geothermal exchange project,” said Kumar, “where I had the opportunity to work as an assistant project manager for Capital Construction. With remodeling projects, it has been a great learning process, as I have had the opportunity to work on approximately 7 to 10 concurrent projects. Working as an estimator for GH Phipps construction company was a unique experience, as I got to work on several project deliverables and make a difference in the larger community, in addition to making lifelong connections.”
Research for sustainability and mental health
During graduate school, Kumar had the opportunity to work on several research projects with CM Associate Professor Mohammed Mehany, who serves as Kumar’s faculty advisor. “I feel proud that I have an advisor who pushed me to be better and learn new things,” said Kumar. “My passion for sustainability and resilience was developed at CSU and it would not have happened if it wasn’t for the resources provided by my advisor, the department, and the people with whom we collaborated.”
He also attributes his knowledge development and growth as a teacher to Mehany, who was “pivotal in helping me grow as a researcher, a teacher, and as a person. In addition to the research conducted together, it has been an honor working with him in pursuing the United States Green Building Council infrastructure sustainability and resilience grant, and the Center for Construction Research and Training Mental health grant.”
Mehany has high regard for Kumar as well. “Shantanu has worked with me on several research projects where he demonstrated an unsurpassed work ethic, highly intellectual contribution, ethical responsibility, and willingness to learn and improve at every step,” said Mehany. “He is a very respectful and selfless individual, which is evident in his volunteer work, mentorship to others, and leadership style. I can say with confidence that he projects respect, honesty, sincerity, and humbleness among many other commendable traits, all of which serves a great representation for our department and CSU.”
Kumar expressed additional appreciation to CM Associate Professor, Chris Harper, for providing freedom to explore and introduce new concepts in the scheduling class. He also thanks CM Associate Professor, John Killingsworth, and Assistant Professor, Jon Elliott, for involving him in a large Department of Energy funded grant, as well as for sharing different teaching pedagogies that helped him to develop his own teaching philosophy.
Involvement as a student
Regarding his activities that were particularly memorable, Kumar cited his involvement with the Associated General Contractors, and the Design-Build Institute of America student clubs.
“Seeing the success of these clubs in attracting students,” he said, “I explored how we could better help our graduate and undergraduate students, who are seeking assistance in their research, mentoring, or work experience. Avi Sharma, an Associate Director at the Delta Consulting Group, contacted me with an opportunity to start a student chapter of American Society of Cost Engineers. So, with the support of Dr. Mehany as club advisor, we were able to successfully establish this club, and I was able to serve as president.”
Kumar was also involved with the Associated Schools of Construction Integrated Project competition team as a team captain for two years. “I strongly recommend all graduate students seeking more experience in the construction industry to participate in these competitions. The competitions simulate working on a real project in a highly constrained time limit. You really learn how to work with people with different personalities and expectations,” said Kumar.
Asked what advice he might offer for current or new students in the program, Kumar said, “I recommend all my fellow graduate students utilize the opportunity of being at graduate school to explore more than just your core area of research. Take courses from other departments and connect with people from different disciplines. My best ideas have come after talking to people from other disciplines. I advise students to read more about current events and what’s happening around the world and learn how it impacts current research and teaching.
“I also recommend seeking opportunities to attend academic and industry conferences and participate actively by presenting your work or research. This is a prime platform for you to be recognized and connect with people.”
During his tenure as a graduate student, Kumar received numerous awards and recognition. He was also a Sustainability Leadership Fellow with the School of Global Environmental Sustainability.
Kumar’s immediate plans after graduation include working as a project estimator and scheduler with Gilmore Construction in Denver, Colorado.
After years of preparation at CSU, Kumar is looking forward to his next role. “My time at CSU has been amazing, but definitely challenging and rigorous. The amount of work I had to do has prepared me well to excel in any job I will do in the future.”
The Department of Construction Management is part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
