| | | | Spotlight on Jennifer Bates CCE In 1975, a progressive-thinking high school guidance counselor in the southeastern U.S. saw promise in a female student who had high ACT scores in math and science, and persuaded her to pursue studies in engineering. That early influence resulted in the dynamic career of Jennifer Bates, CCE, who became President of AACE International 25 years later in 1999-2000. An AACE International Fellow and 2003 recipient of the Award of Merit, Jennifer is currently the Project Controls Manager for BWXT-Y12, LLC in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Y-12 National Security Complex is operated by BWXT Y-12 for the National Nuclear Security Administration, and performs both a critical role in national security and a role in developing specialized manufacturing and software technologies for other federal agencies through the Department of Energy. The highly secure and highly classified Complex was constructed as part of the World War II Manhattan Project. I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Jennifer, and ask her some questions about her career, AACE International, and the future of project controls. What career path led you to project controls? I was one of three women in civil engineering at Auburn University in 1979, and after getting my bachelor's degree, I entered the construction industry fresh out of college at 21 years old. I started out in field construction with Alabama Power Company, a public utility. My first exposure to cost and schedule was out in the field—I managed contractors for compliance with specifications, did some "earned value"-type analysis, evaluated budgets, determined quantities for payment, and did productivity analysis and cash flow forecasts. How did your project controls career progress from there? I later transferred to project controls in the Southern Company Services office. In the days after the Three-Mile Island incident, there was a huge investment in plant modifications, and I did cost and schedule work supporting the Southern Company nuclear plants. In 1989, I moved from the public utility industry to government contracting, as a project controls engineer in South Carolina for Westinghouse Savannah River Company (WSRC) - a Westinghouse and Bechtel partnership. The timing was perfect—I was the only woman in a specialized department with lots of career opportunities, and I had encouragement and support from management. At WSRC, I had many assignments and experiences—capital construction, environmental restoration, facility restarts, and a considerable amount of Department of Energy policy compliance. WSRC was where I had my first true management experience. Then I joined BWXT Services at the Rocky Flats site in Colorado. On this assignment I returned to classic construction project controls and also gained some experience in project and program management. Two and a half years later, I moved to Tennessee and to my current position at BWXT Y-12. Our primary focus at Y-12 is on manufacturing and research and development. We still use basic project controls tools on these programs. We also have a large capital construction program where we apply full earned value management. How has project controls evolved during your career? When I started working, everything (including scheduling) was done by hand. We created huge spreadsheets and "stick and bubble" schedules. There were no personal computers—we used terminals which were connected to the mainframe. Later came the PC and integration issues associated with distributed computing. In the mid-1990's, there was a technology shift away from analytic project controls to a dependency on the personal computer to provide "the answer." We seemed to become data managers, rather than analysts who use data for decision making. I find that today it is difficult to teach people how to interpret computer data. I think the ability to recognize trends and data analysis needs additional emphasis. How do you perceive that the working environment has changed over time for women in the industry? At my first job, I was the only woman in the field office who was not a secretary. It is a much different environment in the field today. There are wonderful opportunities for women today in project management and project controls. I don't see as many obstacles as used to be there. I think women today get to define their own career path. In the late 1980's and early 1990's, there was a change in the demographics of project controls. There were more female staff members, and it was not so uncommon for women to be managers. Now, nearly half of my management staff in Tennessee at BWXT is female. Can you give us an overview of your involvement with AACE International over the past 20 years? At one of my first project controls job in the early 1980's, my manager was on the AACE International Board of Directors. His staff was encouraged to be involved in AACE International. He encouraged me to certify, and he made it clear to me that membership and participation in AACE International was important for my career. I have been a member of AACE International since 1985, and became certified in 1987. I have served on the board of several sections and my career path has made it possible for me to have been a member of four sections—the Alabama Section, Central Savannah River Area Section, Rocky Mountain Section, and the East Tennessee Section. In addition, I have served as a member and chair of the Education Board, co-chair of the Technical Board, Technical Director, and AACE International President, twice served as a member of the executive director search committee, and currently serve on the Annual Meeting Committee. I contributed to the "Skills & Knowledge of Cost Engineering" publication, and I have been involved in every Annual Meeting since 1992. What do you see as AACE International's role in guiding our profession? In the field of project controls, we seem to be moving further away from analyzing data, and we are more dependent on the answer that comes from the computer. AACE International has a strong certification program. Certification requires people to demonstrate their capability for data analysis and an understanding of fundamental cost engineering skills. AACE International's certifications distinguish our members as professionals who have the knowledge and skills to impact the bottom line. With AACE certification, you can be sure that you have met a high technical standard, the technical standards that are defined in our TCM Framework and our recommended practices. What does the future hold for you? I have a wonderful job and I really like what I'm doing. I would like to continue to focus on developing project controls people by providing career opportunities. Article by Alexia Nalewaik, CCE About Us |  Officers |  Brochure |  Surveys |  Home |  aace Home