Feng Shen,
PSP is a section board member of the Southern California AACE section and
hopefully destined to become first section president of AACE’s China section. Feng’s
past year has been quite exciting with organizing multiple AACE board envoys
to China. Feng envisions starting AACE’s China section because he is
inspired to bring project controls best business practices to China.
Feng credits following his mentor Prof. Shizhao Ding’s footsteps for his
passion to introduce AACE to China. Prof. Ding is retired Dean of the School
of Economics and Management at Tongji University in Shanghai. Prof. Ding was
the first doctor abroad in Construction Management in China and was
instrumental in introducing project management methodologies and systems to
China. Prof. Ding introduced the British Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)
to China in 1980s, which now has more than 700 members in China and has become
the most prestigious association in Chinese construction society.
Feng attended Tongji University, which is the top rated University in China
for Engineering and Construction, and graduated with a bachelor degree in
construction engineering. After graduation Feng worked a few years in
project controls for the Shanghai Project Management company. His first
projects involved building commercial high-rise buildings and constructing
Shanghai’s first subway. Prof Ding encouraged him to go abroad and continue
his education so Feng applied to attend the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, MIT. Feng went to MIT and obtained a master’s degree in Civil
Engineering.
Subsequent to graduation, Feng began work as a project management assistant
for the Massachusetts Port Authority to help the China team to build a new
international Airport in Guangzhou, China. Feng was thrilled to learn
western style construction management techniques to build and operate
airports in the United States. Feng was then enticed by the rotational
management program of Washington Division of URS to join their industrial
processing group working as construction engineer in several automotive
plants across New York, Michigan, and Ohio. At URS, Feng enjoyed a number of
opportunities to across multiple industrial plants learning automotive plant
construction techniques.
In 2004, Feng accepted a transfer to URS’s Infrastructure group in Los
Angeles. Feng began working on the light rail program to build the Metro
Gold Line East extension to East Los Angeles. Feng flourished working
several years covering all aspects of project controls. It was during this
time that Feng discovered AACE. URS encouraged their employees to obtain
professional certifications and Feng embarked to obtain his Planning and
Scheduling Professional, PSP certification. URS offered financial incentives
to employees for getting certified so Feng took advantage became certified
and active in AACE.
Feng accepted a position on the Southern California AACE
section board managing the scholarship and student outreach program. Feng
jumped at the chance to expand his leadership potential and grow with the
networking opportunities available in AACE. He found AACE fascinating
because of the professional development opportunities offered such as
certification, training, and publications such as Skills and Knowledge and
Recommended Practices. He was attracted to the opportunities to expand his
knowledge in new and emerging trends and technologies.
Feng dined with the AACE Board of Directors in
January 2009. The board was attending meetings in Los Angeles and invited
section board officers to meet them. Feng was fortunate to sit next to
the AACE President and the AACE President-Elect. Feng spoke at
length about his vision and mission to bring AACE to China. Feng mentioned
that China represented a huge opportunity for AACE to get involved in the
largest construction market in the world. With Feng’s connections in China,
the President and President-Elect scheduled two visits to meet with leaders
from China Engineering Cost Association and China’s leading construction
companies in Beijing and Shanghai. These visits lead to additional trips and
delegations to pave the way for creating an AACE section in China with the
support of Tongji University. Also, Feng
accepted the challenge to coordinate the translation of Skills and Knowledge
into Chinese.
Feng says that 2009 was ripe with opportunities and he has recently begun
work for Stantec on behalf of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation
Authority (LA Metro). Stantec is the largest and most prestigious
engineering firm in Canada; and among the leading engineering consulting
firms in all of North America. Feng is helping LA Metro to manage the
multi-billion transportation infrastructure program and in his spare time is
managing the translation of AACE’s Skills and Knowledge into Chinese. Feng
offers these words of wisdom to those reading this article ‘always follow
your dream and you will be amazed how things work out.’
Feng Shen,
PSP is a section board member of the Southern California AACE section and
hopefully destined to become first section president of AACE’s China section. Feng’s
past year has been quite exciting with organizing multiple AACE board envoys
to China. Feng envisions starting AACE’s China section because he is
inspired to bring project controls best business practices to China. 
