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Friday, August 21, 2009
New Dallas Cowboys Football Stadium Project described by Mark Penny at 3rd UT Dallas PM Symposium in Texas
Reported by Ann R. Miller and David Pells in Dallas
Attendees at the 3rd UT Dallas Project Management Symposium in Texas were surprised and delighted to receive a presentation about the construction of the new Dallas Cowboys Football Stadium recently completed in Arlington, Texas. The presentation was a last minute keynote presentation on Thursday afternoon, 14 August, and was made by Mark Penny, Project Executive for Manhattan Construction, general contractor on the project.
The 3rd Annual UT Dallas PM Symposium was held in the School of Management on The UT Dallas campus in Richardson, Texas during 13-14 August 2009. The event was organized by the Graduate Program in Project Management (PM) in the School of Management's Executive Education Center at UT Dallas, in partnership with the Dallas Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and PMForum. The theme for this year's symposium was "Managing in a Changing World".
The new Dallas Cowboys Stadium was one of the largest and most complex construction projects to be built in Texas, and the largest of its kind in the world. According to Mark's presentation, total cost was approximately US$1.2 billion. Manhattan maintained a staff of 62 professionals, plus 150 laborers; the rest of the work was performed by subcontractors. There were 550 line items tracked at any one time. The project had 2200 changes - 1200 owner-directed and 1,000 internally generated.
According to Mark, "We put great emphasis on procedures on this project. We had a fully web-based program, but with such a big project and so many participants, good procedures were critical. For example, we issued 5500 RFIs (requests for information), there were hundreds of drawings and ASIs (architect supplied information), and 95 contractors, each submitting invoices and reports and wanting to be paid on a streamlined basis. Large complex projects like this absolutely demand good procedures be followed."
"We were acting as the owner's rep at all times, working closely with Jerry Jones and the Jones Family," Mark added. "We put a lot of emphasis on quality assurance and quality control. Those of you who know Jerry know how demanding he can be. Everything really had to be perfect."
When asked during questions at the end of his presentation what he was most proud of at the end of the project, Mark answered, "That we actually did it! Sitting in the George Strait concert last month, looking up at the fantastic roof structures with 62,000 other people - that was really great!"
Photos: Left - Mark Penny describing the new Dallas Cowboys stadium and football field; Right - Mark Penny receiving gift of appreciation from Jim Joiner of The UT Dallas.
Born in London, England, Mark Penny was raised in Houston, Texas. After receiving his degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1993, Mark went to work in the commercial construction industry. Moving from location to location as work required, Mark worked on a variety of projects including toll roads, prisons, colleges, golf resorts, telecommunications facilities and the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. Mark joined Manhattan Construction Company in 2004 and has been part of Manhattan's Dallas Cowboys project team since the project was awarded to Arlington in November 2004.
Manhattan Construction is a 100+ year old general contractor based in Oklahoma City and still owned and managed by the founder's family. The company has a successful history of managing large construction projects in the USA, recently including he Visitor's Center for the US Capital in Washington, DC; The Houston Stadium; the Ballpark in Arlington (baseball stadium); and Prestonwood Baptist Church (one of America's largest churches).
The 3rd UT Dallas PM Symposium was launched on Thursday, August 13, with welcoming addresses by James Joiner, Director of the Graduate Program in Project Management at The UT Dallas and Hasan Pirkul, PhD, Dean of The UT Dallas School of Management. They were followed by two keynote speakers, retired US astronaut James Reilly, PhD, and Tom Leppert, the popular mayor of the City of Dallas. Other events on 13 August included 24 professional presentations in five streams by project management experts and professional practitioners. The first day ended with a networking reception for participants in the atrium in the School of Management.
The second day of the symposium, August 14, featured keynote speeches by Edwin Andrews, PhD, Director of Academic and Educational Programs and Services for the Project Management Institute (PMI); Mark Penny, Project Executive at Manhattan Construction, the prime contractor for the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas; and Veikko Välilä, Secretary General of the International Project Management Association (IPMA). The second day also included 15 professional presentations and three panel discussions. Official attendance for the two day event was around 225. To see the full symposium program, visit http://som.utdallas.edu/graduate/execed/projectMgmtProg/projSymposium.
The Project Management Program at UT Dallas provides application-oriented education for professionals with significant project, program or general management responsibilities. Established in the Executive Education Center in The UT Dallas' School of Management, students have the option of earning a Certificate in Project Management, a Master of Science degree with an emphasis in project management, or a Master of Business Administration degree with project management emphasis.
The UT Dallas PM program, originally developed in 1997, is accredited by the Global Accreditation Center for Project Management (GAC) of Project Management Institute (PMI®) and is a PMI Registered Education Provider Program (PMI R.E.P.). The program is taught by world-class faculty with a blend of industrial project management, consulting and teaching experience. The UT Dallas PM Program is delivered both on campus and online, and attracts students from across the USA and worldwide. For more information, visit http://som.utdallas.edu/project.
The PMI Dallas Chapter is a volunteer-based professional association dedicated to supporting the growth and development of project management practitioners, as well as building awareness of the project management discipline and its critical role in business and organization success. With more than half a million members and credential holders in over 170 countries, the Project Management Institute (PMI®) is the leading membership association for the project management profession. Founded in 1984 and with over 4,000 members, the PMI Dallas Chapter is one of the world's largest PMI components. To learn more about the PMI Dallas Chapter and its service offerings, visit www.pmidallas.org
PMForum operates www.pmforum.org, the world's oldest website devoted to professional project management and still one of the world's most popular sources of project management news and information. PMForum also produces the monthly online PM World Today eJournal where articles, case studies, papers and stories by leading PM authorities from around the world can be found; free subscriptions are available at www.pmworldtoday.net.
Attendees at the 3rd UT Dallas Project Management Symposium in Texas were surprised and delighted to receive a presentation about the construction of the new Dallas Cowboys Football Stadium recently completed in Arlington, Texas. The presentation was a last minute keynote presentation on Thursday afternoon, 14 August, and was made by Mark Penny, Project Executive for Manhattan Construction, general contractor on the project.
The 3rd Annual UT Dallas PM Symposium was held in the School of Management on The UT Dallas campus in Richardson, Texas during 13-14 August 2009. The event was organized by the Graduate Program in Project Management (PM) in the School of Management's Executive Education Center at UT Dallas, in partnership with the Dallas Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and PMForum. The theme for this year's symposium was "Managing in a Changing World".
The new Dallas Cowboys Stadium was one of the largest and most complex construction projects to be built in Texas, and the largest of its kind in the world. According to Mark's presentation, total cost was approximately US$1.2 billion. Manhattan maintained a staff of 62 professionals, plus 150 laborers; the rest of the work was performed by subcontractors. There were 550 line items tracked at any one time. The project had 2200 changes - 1200 owner-directed and 1,000 internally generated.
According to Mark, "We put great emphasis on procedures on this project. We had a fully web-based program, but with such a big project and so many participants, good procedures were critical. For example, we issued 5500 RFIs (requests for information), there were hundreds of drawings and ASIs (architect supplied information), and 95 contractors, each submitting invoices and reports and wanting to be paid on a streamlined basis. Large complex projects like this absolutely demand good procedures be followed."
"We were acting as the owner's rep at all times, working closely with Jerry Jones and the Jones Family," Mark added. "We put a lot of emphasis on quality assurance and quality control. Those of you who know Jerry know how demanding he can be. Everything really had to be perfect."
When asked during questions at the end of his presentation what he was most proud of at the end of the project, Mark answered, "That we actually did it! Sitting in the George Strait concert last month, looking up at the fantastic roof structures with 62,000 other people - that was really great!"
Photos: Left - Mark Penny describing the new Dallas Cowboys stadium and football field; Right - Mark Penny receiving gift of appreciation from Jim Joiner of The UT Dallas.Born in London, England, Mark Penny was raised in Houston, Texas. After receiving his degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1993, Mark went to work in the commercial construction industry. Moving from location to location as work required, Mark worked on a variety of projects including toll roads, prisons, colleges, golf resorts, telecommunications facilities and the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. Mark joined Manhattan Construction Company in 2004 and has been part of Manhattan's Dallas Cowboys project team since the project was awarded to Arlington in November 2004.
Manhattan Construction is a 100+ year old general contractor based in Oklahoma City and still owned and managed by the founder's family. The company has a successful history of managing large construction projects in the USA, recently including he Visitor's Center for the US Capital in Washington, DC; The Houston Stadium; the Ballpark in Arlington (baseball stadium); and Prestonwood Baptist Church (one of America's largest churches).
The 3rd UT Dallas PM Symposium was launched on Thursday, August 13, with welcoming addresses by James Joiner, Director of the Graduate Program in Project Management at The UT Dallas and Hasan Pirkul, PhD, Dean of The UT Dallas School of Management. They were followed by two keynote speakers, retired US astronaut James Reilly, PhD, and Tom Leppert, the popular mayor of the City of Dallas. Other events on 13 August included 24 professional presentations in five streams by project management experts and professional practitioners. The first day ended with a networking reception for participants in the atrium in the School of Management.
The second day of the symposium, August 14, featured keynote speeches by Edwin Andrews, PhD, Director of Academic and Educational Programs and Services for the Project Management Institute (PMI); Mark Penny, Project Executive at Manhattan Construction, the prime contractor for the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas; and Veikko Välilä, Secretary General of the International Project Management Association (IPMA). The second day also included 15 professional presentations and three panel discussions. Official attendance for the two day event was around 225. To see the full symposium program, visit http://som.utdallas.edu/graduate/execed/projectMgmtProg/projSymposium.
The Project Management Program at UT Dallas provides application-oriented education for professionals with significant project, program or general management responsibilities. Established in the Executive Education Center in The UT Dallas' School of Management, students have the option of earning a Certificate in Project Management, a Master of Science degree with an emphasis in project management, or a Master of Business Administration degree with project management emphasis.
The UT Dallas PM program, originally developed in 1997, is accredited by the Global Accreditation Center for Project Management (GAC) of Project Management Institute (PMI®) and is a PMI Registered Education Provider Program (PMI R.E.P.). The program is taught by world-class faculty with a blend of industrial project management, consulting and teaching experience. The UT Dallas PM Program is delivered both on campus and online, and attracts students from across the USA and worldwide. For more information, visit http://som.utdallas.edu/project.