The Last Slab

Last week the contractor poured the last slab of concrete. Technically, the last slab of concrete that is part of the structure. There are a few more non-structural slabs, and a few more added layers on top of the existing slabs, left to be poured. But it is one more major milestone!

The “last slab” is on Level 4 of the new Huntsman Hall building. It is in the curved area that connects the two wings. Part of the slab will be the floor of our fantastic new event space. Part of the last slab will be the floor of our amazing new board room space.

I hiked up to Level 4 so that I could inspect the process personally, and so I could take pictures to commemorate the event.

Some of you may wonder – What is a slab? If you want to learn, I recommend the simple explanation on Wikipedia.

As we come to the end of pouring concrete, you may also wonder – How much concrete will we use in Huntsman Hall? The answer is that we will use almost 11,000 cubic yards of concrete. The material cost for the concrete alone is almost $1,000,000.

That’s a lot of concrete, but there’s no more concrete for structural slabs.

Ken Snyder

The Brick Wall is Done

A few weeks ago (see the January 13th blog about laying bricks), I mentioned that the masons started laying bricks for the wall that runs along the north face of Huntsman Hall. This is the wall that faces the Merrill-Cazier Library.

Last Friday they finished the wall! This is the first exterior wall of Huntsman Hall to be completely finished – OK, yes, I know they still need to take down the scaffolding, but, the wall itself is all done!

I just happened to be taking a group of visitors on a tour of the facility as the masons were finishing the wall. Because the masons did most of the wall behind a shroud (the “moving tent”), it was difficult to see how far they were progressing. It just so happened that when our tour group got to the top floor, the masons had just pulled back the shroud, and were laying the very last bricks of the very top row. We were right there with them as they did the work. It was fun to congratulate them in person.

But, as they say in late-night infomercials, that’s not all! You may have noticed that the sheet glass surrounding the NW stairway was also installed last week. The combination of completing both of these projects allows the people passing by while walking on the busiest corridor of campus, to see what this side of Huntsman Hall will look like. And it looks nice – doesn't it?

North wall and stairway

The masons have already moved around the NW corner of the building and are laying bricks on the west exterior wall. They should finish that brickwork in the next few weeks.

Ken Snyder

The Face

Last week was truly the busiest week yet in the construction of Huntsman Hall. We had more people on site, and more different projects going on, than any previous week since we started construction.

One of the projects started last week was the hanging of the sheet glass on the south side of Huntsman Hall, facing the highway. 

South glass exterior wall

Sheet glass is the exterior wall of the building. We are using sheet glass for about 70 percent of the exterior walls. We’ve been hanging sheet glass for the past several weeks on the inward facing walls (i.e., the walls facing our current Eccles business building). As a matter of fact, the west wing inward facing wall is all done. But it wasn’t until last week that we started hanging sheet glass on the outward facing walls. Another milestone!

I look at the outward facing walls as the “face” of the new building – the part that the people passing by on the highway will see. And isn’t is a great-looking “face”?

Ken Snyder

Becoming Prepared for a Career

As a student it can be difficult to know what classes to take or what careers to pursue. I’m  happy to say that I have made it through that process and am starting my sales career on Monday with Nalco in Midland, Texas. Although the journey was not easy, it was worth it, and I owe a lot of that to the courses I took at the Huntsman School of Business.

In my interviews with Nalco, I was able to show skills I had learned from my Strategic Sales class with Professor Sterling Bone. I was really able to seal the deal when I told them I was already familiar with Salesforce.com, a CRM that Professor Kristal Ray had us explore in our Marketing and Sales Technology class. It is a program that the company uses every day, and they were very impressed that I already had experience with it.

With the classes and background I had, it was easy and natural to showcase my skills and potential. I would not have had the opportunities I have now, had I not of taken advantage of these classes. I would highly suggest to anyone who has the slightest interest in sales to take these classes and explore the sales track at the Huntsman School.

Dallin Fukui

 

HMA Marketing Week: Zagg Case Competition Finals, Inside the Game

By Eliza Thacker

We won! We were so nervous the day of the final presentation. In preparation for the final moments of the competition, we spent hours researching our idea, practicing our presentation, and putting together our Prezi. My teammates did a fantastic job of presenting the data, and the judges seemed to like our idea, but there was no way of knowing if another team had done a better job. At the awards ceremony we waited in agony as the third and second place teams were read out loud. We sat in a tense trance as the first place team was announced, when suddenly we realized the name sounded familiar; it was our team. We immediately leaped up to shake the judges’ hands and accept our prizes. We each received not only an iPad mini, but also Bluetooth headphones, a folio keyboard, a screen protector, and a Bluetooth speaker. 

In addition to the physical prizes, we took away intangible rewards. We made great connections in the Huntsman Marketing Association and gained exciting talking points for our resumes. Best of all, we met new friends. My teammates were all incredible people that I never would have gotten to know without this competition, and after late nights filled with pizza and research, we became good friends. I am so glad I had this opportunity. It has given me greater confidence and has opened so many doors. If you are thinking about competing next year, don’t hesitate; win or lose you’ll take away more than just an iPad. Hope to see you there!