Georgia Institute of Technology School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Fall 2017 Speaker: Andy Phelps

Building Big
October 3, 2017

What does it mean to “build big”? Andy Phelps knows after more than 35 years in engineering, construction and facilities operations. He led the construction of 10 major projects in the Americas valued at $25 billion. He’s coordinated disaster relief and recovery efforts for the thousands of Bechtel employees in Chile after an earthquake and for Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. He helped Saudi Arabia clean up a massive oil spill in the Persian Gulf during the first Gulf War in the 1990s. He’s done “big.” And here’s why: “Why do we build a road? Why do we build a sewage treatment plant? Why do we build a copper smelter? It’s because … when you ask what [people] want out of life, go to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: they want safety and security. They want shelter, they want food, they want an opportunity to succeed and become educated, they want a chance to become someone better and stronger. That’s human nature. So what we do in civil engineering allows people to realize their full potential.” (Read his full bio.)

Photos from the Event     |     Read a Recap of the Lecture     |     Phelps' Biography