Kendall Manning

Name: Kendall Manning

Project: Analysis of the new Facility Requirements Database (FReD)

School: Norwich University

Major: Construction Management, Minor in Engineering Applied Science

I spent eleven weeks as an intern for the Smithsonian’s Office of Facilities Management and Reliability (OFMR), specifically working in the National Museum of Natural History. Throughout my time in DC, I was mentored by Christina Gardner, a Supervisory General Engineer in the in the Systems Engineering Division. I spent my time at SI learning all I could about FReD, its value to OFMR, and determining what improvements should be made so the SED could maximize its potential.

I used deductive reasoning skills to determine what projects were deferred maintenance in order to compare the numbers in the database to those in other SI records as the institution transitions into a new age of digital data collection. I conducted a survey of the institution’s Zone Managers, Building/Assistant Building Managers, and Contracting Officers and Technical Representatives (COTR) in order to gather their thoughts and opinions of the database. From my own analysis and the survey, I was able to draw conclusions and prepare a written report outlining my summer’s findings.

As a construction management student, it was interesting to see how such a renowned institution maintains such vast facilities in both size and culture. Interning at the Smithsonian Institution provided me with some outstanding opportunities that I definitely would not have had otherwise.