Infrastructure Blog 2 (Alfredo Olivera)

Introduction to infrastructure (PART ONE)

My group and I were challenged with a pretty interesting task; creating a theme project based around infrastructure. This project was based around subtopics which everyone in our group had to do. These topics included: a history overview on infrastructure, an american perspective on infrastructure, a world perspective, where we will be in 10-20 years, local organizations surrounding infrastructure, national organizations, important events, government laws on infrastructure as well as federal laws, and the environment and how it is affected by infrastructure. These subtopics within the full structure were divided per person and everyone in the group had to present their part accordingly. I would say everyone in the group did a great job. Introduction to infrastructure (PART TWO) After we all worked together and came out with a well organized plan on how we were going to do the prject, we got straight to work, I would say my group as well as all the others are highly motivated and very passionate about their grades and overall success, so it was no surprise how fast each and every one of us got to work and ultimately showed the overall wholistic value of infrastructure within every slide. We ended up making a word document that had all the subtopics I previously mentioned on there, this word document was our blueprint for success as it layed out what section we will all be working on. Our group leader (I cant remember who it is, pardon me) told us to pick out a topic. I remember I was working this day, so I was one of the last people to pick, but ended up with a fairly easy topic in American perspective. My topic (American Perspective) As I previously mentioned, I was one of the last ones to pick a sub topic, however, I was very happy with my selection as I had a ton of prior knowledge on this being that I work very closely with some construction businesses in my digital communications sales role. I picked up the slack on my end pretty easily as I finished my part of the project in under one hour. For my subject, I went as far as reaching out to the VP of strategic growth in my company who happens to be my boss. He gave me his perspective on infrastructure which turned out to be perfect as my project is based around "American" perspective. I was very happy with my slides and I think i provided pretty good information regarding American perspective on Infrastructure. I honestly thought I could have produced more and ultimately came up with more slides, however, I noticed in the powerpoint that for the most part everyone was only doing 2-3 slides which made perfect sense. I didnt want to hold up the whole class and turn my subject into a powerpoint within itself, so I just went along with what everyone else was doing and it appears to me that the teacher enjoyed my part as she left a nice comment whilst I was presenting. What I learned: I learned a ton of invaluable information through some of the other student's presentations, whether it was infrastructure or another theme project. Some people had very interesting interviews, one of the better ones I remember was the FPL interview, honestly they were all great. There was many great speakers and many great questions being asked by the interviewers. Something I learned on my end of the project was about the new bill that Joe Biden passed, I had prior knowldege on it since I had been hearing about it on the news as well as at the workplace and on social media, but I learned about where the money is headed and into what sections he is splitting up the trillions of dollars into. I also took a deep dive and learned about how this bill will impact the economy as well as if it will be for better or for worse. I also learned interesting information from the other students presentations regarding different perspectives on infrastructure and the other sub topics that included how it will affect the environment and so forth. I read about federal actions that will help construct systems that will ultimately support and aid subnational climate efforts and program implementation are supported by early signs of engagement. In early December 2021, "at the State-to-Federal Coordination Roundtable hosted by the Center for American Progress and Hua Nani Partners", representatives from the White House met with state climate officials to discuss how specific IIJA programs can potentially reduce GHG emissions and increase climate resilience. This initial convening around the bipartisan infrastructure law along with the administration’s other coordination efforts suggest a serious federal commitment to strengthening state-to-federal coordination. Transportation is another factor that is affected by infrastructure. The $1 billion available this year is a tiny slice of the infrastructure legislation’s $1 trillion total, but it’s money that could be used to advance projects that officials say could serve as examples of the package’s impact.The Transportation Department is making another $1.9 billion available through two other programs. The agency will allow applicants to submit a single application to all three, a bid to make it easier for local leaders to access federal funding and give officials in Washington a better sense of the aspirations held by communities around the country. Buttigieg likened it to a college application. Final Review: I really enjoyed working on this project, it was fun and took a decent amount of collaborative effort from everyone involved. I really liked the topics available as well as they pertain to things that go on in our everyday life. At the end of the day, infrastructure is huge and we as humans feel better with safer systems, better roads, better and safer buildings, safer elevators, aesthetically pleasing houses, so on and so forth. If I can do this again, I would. Our teacher did a great job picking out these super cool topics for us to do. Working on this was not a burden, in fact, it was actually quite fun and engaging. Dividing it into groups only made it that much better.