Ajay Raman is a senior lead consultant scheduler for WSP USA, based in San Antonio Texas. Until recently, he was a regional scheduler for Zachry Construction Corporation, San Antonio, Texas. He has over 13 years of experience in the construction industry, in different geographic areas, and has been involved with projects of varied scope and complexity. About 10 years of his cumulative experience has been in project scheduling and controls.

Ajay was born in Bangalore, India, and spent his formative years there. He was exposed to the construction industry early on, through his father, who worked with the Tata Group, a privately held conglomerate of nearly 100 companies encompassing several business sectors. His father was specifically involved with the construction of large-scale manufacturing plants and power plants across India. Ajay received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Visveswaraiah Technological University, India. During this time, he worked on an academic project that sought to use GIS as a means for improving urban transportation planning and management. For this project, Ajay and his group collaborated with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), local law enforcement, infrastructure, and civic authorities.

Ajay’s first job out of school was a brief stint with a Virginia based engineering and construction management firm, which had offices in Bangalore, India. He was responsible for generating the grading, site, and SW3P plans, as well as other duties. This work was for residential and commercial projects for clients like Exxon Mobil. After this brief stint, Ajay worked with Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a global leader in real estate, project management and investment management. As a construction manager risk agency, JLL oversaw the construction, interiors/fit outs for commercial office buildings, labs, data centers, retail spaces, etc. During his time at JLL, Ajay was designated to work on multiple projects of varied complexities for clients such as Accenture and Honeywell. He also was part of a three-person team that studied the feasibility of construction of the Shell Research and Development Center in Bangalore, India. The study delved into various aspects, including the overall schedule. Ajay was actively involved with construction and sub-contractor management. He was exposed to project scheduling and controls (from the owner’s perspective) and contract management.

Ajay pursued his master’s degree in Construction Engineering and Management from the Texas A&M University, College Station (TAMU or A&M). During his time there, he got an opportunity to work on various research projects that helped fulfil his diverse interests, apart from construction and project controls. His interests in sustainability translated into a research study and report titled, “Renewable Energy Measures for Highway Maintenance Facilities.” Other research projects included working with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), some of which involved planning and scheduling. Ajay was also a part of the “Interdisciplinary Green Roof Research Group”, a multi-year research study that was initiated in 2009 and continues to this day. During his time at A&M, Ajay worked closely with the leader of this study.   

He interned with a general contracting firm based in Navasota, Texas. This firm mainly worked on highway construction projects for the Texas Department of Transportation. Being a small outfit, the firm lacked skills and a structure in terms of scheduling and cost control. Ajay helped with those efforts in general, and on two projects that were underway during his internship.

After he graduated from A&M, Ajay joined Zachry Construction Corporation as a field engineer. He was first assigned to the San Antonio River- Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Projects. Apart from being a field engineer, responsible for earthwork and drainage scopes of work, he also managed the schedules. He also helped with establishing the baseline on a highway construction project in El Paso, Texas.

Due to unavoidable personal circumstances concerning his family, Ajay had to suddenly relocate to India. Though initially intended to be temporary, his three-year stay back home resulted in him working with CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), a global leader in real estate and project management. He got an opportunity to oversee the construction of multi-million-dollar facilities for Cisco, which included office spaces, data centers, labs, and recreational spaces. His primary responsibility was to oversee the scheduling and controls for the program. Apart from that, he also managed the “core and shell” construction and served as a single point of contact for the LEED certification of the buildings. At the end of his stint, Ajay and his team had been involved with three LEED platinum rated buildings that span over two million square feet.

Ajay returned to the US to work for Zachry Construction Corporation, and his first program back was the construction of a 38-mile section of the Grand Parkway in Houston, Texas. He was one of the four schedulers on this $1.1 billion joint venture design-build program. Major quantities on this project include more than 120 bridges, one river crossing (San Jacinto River), 1.8 million square yards of concrete paving, frontage roads and associated drainage, as well as several hundred existing utility relocations. To construct the highway, 435 parcels of land encompassing more than 2,100 acres were acquired through the right of way (ROW) process. As a project scheduler, Ajay managed multiple resource loaded schedules, with over 14,000 activities. He also helped assess and put together various claims. This was because the project was ridden with weather impacts. During construction, flooding exceeded the 100-year record three times.

After his time at the Grand Parkway Project, Ajay spent close to a year in North Carolina as an area scheduler. He was responsible for proposal schedules, establishing baselines and helping ongoing projects with their planning and scheduling needs, in both North and South Carolina. He travelled back to San Antonio and briefly served as a field engineer on a five-mile highway construction project. He was then called on to serve as area scheduler for the Central and South Texas Regions and successfully managed multiple highway construction projects valued at about $800 million cumulatively. He was also involved with several pursuits and important claims for Zachry.

Ajay recently pursued a change in employment and is currently a senior lead consultant scheduler for WSP USA, based in San Antonio, Texas.

Ajay is a trained Indian Classical Music percussionist and an avid quizzer. He spent his time during his formative years in the quizzing circles, both locally and nationally. Thanks to his wife, he has been training in the Brazilian Martial Art, Capoeira, for about five years. He also trains in Jiu-Jitsu as time permits. He has also volunteered as an educator in schools, both in India and in the US.

During his time at the Grand Parkway Project, Ajay found AACE though his reporting manager. His manager was the former president of the Miami Section of AACE. The resources available through AACE made him realize that he had struck gold. These resources continue to hone his skills and allows him to stay a few steps ahead. As a step toward continued education and putting his skills to the test, Ajay achieved the Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP) certification in 2020. Through AACE, Ajay has found mentors that continue to help him professionally and to fulfil his research interests. Ajay is a part of the AACE Planning and Scheduling Sub-Committee and has briefly served as the PSP Recommended Practice coordinator. He also is a part of the Rising Professionals Committee and sees these opportunities as a way to improve himself and help others in the AACE circles.

Ajay’s advice to the next generation of young professionals is to spend time learning the means and methods of what is being built. He says, “The time spent getting your hands and feet dirty will definitely help you succeed as a project controls professional.” He also believes that early involvement with AACE, being a part of a local section, using the Recommended Practices as a guide, networking with other professionals, and attending the conferences provides an unparalleled opportunity to grow as a skilled professional.