Contractor Ethics

This course is designed for members/contributors of the MCA of NW Ohio and will be offered November 15, 2023, from 12:00pm – 2:00pm.

Course description:

Engineers and Contractors are confronted with a variety of ethical situations every day. Familiarity with relevant ethical codes that govern the construction industry is critical in order to fashion an appropriate response to those situations. A review of strengths and weaknesses of ethical codes as well as state and federal laws will be discussed. Case studies in engineering ethics will be discussed as well as the steps needed to make an ethical decision.

Speaker Bio:

Blake Wentz, PhD, CPC, LEED®-AP has a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and a Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of Nebraska. In 2013, he obtained his PhD from Indiana State University. He owned and operated his family’s mechanical contracting business, Wentz Plumbing and Heating, in Lincoln, NE for five years before becoming a college professor, leading multiple, large-scale and complex projects throughout Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas.

He spent 15 years at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) serving as the Director of the Construction Management Program for five years. In 2013, Blake assumed the role of Owners Representative and managed a portfolio of construction projects for the campus including: Grohmann Tower, Renovations to MSOE Campus Center, Dwight & Dian Diercks Computational Science Hall, Raider Baseball Stadium, and Viets Memorial Tower. In 2014, he was promoted to Chair of the Civil, Architectural Engineering & Construction Management Department where he served until leaving the university in 2020. Blake relocated to Chico, CA in 2020 where he accepted the position of Dean of the College of Engineering, Computer Science & Construction Management at California State University, Chico.

Blake was the faculty advisor for the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA) Student Chapter at MSOE, where his competition teams qualified for the national finals eight times. His team won the National Title in 2011, 2013, and 2019. He was named National Educator of the Year for the MCAA in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2018. Blake currently serves as the President of the Associated Schools of Construction, an international organization of over 160 universities across the world that focus on the advancement of construction education. He is also involved in consulting activities, has been an expert witness for construction legal disputes, and is a co-author of the textbook “Construction Law for Design Professionals, Construction Managers and Contractors.”

In his spare time, Blake is an avid tennis player, where he was a member of the varsity tennis team at the University of Nebraska from 1995-1999.  He is also a car enthusiast who enjoys working on cars but also heading to the track to race them as well. He’s a proud owner of a 2018 Ford Shelby GT 350, and a pair of “firing boots,” (you’ll have to ask him about the backstory of the boots sometime).

OCILB: 2.0