Bringing Classroom Lessons to Work

It took Anthony Perrone (EMDC '25) just one week in Northwestern's Master of Science in Executive Management for Design and Construction (EMDC) program before the lessons from class began infiltrating his work as a project manager at glazing and façade contractor Enclos.

"After week one, I immediately joined my sustainability team at my job," the San Diego-based Perrone said. "I started to think more sustainably and started bringing my own water bottle to work. I am in charge of training an intern, and each week I would sit down with him and go over what I learned in order to enhance his growth."

Perrone began EMDC in September 2024. Nearly 10 years after he earned a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he was excited to be back in a learning environment.

"Being surrounded by others in the built environment, from different parts of the country and different age groups, made me even more engaged," he said. "It led to so many questions and discussions before even meeting in person."

Perrone and his classmates recently shared key lessons and highlights from their first quarter in the program.

What were the most important lessons you learned during your first quarter?

Jennifer Fiorenza (EMDC '25): "I learned that we are all students, and while we come from different sectors of the built environment, we are all learning and sharing. Our professors are very supportive and encourage us to bring our worlds into the learning experience."

Mike Houston (EMDC '25): "The most important lesson that I learned was that there is still a lot to learn. But there are plenty of resources and tools available, especially as it pertains to the financial health of a company."

Brad Lutz (EMDC '25): "Being part of this program was really a challenge in improving my organizational and time management skill sets. Working full-time and being active in a number of other organizations was a worry when I decided to pursue the EMDC program, but it ended up being a good motivator to up my game on time management."

Caveh Masum (EMDC '25): "I found it very important to step out of the sole role of architect and designer and be more executive in my thought processes."

Angy Singh (EMDC '25): "I certainly learned how to balance an even busier schedule, but the complex interconnectedness between each of the classes helped me better understand the role of a leader of an organization."

Brianna Tovsen (EMDC '25): "Strategy for Corporate Sustainability exposed me to a bigger world and got me thinking in a more ambitious and more impactful way and (about) new ideas I could bring back to share with my team. Leadership & Organization taught me malleability in my observations and response to different team members and co-leaders in my company."

Jon Walsh (EMDC '25): "Self-awareness and that others face the same challenges."

Jared Witt (EMDC '25): "The leadership class was extremely informational on traits that all organizational leaders share. The emotional intelligence portion of the course was also phenomenal. The Due Diligence Considerations for Engineering Firms course was excellent because it taught information that most of us in the built environment hope to never have to deal with but will inevitably come up, such as crisis management (and) workplace injuries."

How have you applied lessons learned in EMDC to your professional work?

Fiorenza: "I am rewriting our contracts right now! There are innumerable lessons and thoughts I share with my organization every time I have class, things we are doing right and things we need to focus on."

Houston: "The highlight from last quarter was taking a subject we went over in class and applying it to my current role within the same week. This program has also helped me identify additional tools and resources to utilize in my day-to-day assignments. I've used the lessons from courses to create multiple standard operating procedures for my department."

Lutz: "Strategy for Corporate Sustainability" aligned perfectly with an initiative ramping up within my firm. The examples and practices learned from that course provided me with fuel to get a sustainability action plan going within the firm, which helped us build toward a major growth initiative goal. The course was a meaningful catalyst to implement some of those ideas that we wanted to get going in our company but needed an extra nudge to put in place."

Josiah Ott (EMDC '25): "I have been able to identify ways to expand and diversify our client base."

Singh: "This program gave me the space to think about complex topics that we all experience in day-to-day consulting but sometimes don't have the time to address or reconfigure. In Quarter 1, I learned something each class session that I could take back to work to discuss and find ways to implement."

Tovsen: "I have more patience, listen more actively, and I ask more questions to understand more."

Witt: "I have begun to include emotional intelligence in how I interact with everyone, putting to work self-awareness and self-regulation. For succession planning, I have begun to ask questions not only of my internal organization, but also of subcontractors."