Elena Fontaine

Background

Elena Fontaine is on the faculty of the Department of Construction Management and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Before Porter, Elena led safety programs for a heavy-civil firm.

Elena's research focuses on residential and light commercial, with related work in scheduling and project controls; undergraduates are involved in the lab most terms.

Areas of expertise

• Residential and light commercial
• Scheduling and project controls
• Undergraduate research and project mentoring

Teaching

Elena regularly teaches courses in Construction Management, Architectural Technology. Specific sections and syllabi are listed in the class schedule each term.

Courses lean on current problems from the field: students read recent work, reproduce a result or method, and then extend it. Elena builds in low-stakes practice before graded work and gives written feedback on drafts.

Advising and office hours

Elena advises students in the Construction Management programs and holds weekly office hours during the fall and spring terms, posted on the office door and in the course pages. Prospective students are welcome to email to arrange a visit or a call.

Advising conversations usually cover course sequencing, whether to add a minor or a concentration, and how classroom work connects to internships, research, or graduate study. Students who are undecided are welcome; part of the job is helping them narrow things down.

Recent and representative work

Elena's recent activity is a mix of peer-reviewed work, conference talks, and student-involved projects in residential and light commercial and scheduling and project controls. Representative items:

• A peer-reviewed article on residential and light commercial in a disciplinary journal.
• A conference paper on scheduling and project controls, co-authored with an undergraduate researcher.
• An internally funded project applying residential and light commercial to a regional partner's problem.

Titles and venues here are illustrative. UW–Porter Falls is fictional; Elena has no real publication record.

Get in touch

The fastest way to reach Elena is email (efontaine@uwporterfalls.edu); messages during the fall and spring terms are usually answered within two business days. Prospective students and families can ask the Construction Management department office to set up a call, a class visit, or a meeting during an admitted-student day.