This Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) proposes to enhance the infrastructure for construction research and education though the development of virtual networks and partnerships. This virtual community concept allows construction scholars to share their expertise with other academics and to create a greater synergy to advance construction research and education. The Construction Institute has expressed an interest in including practitioners as part of the community. By including practitioners, the reach of the community will increase significantly. More practitioners will visit the web site and interact with academics. Moreover, academics will also be able to find and contact practitioners who may be working or who have extensive experience in areas related to their research projects. This interaction may lead to collaborative research projects and a greater appreciation for research in our industry.
Intellectual Merit The construction industry, by its nature, is fragmented due to the large numbers of subcontractors, material suppliers, insurance agents, design firms, lending institutions, owner organizations, and construction researchers. Any effort to provide greater synergy among these groups will have a significant impact on advancing knowledge and promoting best practices to the construction industry. Construction researchers have produced a significant body of knowledge that needs to be shared with others in the industry. This project is the first of its kind in terms of the scope and level of collaboration with industry and government to create such an information source for the construction industry. The principal investigator and co-principal investigators are well suited to develop and maintain such a website because of their varied backgrounds in information technologies, membership within the Construction Research Council, and interest in promoting and sharing research knowledge and expertise with other academics and industry practitioners. To ensure the success of this project, the research team will work with the Construction Institute (CI) to provide the most useful product for the industry. It is anticipated that development efforts will include valuable input from the CI Board of Directors and other CI practitioner members.
Broader Impact Some academics have correctly argued that the construction community in the United States has been evolving over the last decade and that many construction programs are now operating outside of the traditional engineering colleges, where most CRC members belong to. In the last few years many of these programs are also focusing on graduate education and are beginning to incorporate research as an intrinsic part of their mission. Most non-engineering construction programs are part of the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC). By including members of ASC as part of our community, the Virtual Community of Construction Scholars and Practitioners would become the first organization to bring together CRC and ASC members for the benefit of our construction academic community. Interaction between CRC and ASC members would have the potential to further encourage current ASC research efforts. Some academics have also correctly argued that in an era of globalization, an on-line virtual construction community should not be limited to U.S. membership. By including international members, the Virtual Community of Construction Scholars and Practitioners would bring together construction scholars from around the world for the benefit of our construction academic community. Interaction between domestic and foreign scholars would have the potential to further encourage international research efforts and to develop a better understanding of the major challenges faced in international construction efforts. Finally, in a recent NSF-sponsored workshop between the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and construction academics, a suggestion was made to create a database of test-beds in construction engineering and management to facilitate validation of construction research efforts. Several organizations such as NIST, as well as academic institutions, have physical laboratories and digital infrastructure (databases, software, simulations) that could be used to validate construction research. By creating a test-bed database within the Virtual Community of Construction Scholars and Practitioners, scholars will gain knowledge about the existence of these test-beds and potentially enhance the validity of their research findings in ways not possible today.
