The objective of this workshop is to investigate how the large domain of construction engineering can be empowered toward setting an agenda for basic research to successfully and proactively address its future challenges. Currently construction engineering has limited collaboration between industry and academia, does not focus on theory-building research, and a lack of understanding on what constitutes fundamental theory in construction engineering. The proposed conference and research workshop will be held in Seattle, Washington in 2014 with the goals of identifying critical research needs, synthesizing an actionable research agenda, and creating a high-caliber cohort of collaborators from industry and agency representatives and of construction and non-construction scholars. To achieve the workshop three goals, the project is designed to not just advocate but actively practice collaboration: Papers and keynote speeches are jointly authored by industry and academia, research components are integrated into the entire event, stipendees will serve to facilitate discussions, record expertise, and lead groups during the culminating synthesis workshop.
If successful, this workshop will enable construction engineering to move from being a tradition-bound late adopter of innovation and problem-solving to become a driver of change that pursues its own needs-focused research agenda with rigorous scientific methodologies. By stimulating basic research the construction industry will gain a deeper understanding of how to improve its performance by realizing savings of time and cost for all stakeholders, enhance competitiveness in the global marketplace, improve sustainability and quality of the delivered built facilities, and lower the number of safety incidents. Results will be distributed through a detailed report that will contain the methodology, summaries of the various inputs, and the final research agenda and through peer-reviewed publications on pertinent issues by the industry-academic teams.
Construction engineering is charged with solving technical problems to provide the public with built facilities that meet various performance criteria. However, in recent years this important discipline has been documented as stagnating in terms of its innovation through research in comparison to the very active area of construction management. The triple challenge of this research project therefore was understanding the importance of basic research for construction engineering; exploring its barriers and enablers; and deriving what actual basic needs exist that should be addressed through research. To address these interrelated challenges, the PI designed a comprehensive workshop on Promoting Basic Construction Research within the Construction Engineering Conference, which was held in Seattle, Washington, from March 27-29, 2014. Following best practices in workshop design, it featured innovations over past comparable events in construction engineering to provide the most stimulating and insightful event possible. Notable features included that two former NSF program directors, who are also construction researchers, agreed to serve as hosts and that four invited academics from areas as diverse as urban planning / disaster management, linguistics, psychology, and industrial engineering added valuable ‘outside’ views by leading workshop groups after attending the conference. Industry-academic collaboration was not just advocated, but indeed practiced, as all presentations were prepared collaboratively. Multiple industry keynote speeches and a major field trip to the SR-99 Bored Tunnel of the Alaskan Way Viaduct placed the discussions into a real-world context. The workshop had an attendance of over 60 current and future construction researchers, including 55% assistant professors and 23% doctoral students and candidates. A noteworthy successful outcome of the workshop is that 23 junior faculty (164% of budgeted count, 46% self-identified as underrepresented groups) were able to be supported by a travel stipend to participate in shaping the future of their own research area. Funds from another co-sponsor, the Construction Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers, additionally enabled 13 doctoral candidates (half of whom underrepresented) to attend the event alongside their advisors. The 4.5-hour-long workshop was divided into three rounds that focused on the nature of basic research, needs and opportunities, and potential proposal outlines for individual ideas. Its results were recorded in paper questionnaires and notepads, transcribed, and analyzed in a coding process by an expert on qualitative data and conference attendee in close cooperation with the PI. Intellectual Merit: The intellectual merit of the event rests in two points: First, establishing the area of construction engineering solidly as a discipline that is based on scientific principles and defines its critical needs rather than just identifying opportunities of emerging technologies, as was done in the past. Second, broadening its view interdisciplinarily by involving construction researchers, other academics, and industry representatives. Three major themes emerged in the final research agenda for construction engineering: (1) Global systems and sustainability; (2) technology and management; (3) research methodology. The first encompassed distributed infrastructure systems, life-cycle efficiency and productivity, technology-human interactions, societal and environmental issues, and facilitating sustainability. The second comprised use of advanced technologies, information technology and sensing, safety and risk management, and addressing managerial issues. And the third theme included project complexity, mechanisms for industry participation, and interdisciplinary research methodologies. Broader Impact: The event mentored junior and future faculty members, of whom few have substantial professional experience and many are from underrepresented groups, in crafting quality research proposals and actively practiced collaboration through various activities. The newly synthesized research agenda puts construction engineering into a position to not only becoming a leader in charting its own course by exploring fundamental questions that advance the state of knowledge, but also improve industry practice and indirectly the national economy.
