Two major challenges facing the U.S. construction industry today are (1) the lack of women educators and practitioners in the field of construction engineering and management and (2) the decline of productivity in the construction industry. The proposed research program will address the first concern by (1) proactive recruitment of women engineering students (at the graduate, undergraduate, and high school levels) to pursue education, research, and careers in construction; (2) mentoring of Graduate Research Trainees by faculty members, industry professionals, and advanced graduate students; and (3) providing training to Graduate Research Trainees on research, teaching, technical writing and presentation skills. The second concern will be addressed by guiding the Graduate Research Trainees to expand upon the ongoing research in construction automation and robotics at the University. This research will result in the development of a Computer-Aided Design/Construction (CAD/CAC) System capable of: (1) evaluating CAD models from the perspective of constructability; (2) selecting suitable automated construction equipment for a project; (3) generating efficient process plans for operation of the automated equipment; and (4) generating equipment-level control instructions. This interdisciplinary research will facilitate the implementation of flexible automation technologies in the U.S. construction industry and will thereby improve its competitiveness in the global marketplace.
