Construction Engineering & Management

CU Boulder hosts inaugural construction safety summit

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 16:53:22 +0000

CU Boulder hosts inaugural construction safety summit Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 11/15/2021 - 09:53

The University of Colorado Boulder hosted a global conference on construction safety in early November. Attendees of the inaugural Safety Summit included 150 in-person and 100 virtual guests representing nearly 80 U.S. and international companies in the construction industry.

Sponsored by the Construction Safety Research Alliance at CU Boulder, the event at Folsom Field provided attendees with a forum to discuss the latest findings in safety research from areas as diverse as reporting incident rates and using predictive analytics to employing augmented or virtual reality to improve industry safety.

The alliance is a collaboration between industry and academia working together to understand industry needs, conduct field research, collect and analyze data and share the results broadly as an open-source organization.

Based in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, the group conducts three to four research projects a year. The work is led by civil engineering PhD students under the guidance of CSRA Executive Director Matthew Hallowell, Associate Director of Research Sid Bhandari and Associate Director of Strategic Advancement Katie Welfare. Each research team also includes industry professionals.

“The CSRA is an innovative research model because it blends the scientific strengths of the University of Colorado academic team with the practical knowledge of our industry partners,” said Matthew Hallowell, director of the alliance and an endowed professor in the Construction Engineering Management program at the College of Engineering and Applied Science. “Together, the CSRA community magnifies research impact and vastly accelerates the translation of research to practice.”

The rate of serious injuries and fatalities has plateaued in the construction industry for nearly 20 years. The CSRA was formed to create a new future of safety where the methods used to prevent serious incidents and fatalities are based on defendable science. They leverage the fact that safety is not proprietary and that organizations can work together in pursuit of the common goal of fatality prevention.

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Gender disparities in engineering are a problem, CU Boulder researchers offer a solution

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 15:45:29 +0000

Gender disparities in engineering are a problem, CU Boulder researchers offer a solution Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/20/2021 - 09:45

A new paper published by University of Colorado researchers found that female engineers are more likely to ask questions to gain more information, and they’re likely to ask those questions of other women.

While not surprising, the findings reflect a disadvantage for women when it comes to professional growth in the male-dominated field of engineering.

The paper—published in the Journal of Management in Engineering (JME) and co-authored by Professor Amy Javernick-Will, of construction engineering, and Tony Tong, of the Leeds School of Business—dissected what role gender plays in knowledge accessibility amongst engineers.

Amy Javernick-Will

“Given that 89% of engineers are men, it’s more likely that men have more powerful positions in their firms,” Tong said. “So, while women may be turning to someone for help, they may not be turning to someone in a powerful position, which may set women up to be marginalized in career development, particularly when it comes to promotions.”

The paper, titled, “Gendered Knowledge Accessibility: Evaluating the Role of Gender in Knowledge Seeking among Engineers in the U.S.,” won JME’s best paper award for 2021. It sought to define knowledge accessibility as the time and effort required by an individual to approach another person to seek knowledge—by asking questions or for advice.

After conducting a survey of 312 engineers (37% female, 63% male) from a large engineering firm in the U.S. that already employs more women than other similar engineering firms, Tong and Javernick-Will discovered women are more likely to perceive a higher level of knowledge accessibility in their field, particularly when they seek other women for that information.

In contrast, men perceive less knowledge accessibility, particularly when they seek women for that same type of information.

Tony Tong

“What was particularly interesting is how many variables we controlled for—age, race, expertise, hierarchical level, office location, familiarity and tie strength—and this is still the outcome,” Javernick-Will said. “We thought many of these variables would be more important than gender, but that’s not what we discovered.”

What they did discover sheds light on a cultural hurdle many engineering firms face: marginalizing women in a field that is 89% male.

Putting the findings in motion

The researchers—including co-authors Cristina Poleacovschi, professor of civil engineering at Iowa State University and former CU Boulder Ph.D. student, and Sheng (Monica) Wang, professor at the Lee Business School at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas—offered practical steps to end gender disparities in the engineering field.

For starters, promoting a culture shift that encourages sharing expertise could go a long way to level the playing field while also increasing organizational efficiency, Tong said.

“When people are more willing to share information, especially when that knowledge is technical expertise, everyone is better off because it can improve productivity of the organization,” he said. “We show in a separate paper that creating knowledge sharing connections within an organization can significantly reduce the amount of time that engineers devote to solving a problem, especially when the connections are with actors in the center of the network.”

Tong added that reevaluating how people within organizations share knowledge is important across all industries, but particularly in problem-solving fields like engineering.

“Organizations would want to make sure that when people are looking for help or expertise within their company, there are capable colleagues willing to help. It’s also important that people who are seeking knowledge are willing to open up and expose that they may not know the answer,” he said.

Another strategy is implementing a peer sponsorship program—one that deviates from a traditional mentorship program where two colleagues may be paired up by common backgrounds, like gender.

Javernick-Will, who worked as a civil engineer before entering academia, said breaking the stereotypical mold of mentorship not only helps individuals within an organization grow, it also advances the strength of the organization as a whole because each employee is able to make greater contributions, ultimately optimizing performance.

“As I’ve been working more within diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, I’ve noticed the importance of a mentor sponsoring a mentee, rather than just giving advice, by helping make their mentee’s knowledge and experience more visible and providing introductions to those in powerful positions,” she said.

“I hope this study changes the landscape so that these gender differences will not exist in the future, enabling everyone to share knowledge, benefiting both employees and organizations.”

Bridging business and engineering

This paper isn’t the first time faculty in the Leeds School of Business and College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU Boulder have come together to conduct thought-provoking research. In fact, the two units on campus have been increasingly connected over the years, so much so that they are now physically connected on campus.

To Tong and Javernick-Will, the partnership between their two areas makes a great deal of sense.

“My students benefit from seeing diverse ways of thinking and problem solving through discussing these topics in classes and doing research together,” Javernick-Will said. “I think it’s the wave of the future and it’s the only way to solve these complex problems that society is faced with.”

In fact, it was a former Ph.D. student in civil engineering that brought Javernick-Will and Tong together in the first place. Through the connection, Tong learned that his research in organizational structure and design and knowledge sharing was also being explored in the College of Engineering.

Together, the duo hopes to inform organizations, particularly in engineering, of new and innovative ways to manage employees and foster a more inclusive—and ultimately more prosperous—work environment.

“It’s a really exciting opportunity,” Tong said. “We will be more likely to solve real-world problems with this bridge between our two programs. Together, we can change the world.”

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Professor earns ASCE-CI Peurifoy Construction Research Award

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 17:24:14 +0000

Professor earns ASCE-CI Peurifoy Construction Research Award Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/22/2021 - 10:24

Professor Keith Molenaar has been awarded the 2021 Peurifoy Construction Research Award by the American Society of Civil Engineers Construction Institute (ASCE-CI) Construction Research Council.

The annual award goes to an individual who has “made outstanding contributions to the advancement of construction engineering through research and development of new technology, principles or practices.” Molenaar is currently serving as the interim dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science and is the K. Stanton Lewis Professor of Construction Engineering and Management. He was received this award for “his groundbreaking research in project delivery mechanisms, cost estimating and risk engineering as well as for his significant impact on the construction engineering and management profession.” He is the primary author of more than 250 technical reports and articles. He has performed project delivery and risk-related work for the California, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Texas, and Washington State.

Molenaar is an active member of the National Academy of Construction, the Transportation Research Board, American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Design Build Institute of America. He has also served on numerous technical review committees for projects including the Columbia River Bridge in Oregon the SR520 Floating Bridge in Washington State, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in California, the Panama Canal Expansion project in Panama, and ITER Fusion Generator project in France.

Molenaar received his Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering (1990), his Master of Science in Civil Engineering (1995), and his PhD in Civil Engineering (1997), all at the University of Colorado Boulder.

In addition to the Perifuoy Award, Molenaar has also received the CEAS Outstanding Graduate Advisor (2020), the CEAE Distinguished Achievement Award (2018), the CU Campus Global Citizen of the Year (2017), CU Provost Faculty Achievement Award (2006), and the CEAE Young Researcher Award (2002). Molenaar was inducted into the Pan-American Academy of Engineering in 2012, the National Academy of Construction in 2017, and was designated as a Fellow of the Design-Build Institute of America in 2019.

The American Society of Civil Engineers is a nonprofit organization made up of over 150,000 members in the civil engineering profession throughout 177 countries. ASCE strives to advance civil engineering while protecting public health, welfare, and safety. ASCE provides “technical and professional conferences and continuing education, [is] the world's largest publisher of civil engineering content, and an authoritative source for codes and standards to protect the public.” . ASCE is also the nation’s oldest engineering society, having been founded in 1852.

Molenaar will have the opportunity to present a “Peurifoy Construction Advancement Address” to the ASCE. The Peurifoy Construction Research Award is made possible through contributed funds from friends, former students, and associates of Dr. R. L. Peurifoy. The ASCE-CI Awards Committee is comprised of Professors Vineet Kamat (Chair), Dulcy Abraham, Chema de la Garza, Carl Haas, Iris Tommelein, and Ms. Katerina Lachinova (ASCE). The Peurifoy Award Selection Panel is composed of all prior Peurifoy Awardees.

Congratulations Professor Molenaar on this well-deserved honor!

Professor Keith Molenaar has been awarded the 2021 Peurifoy Construction Research Award by the American Society of Civil Engineers Construction Institute (ASCE-CI) Construction Research Council.

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Innovative partnership prepares infrastructure engineers

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 16:29:02 +0000

Innovative partnership prepares infrastructure engineers Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 11/18/2020 - 09:29

The University of Colorado Boulder has partnered with Kiewit, one of the nation’s largest construction and engineering organizations, to launch the Kiewit Design-Build Program.

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