Clyde B. Tatum

Leaders and champions for construction innovation

Based on empirical studies of the role of key individuals in the processes of ten successful innovations in the US construction industry, this paper makes three principal arguments. First, effective leadership is essential for technological innovation - in particular in construction. Second, technological competence is an utmost prerequisite for effective leadership for construction innovation - regardless of the size of the firm. In other words, an entrepreneurial role as a technical champion in a small firm does not change even as the firm grows. Lastly, the role of technical champion can be delegated only with slack resources and adequate power. This paper also highlights conclusions and practical applications to increase technological innovation in design and construction firms.

Major characteristics of constructed products and resulting limitations of construction technology

The products of construction differ in many important ways from those of manufacturing. This paper describes five major characteristics of constructed products: immobility, complexity, durability, costliness, and high degree of social responsibility. These characteristics result in many limitations for construction technology: this paper analyses two of these limitations: the consequences of site operations and specialization. These characteristics suggest both insights regarding directions in developing construction technology and practical applications.

Integrated Construction Engineering Activities to Satisfy Challenging Project Objectives

Growing market demands for improved lifecycle performance of facilities are increasing challenges in meeting project objectives. Integrated project delivery and BIM offer significant potential assistance in meeting these challenges, but require change by a set of activities that we will term construction engineering in this paper. The purpose is to identify and describe activities that improve project performance related to cost, schedule, quality, safety, and sustainability and to convincingly illustrate their importance. These activities include designing work process and temporary works, providing construction and permanent resources, and integrating work processes within and between project phases. For each of the major types of project objectives, this paper describes the requirements and implications for different types of projects and the construction engineering activities necessary to satisfy the objective. The applications and conclusions highlight the importance of construction engineering for success in meeting project objectives, the career benefits of this experience, and ways to realize these potential benefits. PROJECT CHALLENGES AND CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES Design and construction markets currently include several drivers for improved performance in meeting all types of project objectives, including cost, schedule, quality, safety, and sustainability. Owners facing increasing foreign competition need greater value from their capital investments. Tenants and operators want more sustainable commercial buildings, retail spaces and industrial plants. One result of these and other drivers is increased scope and complexity of structural and active systems for infrastructure and buildings. Integrated project delivery and building information modeling provide two responses to these increased market expectations. IPD can improve performance by developing a project team that focuses on work processes and decisions that benefit the entire project rather than individual team members. BIM can facilitate information sharing for this integration, allow evaluation of many alternatives for design and construction, and add value to an integrated project in many other ways. But this degree of change is hard. Although the term construction engineering is not used in all segments of the industry, this role has historically included the change agent to introduce new technologies and work processes on heavy and industrial construction projects. Recent examples include GPS in heavy construction and modularization in building construction. Construction engineering is a series of technical activities throughout the project to assist in meeting all types of project objectives. The activities include designing temporary works and processes or methods for field operations, supplying temporary and permanent resources for construction, and integrating team members

Integrating Structural and Construction Engineering

Today’s project teams face many challenges in meeting a diverse set of objectives. Fortunately, integrated project delivery and the modeling tools that it incorporates offer major potential benefits in meeting these challenges. The purpose of the paper is to analyze integration of structural and construction engineering on projects and make recommendations to increase integration and enhance performance in meeting project objectives. The paper describes the context and project steps for integration and analyzes two project examples to highlight conclusions and recommendations regarding integrating structural and construction engineering to increase project performance.

Special Issue on Construction Engineering: Opportunity and Vision for Education, Practice, and Research

Engineering is an applied science. In no other engineering specialization is this more relevant than in construction engineering. A challenge among construction engineering academics (both faculty and students) and industry practitioners is to transfer a method, technology, or practice that can be supported in the theoretical sense, whether in a laboratory or classroom setting, and make it applicable to the rarely ideal industry jobsite. This bridge between engineering in the theoretical sense and practice requires intimate collaboration and continuous communication, which has not always occurred between the university and the jobsite. As described by Dr. Michael C. Vorster, professor emeritus at Virginia Tech and conference keynote speaker, the dilemma from the academic perspective is that “we teach too much and our students learn too little.” A primary focus of the Construction Engineering Conference held at Virginia Tech from September 30 to October 2, 2010, was to bring academics and industry leaders together to share experiences, practices, and ideas. This interaction was intended to strengthen the connection between theory and practice for mutual benefit. The Construction Engineering Conference was a unique opportunity in the sharing of knowledge across aisles. The purpose of this special issue is to archive and disseminate the knowledge for current and future generations of construction engineers. Each conference speaker submitted a manuscript that was peer-reviewed by academic and industry reviewers. In many cases, industry speakers coauthored the manuscript with a construction engineering academic. In all, this special issue includes 28 manuscripts that cover a broad range of construction engineering topics. A debt of gratitude is owed to the authors for their thoughts and efforts in this overall body of work, which makes a significant contribution to the overall body of construction engineering knowledge. Furthermore, the editors are especially grateful to the reviewers, who ensured that the manuscripts maintained the rigorous standards for publication in the ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. Finally, the editors are grateful for the support provided by the Construction Engineering Conference committee and the senior editorial boardmembers of the Journal, especially Dr. JesusM. de la Garza. Without their guidance and advice, this special issue would not have been possible.

Special Issue on Construction Engineering: Leveraging Project and Career Success

This is the second special issue dedicated to the Construction Engineering Conference. The first issue coincided with the inaugural conference gathering at Virginia Tech in 2011. It was published through the ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. We are as pleased and as proud now as we were then to present a series of papers that bridge construction engineering academics and industry practitioners. The need for increased collaboration between academia and the industry has not subsided, and will not subside in the foreseeable future. The construction engineering academic community faces the challenge of maintaining a balanced research portfolio of both basic and applied research. Both types of research are dependent on each other in the overall spectrum of our community and feed the cycle of continuous improvement in the engineering and construction industry’s performance. Furthermore, in an industry where industry practices are constantly evolving, what and how we teach students most also keep pace with industry changes. The papers contained in this special issue follow three primary themes that mirror the theme of the overall 2014 Construction Engineering Conference. The first theme focuses on aspects of knowledge and career paths for future success. Many of these particular papers focus on the challenges, benefits, and lessons learned integrating industry knowledge into education and research at the universities. The second and third themes, sustainability and building informationmodeling (BIM), focus on specific areas of new knowledge that will continue to become increasingly critical for both the success of individuals and also the industry at large. Papers along these particular themes focus on how sustainability andBIM are not only being implemented in the industry, but how these relatively new practices are being addressed in university curriculums. Most, not all, papers were written by a team of industry and academic authors. In many cases, this was the first opportunity for the authors to meet and work on a collaborative effort. It is the hope of the conference’s organizing committee that these individual collaborations will plant the seeds for broader industry/ academic partnerships. A debt of gratitude is owed to the special issue author group for their thoughts and efforts in this overall body of work. Furthermore, we are especially grateful to the reviewers, whomade sure that the papers maintained the standards for publication in the ASCE’s Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction.