Announcing the CII 2023 Academic Selection for New CII Research Teams

by Daniel Oliveira, CII 

We are pleased to announce five new research teams and the selection of academics, following a competitive selection process.

For 40 years, the academic community has held a key role at CII to advance knowledge and practices for capital project management.

Academics have brought innovative thinking and rigor to CII’s research process, and it will be no different for the next round of research teams. Academic participation opportunities are defined through our Request for Qualifications process (RFQ) as well as by ongoing collaboration with UT Austin. I am providing an update on both here.

Request for Qualifications (RFQ)

Earlier this year, we opened a Request for Qualifications for three research projects and received 20 submissions. These were reviewed by panels of academics and industry members, and after a competitive selection process, we are glad to announce the academics selected for the three new research projects in the RFQ.

RT-412 - A Refresh of CII’s Zero Accident Techniques (ZAT)

The team led by Dr. John Gambatese, with Oregon State University, was selected as the top submission for this topic. Dr. Gambatese brings extensive experience in safety research as well as with CII’s research process.  Full disclosure, John is the Academic Advisor for the CII Funded Studies Committee and recused himself from discussions related to this research topic in order to compete for the project.

Dr. Chuma Nnaji with Texas A&M and Dr. Vineeth Dharmapalan with California Poly San Luis Obispo are co-PIs in the submission.  

RT-413 - Guidelines for a Supplier Qualification Program to Improve Project Performance

The team formed by Dr. Yong-Woo Kim from the University of Washington, and Dr. Ying Fan, from the College of Business at the University of Colorado, was selected as the top submission for this topic.

Dr. Yong-Woo Kim has worked on supply chain management and lean construction throughout his career and was engaged in CII’s RT-234 (Lean Implementation at Project Level) and RT-271 (New Project Delivery Paradigm).

Dr. Fan brings extensive experience with Supply-chain related research in adjacent areas (particularly the automaker sector).

RT-414 - Developing the Next Generation of Frontline Supervisors 

Dr. Kristen Parrish and Dr. Tim Becker, both with Arizona State University, were ranked as the top submission for this topic. Dr. Parrish brings extensive experience with CII’s research process and Dr. Becker brings 10+ years of professional development experience in the industry.

We will work with the selected teams to develop a proposal in collaboration with industry members and reach and establish a grant for the research projects.

Collaboration with UT Austin

RT-410 - Evaluating the Implementation and Value of CII Best Practices (CII BP)

We engaged Dr. Carlos Caldas as the Principal Investigator for this research team, which is a key deployment-related initiative in 2023. Dr. Caldas brings a strong data analytics background and extensive knowledge of CII practices and processes. He has been advising our Data Warehouse benchmarking initiative on their Corporate-level survey about the use of CII Best Practices. This close collaboration with Dr. Caldas is also strategic to fully integrating the RT data collection process into the Data Warehouse effort.

RT-411 - Addressing Decarbonization in the Construction of Capital Projects

We have invited Dr. Fernanda Leite, to lead this research initiative. Dr. Leite has an extensive background in research related to sustainability, including her leadership of our research on circular economy (RT-380); her leadership in the creation of UT’s Sustainable Systems graduate program; her participation in Planet Texas 2050, a University of Texas at Austin 10-year grand challenge initiative focused on urban resilience; and her current involvement in a Department of Energy (DOE)-funded center focused on better understanding projected climate impacts across Southeast Texas.

Dr. Chris Rausch will join Dr. Leite as a co-PI on the project. His research investigates the use of industrialized construction to improve the way building infrastructure is produced.