Department of Construction Management
Department Overview
This year the Department of Construction Management continued to make noteworthy accomplishments as in the previous years. The department graduated a record number of 166 students, and continued to secure research funding from NSF as well as the Florida Department of Transportation. The Department has been allocated funding to develop its planned construction process laboratory; the construction will begin in Fall 2011. The Department also completed developing a 650 square feet space for its MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) studio. The Department added a new tenure-track assistant professor to its faculty. Dr. Youngcheol Kang will join the department in August 2011. Dr. Kang is a registered professional engineer and a recent Ph.D. graduate from the University of Texas at Austin in Civil Engineering.
Department Highlights
The Department of Construction Management and the college’s Division of External Program took initiatives to launch two overseas programs to offer the Masters in Construction Management (MSCM) degree program in the Dominican Republic and in Panama. The program in the Dominican Republic will be offered in collaboration with Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic, and the program in Panama will be offered in collaboration with the Quality Leadership University (QLU) in Panama City, Panama. Both programs will begin in 2012.
In addition, a professional MSCM program is currently under review. This program is planned for the executives in the industry, and courses will be offered on Saturdays.
The department organized the sixth conference on Construction in the Twenty First Century (CITC VI) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in July 2011, in collaboration with East Carolina University and UiTM of Malaysia. More than 130 individuals participated in this conference. The department also organized the ASCE Conference on Computing in June under the leadership of Dr. Yimin Zhu. The conference was held in Miami and drew a significant number of participants from across the country.
The Department was allocated funding to develop its planned construction process laboratory. The laboratory will be an open-air yard-like facility and will have an overhead crane for demonstration purposes. The laboratory is intended to provide students hands-on demonstrations on real-life construction processes, construction materials, components and their assembly. Half-built walls, steel structural joints and samples of various construction components will be the features of this laboratory.
In addition, the Department completed a 650 square feet space to build its MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) studio on the second floor of the Engineering Center Building. This lab is equipped with HVAC, electrical and plumbing appliances/fixtures for demonstration to students, and computer hardware and software for instruction and training.
Research and Funding
The Department did very well this year in external research funding, thanks to Dr. Yimin Zhu and Dr. Bayraktar. Currently, Dr. Zhu is working on three National Science Foundation grants. Dr. Bayraktar received a research grant from Florida Department of Transportation. As in the previous years, a number of research proposals were submitted to various funding agencies, a number of which are pending.
Construction Management faculty members were active in publishing their research findings in reputed construction journals and conference proceedings. Collectively, the Department faculty published three books, twenty two journal papers, four research reports and fifteen conference proceedings papers.
Fall Term Enrollment
Five Year Fall Term Enrollment CM
Degrees Awarded
Degrees Awarded CM
Sponsored Research Awards ($Millions)
