MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
Expanding opportunities for collaboration and innovation The construction industry is an essential part of the Canadian economy, contributing seven percent of Canada’s GDP and employing more than 1.4 million workers; in Alberta, the construction industry accounts for ten percent of the province’s employment. With construction organizations seeking to improve performance by implementing innovative processes and technologies, including advances in artificial intelligence, construction methods and materials, automation and robotics, and more, it is important for researchers to work with industry to develop effective solutions in critical areas. Practitioners are tackling head-on the challenges associated with clients’ increasing sustainability requirements, with new types of construction projects, and with the availability of hundreds of new ways to improve performance and productivity. As the workforce is renewed with the next generation of construction practitioners, it is vital not only that they receive training in the latest construction techniques, but also that the expert knowledge acquired by retiring practitioners over their long careers is captured and transferred to the next generation. The face of construction is changing, and individual organizations, as well as the Albertan and Canadian industries in general, must keep up.
The face of construction is changing, and the Albertan and Canadian industries must keep up. The NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Strategic Construction Modeling and Delivery (IRC) is dedicated to helping our partners remain the vanguard of organizations implementing innovative, research-based solutions for construction challenges both old and new. The IRC has always been a collaborative venture, with our research directions influenced by the needs of our industry partners, who represent owners, contractors, labour organizations, and associations who are active in Alberta, in Canada, and beyond. In the remaining two years of the program, the IRC team will continue its research under the themes of organizational competencies and performance, productivity modeling and analysis, and construction risk modeling and analysis. As discussed in my Message from the Chair in Issue 8 of IRC KeyNotes, my research as Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Fuzzy Hybrid Decision Support Systems for Construction, through my NSERC Discovery Grant, and as a principal investigator of the University of Alberta’s Future Energy Systems project will also continue to inform and enhance the solutions we provide to our IRC partners. In addition, I am beginning a new role as Director of the Construction Innovation Centre (CIC), an initiative launched by the University of Alberta that will bring together expertise from various construction research groups under one umbrella.
IRC KEYNOTES | DECEMBER 2019
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