News and Events
Stay abreast of our latest accomplishments and events at the School of Building Construction.

Georgia Tech Builds Earth-Shifting Change for Construction
The Georgia Tech School of Building Construction has a tenure-track faculty that is 71% women. That’s an anomaly in the landscape of building construction schools, said Ece Erdogmus, the School’s chair. It’s also a sign of changes happening in the construction industry, higher education, and student awareness of the construction field.

Georgia Tech Models Construction Education's Future
Construction faculty from around the world gathered at Georgia Tech to shape the future of construction education.
The Georgia Tech School of Building Construction, along with Kennesaw State University’s Department of Construction Management, hosted the 58th Annual Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) International Conference on April 20-23, 2022.

Interim Dean Rinehart Designs Football Victory
Georgia Tech routed the Kennesaw State Owls with contributions from the College of Design on Saturday afternoon at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Michelle Rinehart, interim dean for the College, acted as a guest coach for the surging Yellow Jackets.
Twelve students represented the School of Building Construction in the 45-17 victory.
Construction Matters: A Conversation Series
Construction Matters is a new conversation series in the School of Building Construction.
Please join us for the inaugural conversation in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, featuring Guiomar Obregon, CEO and Co-founder, Precision 2000 (P2K). The event will take place Friday, October 1 from noon until 1 p.m. ET on BlueJeans Events.

Associated Schools of Construction International Conference
Wednesday, April 20, 2022 - Saturday, April 23, 2022
The Georgia Tech School of Building Construction and Kennesaw State University Department of Construction Management will host the Annual Associated Schools of Construction International Conference, in-person on the Georgia Tech campus.
The theme of the conference will bring together the construction education community to explore what is next for technology-enhanced construction education. In addition to the presentation of research papers, the conference team aims to organize panels and workshops to share best practices in the incorporation of technology in the classroom from a faculty member’s perspective. We envision that the conversations will lead a path forward on how to effectively integrate technology in construction education within the framework of current accreditation requirements as well as challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ece Erdogmus Appointed School of Building Construction Chair
The College of Design is proud to announce the appointment of Ece Erdogmus as the new chair of the School of Building Construction, effective July 1, 2021.
“Dr. Erdogmus is a highly respected architectural engineering scholar,” said Dean and John Portman Chair Steven P. French. “She is a leading researcher on structural analysis of masonry construction and in applying nondestructive testing techniques to ancient structures.”
Occupational Safety and Health in Action

Michelle Rinehart Appointed Interim Dean
Michelle Rinehart, associate dean for Academic Affairs and Outreach in Georgia Tech’s College of Design, has been appointed interim dean of the College, effective August 1, 2021. Dean Steve French, who has served since 2013, will return to the faculty in the School of City and Regional Planning.
“Michelle is a skilled administrator and leader who invests incredible energy in her colleagues, students, and the Institute overall. We are grateful for her leadership through this transition,” said Steven W. McLaughlin, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs.

Alumnus Builds a Multi-Million Dollar Business
Sean Warner (BC '15) is the co-founder and CEO of the multi-million dollar sustainable animal feed enterprise, Grubbly Farms. It was a CREATE-X startup that Warner said leans heavily on his building construction education.

Ashuri Selected to Participate in Smart Cities Program
Professor Baabak Ashuri will help lead the City of Valdosta’s smart traffic management system in connecting all 128 city traffic signals. This massive project includes hardware and software system enhancements at signals and in the traffic control operations center and installation of communications responders in particular fire trucks.
Ph.D. candidate and Smart Community Corps member, Heung Jin Oh, will assist Prof. Ashuri in the research.

Irish Horsey Appointed Interim Chair at Kennesaw State
Irish Horsey, School of Building Construction Ph.D. candidate, recently appointed interim chair of the Department of Construction Management at Kennesaw State University. Congratulations, Irish!
Photo credit: Department of Architecture, Kennesaw State University

Ph.D. Candidate, Leonardo Garcia, Wins 2020 CMAA Scholarship
Congratulations to Leonardo Garcia, recipient of the 2020 Dylan Thomas Memorial Scholarship!
The scholarship, provided by the Construction Management Association of America - South Atlantic Chapter recognizes “individuals with exceptional character and an interest in the architecture, engineering and/or construction industry.”
Garcia is a Ph.D. candidate currently researching the “Implementation Methods and Business Value Proposition for Cast-In-Place Reinforced Concrete BIM Standards.”

Facility Management Program Now ABET Accredited
The Applied and Natural Science Accreditation Commission (ANSAC) of ABET recently accredited the facility management (FM) program within the Georgia Tech Master of Science in Building Construction and Facility Management (MSBCFM) degree. The MSBCFM has the only ABET-accredited program within the College of Design. It offers students two concentrations: building construction (with tracks in construction management and program management) and facility management.

Baabak Ashuri Studies Inland Flood Risks with AT&T
Georgia Tech is one of five universities that has been selected to participate in AT&T’s Climate Resiliency Community Challenge.
The company has awarded a team of researchers from the Institute $50,000 to study flood resilience in the Southeast using new climate data from the Argonne National Laboratory. The researchers will assess risks and help local governments with climate adaptation and resilience planning.
Photo courtesy: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

New Faculty Publication
Construction 4.0: An Innovation Platform for the Built Environment
Modeled on the concept of Industry 4.0, the idea of Construction 4.0 is based on a confluence of trends and technologies that promise to reshape the way built environment assets are designed, constructed, and operated.
Construction 4.0 is a framework that is a confluence and convergence of the following broad themes discussed in this book.
Edited by Anil Sawhney, Michael Riley, and Associate Professor Javier Irizarry at the Georgia Tech School of Building Construction.
Our Recent Work
Our faculty publish their research and academic advancement to several professional journals, as well as to SmarTech, the Georgia Tech library’s repository for Institute intellectual property. Use the links below to experience some of our most recent work!
- "Risk Mitigation Strategies to Enhance the Delivery of Highway Projects” Ashuri, Baabak
- “Automated performance measurement for 3D building modeling decisions” Castro-Lacouture, Daniel
- “BIM-enabled facilities operation and maintenance: A review” Pishdad-Bozorgi, Pardis
- “Impact of outdoor air quality on the natural ventilation usage of commercial buildings in the US” Song, Xinyi
- "Big data analytics and facilities management: A case study" Yang, Eunhwa
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