| M E Rinker Sr School of Building Construction | University of Florida |
During the three years that I have been at the Rinker School, I have accomplished several things as an "international educator." These include securing both UF and NSF (National Science Foundation) funding for international research and educational activities. I have published and presented to international audiences. I have also been awarded travelling grants. Further details are provided in the subsequent paragraphs.
My research interests range across construction informatics (intelligent information and knowledge-based systems for construction), sustainable building technologies and more recently the globalization of construction engineering education. In all these areas, I have collaborated with leading professionals in the built environment to further scientific advances. Some specific examples include receiving a visiting scholar fellowship from Hong Kong Polytechnic where I spent two weeks in March 2007. As a result of my visit, I was awarded a travel fellowship to participate as an invited speaker in the “Collaborative Futures” workshop that was held in Hong Kong in November 2007 and was attending by 30 leading researchers from US, Europe, Australia and Asia. I was designated as the chair for the sequel to this workshop (Virtual Design and Construction Workshop) which will be held in November 2008. I submitted a proposal to the NSF’s CMMI division for this Virtual Design and Construction Workshop. I am also working with the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Global Center for Excellence in computing to solicit the participation of the sub-Saharan countries through an NSF proposal in which I am the principal investigator. My recent international research activities in the area of sustainable building technologies have been focusing on the use of eco-materials. My first NSF award (with Dr Ries) was for Developing Global Scientists and Engineers. It was in fact designed around engaging students to work with me to understand how this philosophy would work within the context of developing countries. Through this three year program I am able to integrate my research with education. I was recently awarded an SGER (Special Grant for Exploratory Research) award by the NSF to perform hygrothermal modeling of earth-based bricks for hot and humid climates at locations selected from the international domain. I have submitted a follow-up proposal to the NSF to chair a workshop in Dar es Salaam focusing on strategies for enhancing the structural and mechanical properties of earth-based bricks. The preliminary response from the reviewers is very good suggesting that there like the fundamental idea behind the proposal. Other proposals for international research in which I have been the PI have been submitted to the Canadian-based IDRC. I have published 3 journal papers in leading international journals, made 14 presentations at several international conferences in several places including UK, Finland, UK, Hong Kong and South Africa. I have also contributed chapters to 3 books combining the works of leading researchers in the area of Construction Informatics.
I have been able to make a contribution to the globalization of science and engineering education through internal and external funding. The biggest award (~$150,000) was from the NSF under their Developing Global Science and Engineers program in which I have created an international educational program for students in collaboration with my colleague Dr Ries. For three years, the program will finance 5/6 students to spend 10 summer weeks with my professional associates at the University of Nairobi. The project had matching funds from the Rinker Endowment Fund (~$19,000) for activities directed at preparing the students for the experience. I am also a recipient of the International Center’s Internationalization of the curriculum award and also curriculum development award from the Center for African Studies. I am currently mentoring of a graduate student through my NSF SGER award. As part of the project, I will spend 2 weeks with the graduate student at a foreign site conducting experiments. In addition to using the material for her dissertation, she will also benefit from the international exposure the project will give her while she is still her first year of her MS degree. My work in the internationalization of the curriculum has also attracted the interest of professional associations. For example, In October 2008 I was awarded an NSF-ASEE (American Society of Engineering Education) fellowship which allowed me to participate in three international workshops/ conferences focusing on strategies for globalizing engineering education. I made a presentation as an invited speaker to an NSF-ASEE workshop on US-Africa educational partnerships. The conveners also asked me to develop my presentation into a paper for the Journal of Engineering Education. I also made a presentation to ASEE’s Annual International Conference held in Cape Town, South Africa. While in Cape Town, I was also invited to attend IFEES’ (International Federation of Engineering Education Societies) 2008 workshop. Working closely with one of my colleagues (Dr Issa) I have designed the theme for the Virtual Design and Construction Workshop that I will be chairing in November 2008 to revolve around closing the innovation loop in a way that will allow students to benefit immediately from the cutting-edge research being conducted in the area of Construction Informatics. My idea for the workshop has attracted the attention of the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies and I will work with them to formalize the group into a registered organization affiliated to them. I am collaborating with IFEES’ Xavier Fouger, who is also Dassault Systems’ Director for Global learning in this initiative.
The very essence of my NSF awards is engineering sustainable building systems. The research topics include the use of eco-materials and addressing several water and sanitation challenges. Although the problem of inadequate housing is more apparent in developing countries, it is a universal issue – no country is immune. My research and educational activities in the area of sustainable building technologies therefore have broader impact to the society in general. The initiatives that have engaged in have all attracted the attention of several people both here in the US and abroad. For example, through the two NSF projects, I have now become a key source of information on the use of eco-materials in the greater African region. There are several architects participating in a competition focusing on implementing solutions for the East African region and all searches in Google are flagging up my name. Since Augusts, I have responded to several email inquiries from professionals who are having difficulties obtaining technical information on building technologies for the Sub Saharan Africa. My activities have also resulted in two offers for visiting scholar positions during summer. These are from the West African-based International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering and the new International University for Science and Technology in Botswana. I have also been invited into a collaboration venture by Stephen Stott, Autodesk’s educational program manager for Europe, Asia and Africa. The initial scope of our joint work is restricted to the use of nature as an inspiration and we will be putting together an educational program for creative problem solving. The initial focus will be use advanced digitalization to package this as modules for the courses that I am currently teaching at the Rinker School. My activities have also resulted in me forging close working relationship with several senior government officials in foreign countries. These include Engineer Boniventura Baya, who is the director general for Tanzanian’s Environmental Watchdog, and Mr Sizwe Sidioyi, who is the Director of Operations for South Africa’s President.