LADR Workshop, Honolulu

The 5th International Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution Workshop, organized by the Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction (LADR), and co-sponsored by the Construction Institute (CI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers was held at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) from October 24–27, 2023. The workshop was supported by Hensel Phelps Construction Co., the UHM College of Engineering, and the UHM Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering (CECE).

The International Workshops of LADR have been held annually since 2019. Overall, this was the 11th workshop since 2017, as LADR has held workshops in conjunction with the Annual CI Construction Summit. The past international workshops were held in Hong Kong (2019); Limassol, Cyprus (2020); Cairo, Egypt (2021); and Gold Coast, Australia (2022).

The workshop was held in hybrid format at the University’s Campus Center, and was attended by 63 participants, of whom 28 were online and 35 were on-site. The 35 presentations made were accompanied by full-length manuscripts that are being published in LADR. The workshops offer an opportunity for researchers in this niche area to network and collaborate. International (International LADR Workshop 2023) takes you to the website of the workshop.

Dr. Lance VanDemark of Vertex Engineering, a Senior Editor with LADR, kicked off the workshop by introducing the special collection of papers for this workshop, of which he was the primary editor. Dr. Morgen Johansen, Chair, UHM Dept. of Public Administration, and Dr. Song Choi, Assistant Dean at the UHM College of Engineering, gave welcome addresses at the Opening Session. Keynote speeches were given by Professor John Barkai of the UHM Richardson School of Law, Prof. Robert Robinson of the UHM Shidler School of Business, and Ms. Ulrike Quapp, an Associate Editor of LADR and attorney from Leipzig University, Germany. The Opening Session included a color guard ceremony by the University of Hawaii Navy ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps); the National and State of Hawaii Anthems were sung by Ms. Yamilet Garcia of the UHM Dept. of Music.

Technical sessions and keynote speeches were held on October 25–26. A welcome reception for attending participants was held in the beautiful settings of the Deck of Queen Kapiolani Hotel on October 24. An informal dinner was held on October 25 at the Charthouse Waikiki, located at the boat harbor. Guests enjoyed exquisite sunsets at both of these events.

Guests visited the Polynesian Cultural Center on October 27, for which Hensel Phelps Construction Co. gracefully supported the entrance fee, entrance to villages, dinner buffet, and gala evening show. A special thanks goes to Kaha’i Choy and Greg Kioa of Hensel Phelps, both alumni of the UHM Dept of CECE. The UHM College of Engineering and Department of CECE gracefully supported the transportation.

Invaluable assistance was offered by CECE Engineering graduate students LTCOL James Walton. US Army; CPT Kevin Corizzi US Army; LT Kim Long Le US Navy; Teaching Assistant Rumesh Senthilnathan; and East West Center students Menghong An and Kalen Eyre. Students from the UHM Dept of Computer Science—Vincent Chan, Jared Lo, and Kai Garcia—helped as IT Staff to manage the hybrid sessions. A special thanks goes to the IT Staff from the CECE Dept who arranged the cameras to function with Zoom and synchronize with the audio speakers in the room.

All in all, the workshop owes its success to the collaborative effort of faculty and staff from multiple departments and schools of UH. And the work put in by the ASCE Journals Department in managing the special collection for this workshop is duly recognized (Special Collection on LADR Intnl Workshop, Hawaii, 2023 2023).

This article is reproduced from UH News (2023), with permission.