Adapting Our Journal to a Rapidly Expanding Body of Knowledge

In direct response to the vast research being conducted with a focus on the different facets of sustainability and their relation to the built environment, JCEM has created this new specialty area led by Dr. Amlan Mukherjee (formerly an assistant specialty editor for organizational issues) and three assistant specialty editors, Dr. M. Phil Lewis, Dr. Sinem Korkmaz (formerly an assistant specialty editor for organizational issues), and Dr. Caroline Clevenger. Their biographical sketches follow.

Dr. Amlan Mukherjee is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Michigan Technological University. His research and professional activities focus on developing metrics and methods that support decision making during the design and construction phases of civil infrastructure systems. Dr. Mukherjee’s research investigates how long-term performance and environmental effects of civil infrastructure systems directly influence decisions made during the design phase. In recent research, he investigated project-based life-cycle-assessment methods to evaluate decisions associated with pavement construction and management that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage. In addition, he is currently extending the application of interactive simulation frameworks to investigate decision-making strategies that support long-term reliability and sustainability of infrastructure systems. A broader effect of Dr. Mukherjee’s research has been the fostering of interdisciplinary research infrastructure, relationships, and networks that span both academia and industry.

Dr. M. Phil Lewis is an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Oklahoma State University. His research interests include the environmental effects of construction and sustainable construction. He has performed research that quantified the air-pollutant emissions of construction equipment while performing real-world construction tasks on how equipment activity affects pollutant emissions. Dr. Lewis is also interested in determining the emissions footprint of construction projects.

Dr. Sinem Korkmaz is an assistant professor of construction management in the School of Planning, Design, and Construction at Michigan State University. She is LEED accredited and received her Ph.D. from Penn State’s Architectural Engineering Department with her dissertation on high-performance green-building delivery. Dr. Korkmaz has published peer-reviewed articles on high-performance sustainable-building project delivery, sustainable-design process management, competitive positioning of international construction companies in international markets, and adoption of green-building guidelines in the international arena. Her recent research focuses on sustainable built environment at the national and international levels.

Dr. Caroline Clevenger is an assistant professor of construction management at Colorado State University. She has a Ph.D. and B.S. from Stanford University, where her graduate work, “Design Guidance: Assessing Process Challenge, Strategy and Exploration,” was funded by the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center. She also holds a M.Arch. and M.S. from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Clevenger’s professional background includes extensive experience as an engineering consultant at Architectural Energy Corporation in Boulder, Colorado, where she led the sustainable-design assistance team. In addition to sustainability, her research focuses on developing theories, methods, and tools for multidisciplinary systems thinking into performance-based architecture, engineering, and construction practice. While studying for her doctorate, she served as a visiting fellow to the General Services Administration (GSA) 3D-4D BIM Program. She is a registered architect and licensed engineer in the state of Colorado.

This specialty area, led by Dr. John E. Taylor, continues to be a solid pillar of JCEM. It now welcomes Dr. Amy Javernick-Will as an assistant specialty editor.

Dr. Amy Javernick-Will is an assistant professor in the Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She earned a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from Stanford University. Dr. Javernick-Will worked in the industry as a design-build project manager for more than 6 years before starting her Ph.D. Dr. Javernick-Will primarily researches knowledge exchange across traditional boundaries in global organizations and projects. She has studied the acquisition and exchange of institutional knowledge for global projects; motivations for exchanging knowledge; creating knowledge-sharing connections across geographical, disciplinary, and generational boundaries; and fostering knowledge exchange between team members and stakeholders for a project. Dr. Javernick-Will primarily uses in-depth field research through ethnographic theory building, social network analysis, and qualitative comparative analysis to collect and analyze knowledge that extends organizational theories. She has worked with more than 25 large organizations on her research. Her findings enable the organizations to develop strategies aimed at increasing knowledge exchange and knowledge flow in their projects and the organization. The National Science Foundation, Construction Industry Institute, and the University of Colorado have funded Dr. Javernick-Will’s research.

Given the vibrant proliferation of research focusing on project delivery systems, JCEM has formalized and added this theme to the existing contracting specialty area. Dr. Syed Ahmed will continue to lead the contracting specialty area and Dr. Michael J. Garvin has now been appointed to lead the project delivery systems area. Dr. Garvin was formerly an assistant specialty editor in the case studies specialty area.

Dr. Michael J. Garvin is an associate professor in the Myers-Lawson School of Construction at Virginia Tech. His research and education pursuits are geared toward fundamentally changing how institutional owners, such as Departments of Transportation, Universities, and Federal Agencies, make constructed (or real) asset investment and financing decisions. His research focuses on developing decision support systems for facility investments and project delivery. Currently, he is particularly interested in policies and practices related to infrastructure public–private partnership arrangements. His projects have received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Virginia Department of Transportation. Dr. Garvin is a 2004 recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, which is intended to recognize the finest national scientists and engineers who, while early in their research careers, show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge during the 21st century.