Editor’s Note

Dr. Patrick S.W. Fong is an Associate Professor in the Department of Building and Real Estate at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests include knowledge management, project management and innovation. He co-edited a book entitled “Management of Knowledge in Project Environments,” published by Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann in 2005. He was vice-president of the Hong Kong Knowledge Management Society. He is also a member of the international body—CIB W102—Information and Knowledge Management in Building, a visiting research scholar in Knowledge Management at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and an Erasmus Mundus Scholar at Umeå University, Sweden.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University is a university with a proud and illustrious history. PolyU is strategically located in Hong Kong and is the largest University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded tertiary institution, in terms of number of students. A wide range of courses that directly meet industrial, commercial, and community needs is offered. In addition to meeting Hong Kong’s manpower requirements, PolyU also makes significant contributions toward the territory’s success by providing public and private sectors with an expanding range of consultancy, professional training and applied research services. Through these activities, the University maintains a strong partnership with the business and industrial sectors.

Anil Sawhney is an Associate Professor in the Del E. Webb School of Construction in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University (ASY). His research, teaching, and consultation are in the areas of integration of information technology in construction and construction process modeling. He teaches courses in Construction Planning and Scheduling, Construction Informatics, Construction Productivity, and Design and Analysis of Construction Operations. His current research is in the area of pervasive production spaces for homebuilding. Dr. Sawhney is the co-director of the Housing Research Institute (HRI). HRI is an innovation enterprise developed through funding from the National Science Foundation, homebuilder partners and ASU to lead the southwest area housing industry to embrace research, learning, and the adoption of innovation to improve the quality and affordability of housing. He has published over 50 technical papers in journals and conferences. Dr. Sawhney has performed consultation assignments for a number of private and public organizations including homebuilders, trade contractors, and the World Bank. Since 2002, he has worked as a technical consultant to the World Bank on a project entitled “International Comparison of Cost for the Construction Sector: Toward a Conceptual Model for Purchasing Power Parity.” He was recently appointed to the International Editorial Board of the Journal of Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems.

Arizona State University is a Research I university widely recognized as one of the most rapidly emerging institutions in the U.S. Its main campus is located near the heart of metropolitan Phoenix in the city of Tempe. Phoenix is a cosmopolitan, culturally diverse area of approximately two million people. The Fulton School of Engineering has eight academic departments and schools and several research centers and programs. The enrollment of the college includes approximately 4,790 undergraduates and 1,926 graduate students with over 200 tenured or tenure-track faculty members. The Del E. Webb School of Construction consists of 12 faculty members and offers B.S. and M.S. degrees in Construction. Undergraduate concentrations are offered in Residential Construction, Commercial Construction, Heavy Construction, and Specialty Construction. Graduate areas of concentration are offered in Construction Management, Construction Science, and Facility Management. Currently, about 416 undergraduate and 55 graduate students are enrolled in the school.