Editor’s Note

Nicola Chiara is an assistant professor in the Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department at Columbia University. His primary research interests are in financial risk management of construction/infrastructure systems, risk and decision analysis under uncertainty, and operations research in asset management. Nicola is the executive director of the center of Global Infrastructure Evaluation and Risk Analysis (GINEVRA center) at Columbia University. He is an ASCE member.

The graduate program in construction engineering and management (CEM) at Columbia University emphasizes the global nature of the contemporary construction industry. The aim of the multidisciplinary curriculum is to assist students in developing managerial and financial expertise to effectively cope with national and global construction challenges. The CEM program comprises two full-time academic faculty (Dr. N. Chiara and Dr. J. Taylor) and seven adjunct professors representing the top construction professionals of New York City.