The need for civil engineers is growing rapidly. Highly complex, global problems require a diverse pool of engineers with a variety of skills, views, and leadership styles. Although the job market for civil engineers is predicted to grow substantially over the next decade, women currently comprise a small percentage of the civil engineering workforce and the percentage of women graduating from undergraduate civil engineering programs across the US has stagnated. In this paper, recent data are presented to provide a current, overall picture of the national presence of women in civil engineering. The data showed that, overall, ASCE membership is reflective of the national percentages of women in B.S. civil engineering (CE) programs and in CE practice. However, ASCE senior membership, including the rank of Fellow, has very few women and is not reflective of the percentage of women in the society. Recommendations are provided for the role of ASCE as a champion in the effort to increase the percentage and standing of women in ASCE and, thereby, in the CE profession.

Hydraulic experiment courses in engineering education usually require students to follow a “standard procedure.” Students are expected to learn the underlying theories through manipulating the equipment, observing the phenomena of fluid mechanics, and analyzing the data recorded in the laboratory. However, the procedures are usually complicated and require large amounts of preparation to ensure the success of the experiment. In this research, current paper-based preparations are improved by providing virtual equipment that can provide instant and realistic feedback, with the ability to deliver these over the Internet. This research selected the Venturi tube experiment as a case study. Five steps were defined in the development process: (1) defining the experiment procedure, (2) building a three-dimensional (3D) virtual reality model, (3) adding procedure controllers, (4) adding physics rules to the virtual world, and (5) adding 3D manipulation functions. The virtual experiment of Venturi tube was implemented and evaluated in a real class, with the involvement of 48 undergraduate students in National Taiwan University. The students were separated randomly into two groups, one using paper-based preparation and the other using the virtual equipment for experiment preparation. The results showed that the students who prepared using the virtual equipment performed significantly better in both speed and skill application in the real experiment. Their attitudes toward learning were also significantly more positive than that of the other group.

The construction industry is actively adopting building information modeling (BIM) concepts and technologies to benefit from the resulting improved communication and productivity, better coordination of construction drawings, faster delivery, reduced costs, and safer construction jobsites. This requires construction professionals to understand how best to utilize BIM and to become proficient in the new and innovative skills involved. Consequently, construction and engineering programs need to introduce BIM courses that equip their students with the relevant BIM knowledge and skills and make them aware of potential BIM applications to prepare them for their future careers in the construction industry and to improve productivity. The main purpose of the research reported in this paper was therefore to develop a BIM course suitable for undergraduate construction and engineering programs using a systematic course-development approach consisting of three stages, as follows: (1) preparation, (2) development, and (3) improvement. The new BIM course will equip construction students with the knowledge and skills they need to utilize BIM effectively and understand the importance and applicability of BIM to construction projects, the potential opportunity of an integrated project delivery system, and the future directions of BIM in the construction industry. Construction students will also learn about the importance of collaborating with project stakeholders in addition to the benefits and issues inherent in BIM and its implementation.

Virtual interactive construction education (VICE) is a project-based pedagogical model that uses cyberinfrastructure tools to transform traditional subject-based lectures into project-based virtual interactive simulations. This research measured level of engagement and perceived construction content knowledge gained when exposed to VICE. A case study evaluation design utilized a mixed methodology of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Content knowledge was measured with a retrospective presurvey and postsurvey using 40 high school juniors and seniors with no construction education and 12 college-level construction students. The self-reported level of engagement showed participants to be mildly to very engaged. The perceived increase in construction content knowledge was significant for the high school students for all six subject areas and was significant in four subject areas for the college students. While significantly more research is needed to measure the actual gain in construction knowledge compared to traditional instruction, the results show that contextually rich project-based interactive simulations show much promise for construction education and potentially other project-oriented domains.

Green property design has been increasingly popular in line with the promotion of sustainable development. While property design in traditional practice has contributed greatly to the improvement of living standards, the practice has been criticized for not incorporating principles of sustainable development in the property design process. This paper examines the applicability of various green property design technologies in developing cities with reference to the Chinese real estate industry. The study finds that various technologies have different degrees of applicability in different regions or cities. This understanding leads to analysis of strategies for choosing effective green property design technologies. A questionnaire survey, interviews, and four case studies are conducted. The authors observe that developers and consumers have a passion for green property design. The findings also suggest that currently green property design is primarily applied to high-class residential buildings. Limited application is found for normal residential properties.

This study describes the methodology developed for adapting project-based learning to the practice part of one subject of surveying engineering. The main innovation is the use of a system for evaluating the groups of students selected for the application of this methodology. This evaluation complements the one obtained from the project report developed by students, and it allows for individualizing the grade outcome of the members of the groups. For this purpose, the system takes into account the evaluations carried out by students of their own experience of teamwork. The system has been tested with several groups of students of surveying engineering. The results have demonstrated the efficiency of the system in showing and detecting the behavior of the groups, some problems appearing during the work, the involvement of students, and the sharing of tasks performed by some groups, among other issues. This experience can be applied to any other subject of engineering that contains a high level of practice work.

Distance learning has gone through rapid expansion over the years. Statistics have shown that online enrollment has accounted for 25.3% of total enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the United States by the end of 2008. Much has been discussed about the factors contributing to the success of distance courses. However, the design and delivery of distance learning construction programs (DLCPs) should not be overlooked, considering the characteristics of the construction industry and the construction discipline. Central Queensland University (alternatively known as CQ University) has offered DLCPs exclusively by the distance mode since 1990. From more than 20 years of experience, the university has identified a list of factors that can affect the success of DLCPs, including curriculum design, interface design, interactive delivery, and learning communities. It seems that these factors can adequately support the development of DLCPs by bridging the transition process, enhancing the interaction, and increasing disciplinary organized activities, which will then lead to the cognitive development of distance students. The results provide a good guidance of the design and delivery of DLCPs and will be useful for other institutions seeking to implement the distance mode in construction education.