Comparing information technology adoption between developing and developed countries

Information technology adoption is critically important because it is a fundamental element of successful project management. Although some studies have been carried out to investigate the use of information technology in the construction industry, there is no comprehensive literature to compare the information technology adoption among different countries. This research aims at investigating the current extent of information technology use between developing and developed countries. To achieve this aim, a questionnaire was sent to 800 construction professionals from 20 countries. From those, 151 completed and reliable responses were selected to be analyzed. The result of the research reveals that there is no significant difference between developing and developed countries in information technology adoption; however, developed countries are more advanced in information technology use compared to developing countries. The results of this study are useful to provide directions in research, training, and development of strategies that will respond to the needs of the construction industry in the area of information technology selection

Mobile Application Prototype for On-Site Information Management in Construction Industry

DOI: 10.1108/09699981211259577Purpose: This paper presents the results of a study aimed at investigating the information requirements for broad use mobile applications for construction projects. It also presents the results of usability testing of a mobile application prototype for improving information management in construction projects. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the research objectives, the information required to properly design the mobile application was collected by distributing an online questionnaire among construction professionals. Then a server-based application prototype was developed based on enterprise content management concepts. The mobile application was tested in a laboratory by setting a group of construction management postgraduate students who had experience on working in construction industry. Finding: This study determines and ranks the critical on-site information artifacts, considered highly important from the perspective of clients, consultants, and contractors. The study also illustrates the development of a mobile application prototype and results of a usability test. The test results demonstrate that the application is well designed, user friendly, and meets user requirements. Practical implications: The results of this study are useful for developing a functional mobile application to manage on-site information in construction projects. Originality/value: The paper makes an original contribution of investigating information requirements of a mobile application for on-site information management

Analysis of microRNA signatures using size-coded ligation-mediated PCR

The expression pattern and regulatory functions of microRNAs (miRNAs) are intensively investigated in various tissues, cell types and disorders. Differential miRNA expression signatures have been revealed in healthy and unhealthy tissues using high-throughput profiling methods. For further analyses of miRNA signatures in biological samples, we describe here a simple and efficient method to detect multiple miRNAs simultaneously in total RNA. The size-coded ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction (SL-PCR) method is based on size-coded DNA probe hybridization in solution, followed-by ligation, PCR amplification and gel fractionation. The new method shows quantitative and specific detection of miRNAs. We profiled miRNAs of the let-7 family in a number of organisms, tissues and cell types and the results correspond with their incidence in the genome and reported expression levels. Finally, SL-PCR detected let-7 expression changes in human embryonic stem cells as they differentiate to neuron and also in young and aged mice brain and bone marrow. We conclude that the method can efficiently reveal miRNA signatures in a range of biological samples

An ambient intelligent environment for accessing building information in facility management operations; A healthcare facility scenario

The Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations (AECO) industry is constantly searching for new methods for increasing efficiency and productivity. Facility managers, as a part of the owner/operator role, work in complex and dynamic environments where critical decisions are constantly made. This decision-making process and its consequent performance can be improved by enhancing Situation Awareness (SA) of the facility managers through new digital technologies. SA, as a user-centered approach for understanding facility managers’ information requirement, together with Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) was used for developing an Ambient Intelligent (AmI) environment for accessing building information in facilities. Augmented Reality has been considered as a viable option to reduce inefficiencies of data overload by providing facility managers with an SA-based tool for visualizing their “real-world” environment with added interactive data. Moreover, Building Information Modeling (BIM) was used as the data repository of the required building information. A pilot study was done to study the integration between SA, MAR, and BIM. InfoSPOT (Information Surveyed Point for Observation and Tracking) was developed as a low-cost solution that leverage current AR technology, showing that it is possible to take an idealized BIM model and integrate its data and 3D information in an MAR environment. A within-subjects user participation experiment and analysis was also conducted to evaluate the usability of the InfoSPOT in facility management related practices. The outcome of statistical analysis (a one-way repeated measure ANOVA) revealed that on average the mobile AR-based environment was relatively seamless and efficient for all participants in the study. Building on the InfoSPOT pilot study, an in-depth research was conducted in the area of healthcare facility management, integrating SA, MAR, and BIM to develop an AmI environment where facility mangers’ information requirement would be superimposed on their real-word view of the facility they maintain and would be interactively accessible through current mobile handheld technology. This AmI environment was compared to the traditional approach of conducting preventive and corrective maintenance using paper-based forms. The purpose of this part of the research was to investigate the hypothesis of “bringing 3D BIM models of building components in an AR environment and making it accessible through handheld mobile devices would help the facility managers to locate those components easier and faster compared to facility managers’ paper-based approach”. The result of this study shows that this innovative application of AR and integrating it with BIM to enhance the SA has the potential to improve construction practices, and in this case, facility management.Ph.D

Environmental impacts assessment on construction sites

Since construction is considered as one of the main sources of environmental pollution in the world, the level of knowledge and awareness of project participants, especially project managers, with regards to environmental impacts of construction processes needs to be enhanced. This paper aims to assess the most common environmental impacts due to the construction process in Malaysia. To achieve this aim, a structured interview was conducted with an expert panel group in Malaysia. Experts were invited to identify the frequency and severity of environmental impacts caused by construction processes in residential buildings. It was found that 'Transportation Resource', 'Noise Pollution', and 'Dust Generation with Construction Machinery' are the greatest environmental impacts in Malaysia respectively. The results of this study are useful for construction managers and other participants in construction sites to become aware of construction processes impacts on the environment

Impact of sustainable development education at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of education and training on promoting knowledge of sustainable living and engineering. This study was carried out during a sustainability workshop, which aimed to encourage students to cooperate in developing Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) as a sustainable campus. The data was collected through a survey to measure the level of knowledge and awareness of the students before and after attending the workshop. The collected data was evaluated based on the Kirkpatrick method and its levels of assessments namely attendance satisfaction and learning. The results showed significant differences on students’ knowledge, awareness, and attitudes toward sustainable living prior an after the course

Influence of Virtual Human Appearance Fidelity within Building Science Storytelling Educational Applications

Building science employs student-professional interactions to increase the learning and engagement of domain topics. Although these interactions are beneficial to students, labor shortages and automation trends will create barriers to expose students to professionals in the future. One solution is to utilize virtual situated learning contexts for students to experience simulated interactions with virtual professionals. Within these simulations, virtual humans are often used as a vehicle to preserve knowledge and deliver it to students. However, the impact of the fidelity of virtual human appearance on providing knowledge to the students within the building science domain remains unexplored. This paper presents a virtual reality (VR) educational system integrated with digital storytellers and grounded in the building science electrical career path context to explore how virtual human appearance fidelity affects student learning and engagement. A between-subject study was conducted with 42 construction management participants to explore the impact of 3 virtual human appearance fidelity conditions (realistic, modeled, and abstracted virtual human) in terms of student learning, social presence, virtual human persona factors, and topic interest. The findings of this study demonstrated that successful educational outcomes could be achieved with low virtual human appearance fidelity due to the lack of significant differences observed across experimental conditions. Furthermore, the study results did not detect significant differences in students\u27 engagement by increasing the virtual human appearance fidelity. However, students across all experimental conditions reported engagement increments in the topic learned. The increments in student engagement suggest that the virtual human\u27s age and gender are important factors to consider when designing educational interventions. These results contribute to the understanding of how to create virtual humans for building science educational interventions

Racial Disparities in the Construction Domain: A Systematic Literature Review of the U.S. Educational and Workforce Domain

Trends in the construction domain, educational enrollment, student graduation, student industry employment, and workforce retention demonstrate that minorities—Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans—are often excluded, segregated, or ignored in this domain. A systematic literature review (N = 68) was conducted to investigate the causes and effects of racial disparities produced by systemic racism in the educational and workforce domains of construction. Particularly, this paper focuses on exploring how racial disparities in construction impact minorities, the current state of the racial divide, the practices that perpetuate racial inequities, and the strategies currently used to prevent, in a sustainable manner, such practices. The results of this systematic literature search revealed that exclusionary practices and ideologies cause an underrepresentation of minorities in construction that directly affects employment and industry representation in the United States. Previous studies show that systemic racism in construction has been supported by meritocracy and colorblindness ideologies, creating an unwelcoming environment where racial minorities have difficulties identifying with the construction domain. Furthermore, systemic racism affects students after graduation from construction programs, as industry trends showcase issues with minorities joining or staying in the field. Although racial disparities caused by systemic racism are an existing issue in the education and workforce domains of construction, there are a rising number of publications that strive to understand how to sustainably increase diversity, equity, and the inclusion of racial minorities. An increasing number of available tools, such as anti-bias and awareness training programs, are being used as a sustainable practice in construction education and in the construction industry to mitigate the effects of systemic racism. Ultimately, this paper’s contribution centers on describing the “who”, “how”, and “what” regarding the effect of racial disparities in the construction domain, which reduce the number of minority professionals coming into and staying in the industry

iVisit – Practicing problem-solving in 360-degree panoramic site visits led by virtual humans

Construction professionals require to use problem-solving skills to resolve issues on projects. However, there are limited opportunities for students to practice problem-solving skills within real-world contexts. This research explored the use of iVisit – 360-degree panoramic site visits supported by virtual humans for learning problem-solving skills within difficult-to-reach construction locations. This study aimed to understand the effects of iVisit on student problem-solving skills learning using a comparative evaluation that contrasted paper-based and iVisit-based interventions. Study findings indicate that iVisit effectiveness varied depending on the methodological requirements of each situated activity. iVisit was found to significantly increase the student development of problem-solving skills during activities that require direct observation of site material properties and their spatial relationships. However, no significant differences were detected for enhancing student understanding of abstract knowledge and its relationship with site assemblies. It was also found that students with higher spatial visualization abilities performed better in problem-solving activities