Workshop on The Future of Construction Engineering Research; Reston, Virginia; 28-29 April 2025

The objective of this workshop is to provide a forum for leading construction engineering scholars and professionals to identify the grand challenges in the Architectural Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. While the construction industry has very low investment in research it is undergoing a significant transformation driven by sustainability imperatives, environmental stressors, and evolving societal needs.

With the rise of robotics, artificial intelligence, digital twin technologies, and novel construction materials and manufacturing processes, the industry faces immense challenges and opportunities to catalyze and accelerate innovation.

The workshop seeks to deliver the following specific impacts to the research community: (1) provide insights into the current grand challenges and emerging trends in construction engineering research, (2) enhance understanding of the emerging research needs for different areas of expertise within and outside the construction engineering research community, (3) guide the construction engineering research community in aligning their research focus with current needs for the profession and for the society, and (4) provide a research roadmap to define future research priorities both for researchers and for funding agencies to guide construction engineering research. The outcome is broadly disseminated through workshop reports, research roadmaps, and journal publications.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.