Dr. Syed M. Ahmed is Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Construction Management at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina USA. Dr. Ahmed received his Ph.D. in 1993 and his MSCE in 1989 from Georgia Institute of Technology majoring in Construction Engineering & Management, with a minor in Industrial Engineering and Management Science. He also holds an undergraduate degree of BSCE from University of Engineering & Technology in Pakistan (1984). Dr. Ahmed has over 30 years of international experience in teaching, research and consulting in Pakistan, Hong Kong, USA, Mexico, and Jamaica. His areas of interest/expertise are construction scheduling, quality and risk management, project controls, construction safety, construction procurement, and construction education and information technology. He has generated substantial external support and revenue from various funding agencies including United States Agency for International Development, US Department of Defense, and Florida Department of Education and through his international conferences. He is the author of four books and has also published extensively (over 150 publications) in international journals and conferences in his areas of expertise. Dr. Ahmed is currently on the editorial board of more than 6 international journals and serves as the Associate Editor of ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering & Management and the Associate Editor of the Built Environment Project & Asset Management (BEPAM) Journal. Dr. Salman Azhar is a J.E. Wilborn Endowed Professor and Graduate Program Chair in the McWhorter School of Building Science at Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama. He has more than 20 years of research, teaching and construction industry experience by working in the USA, Hong Kong, Thailand and Pakistan. Dr. Azhar’s research areas are Building Information Modeling and Advanced Visualization Technologies, High performance buildings, Construction safety and Construction education. His research projects have been funded by the USAID, US Department of State, Construction Industry Institute (CII), National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), the Alabama State Licensing Board for General Contractors, and several construction firms in the Southeast USA. He has written a book entitled “Data Warehousing in Construction Organizations: Concepts, Architecture and Implementation”, co-edited thirteen conference proceedings and published more than 125 papers in refereed journals and conferences. His five research papers received the Best Paper Award in international conferences held in the South Africa, Jordan, Finland, UK, and USA in 2018, 2017, 2016, 2013, and 2012 respectively. His publications received over 4,000 citations. Dr. Azhar is the past Associate Editor of the International Journal of Construction Education and Research, USA and Editorial Board Member of ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering. He received the Auburn University’s Outstanding Faculty award in 2012, Building Science Outstanding Researcher Award in 2016, 2011 and 2009, Excellence in Teaching Award in 2014, and Excellence in Service award in 2019 and 2017. He also received the Outstanding Researcher Award from the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) in 2015 and AIT Distinguished Alumni Award in 2017.Ms. Amelia Day Saul, MS, LRT/CTRS is a PhD student working in the Department of Construction Management as a graduate assistant at East Carolina University. She began working with Dr. Syed M. Ahmed in 2017 and since then she has worked on various research papers under his supervision. She reviewed papers for the Construction in the 21st Century Conference in 2018 and 2019. She also has experience in helping to teach the research methods and capstone courses for the Masters of Construction Management Program. Her research interests include the integration of stress management techniqueswith individuals to reduce various mental health symptoms such as stress, anxiety and depression. Her current area of research is related to the use of biofeedback with individuals in drug and substance abuse treatment to reduce cravings, anxiety, and depression symptoms. Her work as a graduate assistant in the Department of Construction Management has allowed her to gain insight into a new field. In the future, she hopes to be able to integrate her interests in helping to improve individual’s psychological health with construction management.
