Research Background and Prospects
My research interests broadly lie within construction management, with a particular emphasis on understanding and improving construction safety, project performance, and managerial decision-making. My research has developed around three complementary areas: virtual, digital, AI, and ergonomic approaches to construction safety and workforce performance; AI-driven project control and decision support; and the human, organizational, legal, financial, and educational foundations of construction practice. Although these areas address different dimensions of construction management, they are connected by a common objective: to better understand the complex interaction between people, technology, organizations, and project environments, and to translate this understanding into safer, more effective, and better-informed construction practices. Looking forward, I aim to further integrate these perspectives, particularly by combining emerging digital and artificial intelligence technologies with human-centered and evidence-based approaches to support decision-making and improve construction project outcomes.
Virtual Construction Safety Training
This research theme focuses on the development, application, and evaluation of virtual technologies for construction safety training. Originating from my Ph.D. research, it investigates how immersive and interactive virtual environments can provide workers and construction professionals with realistic representations of hazardous site conditions without exposing them to actual risks. By enabling users to experience, identify, and respond to simulated hazards, virtual safety training provides an experiential alternative to conventional classroom- and instruction-based approaches. The research particularly examines the potential of these environments to enhance hazard recognition, safety knowledge, situational awareness, learning engagement, and retention, while also exploring how training design influences learning effectiveness. Ultimately, this research seeks to understand how virtual training can contribute to the transfer of safety knowledge into practice, promote safer decision-making and behavior, and support improved occupational safety performance in construction environments.
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Visual Ergonomics, Peripheral Vision, and Eye Health
This research theme focuses on the role of human visual capabilities and visual ergonomics in construction safety, with particular emphasis on peripheral vision and hazard perception. The theme emerged from my Ph.D. research involving eye-tracking and visual attention, which primarily examined central vision within the narrow fixation area. However, construction workers continuously interact with dynamic environments in which potentially hazardous events may occur outside their direct line of sight, making peripheral vision an important component of situational awareness and early hazard detection. Building on this perspective, my research investigates how visual capabilities and limitations interact with workplace conditions—particularly factors such as illumination and the visual characteristics of the working environment—to influence workers’ ability to perceive hazards. The broader objective is to establish a more human-centered understanding of construction safety by identifying and optimizing visual conditions that support effective hazard perception, reduce vision-related risks, protect visual and occupational health, and ultimately contribute to safer construction environments.
Performance, Digital Technologies, and AI in Construction Safety
This research theme focuses on the transition from reactive safety practices toward performance-driven, data-informed, and predictive approaches to construction safety management. Traditional safety management often relies on lagging indicators, such as accident and injury records, which provide information only after adverse events have occurred. In contrast, this research explores how measurable safety performance indicators, digital technologies, and artificial intelligence can be integrated to identify emerging risks before they result in incidents. Digital technologies enable the systematic collection, monitoring, and analysis of safety-related data from construction operations, while AI-based methods offer opportunities to recognize patterns, predict potential safety risks, and support proactive interventions. Particular attention is given to transforming heterogeneous safety and project data into actionable safety intelligence that can assist managers in evaluating performance and making timely decisions. The broader objective is to contribute to the development of proactive and predictive safety management systems in which data and emerging technologies complement professional judgment, ultimately enabling more informed decision-making and improved construction safety performance.
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Risk-Informed Decision Frameworks in Construction
This research theme focuses on the development of structured and risk-informed decision frameworks for construction project management. The theme emerged as a natural continuation of my master’s research, which highlighted that effective risk management requires more than the identification of individual risks; it requires systematic approaches for translating risk and uncertainty information into managerial decisions. Building on this perspective, my research investigates how diverse sources of project risk can be systematically identified, assessed, structured, and incorporated into decision-making processes throughout the project lifecycle. Particular attention is given to developing frameworks that enhance the transparency, consistency, and traceability of decisions while integrating risk considerations into project planning, control, and management practices. Rather than treating risk management as an isolated project function, this research views it as an integral component of evidence-based decision-making under uncertainty. The broader objective is to support construction professionals in making more informed and defensible decisions, ultimately contributing to improved project performance and outcomes.
AI-Based Predictive Project Control
This research theme focuses on the application of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to support proactive construction project control. My interest in this area emerged from my professional experience at ENKA, where I observed that project risks and emerging problems were often recognized only after deviations in schedule, cost, or resource performance had already occurred. This experience motivated me to explore how AI-based predictive models can be integrated with risk-informed decision frameworks to shift project control from retrospective assessment toward earlier and more proactive intervention. My research therefore investigates how historical and real-time project data can be used to identify patterns, anticipate time, cost, productivity, and resource-related deviations, and provide early indications of potential performance problems. Rather than treating prediction as an end in itself, particular emphasis is placed on translating predictive outputs into actionable information for project managers, enabling timely corrective and preventive actions. The broader objective is to develop more forward-looking, data-driven, and risk-aware approaches to project control, ultimately improving managerial decision-making and project performance before emerging problems become critical.
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Human and Organizational Dimensions of Construction Practice
This research theme focuses on the human and organizational factors that influence the management and performance of construction projects. My interest in this area originated from organizational and planning challenges I observed during my professional experience at ENKA and subsequently evolved through the analytical and statistical approaches developed during my master’s and doctoral studies. Construction projects are inherently human-centered and organizationally complex systems, in which project outcomes depend not only on technical planning and control but also on how individuals behave, communicate, lead, collaborate, and make decisions within organizational structures. Building on this perspective, my research examines factors such as leadership, individual and team behavior, organizational dynamics, communication, collaboration, and managerial practices, and investigates their relationships with workforce and project performance. Particular attention is given to understanding these relationships through empirical and quantitative approaches, allowing complex behavioral and organizational mechanisms to be systematically examined. The broader objective is to develop a better understanding of the human and organizational mechanisms underlying construction performance and to translate this knowledge into more effective management practices and improved project outcomes.
Legal and Financial Context of Construction Practice
This research theme focuses on the legal, contractual, financial, and institutional conditions that shape construction project management and performance. My interest in this area developed from my professional experience at ENKA, where I observed that many project-level risks and managerial challenges cannot be fully understood through technical or organizational factors alone, but are often rooted in contractual arrangements, financial constraints, regulatory requirements, and institutional practices. Building on this perspective, my research examines how contracts and regulatory frameworks define responsibilities, allocate risks, and influence project delivery and decision-making, as well as how financial conditions and institutional structures affect the behavior and choices of project participants. This theme therefore complements my research on the human and organizational dimensions of construction by considering the broader governance environment within which individuals and organizations operate. The overall objective is to develop a more comprehensive understanding of how legal, financial, contractual, and institutional mechanisms interact with project management processes, ultimately contributing to more effective governance, better-informed decisions, and improved construction project outcomes.
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Educational Foundations of Construction Practice
This research theme focuses on the educational approaches that shape the knowledge, skills, and professional competencies required for effective construction practice. My interest in this area emerged from exploring how highly engaging and experiential learning methods can be integrated into a broader educational framework for construction and engineering education. Recognizing that construction professionals must combine technical knowledge with problem-solving, decision-making, collaboration, and practical judgment, my research examines how different teaching strategies, training models, and learning environments can support the development of these competencies. Particular attention is given to active, experiential, technology-enhanced, and practice-oriented learning approaches that bridge the gap between theoretical education and the complexities of real-world construction projects. The broader objective is to contribute to more effective and engaging construction education by developing and evaluating learning approaches that better prepare future professionals to address the technical, managerial, and human challenges of construction practice.