Aminah Robinson Fayek

Biography

Specialty Editor, Cost and Schedule, for the ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management Associate Editor in Construction for the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering Member of the Faculty of Engineering Dean Selection Committee Member of NSERC Advisory Committee on University-Industry Grants (ACUIG) Member of the AWP (Advanced Work Packaging) Certification Board of Advisors.

Research Interest

Research Interests: developing hybrid intelligent decision support systems that incorporate fuzzy logic with other modeling techniques, such as artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms, and simulation. This research has significant potential to change the way in which we model construction operations and decisions, leading to a more accurate and realistic representation of the expert reasoning process and uncertainty involved. I am collaborating with Dr. Lee and Dr. Gellatly on a SSHRC Research Grant to study the impact of the social and cultural context on the absenteeism behaviour of construction personnel using fuzzy logic and system dynamics. I completed a multi-phase study with the Construction Sector Council and other Canadian researchers to benchmark the performance of the Canadian civil and infrastructure construction industry against a global standard. My current applications include: incorporating expert knowledge and subjective variables into integrated discrete event simulation models for schedule optimization and productivity improvement; identifying the most significant causes of labour productivity and performance deviations on major capital projects; studying the career paths that tradespeople follow in Alberta, to enhance on-the-job training; using fuzzy logic to develop a decision-support system for evaluating project- and contract-specific risks prior to providing construction bonds to contractors; exploring the impact of WorkFace Planning on the performance of construction projects; documenting state-of-the-art risk assessment and management techniques, and assessing their suitability for construction, in order to develop advanced risk assessment and management techniques and tools; developing a systematic approach to define the roles and responsibilities of various parties to a project and their associated competencies for different project delivery strategies to determine effective levels of owner project planning and controls and appropriate tools and techniques, based on different contracting strategies; developing an integrated Project Status Dashboard Tool to provide information on key performance indicators, and enable project management by exception.