Our guest for this edition of CIB in Conversation recorded in August 2021 was Abimbola Windapo, Professor of Construction Management at the Department of Construction Economics and Management, University of Cape Town. She has over 34 years of experience in teaching, research and practice in the construction industry, business organisations and projects. Her research is interdisciplinary and focuses on construction industry development, managing the business of construction and projects from a performance and practice perspective.
In a wide-ranging conversation we discussed: her background in the industry in Nigeria and how she moved into academia; the challenges of research to inform policy around affordable housing; the impact of the global pandemic on this research theme (particularly the materials supply chain); the value of CIB through its network, the World Building Congress in June 2022 and CIB task group TG81 on Global Construction Data, for which she was appointed Joint Coordinator in March 2021.
Abimbola had valuable advice for students and early career researchers (ECRs) to read widely and pay attention to what is going on in the world around them. Without understanding, an individual cannot imagine possibilities, frame the same problem in multi-dimensional ways, ask the right questions or challenge assumptions. Determination, diligence and discipline are key attributes. Her ‘Top Opportunity’ or challenge to policy-makers was to start with an understanding of housing occupants’ income levels and take into account potential subsidies when seeking to deliver sustainable affordable housing and other built environment.
