As part of a month-long research visit to the USA, Theo Haupt the CIB Program Director and Adjunct Professor at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa spent time at Purdue University which is the host of the CIB World Building Congress in May 2025. While at the university, Theo met with Mark Hastak the CIB President and other key members of the academic staff. He delivered a presentation on Construction Management in South Africa to a group of undergraduate and graduate students, and rounded off his talk by sharing the benefits of belonging to CIB and encouraged the students to actively engage with the various opportunities offered by CIB. He consulted with an eager and enthusiastic group of graduate students and discussed and gave input into their various PhD research projects.
to Purdue students
The second stop on his visit took Theo to East Carolina University where he met with Mike Behm his predecessor at CIB. He made 2 presentations to undergraduate students on Construction health and safety in South Africa. The presentations were followed by lively discussions about the differences between the USA and South Africa. He promoted involvement in CIB as a platform to network with other students across the world. He met with the Department Chair, ‘TJ’ Mohammed and other faculty over lunch, where he encouraged ECU to join CIB.
After leaving North Carolina Theo travelled to Gainesville in Florida to spend time at the ME Rinker Sr. School of Construction Management at the University of Florida, which is one of the leading construction programs in the world. Theo had earned his PhD at UF and the return to the university was both nostalgic and inspirational due to the impressive developments in the research being done in the school. He met with Chimay Anumba the Dean of the College of Design, Construction and Planning who is and has been a strong supporter of CIB for many years. A feature of Theo’s one-on-one meetings with several of the faculty was their surprising lack of knowledge of and involvement with CIB especially since the late Jimmie Hinze had been a pioneer at UF in establishing W099 the group focusing on Safety and Health in Construction, and which is still one of the most active commissions of CIB. He encouraged UF to reinvigorate their involvement with CIB and has already put the faculty in touch with Goh and Sina to make this happen.
From the University of Florida Theo travels to the University of Wyoming before concluding his visit with trips to various construction projects in California to observe the use of the latest technologies in construction.
