At its December 2 meeting, CIB’s Programme Committee approved Ellyn Lester as Joint Coordinator of CIB W102, the working Commission on Information and Knowledge Management in Building.
Lester is Associate Chair of the Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering Department at Stevens Institute of Technology. Jean Zu, Dean of the Schaefer School of Engineering and Science highlighted Ellyn’s qualifications.
“She is specifically suited to the Joint Coordinator position for W102 because of her research, which asks how mentorship programs can be improved to increase the transfer of knowledge in the built environment. Person-to-person transfer of knowledge, whether codified or tacit, is critical to the continued functioning of the architecture, engineering and construction industry.”
Jean Zu
Lester joints Dr. Subashini Suresh, University of Wolverhampton, as Joint coordinator of W102.
PERSONAL STATEMENT
“Make a difference,” is a personal mantra, that’s why I am excited to become a joint-coordinator for W102, the Information and Knowledge Management in Building commission, especially as the CIB embarks on the planning of the 22nd World Building Congress. The conference theme, Building our Future: Informing practice to enhance the lives of current and future generations, is particularly apropos for me as it aligns with my research as well as the commission itself.“
Ellyn Lester
I’ve had a deep abiding interest in knowledge sharing and information management throughout my career. While in industry, I became an ardent believer that each was critical to long-term, continuing success in the Built Environment. At first, this interest spurred the pursuit of secondary research on the subject, which led to the development of numerous presentations and seminars in professional associations, then guest lectures at several universities, and eventually to a full-time position in academia.
This interest has continued but has coalesced into a focus on mentoring as a path to tacit knowledge sharing as I am keenly aware of the extreme learning curves that emerging professionals face post-graduation. I’ve also “closed the loop” by sharing my research at industry conferences including the upcoming Engineering News Record (ENR) BuildTech 2021, resulting in my being awarded the 2020 Carol A. Kueker Construction Education Visionary Award by the National Association of Women in Construction.
With several new initiatives, it is an exciting time in CIB’s history, particularly for the commissions. In addition to updating the Research Roadmap and the Research Impact Reports, the opportunity to facilitate a special session or workshop for the World Building Congress that spurs growth is enticing, especially one that integrates with the board’s recent focus on early career researchers. Of course, much depends on the members of the commission as we must be a cohesive unit to make progress and propel our mutual research interests. I forward to working with Dr. Subashini Suresh and the members of the commission; please reach out if you’d like to chat.
Please contact CIB Secretariat directly: [email protected]
