Too good to be true? Fred Sherratt 29th March

President’s seminar series – “Distinguished Women Researchers in the Built Environment”

11:30am Eastern time

Too good to be true? what technology could really do for construction management, and why we should care

Technology is going to save the world! And therefore, by extension, it’s also going to save the construction industry! Unleashing the awesome power of technology will change the ways we manage construction projects forever! Putting the inevitable hyperbole to one side for a moment, construction management is certainly changing – through platform technologies able to reintegrate our fragmented supply chains, through the IoT enabling constant monitoring and measurement of construction work in real life, and through the use of novel technical tools such as 4/5D BIM and block-chain that can take the human strain out of management.

But is all this actually all that awesome? Dr. Sherratt will lift the lid on the growing use of technology for construction management, illuminating what we can learn from history (by the way, stuff like this has all been done before) and highlighting what potential new problems and challenges technology can bring to the practice of construction management. Unashamedly partisan, this presentation will make you think differently about construction technologies, providing a much needed critical voice amongst the technocratic optimism that currently dominates our industry.

Biography

Dr. Fred Sherratt MCIOB C.BuildE MCABE AMICE has over ten years of experience working on construction sites for a large main contractor in the UK, as well as over ten years of experience as an academic working in UK universities. Her last academic position in the UK was Professor of Construction Sociology, and she is now an Associate Director of Research at the Construction Safety Research Alliance based at the University of Colorado, USA.

Fred’s research has always prioritized construction workers with a focus on their occupational safety, health, and wellbeing, and she endeavors to undertake impactful and, most importantly, valuable projects, able to support and help develop industry improvements that bring positive changes to practice. Fred is currently joint coordinator of CIB W099 (safety, health, and wellbeing in construction) and has a side hustle interest in technology and its applications in our industry because she doesn’t think some of it is all that awesome.