Mary Hope McQuiston, Vice President of Autodesk Education Experiences, and Dr. Anwar Alroomi, Associate Professor and Interim Chair of Civil Engineering and Construction Management at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), discuss the transformation of the construction management field and changes on the horizon for the industry overall.
The construction industry has made incredible strides to increase diversity, but there’s still a long road ahead. One key strategy is to recruit more female and minority students during their middle school and high school years. Over the last 10 years, the diversity of CSUN’s program has more than doubled, from 86 to 205 students. Dr. Alroomi attributes this success to early recruitment efforts, helping students think beyond the typical “labor” definition of construction and shining a light on the management side instead.
Dr. Alroomi also shares how new technology such as Autodesk Forma will transform early-stage decision-making for construction.
"I can see the potential on how machine learning can help us make better decisions,” she says. “During early phases in construction, changes are more effective. Once you start construction, changes are very costly and sometimes you cannot even implement those changes. That's why software like Forma is going to be very beneficial to use and adapt in order to make early decisions on how to have sustainable buildings with the least cost.”
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