The challenge of Construction Management & Engineering (4TU)
Complex, innovative and multidisciplinary projects in a dynamic environment are calling for a new breed of manager able to competently combine engineering and organisation skills. Today's construction industry is changing fast. New techniques, shifting roles, complex logistics and globalization are only some of the factors affecting the character and management of projects in the building industry.
Focus in Delft
At TUD, the programme focuses on two aspects: 1) process and system innovation in the building industry in general and 2) the ‘Integral Design Concept’, which has been developed within the Infrastructure Design and Management section within the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences. There are six main research areas within this: stakeholder participation, tendering and outsourcing, supply chain integration, value creation, dynamic life cycle support and asset management. Topics that are characteristic of TUD include the Asset management, Project Management and Legal & Finance.
Focus in Eindhoven
The master’s degree program Construction Management and Engineering (CME) is offered by the Built Environment (BE) and Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences (IE&IS) departments, with their distinctive research-driven and project-oriented approach to education. This interdepartmental program focuses on the management and implementation of information processes with an emphasis on smart cities and smart buildings. CME graduation projects are often executed in collaboration with industry partners, engineering offices or government institutes. The final graduation project has a clear scientific signature, and is grounded in societal challenges such as climate change, energy transition, circular economy, digital twinning, etc. In particular, it looks at:
- City Information Management (CIM): considering the emerging field of urban informatics (including geospatial data, sensor data, 3D city data, etc.), creating virtual representations of cities with real-time connections to the physical world and its inhabitants, catering to various stakeholders such as municipalities, citizens, architects, urban planners, transport engineers, and construction companies, to make informed decisions using urban analytics in the context of smart cities.
- Building Information Management (BIM): handling and managing building information throughout the building life cycle, improving the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, operation, and demolishment process, using both static data (including building models, point clouds) and dynamic data (including sensor data, IoT) allowing for the creation of digital twins of buildings and its occupants, and real-time data processing employing AI technology in the context of smart buildings.
Focus in Twente
At the University of Twente, the 4TU Master’s programme in CME focuses on the management of the design and construction process in the construction industry (buildings and infrastructure). Students gain thorough knowledge of both the engineering and organizational aspects of this intricate process. This combination is essential to mastering current practices in complex, innovative and multidisciplinary projects in dynamic environments.
The UT approach centres on the market and organizational environment and the organization of the construction industry and the management of the various stages of the design and building process. Keywords at UT include: cooperation through the entire lifecycle, sustainability, helicopter view, stakeholder approach and engaged scholarship. The emphasis is on designing, managing and organizing the design and building process. Courses that are characteristic of UT include the following: BIM & 5D Planning, Procurement Strategies and Tendering, Supply Chain Management and ICT and Circular Systems Engineering.