c4SMC Research Day September 2019

Meriton International Fellow Associate Professor Helena Lidelöw (opens in a new window) joined the Centre this September. The Centre Research Day was organised on 11th September 2019 at the Kingswood Campus as a part of series of events organised coinciding with her visit,. The event showcased current research progress to the participants and created a conversation on Modern Construction, Blockchain and Research Methodology. It was an exciting yet knowledge intensive session for the Centre researchers and the academic staff who took part in presenting the research projects as well as the valuable panel discussions.

There were two panel discussions on the day, one focussing on Modern Construction and the other focussing on Blockchain driven Sustainability. Among the many insights gained during these sessions were, the point raised by Professor Marton on top down and bottom up management styles was insightful. Associate Professor Sean mentioned that government support in countries such as China and Singapore reveals top down approach whereas Australian construction sector is self-driven by contractors showing a bottom up approach. Professor Marton added how Offsite construction which comes under Modern Construction helps in creating vertically integrated supply chains. Further, talking from her own experience Associate Professor Helena Lidelöw mentioned how Sweden was compelled to produce buildings offsite due to the extreme weather and time constrains.

During the second panel discussion on Blockchain driven sustainability, Professor Perera raised the argument that the future of sustainability needs to be blockchain driven, specially to create a platform for waste trading and carbon emission reduction in the construction industry. Dr. Zhang emphasised on the fact how zero waste can be achieved through constant recycling, reusing and reducing. This was further elaborated by Dr. Senaratne indicating how knowledge management plays a vital role in disseminating these research findings to the fellow researchers, industry as well as the general public. The research day created food for thought, allowing the participants to be more critical about their current research activities.