Wes Collins Wins 2015 Outstanding CII Graduate Research Assistant Award

Wes Collins, a new faculty member in the McWhorter School of Building Sciences, won the 2015 Outstanding CII Graduate Research Assistant award at the Annual Construction Industry Institute (CII) Conference held in Boston, in August. The award recognized his work with CII Research Team 314, which developed the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI) for Small Industrial Projects.

A panel of seven members from CII, academia, and several CII member organizations chose Collins to receive the award. The citation recognized the effort that Collins had invested, and his well-rounded approach that added immense value to the research effort. The panel noted that his thorough and speedy review of the literature and quick acclimation to the CII research model enabled the team to develop the new PDRI tool within six months of their kickoff meeting.

The work with the research team was also the focus of Collins’ dissertation/Ph.D. research at Arizona State University, which he completed in August 2015.