Framework for Assessing the Impact of Construction Research and Development on the Construction Industry and Academia Ahmed Osama Daoud 1 ; Aminah Robinson Fayek, M.ASCE 2 ; and Zhaoxin Fu 3 1 MSc Candidate and Graduate Research Assistant, Hole School of Construction Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Alberta, 7- 203 Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering, 9211 116 St. NW, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 1H9. E-mail: aodaoud@ualberta.ca 2 Professor, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Strategic Construction Modeling and Delivery, Ledcor Professor in Construction Engineering, Hole School of Construction Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Alberta, 7-203 Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering, 9211 116 St. NW, Edmonton, AB, T6G 1H9, Canada. E-mail: aminah.robinson@ualberta.ca 3 Summer Intern, Hole School of Construction Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Alberta, 7-203 Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering, 9211 116 St. NW, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 1H9. Abstract Academia and the construction industry are linked by a strong collaborative relationship through research and development (R&D); both have expectations for outcomes and impacts as incentives to maintain this relationship. However, assessing outcomes and measuring impacts is often challenging. To address this challenge, an evaluation framework for assessing the impact of construction R&D on the construction industry and academia is proposed in this paper. This framework consists of a “logic model” and an “evaluation plan” to define and evaluate construction R&D impacts on both the construction industry and academia. The logic model helps to define the relationship between academia and the construction industry in terms of inputs, outputs, and outcomes and impacts; this relationship is expressed using “if-then” rules to relate the inputs to outputs, and the outputs to outcomes and impacts. The evaluation plan helps determine the fulfillment degree of the expected outcomes and impacts from the perspectives of both the construction industry and academia. The proposed evaluation framework will help quantify and assess the impact of construction R&D on the construction industry and on academia so that the inputs of both parties can be better used to deliver the outcomes each expects. INTRODUCTION Academia and industry are linked by a strong relationship based on collaboration in research and development (R&D) projects (Lee and Win 2004). Industry seeks advantages including: innovative research to improve their practices, the development and implementation of new technologies, the ability to gain technical knowledge and expertise, training of their personnel, and the opportunity to Construction Research Congress 2016 78 © ASCE Construction Research Congress 2016 Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA LIBRARY on 06/01/16. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.