Ph.D. in Architecture–Engineering–Construction Management

The Ph.D. in Architecture–Engineering–Construction Management (PhD-AECM) program is jointly offered by the School of Architecture and the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. 

The PhD-AECM degree program is intended for practitioners, researchers, and educators in engineering, architecture, construction management, and other professionals in the building industry who wish to be pioneers as effective decision makers who can positively impact economic, environmental, and social aspects of the built environment through advanced management strategies and technologies. The nominal length of the program is five years. Advanced standing during the admissions process can alter the expected time period.

Please feel free to contact Track Chair Joshua D. Lee with questions about the PhD-AECM program.

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The first two years are intended for the tooling up of candidates to undertake research in an academic setting and their intended areas of research by taking classes, participating in research projects, selecting their advisory committee members, completing their "game plan" and taking the qualifier exam. This exam is administered by the candidate’s advisory committee and has two parts: written and oral. Candidates take courses from the MSAECM program tailored to their direction of research and background knowledge as determined through conversations with their principal advisor. See the curriculum below for a checklist of subjects to be covered. For additional and up-to-date information on these and other course offerings (course descriptions, schedules, instructors, etc.) visit the Schedule of Classes (SOC) webpage.

The third year of the Ph.D. program is devoted to the development of the Ph.D. dissertation proposal based on the work completed in the first two years. In the fourth year, the proposal is publicly defended and work on the dissertation commences. In the fifth year, the dissertation work is completed and publicly defended. Approvals of these milestones are judged by the candidate’s advisory committee and approved by the Carnegie Mellon Architecture Graduate Committee.

For details and regulations about the Game Plan, Qualification, Proposal and Dissertation processes, as well as additional details and regulations, view the Ph.D. Student Handbook on the Student Resources webpage.

The PhD-AECM curriculum is customized based on the experience and needs of individual students. Please contact Track Chair Joshua D. Lee with questions about the Ph.D. curriculum.

View the PhD-AECM Curriculum

PhD-AECM Curriculum 2021 & Earlier

APPLY FOR PHD-AECM

PhD-AECM Dissertation Topics

Current Students

Giles, Aftyn. (Expected May 2028). A Framework for Energy Efficient Retrofits. Committee: Erica Cochran Hameen (Chair).

Netser, Yael. (Expected May 2027). Ethics of Applied Transformative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Architectural Practice. Committee: Erica Cochran Hameen (Chair), Pingbo Tang, and Dafna Fisher Gewirtzman.

Afshar Bakeshloo, Tannaz. (Expected May 2027). Enhancing Circularity Through Better Deconstruction: A Case-Based and LCA-Driven Framework for Material Recovery Assessment. Committee: Joshua D. Lee (Co-Chair), Azadeh O. Sawyer (Co-Chair), Erica Cochran Hameen, and Melissa Bilec.

Ken-Opurum, Waku. (Expected August 2026). Visualising the Breath of a Region: A Decolonial Transdisciplinary Praxis Exploring the Nexus of Air Quality, Health, and Community Engagement in the Niger Delta Through Art and Environmental Griotship. Committee: Erica Cochran Hameen (Chair), Richard Nisa, Kristin Hughes, Kristen Kurland, and Ralph T. Muehleisen.

Murray, Joseph. (Expected August 2026). Knowledge Engineering Approaches for Adaptive Reuse: Decision Support Systems for Community Transitions. Committee: Joshua D. Lee (Chair), Daniel Cardoso Llach, and Donald Coffelt.

Pathak, Nihar. (Expected August 2026). Integrating Post-Occupancy Evaluation with Life Cycle Approaches: A Decision-Support Framework for Enhancing Indoor Environmental Quality. Committee: Erica Cochran Hameen (Co-Chair), Joshua D. Lee, and Kushagra Varma.

Priyadarshini, Shalini. (Expected December 2025). SETU – Safety in Excavation and Trenching for yoU: A training and decision making for worker safety in excavation and trenching operations in construction. Committee: Erica Cochran Hameen (Chair), Burcu Akinci, John Mendeloff, and Shailendra Singh.

Completed Dissertations

Varma, Kushagra. (2024). A 4D Interactive Carbon Emissions Dashboard: A Visualization and Assessment Tool for Urban Building Environmental Impact. Committee: Erica Cochran Hameen (Chair), Kristen Kurland, Peter Scupelli, and Ellyn A. Lester.

Saadatifar, Sanaz. (2024). Occupant-Centric Digital-Twin: An interactive real-time display, influencing human perception factor in thermal satisfaction decisions. Committee: Azadeh O. Sawyer (Chair), Daragh Byrne, and Pingbo Tang.

Swarup, Lipika. (2023). Combined Affects of Project Priority and Efficiency Factors on Project Outcomes in a Group of Multiple Projects. Committee: Erica Cochran Hameen (Chair), Matthew Mehalik, Peerasit Patanakul, and Sinem Mollaoglu.

Ken-Opurum, Bobuchi. (2022). Re-HOUSED Decision Support Toolkit: Promoting Flood and Heat Stress Resilience in Self-build Housing — A Coastal Nigeria Case Study. Committee: Erica Cochran Hameen (Chair), Joshua D. Lee, and Jared Cohon.

Muñoz Muñoz, Alejandra. (2021). A Tool for Sustainable Residential Water Management. Committee: Ramesh Krishnamurti (Chair), Ömer Akin, David Dzombak, and Jared Cohon.

Ben-Alon, Rachel "Lola". (2020). Natural Buildings: Integrating Earthen Building Materials and Methods Into Mainstream Construction. Committee: Vivian Loftness (Chair), Kent Harries, and Erica Cochran Hameen.

Eldaher, Nizar. (2019). Green Storm-water Infrastructure Strategy Generation and Assessment Tool For Site Scale and Urban Planning. Committee: Erica Cochran Hameen, Jared Cohon, Chris T. Hendrickson, and Ömer Akin.

Awomolo, Olaitan. (2017). Exploring Communication in Multidisciplinary Building Design Teams. Committee: Ramesh Krishnamurti, Ömer Akin, Molly Wright Steenson, and Erica Cochran Hameen.

Biswas, Tajin N. A. (2015). Towards a Framework for Supporting Sustainable Building Design: A Case Study of Two Credits Over Evolving Rating Standards. Committee: Ramesh Krishnamurti, Burcu Akinci, and Cliff Davidson.

Bello, Mustapha A. (2012). Minimizing Impediments to Design for Construction Safety (DFCS) Implementation on Capital Projects. Committee: Ömer Akin, Burcu Akinci, and Chimay Anumba.