Dr. Thais Alves

Thais Alves

Professor and AGC - Paul S. Roel Chair in Construction Engineering and Management
Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

SDSU

Email

Primary Email: [email protected]

Phone/Fax

Primary Phone: 619-594-8289

Building/Location

Education - 100-E

Website Links

Bio

Dr. Thais Alves is currently the AGC - Paul S. Roel Chair in Construction Engineering and Management at San Diego State University. For over 15 years, she has been teaching, advising students, researching and collaborating with construction companies towards the dissemination and implementation of lean especially in the field of production planning and control at construction sites.Before joining SDSU in 2009, Dr. Alves worked at Universidade Federal do Ceará (Fortaleza, Brazil) from 2006 to 2009.

Education

1997 B.S. Civil Engineering – Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Brazil

2000 Master’s in Civil Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil

2005 Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Engineering and Project Management Program

Areas of Specialization

Dr. Thais Alves, PhD, specializes in construction management and project-based systems, including the use of lean production to improve the performance of delivery systems, and how people organize and collaborate. She is engaged in improving Engineering education through the use of serious games and initiatives to broaden access and diversity in Engineering.

Awards & Honors

2021 Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Faculty Contributions to the University for 2021-2022. (SDSU "Monty Award")

2021 Construction Industry Institute Outstanding Academic Award.

2018 Outstanding Paper Award, Emerald 2018 Literati Awards. 
International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation. "Impacts of Residential Construction Defects on Customer Satisfaction." by Milion, Alves, Paliari.

2017 Best Paper Award at IGLC 25 in Heraklion, Greece -" Impact of Supplier Evaluation on Product Quality" by Alves, Desai, Needy, Hegwood, and Musick.

2016 Most Influential Faculty Award, Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

2015 Outstanding Faculty Adviser, San Diego State University

2012 Educator of the Year, CMAA National

2012 Electrical Industry Service Award, NECA San Diego

2011 Best Reviewer - IGLC19 (July -Lima, Peru)

Courses

CONE 520 - Environmentally Conscious Construction 
CONE 301 - Construction Ethics, Law, and Contracts 
CONE 101 - Construction & Culture 
CONE 102 - Fundamentals of Construction Management

Publications

Scala, N.M., Schiavoni, V., Olivieri, H., Seppänen, O., Alves, T.C.L., Liu, M. (2022). "Comparative Analysis of Planning with the Critical Path Method, Last Planner System, and Location-Based Techniques in Brazil, Finland. and the United States." Engineering Management Journal.  https://doi.org/10.1080/10429247.2022.2069981 

He, C., Liu, C., Alves T.C.L., Scala, N.M., and Hsiang, S.M. (2022) "Prioritizing collaborative scheduling practices based on their impact on project performance", Construction Management and Economics, 40:7-8, 618-637, DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2022.2048042

Scala, N.M., Liu, M., Alves, T.C.L., Schiavone, V., and Hawkins, D. (2022). "The gold standard: developing a maturity model to assess collaborative scheduling" Engineering, Construction, and Architectural Management, https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-07-2021-0609 

Milion, Raphael N., Alves, T.C.L.,  Paliari, J.C. and Liboni, L.H.B.  (2021). "CBA-Based Evaluation Method of the Impact of Defects in Residential Buildings: Assessing Risks towards Making Sustainable Decisions on Continuous Improvement Activities" Sustainability 13, no. 12: 6597. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126597

Abdel-Samad, M.; Calzo, J.P.; Felner, J.K.; Urada, L.; Verbyla, M.E.; Madanat, H.; Adams, B.E.; Alves, T.; Appleyard, B.; Chanin, J.; Flanigan, S.; Foad, H.; Ginsberg, M.; Higgins, M.; Ko, E.; Maher, K.; Mladenov, N.; Peattie, P.; Welsh, M.; Sleet, D. (2021). "Conceptualizing an Interdisciplinary Collective Impact Approach to Examine and Intervene in the Chronic Cycle of Homelessness." Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 18(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18042020 

Alves, T.C.L., Liu, M., Scala, N.M., Javanmardi, A. (2020). "Schedules and Schedulers: A Study in the U.S. Construction Industry." Engineering Management Journal. 32(3) https://doi.org/10.1080/10429247.2020.1738878 

Alves, T.C.L. (2020). "The 25th Anniversary Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction." Special Collection Announcement. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. 146(6): 02020001-1 - 02020001-2 https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001835

Alves, T.C.L., Neuman, Y., Walsh, K.D., Needy, K.L., and AlMaian, R. (2020) “Highly Effective Companies in Supplier Quality Surveillance Practices: A Quantitative Analysis.”  Construction Management and Economics, v.38, issue 3, DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2019.1590613)

Harris, B. N. and Alves, T. C.L. (2020). "Building Information Modeling and field operations: opportunities and challenges." Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering. 47(2): 153-164. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjce-2018-0415

Angelim, V.L., Alves, T.C.L., Lima, M.M.X., and Barros Neto, J.P. (2020). "Planejamento de Médio Prazo – Panorama de sua Aplicação na Construção Civil." Ambiente Construído, v.20, n.1, Jan/Mar 2020. ENTAC/Brasil. https://doi.org/10.1590/s1678-86212020000100364

Olivieri, H., Seppänen, O., Alves*, T., Scala, N., Liu, M., and Granja, A.D. (2019). "A survey comparing Critical Path Method, Last Planner System, and Location-Based techniques." Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE. Vol.145, Issue 12. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001644

Silveira, S.S., Alves, T.C.L. (2018). "Target Value Design Inspired Practices to Deliver Sustainable Buildings." Buildings, 8(9), 116; doi:10.3390/buildings8090116

Milion, R.N., Alves, T.C.L., Paliari, J.C. (2017). "Impacts of Residential Construction Defects on Customer Satisfaction." International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation. Vol.35, Issue 3, pp. 218-232. Outstanding Paper Award, Emerald 2018 Literati Awards.

Alves, T.C.L., Lichtig, W., Rybkowski, Z.C. (2017). “Implementing Target Value Design: Tools and Techniques to Manage the Process.” HERD: Health Environments Research and Design Journal. Vol. 10, Issue 3, 18-29

Service

  • AGC/CMAA Student Chapter (2010-current)
  • Women in Construction of SDSU (2019-Current)
  • Member, Steering Committee, Lean Construction Institute San Diego CoP (2010-current)