Ibrahim S Odeh

Ibrahim S Odeh

Research Interest

Construction Engineering and Management

Professor Ibrahim Odeh is the Founding Director of the Global Leaders in Construction Management (GLCM) program at the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University. He is a unique combination of a strategist, academic, innovator, and entrepreneur. His work seamlessly merges the worlds of industry and academia, spans the global construction market, and provides leading construction firms with unique market insights; growth strategies; and advice on digital transformation and technological trends that are reshaping the construction industry. Companies that Odeh collaborated or worked with from an advisory perspective, consulting role, or research collaboration effort are: World Economic Forum, Turner Construction, Skanska, Parsons Corporation, The Vertex Companies, Dentons, AECOM, AI Engineers, and WGI. Odeh worked as an advisory committee member at the World Economic Forum on the “Future of Construction” project. In 2017, he also served for two years as an advisory board member at Financial Times - Future of Construction Summit. He sets on several advisory boards such as WGI Engineering, EnTech Engineering, GroupPMX,  Multi.Green, Black Buffalo, Big Sun Modular, AI Engineers, Flash Labs, and Tough Leaf. In 2021 Odeh was also appointed as an advisory board member at the GI Hub; in support of the G20 agenda, to connect the global infrastructure community and to share insights to facilitate delivery of G20 members’ economic, social and environmental outcomes through increased and improved infrastructure.

Odeh was also the first professor to introduce in Fall 2016 the first Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) to educate global learners in the area of Construction Management under Coursera platform. Number of learners registered for Odeh’s courses to-date reached over 250,000 from 190 countries with more than half a million global followers! His courses ranked third globally under the business category on Coursera from 2017 to 2019. Odeh also delivered several keynote presentations in different countries globally in the area of digital transformation and the future of the construction industry such as Skanska ConTech 2021; the 1st Smart Construction Tech & Safety Expo in Korea, and similar talks in other world class events in several countries such as Dublin-Ireland, Mumbai-India, Cartagena-Colombia, and London-UK. Odeh won several awards and recognitions such as Columbia University prestigious Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching; A top honor presented to only five recipients from nearly 1,000 nominations. He was also named Top 20 Under 40 by Engineering News Records and Top 40 Under 40 by Consulting-Specifying Engineer. Odeh received his PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as he holds an MBA degree.

  • Founding Director – Global Leaders in Construction Management – Department of Civil Engineering – Columbia University, SEP 2011 – Present
  • Advisory Committee Member – World Economic Forum – Switzerland, MAY 2015 – Present 
  • Consultant – Skanska Inc. – New York, MAY 2014 – Present
  • Consultant – HAKS – New York, FEB 2017 – Present
  • Consultant – Dentons – New York, JAN 2016 – AUG 2016
  • Advisor – STV Inc. – New York, JAN 2012 – MAY 2012
  • Global Real Estate Developer – JPMorgan Chase & Co., New York, MAY – AUG 2008 
  • World Economic Forum – Expert Network
  • Smart City Works (Accelerator) – Advisory Board
  • CG/LA Inc. (www.cg-la.com) – Advisory Board
  • Columbia University Middle East Research Center – Faculty Steering Committee
  • AAAEA (www.aaaea-tristate.com) – Board of Trustees
  • AECOM Arabia Academy – Advisory Board
  • BADER for Entrepreneurship in Jordan – Review Committee
  • American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) – Member
  • Jordanian Engineers Syndicate – Member 
  • Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching Nominee; Finalist 11 from among 700 nominations and 5,000 faculty members, 2016.
  • Columbia University, Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award, School of Engineering, Columbia University, 2014.
  • Arab American Association of Engineers and Architects Scholarship Award, Chicago, Illinois, 2009
  • Arab American Association of Engineers and Architects Scholarship Award, Chicago, Illinois, 2008
  • Teaching/Research Assistantship and Tuition Scholarship, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005 to 2009 
  • “Eight ways to win the fight for talent in construction” (https://futureofconstruction.org/blog/eight-ways-to-win-the-fight-for-talent-in-construction/)
  • “Shaping the Future of Construction: Insights to redesign the industry” (http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Shaping_Future_Construction.pdf)
  • “Shaping the Future of Construction: Inspiring innovators redefine the industry” (http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Shaping_the_Future_of_Construction_Inspiring_Innovators_redefine_the_industry_2017.pdf)
  •  “Shaping the Future of Construction: A Breakthrough in Mindset and Technology” (http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Shaping_the_Future_of_Construction_full_report__.pd)
  • Fitch, G.; Odeh, I.; Kautz, F; and Ibbs, W. (2017) “SD Models for the Valuation of Real Options in P3 Concession Project Agreement” Journal of Infrastructure Systems, Under Review.
  • Antunes, R.; González, V.; Walsh, K; Rojas, O.; O'Sullivan, M.; Odeh, I. (2017) “Benchmarking Project-Driven Production In Construction Using Productivity Function: Capacity And Cycle Time” ASCE Journal of Construction Engr. & Management, Under Review.
  • Asgari, S., Kandil, A., and Odeh, I. (2016) “Impact of Considering Need for Work and Risk on Performance of Construction Contractors: An Agent-Based Approach” Journal of Automation in Construction, 2016.
  • Fitch, G., Odeh, I., and Kandil, A. (2016) “Employing a System-of-Systems Approach to Water Management in The Shale Gas Value Chain” International Conference on Smart Infrastructure and Construction, Cambridge, England.
  • Moran, R. and Odeh, I. (2016) “Design Build Mega Bridge Projects in New York and Best Practices in Procurement” ASCE Construction Institute, Construction Research Conference.
  • Asgari, S., Kandil, A., and Odeh, I. (2016) “Optimal Risk Attitude for Construction Contractors in Competitive Bidding Environments” ASCE Construction Institute, Construction Research Conference.
  • Fitch, G., Odeh, I., and Kandil, A. (2016) “Planning and Cost Control of Air Quality Control Systems for Clean Coal Power Generation” ASCE Construction Institute, Construction Research Conference.
  • Fitch, G.; Odeh, I.; and Ibbs, W. (2015) “Economic Sustainability of DBO Water Based on Wastewater Projects in the U.S.: Three Case Studies” ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 2015.
  • Asgari, S., Song, X., and Odeh, I. (2013). “Introducing the Concept of Green Performance Bond And Its Application in Managing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions in Construction Projects”, The 4th Construction Specialty Conference, CSCE 2013, Montréal, Canada.
  • Hassan, M., Odeh, I., and El-Rayes, K. (2010) “Glare and Light Characteristics of Conventional and Balloon Lighting Systems” Submitted to the Transportation Research Board 2010 Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., January 10-14, 2010.
  • Hassan, M., Odeh, I., and El-Rayes, K., (2010). “Glare and Light Characteristics of Conventional and Balloon Lighting Systems” Submitted to the Transportation Research Board 2010 Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., January 10-14, 2010.
  • Elghamrawy, T., El-Rayes, K. , Liu, L. , and Odeh, I., (2010). “Analysis of Injury and Fatal Crashes in Highway Construction Zones.” Proceedings of the ASCE Construction Research Congress, Banff, Alberta, Canada, May 8-11, 2010.
  • Odeh, I., El-Rayes, K., and Liu, L. (2009) “Field Experiments to Evaluate and Control Light Tower Glare in Nighttime Work Zones.” the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, American Society of Civil Engineers, September 2009.