Faculty and students from Purdue Polytechnic's Bowen School of Construction received multiple honors and led industry discussions at the 2026 Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) International Annual Conference, hosted recently by California Polytechnic State University.
Deniz Besiktepe, an assistant professor in the Bowen School of Construction, received the Best Journal Paper award of 2025 in the International Journal of Construction Education and Research alongside researchers from Oklahoma State University and Texas State University for the paper titled “Sense of Belonging of US Construction Students” . The award recognizes significant scholarly contributions to construction management research.
Additionally, Purdue's chapter of Sigma Lambda Chi, the international construction honor society, earned the Gold award for its student leadership and chapter programming.
Purdue researchers also presented work on bridging the gap between academia and industry. A paper on faculty externships co-authored by Deniz Besiktepe, Kyubyung Kang , Brad Benhart, , Emad Elwakil, along with industry partners Andrew Michael and Dan Christopher of Gaylor Electric, drew significant interest from academic and corporate attendees.
Kwonsik Song led a panel discussion focused on integrating artificial intelligence into construction education and preparing students for AI-enabled project environments.
The conference, themed "Learn by Doing," featured sessions on rapidly growing sectors such as data center construction, design-build collaboration, and modular construction. Industry leaders from firms including Kiewit, Procore, and Autodesk shared insights on the technical and managerial competencies they expect from recent graduates.
Danny Wyman (assistant professor of practice) and PhD Candidate Yanchao Zheng joined Besiktepe, Benhart and Song in representing Purdue at the event. Yanchao Zheng participated and presented in the annual doctoral forum for his dissertation titled “Leveraging large language models to improve industry-demanded competencies to support construction management students”.
Participation in the ASC conference provides faculty and students access to emerging research, training programs, and global partnerships that inform the Bowen School of Construction's curriculum and industry alignment.
