Walid Thabet awarded professorship
Walid Thabet, professor in the Department of Building Construction in the Myers-Lawson School of Construction at Virginia Tech, has been appointed the Pulte Homes Professor by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The Pulte Homes Professorship was established with a generous gift from Pulte Homes, providing support for faculty within the highly ranked Myers-Lawson School of Construction.
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1997, Thabet is a pioneer in what is now commonly referred to as “smart construction,” with seminal research and innovation in building information modeling.
A multiple-time recipient of the Building Construction Exemplary Faculty Award, Thabet collaborates with industry professionals to teach the capstone sequence for building construction students. Having served as department head from 2007-12, he is now the William E. Jamerson Professor and directs the Virtual Facilities Research Laboratory.
Thabet has served as principal or co-principal investigator on grants from such organizations as the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety, Bentley Systems Inc., Primavera Systems, Associated Builders and Contractors, and the National Electrical Contractors Association. His research has made significant contributions to advancing information technology in the construction industry.
He has authored or co-authored numerous articles addressing various aspects of information technology and virtual reality in the construction industry.
Thabet has published in peer-reviewed journal articles aligned with his specialization in predictive maintenance, work order optimization, and building information modeling driven automation, reflecting both methodological rigor and relevance to facility management and building science.
Thabet received his bachelor’s degree from Kuwait University, his master’s degree from Waterloo University, and a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. He has a certificate of management in building information modeling from the Associated General Contractors of America.
