Dr Jennifer Whyte
Reader in Innovation and Design
School of Construction Management and Engineering
University of Reading, UK
Email address: J.Whyte [at] reading.ac.uk
Home AIM Fellowship Publications External Link to the Centre: Design Innovation Research Centre
My research explores how digital technologies are changing the organization of large engineering projects. There is a particular focus is on design coordination and collaboration through digital repositories, standards and procedures in the delivery of large building and infrastructure projects. My personal research, funded through an Advanced Institute of Management (AIM) Fellowship (October 2009-December 2011), is on management practices in project-based design environments.
The Design Innovation Research Centre, is an exploration group that I lead, which has a vision of a new mode of design in the digital economy. I work closely with the team: Geyang Guo (1st year PhD); Dr Nurain Hassan Ibrahim (Research Fellow); Nilufar Ismailova (adminstrator); Suha Jaradat (1st year PhD); Dr Carmel Lindkvist (Research Fellow); Sonja Oliveira (1st year PhD); Amna Shibeika (2nd year PhD) and Dr Wei Zhou (Research Fellow). The research draws on and contributing to multiple disciplines including organization studies, engineering, innovation, management, design and construction. It is conducted in close collaboration with industry; informs practice and policy; and is published in top international journals.
Background Information
I am a Reader in Innovation and Design at the School of Construction Management and Engineering at the University of Reading. Before my PhD, I was educated at Cambridge University and Loughborough University and have worked abroad in Italy and China, gained experience in multi-disciplinary design practice. Following my PhD, I have worked at SPRU, University of Sussex (2000-2002) and at Imperial College Business School (2003-2007).
Current industrial and policy collaborators include Arup, Bentley, Halcrow, Fulcro, and Vinci. I have input into policy through the recent (2010-2011) government/industry working groups on Building Information Modelling; and ran an Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)/AIM event on Engineering Management in the Digital Economy. I previously input into the UK government's Cox Review on Design and Creativity, co-authoring an Advanced Institute of Management report on Design and Creativity in the Firm, also leading an Audi Design Foundation project on 'Skills for Innovation in the Design Industries'.
I sit on the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Information Systems Panel. Research is published in international journals including Long Range Planning, Organization Studies, Strategic Organization, Building Research and Information and Construction Management and Engineering (see my publications page).
Within the School, I am Deputy Director of Research, a member of the School Strategy Board and on the Management Board of the Innovative Construction Research Centre and the Technologies for Sustainable Built Environments Industrial Doctorate Centre. I organize the Research Institute for the Built Environment (RIBE) Seminar Series, inviting leading academics to present their work-in-progress to members of the School.