Dr. Phillip Dunston has been appointed Dean’s Faculty Fellow for HBCU engagement effective January 1, 2023. Philip is a professor of Construction Engineering, holding joint appointments in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering and in the Division of Construction Engineering and Management at Purdue. Dr. Dunston completed his collegiate studies at North Carolina State University, obtaining his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering. After seven years as a faculty member in Civil Engineering at the University of Washington, he joined the faculty at Purdue in 2002, and in 2003, received the NSF Early Career Award. Dr. Dunston’s research portfolio has included construction automation; monitoring, control, and quality of field construction operations, particularly in transportation; construction visualization; and simulator-based training effectiveness for construction equipment operators.
A career-long passion of Dr. Dunston’s has been to address the challenge of stimulating and expanding the pipeline of underrepresented students to the PhD and hopefully faculty careers. Toward that end, he has been a part of both NSF and Purdue sponsored efforts over the years. As Dean’s faculty fellow for HBCU engagement, Dr. Dunston will work with Engineering Associate Deans and Heads to grow partnerships between Purdue Engineering and HBCUs for collaborative research and talent development.
Specialty Area(s)
Education
Ph.D., North Carolina State University, 1994
M.S.C.E., North Carolina State University, 1992
B.S.C.E., North Carolina State University, 1988
Selected Research Projects
- National Science Foundation (NSF): Mixed Reality Science and Technology Integration for the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Industry, August 2003-July 2008.
- Construction Industry Institute: Design Practices to Facilitate Construction Automation, January 2001-September 2002, Subcontract.
- National Cooperative Highway Research Program: Costs/Benefits of Constructability Reviews for State Transportation Agencies, August 2000-December 01, Co-PI.
- Washington State Department of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration/Washington Asphalt Paving Association: Evaluation of Highway Reconstruction Practices-Comparison of Full Weekend Closure to Nighttime Closures, March 1997-April 1998, Co-PI.
Teaching Activity
CE 220 – Construction Management
CE 321 – Construction Planning and Scheduling.
CE 523 – Selection and Utilization of Construction Equipment.
Honors & Awards
National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2003-2008.
Best Technical (Paper) Award for “Virtual Visualization for the Mechanical Trade,” 17th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction (ISARC), Taipei, Taiwan, September 18-20, 2000, co-authors Mark Billinghurst (Ph.D. candidate Electrical Engineering), Yihong Luo (Masters student in Electrical Engineering), and Ben Hampson (Piping Detailer/Applications Developer for the McKinstry Company, Seattle, WA).
University of Washington Presidential Faculty Development Fellowship, 1999-2000.
First recipient of the Washington NASA Space Grant’s Faculty Award, 1995-1996.
ACI Construction Practice Award, awarded by the American Concrete Institute, for the article entitled, “Formwork Pressures on Tall Wall with Extended Set Concrete,” published in Concrete International (Vol. 16, No. 11), co-authors David W. Johnston and Paul P. McCain, awarded March 1996.
Website