Dr Saad Sarhan PhD, MCIOB, FHEA

Dr Saad Sarhan

Department of Civil Engineering
Assistant Professor and Programme Director in Advanced Engineering Management

Contact details

Email
s.sarhan@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
School of Engineering
Dubai Campus

Dr Saad Sarhan is a programme director and assistant professor in advanced engineering management within the department of civil engineering. Saad is also a chartered construction manager (MCIOB) and a fellow of the higher education academy in the UK (FHEA). Prior to Joining the University of Birmingham, he was a programme leader and senior lecturer in construction management at the University of Lincoln for six years.

Saad specialises in curriculum design, validation and development at both undergraduate and postgraduate degree levels. This includes obtaining pogramme accreditation from the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). Saad is also an active researcher and has contributed to many peer-reviewed journals, edited book chapters, industry reports, and international conferences. In addition, he has experience of serving as a co-chair of one of the most leading international conferences in construction management (i.e. IGLC-31) and also as a guest editor of a special issue on ‘Lean and Sustainable Construction: State of the Art and Future Directions’, which was published by Construction Economics and Building.

Saad has strong links with industry and uses his connections with leading professionals from the UK and the Middle East to provide his students with various opportunities whenever possible. Over the years, he has been able to provide his students with site visits, guest speakers, mentoring, paid and unpaid work experience opportunities, and support with finding jobs.

Saad's current main objectives are to contribute towards promoting and embedding ‘research-informed’ teaching at the University of Birmingham in Dubai, and to develop our students' personal, professional and technical skills needed for preparing them for a range of exciting and challenging careers in the engineering and construction industries in the UAE and beyond.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Construction Management, Nottingham Trent University, UK, 2018
  • MSc in Civil Engineering, University of Plymouth, UK, 2011
  • BSc in Civil Engineering, Helwan University, Egypt, 2006
  • Member of the Chartered Institute of Building (MCIOB), UK
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK

Biography

Dr Saad Sarhan is a programme director and assistant professor in advanced engineering management within the department of civil engineering. Saad is also a chartered construction manager (MCIOB) and a fellow of the higher education academy in the UK (FHEA). Prior to Joining the University of Birmingham, he was a programme leader and senior lecturer in construction management at the University of Lincoln for six years.

Saad has a background in civil engineering and was awarded his PhD in construction management from Nottingham Trent University. Saad’s PhD study has led to various peer-reviewed publications in high impact journals and international conferences. His study was supervised by Prof. Christine Pasquire and examined by Prof. Lauri Koskela (the founder of Lean Construction).

Saad is actively researching the latest trends in lean construction, construction project procurement, the concept of waste in construction, occupational stress, and work related to improving supply chain efficiency. He has recently served as a co-chair of the Scientific Committee of the 31st Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 2023) that was held at Centrale Lille University in France, July 2023.

Prior to this, he was the Lead Guest Editor of a special issue on 'Lean and Sustainable Construction: State of the Art and Future Directions', which has been published in Construction Economics and Building in September 2021. Saad also won the 2019/20 Building and Civil Engineering (B&CE) Charitable Trust's Occupational Health Research Award – an annual grant of £25,000 for research benefiting the UK construction industry.

Teaching

  • Construction Management
  • Engineering production and Risk Management in Construction
  • Advanced Project

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Saad Sarhan has experience in supervising and examining both MSc and PhD studies in construction and engineering management. Studies that aim to overcome complex industry problems or challenge the status quo are of particular interest. Studies that aim to develop theory based on grounded-theory methodologies are also encouraged.

Research

Topics of research interest

  • Lean Construction, how to reduce (process and physical) waste and improve flow in construction and engineering projects;
  • Health, Safety and Well-being issues in construction;
  • Construction Project Procurement and Governance Arrangements for managing risks;
  • Sources of Waste in Construction Projects;
  • Occupational Stress in Construction;
  • Leadership styles and its influence on project performance;
  • Understanding and learning new ways of working.

Other activities

Publications

Sarhan, S., Pretlove, S., Mossman, A., and Elshafie, M. (2023) ‘Occupational Stress in Construction: Fostering an IGLC Research Agenda’, 31st Annual Conference of the International. Group for Lean Construction (IGLC-31), Rybkowski, Z., Lu, M., and Sarhan, S. (ed.), Lille, France, Jul 2023.

Sarhan, S., and Pretlove, S. (2021) ‘Lean and Sustainable Construction: State of the Art and Future Directions’,
Construction Economics and Building, 21(3), 1–10.

Mossman, A. and Sarhan, S. (2021) ‘Synchronising Off-Site Fabrication with On-Site Production in Construction’,
Construction Economics and Building, 21(3), 122–141.

Sarhan, S. and Pretlove, S. (2021) ‘Developing Construction Supply-Chain Management Standards (CSCMS) for Improving Occupational Stress management and Productivity in Construction Projects (pdf)’, A Report prepared for the Building and Civil Engineering Charitable Trust (B&CE) by the University of Lincoln, October 2021, pp. 1-40.

Sarhan, S. and Manu, E. (2021) ‘When does published literature constitute data for secondary research and how should the data be analysed? ‘, In: Manu, E. and Akotia, J. (eds.), Secondary Research Methods in the Built Environmenthttps://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/published-literature-constitute-data-secondary-research-data-analysed- saad-sarhan-emmanuel-manu/e/10.1201/9781003000532-6, Routledge, Taylor and Francis, London, UK, pp. 69-87.

Manu, E., Akotia, J., Sarhan, S., and Mahamadu, A.M. (2021) ‘Identifying and sourcing data for secondary research‘, In: Manu, E. and Akotia, J. (eds.), Secondary Research Methods in the Built Environment, Routledge, Taylor and Francis, London, UK, pp. 16-25.

Sarhan, S., Pasquire, C., Mossman, A., and Hayes, A. (2019) ‘The Prevailing Procurement System as a Source of Waste in Construction: A Case Study’, In: Proc. 27th Annual Conference of the International. Group for Lean Construction (IGLC), Pasquire, C. and Hamzeh, F. (ed.), . Dublin, Ireland, 3-5 Jul 2019. Pp. 133-144.

Sarhan, S., Pasquire, C., Elnokaly, A., and Pretlove, S. (2019) ‘Lean and Sustainable Construction: A Systematic Critical Review of 25 Years of IGLC Research’, Lean Construction Journal, Issue 2019, 01-20.

Sarhan, S., Elnokaly, A., Pasquire, C. & Pretlove, S. (2018) 'Lean Construction and Sustainability Through IGLC Community: A Critical Systematic Review of 25 Years of Experience' In: 26th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, Chennai, India, 18-20 Jul 2018. 933-942 [Plenary session].

Dewberry, C, Hayes, A and Sarhan, S. (2018) ‘Behavioural Assessments in Construction Procurement: A Bandwagon of Institutional Waste?’ In: Gorse, C (Ed.) and Neilson, C J (Ed.), Proceedings 34th Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2018, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK. Association of Researchers in Construction Management, 159-168 [Nominated for an award].

Sarhan, S., Pasquire, C., King, A., and Manu, E. (2018) ‘Institutional Waste within the Construction Procurement Context’, The Engineering Project Organisation Journal, Volume 8 (January 2018), 36-64.

Sarhan, S., Pasquire, C., Manu, E. and King, A. (2017) ‘Contractual governance as a source of institutionalised waste in construction: a review, implications, and road map for future research directions’, International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 10 Issue: 3, doi: 10.1108/IJMPB-07-2016-0058.

Sarhan, S., Pasquire, C., and King, A. (2017) ‘The concept of Institutional Waste within the Construction industry: A potential theoretical framework', Lean Construction Journal, 2017 Issue, pp 12-24.

Sarhan, S. and Pasquire, C. (2016) 'Monetising Human Impacts -- CLeMM: Customer-Led Monetisaton Method', A Report prepared for Highways England by Nottingham Trent University, Dec 2016, pp. 1-94.

Sarhan, S., Pasquire, C., King, A., and Manu, E. (2016). 'Are tier-one contractors making their money out of wasteful procurement arrangements?', Proc. 24th Ann. Conf. of the Int’l. Group for Lean Construction, Boston, MA, USA, July 2016.

Pasquire, C., Sarhan, S., and King, A. (2015) ‘A Critical Review of the Safeguarding Problem in Construction Procurement: Unpicking the coherent current model, Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction *IGLC-23), Perth, Australia, July 2015 [Plenary session].

Sarhan, S., Pasquire, C. and King A. (2014) ‘Institutional Waste within the Construction Industry: An outline’, Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC-22), Oslo, Norway, June 2014, pp 895-906 [Plenary session].

Sarhan, S. and Fox, A. (2013a) ‘Barriers to Implementing Lean Construction in the UK Construction Industry’, The Built & Human Environment Review, 6, pp. 1-17.

Sarhan, S. and Fox, A. (2013a) ‘Performance Measurement in the UK Construction Industry and its Role in Supporting the Application of Lean Construction Concepts’, Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 13(1), pp. 23-35; Available at UTS Press.

Sarhan, S. and Fox, A. (2012) ‘Trends and Challenges to the Development of a Lean Culture among UK Construction Organisations’, Proceedings of the 20th Annual Conference of the IGLC, July 2012, USA.

View all publications in research portal