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Our Research

The School of Construction Economics and Management is involved in research activities covering a wide range of topics related to the construction and property sectors. While most of this research is carried out by members of the academic staff, students are also involved in research at both postgraduate and honours levels through assignments and their research projects and discourses.

Message from the PG Research Coordinator

Welcome to the School of Construction Economics and Management CEM’s research page. The school offers a distinctive opportunity for research candidates to explore knowledge to a high level. With academics from all over the globe, you are well poised to receive the best of both industry and academic excellence. Under the new leadership of Professor Sam Laryea, the school has recently undergone a myriad of transformative and innovative changes which has the researchers as the key focus. At the School of CEM, you have the opportunity to learn and engage with students and researchers from all walks of life, while enjoying the cultural, social, and recreational facilities of one of the world's greatest major cities.

With a broad of construction, project management, and real estate-focused research themes, the school has an expansive array of intellects and NRF-rated professors to assist you to achieve your research goals on a variety of modern research themes such as artificial intelligence for the built and human environment, building information modeling BIM, financial engineering and education. As a researcher at the school, you will be working alongside some of the best and established researchers in your chosen field.

From the moment you apply for your course of choice, there are instantly numerous research support and resources available to you, our support staff are helpful and are ready to ensure that you have a seamless experience in this regard. Once your application is accepted, you are added to the school’s monthly research seminars, you are eligible for supports such as library services, office space, teaching and research assistantships, industry internship opportunities, and funding support.

I look forward to welcoming you to one of our courses in the school, should you have other questions about the courses or process, please visit our school website on http://www.wits.ac.za/study-at-wits/ or send an email to the school’s Postgraduate Officer, Mr Stephen Mongwe on stephen.mongwe@wits.ac.za

All the best,

Dr Koech Cheruiyot
PG Research Coordinator

Collaborators

We engage extensively with a wide range of firms and industrial partners including the following organisations and government departments.

  • Major and emerging contractors
  • Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS)
  • National Treasury
  • Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA)
  • Vela VKE
  • Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB)
  • Bowman Gilfillan
  • GIBB Engineering
  • Wits University Capital Projects Department
  • Major procurers of construction work in South Africa
Research Areas

Current research of School staff is focused around the following areas

  • Contractor Development
  • Corporate Governance and Executive Compensation in Real Estate Firms
  • Corporate Real Estate
  • Digital technologies and automation in construction
  • Education and training
  • Facility management
  • Gender in the Built Environment
  • Housing market regeneration and renewal
  • Innovative Procurement Systems
  • Knowledge and technology transfer
  • PPP, Mega Projects and Public involvement in construction projects
  • Procurement and commercial relationships in contracts
  • Project Management Practice
  • Project risk management
  • Real Estate Finance and Securitisation
  • Real Estate Investment in Emerging Markets
  • Reward Management in the Real Estate Sector
  • Safety and Health in the Built Environment
  • Sustainability in the built environment
Potential Supervisors and their Research Interests

Name of Academic

Research Focus Area

Neil Govender

Construction procurement & commercial relationships in construction contracts.  

Lerato Mompati

Corporate Real Estate, Public Real Estate.

Marius Muller

Property Investment and Valuations, Shopping Centre Development and Financing, Real Estate Asset and Portfolio Management, ESG and Sustainability.

Ehsan Saghatforoush

Building Information Modelling (BIM), Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), Off-Site Manufacturing (OSM), Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Constructability, Operability and Maintainability (COM).

Prisca Simbanegavi 

Residential Real Estate Developments (Sales/Marketing), Urban Housing Economics (Housing Tenure), Informal Settlements & Public Health, Real Estate Business Enterprises/SMMEs, Impact Investments, ESGs.

Graeme Jay

Finance and Property, Law, Social Housing and Management Skills.

Josephine Llale

Quantity Surveying, Project Management, Programme Management.

Koech Cheruiyot

Housing, Real estate markets & analysis, Urban economics & dynamics, Spatial econometrics, Consumer analytics.

Kola Akinsomi

REITS, real estate portfolio management, capital markets, Housing, and Proptech.

Lindelani Matshidze

Public Private Partnerships; Megaprojects; Corruption and infrastructure projects; skills, and enterprise development.

Lungie Maseko

Construction Risk Management, Supplementary Cementitious Materials (green cement), Use of Artificial Photosynthesis (for carbon capture and storage) and Circular Economy

Nosipho Moloi

Corporate Governance and REITs performance.

Nthatisi Khatleli

Public Private Partnerships, Megaprojects, Public Consultations and Risk Management in construction, Resilience, and the Construction Industry.

Pride Ndlovu

International construction, Exporting Construction Business, Transnational Collaborations, Construction Project Management, Real estate development.

Sibongile Zwane

Real Estate, Building and Construction

Thabelo Ramantswana

Corporate Real Estate, Real Estate Market Analysis, Housing Studies, Urban Regeneration.

Tsholofelo Mosalaesi

Project Leadership, Construction Procurement, Quantity Surveying, Project Organisation.

Upasna Narain

Procurement, Net Zero, Sustainability, Construction

Yewande Adewunmi

Benchmarking, Environment, Facilities management, Post occupancy evaluation, Sustainability.

Zamageda Zungu

Construction Industry Resilience, Construction Economics, Strategic Planning & Management.

Samuel Laryea

Construction procurement, Construction Contracts, Construction Management, Construction Economics.

David Root

Construction Management, Construction procurement, Design Management, Innovation.

John Karuithia

Financial Market Research, Financial Market Research, Data Science, Data Science, Equity Research Analysis, Equity Research Analysis, Statistical Data Analysis, Statistical Data Analysis, Market Research, Market Research, Spatial Analysis, Spatial Analysis, Spatial Data Management.

Peterson Owusu Junior

Financial Engineering, Macro-prudence, Circular Economy, Real Estate, Data Analytics.

Ronald Watermeyer

Procurement, Engineering, Construction, Poverty, Delivery Management.

 

 

 

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