Biography

Professor Patrick Manu is Professor of Innovative Construction and Project Management in the School of Architecture and Environment at the University of the West of England, United Kingdom. He has expertise in construction management (CM), project management (PM), and quantity surveying (QS) research, practice and teaching. Besides his main research interest (i.e., occupational safety and health (OSH)), he is also interested in infrastructure procurement, digital construction and sustainable construction.

He has been involved as principal investigator (PI) and co-investigator in research projects (valued at over GBP £1.9 million) funded by several organisations including government agencies and charities such as United Kingdom Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Innovate UK, Lloyd's Register Foundation, Health and Safety Executive, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Research Trust, United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), Council of Heads of Built Environment (CHOBE), B&CE Charitable Trust, British Council and Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT). He led (as PI) a large international consortium of 11 organisations to develop the first web-based application for assessing design for OSH organisational capability, which won an innovation award from HS2 Ltd. Additionally, he was co-investigator of a funded research project, which has been awarded two prestigious industry awards (i.e., the buildingSMART International Awards 2020, and the Health and Safety Software of the Year - Construction Computing Awards 2021) for the development of a novel digital application for design for OSH in the construction industry.

Patrick has over 130 publications including articles in leading Q1 journals. He led an international initiative to publish the first book on construction health and safety in developing countries, which won the 2019 Taylor & Francis Outstanding Book and Digital Product Award within the best monograph in engineering category. Furthermore, he has led international initiatives to produce two first novel books titled: (1) Handbook of Construction Safety, Health and Well-being in the Industry 4.0 Era; and (2) Construction Safety, Health and Well-being in the COVID-19 Era.

Patrick has successfully supervised several doctoral candidates to completion and also acts as external examiner for doctoral candidates in several countries. He is a member of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) peer review college and a detailed assessor for the Australian Research Council. He has been a member of British Council Newton Fund Engineering and Physical Sciences Panel.

Patrick is an Associate Editor for Safety Science and Heliyon, which are world leading Q1 journals. He is also a reviewer several academic journals (e.g., Safety Science; Automation in Construction; Heliyon and Engineering, Construction, and Architectural Management) and conferences (e.g. Association of Researchers in Construction Management and CIB W099 Conferences).

Patrick has delivered talks and keynote lectures at major academic and practitioner conferences and events including conferences organised by the Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy. He is a member of several built environment professional and research associations/groups (e.g. the standard setting committee for the International Cost Measurement Standards (ICMS)).

Patrick has held academic posts at The University of Manchester, University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), City University London (now City, University of London), University of Wolverhampton, University of West London and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He has also worked in quantity surveying and construction management roles within the construction industry.

Patrick holds a PhD in Construction Project Management for which he studied the OSH impact of features of construction projects and eventually developed a digital OSH risk management toolkit. He also holds a PGCert. (with Distinction) in Academic Practice, BSc. (First Class Honours) in Building Technology, Fellowship of the UK Higher Education Academy, and incorporate membership of the Chartered Institute of Building.