Professor Patricia Carrillo is the Chair of Strategic Management in Construction at the Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough University, England. She also holds the position of Postgraduate Programme Director for the department’s long-running and successful master’s degree programmes in Construction Management and Construction Project Management. She specialises in construction planning and project performance. She is proud to have been the first female member of her faculty and at an institution that is highly ranked in her field. She is a great inspiration to her students, especially since women in her undergraduate classes still comprise less than 10 per cent of the students. She is also External Examiner for postgraduate students of the University of Reading, England.

This remarkable woman started her career as a civil engineer working in the public and private sectors in Trinidad and Tobago. Her life changed when she received a British Council scholarship to do postgraduate studies at Loughborough University in England. Having excelled in her studies, she was subsequently recruited by the university as a lecturer, and rapidly moved up the ranks to Senior Lecturer and Professor.

She taught and also undertook research, carving out for herself in the process a reputation in knowledge management and strategic management in construction. She developed her considerable expertise in this area from 1999 onwards, working in-depth with industry personnel on a number of knowledge management research projects. The results provided important recommendations to strengthen companies’ knowledge management activities and the transfer of knowledge on projects undertaken through Public/Private Partnerships (PPPs) and Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs).

Professor Carrillo is the publisher and editor of four books. She has also published over 45 scientific papers in professional journals and has presented over 65 papers at international conferences. She has served on the editorial board of various journals and the scientific committee for many international conferences. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, two prestigious professional engineering bodies.

She had the honour of being Chair of the East Midlands Branch of the Chartered Institute of Building and a member of the College of Peer Reviewers of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). She was a panel member of the Knowledge Management (KM) Project of the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) and a Visiting Professor at University of Colorado, USA and the University of Calgary, Canada.

Professor Carrillo was born on the 6th May, 1962 in Port-of-Spain, the eldest of three children. Her parents had only a primary education, yet they stressed the importance of her getting a good education, despite her not having any role models or a career plan growing up. Even though her A’ Level results were disappointing, she pursued higher education. She came second in her class for her bachelor’s degree and topped the class for her master’s degree.

She feels that attaining her university degrees definitely opened up doors for her career advancement. She believes that teaching in the field of construction management is an interesting and rewarding career, and advises students to keep on persevering even if they do not get the results they expect the first time.

CAREER INFORMATION

What is a construction manager?

A construction manager is responsible for all aspects of a construction job, including planning, coordinating, and
supervising the job from start to finish. The goal is to ensure completion according to quality standards, budget, time and scope.

The manager advises on design and construction, and oversees schedules, budgets and costs. Features of the job include managing information as well as materials and people. Any arising setbacks must be addressed by the manager.

Areas of Specialisation

• Programme management
• Construction cost management
• Knowledge management

What do I need to study?

At CSEC and CAPE: Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics

At the tertiary level, one must do a degree in civil engineering or a related engineering field, followed by a master’s in
construction management.

What skills and traits do I need?

• Strong organisational, technical and analytical skills
• Communication and interpersonal skills
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Conflict management skills
• Results oriented
• Decision-making skills
• Ability to persuade and motivate

Famous Construction Managers

• John Fondahl
• Stephen Bechtel
• Thomas Andrews