Dr. Abbas Rashidi recently received the 2023 Jim Dent Leadership Award from Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), Rocky Mountain Region. This award is bestowed annually by DBIA to recognize an individual who has demonstrated leadership in the advancement of best Design-Build practices and of Design-Build as the project delivery method of choice.

Dr. Rashidi was presented the award at DBIA’s ceremony on Wednesday, June 7th, in Denver, CO.

DBIA is a membership organization that was founded in 1993 to advocate and advance single-source project delivery within the design and construction community. Rocky Mountain Design-Build Award winners set themselves apart in the industry as the nation’s best design-builders.

Since joining the University of Utah in 2017, and as the first faculty member in the area of Construction Engineering, Dr. Rashidi has always been an advocator of Design-Build as an efficient and modern delivery method for construction projects. He has been incorporating the Design-Build contents and the emerging technologies that facilitate better execution of this delivery method into his teaching and research activities.

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is home to Utah’s only Bachelor’s Degree in Construction Engineering to earn ABET accreditation. The program was officially accredited in 2022. Dr. Rashidi is proud to bring his expertise to the U and continue to establish CvEEN as a leader in Construction Engineering research and projects.

CvEEN is proud to congratulate Dr. Rashidi for this award as well as his continued dedication to teaching, college-involvement and service, and integral research in the field of Construction Engineering.