Real problems from industry, solved by practitioners, researchers and students.

Multi-sector (transport, energy, water, social) Global

Infrastructure insurability under escalating climate risks for major works

Infrastructure projects are becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to insure as climate risks intensify. For major civil works, adequate insurance coverage is a prerequisite for contractors to mobilize, yet insurers are tightening terms, raising premiums, or excluding key perils, particularly around floods, wind, wildfire, and other climate-driven hazards. This creates a growing risk that critical projects—especially in high‑risk geographies—cannot reach financial close or proceed to site because contractors cannot secure coverage at acceptable terms.

Managing invasive species risks that delay or disrupt infrastructure construction

Multi-sector Global

Invasive species can significantly delay or disrupt infrastructure projects through unexpected site restrictions, mandatory eradication protocols, and environmental compliance requirements. Contractors and their employees are often not well prepared to identify, manage, and plan around invasive flora and fauna on or near construction sites, leading to unplanned stoppages, scope creep, higher mitigation costs, and reputational or legal exposure when regulations are breached.

Multilingual on-site communication strategies to improve safety and productivity

Multi-sector Global

Large infrastructure sites often rely on a multicultural and multilingual workforce. Critical safety instructions, method statements, and coordination messages must be correctly understood by all workers, yet language barriers and inconsistent translation frequently create misunderstandings that can lead to safety incidents, rework, and schedule slippage.

3 audiences

Embedding lifecycle maintenance and whole‑life cost thinking into infrastructure projects

Multi-sector Global

Many infrastructure projects are still planned, designed, and procured primarily around upfront capital cost, with lifecycle maintenance and performance treated as an afterthought. This leads to assets that are difficult or expensive to maintain, resulting in deferred maintenance, higher whole‑life costs, and premature need for major rehabilitation or replacement.

Construction technology / Cross-sector (built environment) Middle East & Africa – Saudi Arabia

Saudi ConTech

Market entry and ecosystem strategy for ConTech solutions in Saudi Arabia

Under Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is rapidly scaling construction and infrastructure, creating strong demand for construction technology (ConTech) that can improve productivity, safety, and cost control. However, both international and local ConTech providers face challenges in entering and scaling: navigating regulation and procurement norms, integrating with local contractors’ workflows, proving value in large fast-track projects, and building the right partnerships in a still-evolving ecosystem.

Real estate / Housing Middle East & Africa – Saudi Arabia

Saudi ConTech

Accelerating delivery of single‑family homes under Saudi Arabia’s large‑scale housing mandate

Saudi Arabia’s large-scale housing initiatives target hundreds of thousands of new homes to increase local ownership and meet demographic and policy goals. However, only a fraction of planned units—such as portions of the 400,000-home targets—have been delivered on schedule, with programs facing bottlenecks in planning, permitting, land development, supply chain capacity, workforce skills, and reliance on conventional site-based construction.

Industrialized construction / Housing and industrial buildings Middle East & Africa – Saudi Arabia (globally relevant design)

Saudi ConTech

Designing configurable industrialized building solutions to relieve construction supply‑chain pressure

Large housing, industrial, and infrastructure programs in Saudi Arabia are putting significant pressure on construction supply chains: materials, manufacturing capacity, logistics, and skilled labor are all constrained. Conventional site-based methods struggle to keep up with the required pace and consistency.

Transport – Roads and Bridges (with potential extension to wider surface transport) North America – United States

Cornell BCI

Public‑interest driven platform design for micro‑project bundling in U.S. transportation

The U.S. surface transportation system is highly decentralized: federal, state, county, and municipal entities each plan, finance, and procure projects largely on their own, even where projects are similar, nearby, or happening at the same time. This fragmentation drives a large backlog of deferred maintenance and underinvestment, particularly for local roads and small structures. Small, isolated procurements limit economies of scale, reduce competition, and slow the adoption of advanced technologies.