Ghada M. Gad, Ph.D.

My research expertise is in the area of construction engineering and management, specifically contracting methods, procurement strategies, cost forecasting, risk management, project performance metrics, and social aspects of construction projects. I have been heavily involved with transportation-related research (highways and airports) on the federal and state level.  I have been serving as a reviewer for multiple reputable journals, national and international conferences. In addition, I have also been serving on national committees and panels for different professional organizations, such as the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), as well as national NCHRP panels. I am currently a Handling Editor for the Transportation Research Record (TRR) Journal.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• Gransberg, D. D., Loulakis, M., and Gad, G. M. (2022), The Engineer’s Project Delivery Method Primer:  Uniform Definitions and Case Studies. American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE)
• Gad, G. M., Chapter 08, “Life-Cycle Cost Risk Analysis” Life Cycle Cost Analysis Professional Practice Guide, 2^nd edition, by Lopez del Puerto, C. and  D.D. Gransberg, Association for the Advancement of Cost Estimation (AACE) International, ISBN: 1-885517-60-2, Morgantown, West Virginia, 2011.

• Ankir, H.*; Nacir, C.*; Kumar, S*; Gad, G. M., Mehany, M. H.; Dettman, K. (2025) “Effectiveness of Dispute Resolution Processes in State Department of Transportation Projects: A Case Study Approach”, ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution (accepted)
• Jaganathan, G.*; Gad, G. M., Dettman. K., and Konrath, L. (2025) “The Effective Use of Dispute Review Boards on Public Private Partnership (P3) Infrastructure Projects”, ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution (accepted)
• Nacir, C.*, Gad, G. M., Mehany, M., and Harper, C. (2025) “Legal Issues in Best-Value Procurement on Highway Construction Projects”, ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution (accepted)
• Shabana, O.*; Gad, G. M. and Minchin, R.E. (2024); “Impact of Project Delivery Methods on Risk Allocation During the Planning Phase of Transportation Projects”; ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Disputes Resolution, American Society of Civil Engineering, Reston, VA; Vol. 16, Issue 4.
• Shabana, O.*  and Gad, G. M. (2023). “Mitigating Claims and Disputes for Public–Private–Partnership Transportation Projects in the United States”, ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution. https://doi.org/10.1061/JLADAH.LADR-827  
• Khalef, R.*, Ali, G.*, El-Adaway, I. and Gad, G. M. (2022) “Managing construction projects impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic: a contractual perspective. Construction Management & Economics, 1-18 
• Gad, G. M. and Minchin. E. (2022) “An Analysis of Constructability Practices in State Departments of Transportation under Organizational Constraints” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C.  
• Pradhananga, P.*, ElZomor, M., and Gad, G. M. (2022). “Investigating the Impact of Alternative Technical Concepts for Project Delivery of Accelerated Bridge Construction”, ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, 15 (2). 
• Gad, G. M., Davis, B., Shrestha, P., &  Fathi, M. (2020). “Legal and Contractual Issues in Lump-Sum Design-Build Implementation on Large-Scale Airport Projects”, Projects”, ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution, 12(1).  
• Shrestha, P., Davis, B.  and Gad, G. M. (2020). “Investigation of Legal Issues in Construction-Manager-at-Risk Projects: Case Study of Airport Projects”, ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution. 12(3
• Gad, G. M., Davis, B., Shrestha, P., and  Fathi, M. (2020). “Legal and Contractual Issues in Lump-Sum Design-Build Implementation on Large-Scale Airport Projects”, ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution. 12(1)
• Gad, G. M., Loulakis, M., and Gransberg, D. D. (2019). “Confidentiality Issues with Alternative Technical Concepts during Design-Build Project Procurement“. Special Issue: Legal Issues and Lessons Learned with Project Delivery Systems. ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction.
• Gad, G. M., Davis, B., and Shrestha, P. (2019), “Lessons Learned from Progressive Design-Build Implementation on Airport Projects”. Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, ASCE
• Castro-Nova, I.*, Gad, G. M., Touran, A., Cetin, B., Gransberg, D. (2018). “Evaluating the Influence of Differing Geographical Risk Perceptions on Design-Build Highway Projects” ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part A: Civil Engineering, 4(4), https://ascelibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.1061/AJRUA6.0000993
• Hashem Mehany, M., Bashettiyavar, G., Esmaeili, B., and Gad G. M. (2018). “Claims and Project Performance between Traditional and Alternative Project Delivery Methods” ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, 10(3)
• Hasanzadeh, S.,  Esmaeili, B., Nasrollahi, S. ;and Gad G. M. (2018). “Impact of Owners’ Early Decisions on Project Performance and Dispute Occurrence in Public Highway Projects” ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, 10(2), 
• Gad, G. M. and Shane, J. S. (2017). “Culture-Risk-Trust Model for Dispute Resolution Methods' Selection in International Construction Contracts”, ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, 9(4), DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)LA.1943-4170.0000242
• Gad, G. M., Shane, J. S. and Strong, K. C. (2016) “Risk-Based Estimating Practices: A Case Study of Minnesota Department of Transportation”, Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., U.S.
• Gad, G. M., Shane, J. S., Strong, K. and Choi, J. (2016). “Rethinking Trust in Construction Contract Formation: Dispute Resolution Method Selection”, ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, 8(3)
• Gad, G. M., Gransberg, D. D. and Loulakis, M. (2015) “Effective Policies and Procedures for Successfully Implementing Alternative Technical Concepts”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C.
• Gad, G. M., Adamtey, S.* and Gransberg, D. D. (2015) “Trends in Quality Management Approaches to Design-Build Transportation Projects”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2504, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C., 2015. DOI: 10.3141/2504-11
• Malek, R.* and Gad, G. M. (2015) “Lean Principles Application in Public-Private Partnership Projects’ Procurement”, International Conference on Public-Private Partnership, Austin, Texas, U.S.

*student

SELECTED RESEARCH PROJECTS

• Principal Investigator, NCHRP 10-115 Guide on Progressive Design-Build for Transportation Projects, Agency: National Academies of Science (NAS), 2024-2027.
• Principal Investigator, Project no. 2455: Alternative Project Delivery Methods in California Transportation Agencies: The Path Forward, Agency: SB1 Mineta Transportation Institute, 2024-2025.
• Co-Principal Investigator, Career Development in Construction Engineering through an Academic and Industry Network, Agency: National Science Foundation (Award Number: 2221151); PI: Dr. Woo; 2023-2028
• Principal Investigator, Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Dispute Resolution Process, Agency:  Colorado Department of Transportation, 2022-2023
• Co-Principal Investigator, RT-406 Addressing Current Barriers and Rethinking Quality Management for Capital Projects, Agency: Construction Industry Institute, PI: Dr. Woo, CPP, 2022- 2024.
• Co-Principal Investigator, NCHRP Synthesis 20-06/Topic 25-06: Legal Issues and Strategies for Best-Value Procurement for Highway Construction, Agency: NAS, PI: Dr. Harper, Colorado State University, 2021 – 2023.
• Principal Investigator, The Effective Use of Dispute Review Boards on Public Private Partnership (P3) Infrastructure Projects in North America , Agency: Dispute Review Board Foundation (DRBF), 2021-2022
• Principal Investigator, NCHRP Project 20-06/Topic 25-03 Managing Enhanced Risk in the Mega Project Era, Agency: NAS, 2020 - 2021.
• Consultant, NCHRP Project 10-99 Guidebook for Implementing Constructability Across the Entire Project Development Process: NEPA to Final Design, Agency: NAS, PI: Dr. Minchin, University of Florida, 2020-2022.
• Co-Principal Investigator, National Summer Transportation Institute, Agency: California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), PI: Dr. Zhang, Cal Poly Pomona, Summer 2018.
• Co-Principal Investigator, NCHRP Project 10-101 Improving Mid-Term, Intermediate, and Long-Range Cost Forecasting: Guidance for State Departments of Transportation, Agency: NAS, PI: Dr. Rueda-Benavides, Auburn University, 2018 – 2020.
• Co-Principal Investigator, Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) 11-01/10-02: Legal Issues Relating to Large Scale Airport Construction Projects, Agency: NAS, PI: Dr. Shrestha, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2017 -2018
• Co-Principal Investigator, NCHRP 08-112: A Guidebook for Implementing Alternative Technical Concepts into Project Delivery Methods, Agency: NAS, PI: Dr. Gransberg, Gransberg & Associates, Inc., 2016- 2017.
• Co-Principal Investigator, NCHRP 24‐44: Guidelines for Managing Geotechnical Risks in Design‐Build Projects, Agency: NAS, 2016 -2017.
• Consultant, NCHRP Synthesis Topic 44-09:  Alternative Technical Concepts (ATC) for Contract Delivery Methods, Agency: NAS. PI: Gransberg and Associates, Inc. 2013- 2014.
• Co-Principal Investigator, Risk Based Engineers Estimate, Agency: Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), PI: Dr. Shane, Iowa State University. 2012.
• Postdoctoral Research Associate, NCHRP 10-83 “Alternative Quality Management Systems for Highway Construction” project, May - July 2012.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES & MEMBERSHIPS

• Selection Panel Member for Progressive Design-Build Project, SFAC AAACC & MCCLA Seismic Improvement Project, San Francisco, CA 2025
• Research Coordinator, Committee of Project Delivery Methods, AKC20, TRB, 2023 - 2025.
• Communication Coordinator, Committee of Project Delivery Methods, AKC20, TRB, 2020 - 2023.
• Member, DBIA Education Committee, 2025- current
• Panel Member, NCHRP 20-05/Topic 56-06: Practices for Transitioning to Digital Delivery Systems and Workflows, 2024 – 2026
• Panel Member, NCHRP 10-119: Guidance for Implementing Utility Investigations in Alignment with Project Delivery, 2023 – 2026
• Panel Member, NCHRP 20-05/Synthesis Topic 51-01: Practices for Construction-Ready Digital Terrain Models, 2019-2020
• Panel Member, NCHRP 20-108: Guide to Sustaining a Culture of Innovation within Departments of Transportation, 2016-2018
• Handling Editor, Transportation Research Record (TRR), August 2019- current
• Member, Committee on Construction Management, AKC10, TRB, 2014 - 2025.
• Member, Transportation & Aviation Committee, Design Build Institute of America (DBIA), 2019- current
• Research Coordinator, Contract Law Committee, AL030, TRB, 2014 ‐ 2022
• Member, American Society of Civil Engineer (M. ASCE), 2012 – current
• Reviewer, ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management; Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution; ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part A: Civil Engineering; ASCE Journal of Infrastructure Systems