Niraj Thurairajah

Senior Lecturer

School of Engineering and the Built Environment

Current activity:

Niraj Thurairajah is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Engineering and the Built Environment. He currently teaches on our MSc Construction Project Management course, as well as BSc (Hons) courses in Architectural Technology, Building Surveying, Construction Management, Quantity Surveying and Real Estate. Current research interests involve Construction Innovation and Building Information Modeling along with capacity building for disaster mitigation. During his time with the University, he has made more than 30 peer reviewed publications and managed several research engagement projects, such as OBREE, ACBEE, ExcelDL and more.

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Area of expertise:

Construction project management
Building information modelling
Construction economics
Pre and post contract procedures
Project estimating
Measurement
Design procedures
Contract procedures
Technology enhanced teaching and learning

Biography:

Niraj started his academic career in 2002 at the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka. While conducting lectures, mainly in the areas of quantity surveying, project management and construction management, he worked part-time as a consultant quantity surveyor undertaking pre and post-quantity surveying work. In 2004, he joined the University of Salford on a scholarship to read his PhD.

Joining Birmingham City University in 2007, he took a research fellow post at the UK Higher Education Academy’s Centre for Education in the Built Environment (CEBE) and was then promoted to an academic coordinator position.

Qualifications

Research

Publications

Robson, A., Boyd, D., Thurairajah, N. (2016) Studying ‘cost as information’ to account for construction improvements, included in Construction Management and Economics

Tochukwu, B., Boyd, D., Thurairajah, N. (2016) Developing SMEs as environmental businesses, included in Construction Innovation 16(1)

Thurairajah, Niraj and Lees, M. and Ganeshamoorthy, S. (2016) Knowledge acquisition to address the skills challenges in the UK Constuction Industry. Proceedings of CIB World Congress

Boyd, D., Thurairajah, N. (2015) Construction Education in the New Digital World

Boyd, D., Thurairajah, N., Leonard, M. (2015) Housing – the digital revolution

Parn, E., Colombage, L., Thurairajah, N. (2015) Affordances of BIM during the Architectural Design Process, International Postgraduate Research Conference, Salford, Manchester, UK

Thurairajah, Niraj and Lees, M. and Ganeshamoorthy, S. (2015) Turning knowledge into action: skills development and challenges in BIM projects. In: ARCOM Doctoral Workshop

Cidik, M.S. and Boyd, D. and Thurairajah, N. (2014) Leveraging collaboration through the use of building information models. In: 30th Annual Association of Researchers in Construction Management Conference, 1 September 2014 through 3 September 2014, Portsmouth, United Kingdom

Cidik, M.S. and Boyd, D. and Thurairajah, N. (2014) Understanding the polarized perspectives in BIM enabled projects. In: 29th Annual Association of Researchers in Construction Management Conference, ARCOM 2013, 2 September 2013 through 4 September 2013, Reading; United Kingdom

Cidik M.S., Boyd, D. Thurairajah N and Hill S.(2014) ‘BIM and Conceptual Design Sustainability Analysis: An Information Categorization Framework’, Associated Schools of Construction Conference’, Washington 26th – 28th March, Available online: http://ascpro.ascweb.org/chair/paper/CPRT194002014.pdf

Robson A., Boyd, D. and Thurairajah N.(2014) ‘UK Construction Supply Chain Attitudes to BIM’, Associated Schools of Construction Conference, Washington 26th – 28th March, Available online: http://ascpro.ascweb.org/chair/paper/CPRT224002014.pdf

Onyido, Tochukwu and Boyd, David and Thurairajah, Niraj (2014) The Implications of Supply Chain Localisation for the Evolving Sustainable Energy Products Market in the UK Built Environment. In: CIB 2014 International Conference on Construction in a Changing World, 4th - 7th May 2014, Kandalama, Sri Lanka

Thurairajah, N. (2013) ‘Advantages and challenges of using BIM’, paper presented at the 49th ASC Annual International Conference, California Polytechnic State University (with D. Goucher)

Thurairajah, N. (2013) ‘Understanding the polarised perspectives in BIM enabled projects’, paper presented at the ARCOM Annual Conference, Reading (with D. Boyd and M.S. Cıdık)

Cidik, M.S. and Boyd, D. and Thurairajah, N. (2013) The BIM information needs for sustainability in conceptual design. In: ARCOM Doctoral Workshop on BIM Management and Interoperability, 20th June 2013, Birmingham City University

Thurairajah, N. (2012) 'Usability and impact of BIM on early estimation practices: a cost consultant's perspective', paper presented at the International Congress on Construction Management Research, Montreal (with D. Goucher)

Thurairajah, N. (2012) ‘Using synchronous web conferencing to enhance situated distance learner experience in built environment context’ paper presented at the 48th ASC Annual International Conference, Birmingham City University (with B. McAdam, and A. Williams)

Thurairajah, N. (2010) ‘Using skills gap analysis in construction management to stimulate a demand led model of curriculum’ paper presented at the CIB world congress 2010, The University of Salford (with P. Mullin and A. Williams)

Thurairajah, N. (2010) ‘Measuring Human Intellectual Capital Transfer in HEI-Industry Engagements’ paper presented at the CIB world congress 2010, The University of Salford (with M. Lees)

Thurairajah, N. (2009) ‘Work Based learning: working the curriculum’, University of Salford, Salford (with A. Williams)

Thurairajah, N. (2009) ‘Improving performance through HEI-Industry engagements in the built environment’, Industry and Higher Education, (23)1, pp. 39-49 (with J. Underwood and A. Williams)

Thurairajah, N. (2009) ‘ACBEE Phase IV – Intellectual capital perspective in employer engagements’, University of Salford, Salford (with M. Lees and A. Williams)

Thurairajah, N. (2009) ‘Increasing the effectiveness of disaster management strategies by sharing knowledge and good practice’, RICS, London (with R. Haigh, D. Amaratunga, D. Baldry and Pathirage, C.)

Thurairajah, N. (2008) ‘An Empirical study of the cultural and behavioural challenges in the UK construction partnering’ paper presented at the Building Resilience conference, The University of Salford (with R. Haigh and R.D.G. Amaratunga)

Haigh, R., Amaratunga, D., Baldry, D., Pathirage, C. and Thurairajah, N. (2009) Increasing the effectiveness of disaster management strategies by sharing knowledge and good practice RICS, London.

Thurairajah, N., Lees, M. and Williams, A. (2009) ACBEE Phase IV – Intellectual capital perspective in employer engagements University of Salford, Salford.