Professor Tak Wing (Kenneth) Yiu

Professor (Kenneth) Tak Wing Yiu started his professorial appointment in the School of Built Environment, UNSW Sydney, in January 2023. He has brought 18 years of experience with three universities in Hong Kong (City University of Hong Kong) and New Zealand (University of Auckland and Massey University).

Professor Yiu is a world-renowned researcher in Construction Management. His research focuses on the ‘soft power’ of construction professionals that reflects their non-technical capability and the importance of putting people and soft issues in the construction industry to achieve a collaborative, safe, and amicable business environment. He has a strong interest in researching human behaviors from contract management, dispute resolution, and safety management perspectives. He is also interested in investigating the opportunities (economic and social benefits) and risks (privacy, data-sharing & security, ethics) of technological adoptions in the Built Environment. His research is multi- and inter-disciplinary. Collaboration always extends to the fields of Engineering, Law, Psychology, and Computer Science. His research in a number of areas has been internationally recognized and acknowledged as being at the forefront of his field.

Professor Yiu is a prolific researcher. As of today, he has already produced more than 100 research outputs, including international refereed journal articles, research monographs, book chapters, and conference papers. His research networks cover different countries/regions such as New Zealand, Hong Kong, Mainland China, the Netherlands, Singapore, the United States of America, Japan, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom. He is currently the associate editor of two international journals (ASCE Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)’s international journal Management, Procurement and Law). Recently he was elected to be the Editorial Board Member of an international journal - Safety Science.

In addition to his administrative responsibilities as a faculty member, Professor Yiu was an elected member of Senate (also called Academic Board) and Deputy Head of Department (Academic) at the University of Auckland as well as the Research Lead of the School of the Built Environment of the Massey University. In these roles, he has actively advised and contributed to strategy- and/or policy-related matters at the School and University levels. Professor Yiu is committed to serving the School, the Faculty, and the University at large. Professor Yiu also actively serves two major professional institutions, The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), as an Assessor for various professional activities (e.g., Assessment of Professional Competence and Accreditations of Construction Programmes). His strong peer review experiences and diversity of skills in construction management enable him to be an External Assessor for other funding bodies in Hong Kong and New Zealand Governments. He is now the Member of the College of Assessors, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), New Zealand, and the External Assessor of the Research Grants Council (RGC) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.