Cindy Menches, PhD, PE

Office: AM 216

Phone: 312.567.3630
Fax: 312.567.3519
Email: cmenches@iit.edu
Web: Personal Website
     

Expertise

• Research on flexible, fast decision-making on the construction jobsite in response to disruptions to the flow of work. She is investigating how electrical construction workers react to a task disruption by improvising creative workarounds that allow the work to continue. The study aims to identify how decisions made by workers in response to disruptive events can lead them to flexibly restructure tasks (i.e., develop a work-around) in order to adapt to a disruption as it unfolds.
• Research on the reactions of electrical construction workers to near-miss safety incidents and the influence that specific emotions and reactions have on a worker’s subsequent decisions and behavior (i.e., whether they make more or less risky decisions).
• Research on emotive contract language and structure. The study will identify specific features of contract clauses that communicate a positive or negative emotive tone, and then, through experimentation, Dr. Menches will establish how specific language and features in the contract evoke specific emotional reactions in individuals.
• Dr. Menches’ prior work consists of research on various aspects of contracting, including innovative contracting strategies for highway maintenance, reimbursable contracting strategies for Engineer/ Procure/ Construct (EPC) projects, and emergency contracting strategies for public agencies. She has also conducted research on pre-construction planning, management, and cost estimating in the electrical construction industry.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy, Civil Engineering, University of Wisconsin – Madison, May 2006
• Master of Science, Architectural Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 1995
• Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering – Building Science, University of Southern California, 1989

Research

Current Projects

Awards/Honors

Patents

Books

Selected Publications

1. Menches, C. L. and Chen, J. (2013). A diary study of the disruption experiences of crew members on a jobsite. Journal of Management in Engineering, In press.
2. Menches, C. L. and Dorn, L. (2013). Emotional reaction to variations in contract language. Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, In press.
3. Menches, C. L. and Chen, J. (2012). Using ecological momentary assessments to understand a construction worker’s daily disruptions and decisions. Construction Management and Economics, In press.
4. Menches, C. L. and Chen, J. (2012). Facilitating team decision-making through reimbursable contracting strategies. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 39(9), 1043-1052.
5. Bauer, E. and Menches, C.L. (2011). Why we need renaissance engineers: Golden Gate Bridge seismic retrofit phase II case study. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. 137(10), 901-905.

Professional Society Memberships

• Chicago Lean Construction Institute, Community of Practice, Co-Chair
• Transportation Research Board Committee on Contract Law, 2009-present
• American Society of Civil Engineers, member, since 2003
• ASCE Construction Institute, member, since 2003
• ASCE Architectural Engineering Institute, member, since 2007
• ASCE, Construction Research Council, since 2006