Productivity in the Construction Industry with Dr. Bill O'Brien

Productivity in the Construction Industry with Dr. Bill O'Brien

In this episode of Get the kNACk, host Jerry Eyink welcomes Dr. Bill O’Brien, Associate Director for Technology at the Construction Industry Institute and Professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. Known for his research in construction productivity, advanced work packaging, and supply chain management, Dr. O’Brien discusses why productivity growth in construction has lagged behind many other industries and explores the challenges contributing to the issue. As construction serves as a critical economic enabler for countless other industries, he emphasizes the importance of addressing these productivity challenges to support broader economic growth and development. He highlights the need for stronger incentive structures and greater industry awareness, as well as strategies such as a focus on early Front-End Planning, Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) and supply chain integration that can help drive better project outcomes. Additionally, the conversation underscores that achieving lasting progress depends on strong owner leadership and industry-wide collaboration. Together, these factors can help Transform the Industry to Build a Better Nation.

Work, Life, and Family Harmony in the Construction Industry with Maggi Walker and Catherine Caputo

In this episode of the Get the kNACk podcast, host Jerry Eyink welcomes Maggi Walker, recipient of the 2025 NAC Richard L. Tucker Outstanding Service Award, alongside NAC 2025 scholarship recipient Catherine Caputo, a graduate student in Construction Engineering and Management at Virginia Tech. Maggi reflects on her remarkable 36 year career at Dow, where she held numerous leadership roles, including Vice President of Engineering Solutions. She shares insights from her journey as an accomplished industry leader while also prioritizing her personal life as a mother of two sons, a proud grandmother, and a partner in a 50 year marriage. Representing the next generation of construction professionals, Catherine asks Maggi how she navigated a highly successful career while maintaining a strong commitment to work-life-family harmony. The conversation highlights that work-life-family harmony should be viewed as a people issue, not solely a gender issue, creating a more inclusive space for broader solutions. Maggi emphasizes that her success stems from hard work, making values based decisions, setting clear priorities, and taking ownership of the choices that reflect them.

Construction Safety Week 2026 with Adam Jelen and Steve Halverson

Construction Safety Week 2026, taking place May 4–8, brings the industry together to spotlight the importance of health and safety. In this episode of Get the kNACk, host Sue Steele welcomes Adam Jelen, President and CEO of Gilbane Building and Chair of Safety Week 2026, alongside NAC member and Non-Executive Chairman of Gilbane, Steve Halverson. Steve offers his perspective on leadership’s role, emphasizing that safety starts with culture. It is never an area to cut corners and is built on caring for and respecting one another. Adam shares the vision for Construction Safety Week, including a five-year plan that embeds health and safety into every part of a project including total worker health to advance over all worker well-being and the jobsite of the future.  He explains how this year’s theme builds on last year’s work to continue efforts to reduce serious injuries and save lives, including creating a common framework for recognition, response and respect for high energy hazards across all projects, phases and stakeholders. This reflects a shared belief that when everyone is engaged, there is a real opportunity to transform the industry, creating healthier and safer jobsites to build a better nation. constructionsafetyweek.com [http://constructionsafetyweek.com/] https://www.constructionsafetyweek.com/technical-bulletins/ [https://www.constructionsafetyweek.com/technical-bulletins/]

How to Avoid the Trainwreck: The Value of Legal Contracts in the Construction Industry with Wendy Veniot and Shelly Ewald

In this episode of Get the kNACk, host Jerry Eyink is joined by leading construction attorneys Wendy Veniot, Boston Office Managing Partner at Cozen O’Connor, and Shelly Ewald, Partner at Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, LLP. Drawing on extensive experience with complex disputes across the U.S. and internationally, they share practical insights on avoiding unnecessary conflict. They describe contracts as the foundation of any project that establishes expectations, allocates risk, and serves as a roadmap from start to finish. Wendy and Shelly outline strategies to ensure a successful project, emphasizing the importance of fully understanding contract terms, training teams on key conditions, and proactively addressing issues through open communication and collaboration. At its core, the conversation highlights that strong collaboration among all parties is essential to preventing the trainwreck and delivering successful project outcomes.

Insights from the Construction Industry Institute's Latest Safety Research

In this episode of Get the kNACk, host Bill O’Brien welcomes Jamie Gerbrecht to share insights on the Construction Industry Institute’s latest research on safety. Jamie, who recently retired as Executive Director of the Construction Industry Institute, has been a dedicated advocate for safety throughout his career. In this episode, he shares how CII recognized the need to update its best practices to proactively strengthen the industry, continuously improve safety performance, and drive meaningful advancement across the sector. Jamie discusses the outcomes of the research, which identified 16 safety excellence techniques divided into five categories, creating a comprehensive approach that engages all project components and practices. He explains how this integrated framework elevates safety excellence and drives a new level of performance across the industry. Additionally, Jamie touches on CII’s research examining current and emerging AI technologies in construction safety management. Together, these efforts demonstrate the importance of bringing industry and academia together to share experiences, foster innovation, and transform safety performance across the industry.  Find CII’s publications discussed on their website here:  https://www.construction-institute.org/ [https://www.construction-institute.org/]