William (Bill) O’Brien, Ph.D., P.E., NAC, is an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow in the Building Technologies Office of the Department of Energy, supporting the Residential Buildings Integration program and the Advanced Building Construction Initiative.
Bill’s career has focused on implementing systemic improvements in complex project environments. He is an expert on construction supply chain management and collaborative approaches. His research on Advanced Work Packaging was designated a Best Practice by the Construction Industry Institute, and has been adopted as a corporate execution standard by major owner operators and contractors. His contributions to the practice have been observed in numerous awards.
Bill is the E.P. Schoch Professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (on leave). From 1999-2004 he was a faculty member at the University of Florida (Gainesville). Prior to returning to academia, he led product development and planning efforts at Collaborative Structures, a Boston-based Internet start-up focused on serving the construction industry. He holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. degree in civil engineering and an M.S. degree in engineering-economic systems from Stanford University. He also holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering (academic honors) from Columbia University.