NUS Department of Building

Associate Professor
Department of Building, SDE1-04-17
School of Design and Environment
National University of Singapore
4 Architecture Drive
Singapore 117566
Tel: (65) 6516-3444
Fax: (65) 6775-5502

Email: bdglyy@nus.edu.sg

Home Page: http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/
bdglyy/index.htm

Academic/Professional Qualifications:

BSc (Building) with First Class Honours from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1989. Awarded the Sally Meyer Gold Medal and the Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers Gold Medal.
MSc (International Construction Management) from Nanyang Technological University in 1992. Awarded Guthrie Gold Medal.
Doctor of Philosophy from the NUS in the area of construction management (1999). Won the runner-up prize for the international PhD student essay competition organized by the UK Building Research and Information journal.
Member of the Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers (since 1989), and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (since 1990).

Career History:

Executive Quantity Surveyor (cost engineer), Public Works Department (1987 - 1995). Provided quantity surveying services to a range of projects such as high rise multi-million dollar office complexes, residential complexes, schools, and other institutional buildings.
Lecturer (1995 - 1998); Assistant Professor (1998 - 2004) National University of Singapore

Associate Professor (2004-current) National University of Singapore
Visiting Scholar, University of California, Berkeley (Fall Semester, 2002)

Administrative Leadership:

Vice Dean (Finance and Administration), School of Design and Environment
Member, University Research Committee Expert Panel for Business, Humanities and Social Sciences (2006 – current)
Director of the undergraduate Building programs (1999 – 2002: full time program; 2004 – July 2007: part time programs).
Director of Minor in Project Management (Aug 2006 -July 2007)

Council Member of Quantity Surveying Divisional Council, SISV.
Member of the 7th Ministry of Manpower’s Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (2005).
Member of the Ministry of Manpower's Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Construction Advisory Sub-Committee (2006 - current).
Far East Editor, International Journal of Project Organisation and Management (September 07 – current)
Member of Management Committee, Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building (July 07 – current)

Research Interests:

Construction management and construction economics
International construction
Project management in China
Improving project performance (budget/cost; schedule/time; quality; profitability; and client's satisfaction)

Research Projects and Research Grants Received:

Building a World Class Construction Industry: An Examination of the Impact of C21 on Singapore’s Construction Industry (S$19,500, collaborator) - completed in October 2000
Performance Evaluation of Alternative Project Procurement Methods (S$21,650, principal investigator) - completed in July 2002
Enabling Innovation in Construction: The Alignment of Motivation in Construction for Greater Integration (S$86,234, principal investigator) - completed in January 2003
Developing World Class Firms with Strong Export Capability: Learning from Successful USA Design and Construction Firms (S$22,350, principal investigator) - completed in September 2003
Enhancing Safety Culture in Construction: the Impact of Safety Management System on Construction Safety Levels (S$89,075, co-principal investigator) - completed in January 2004
Project Management Practices Adopted by International Consultants and Contractors When Operating in China (S$17,940, principal investigator) - expected to complete in March 2006
Flexibility Management to Counter Corporate Financial Risk of Contractors (S17,000, principal investigator) – in progress.

Major Awards:

National University of Singapore’s Teaching Excellence Award, 1999
National University of Singapore's Excellent Teacher, 2001/2002
National University of Singapore's Excellent Teacher, 2002/2003
National University of Singapore's Excellent Teacher, 2003/2004
National University of Singapore's Excellent Teacher, 2005/2006
National University of Singapore School of Design and Environment's Teaching Honours List, 2002/2003
National University of Singapore’s Suggestion of the Year Award, December 1996
Financial incentive from teaching a Singapore Studies module SSD2210 (2006).
Emerald Literati Network 2006 Highly Commended Award for the paper she co-authored: “Improving the Design of Tall Buildings After 9/11” published in Structural Survey, 23(4) in 2005.

Awards for PhD Studies:

Runner-up for Building Research and Information PhD Student Essay Competition, May 1999 (Lorch, R. (1999). Editorial: BRI Student Essay Competition, Building Research and Information, 27(3), 123.)

Awards for Graduate Studies:

Nanyang Technological University’s Guthrie Gold Medal Award, for being top student for the M Sc (International Construction Management) course, 1992

Awards for Undergraduate Studies:

National University of Singapore’s Sally Meyer’s Gold Medal for being top student in the final year, 1987
Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers’ Gold Medal for being top student in the BSc (Building) course, 1983-1987
Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers’ M.H. Goh Award for being top student in Level 1 of the BSc (Building) course, 1983.
Government of Singapore’s Open Merit Scholarship, 1983-1987

Teaching:

BU3280 Construction Project Economics
CLA5102 Introduction to Construction Technology
PF2202 Cost Estimating
SSD2210 Managing Singapore’s Built Environment

Selected Research Publications:

Ling, Y Y and D.H.Y. Kwok, Enablers for Singapore contractors to internationalize construction services. Construction Management and Economics, 25, 3 (2007): 267-275.
Ling, Y Y and Linda Hoi, Risks faced by Singapore firms when undertaking construction projects in India. International Journal of Project Management, 24, 3 (2006): 261-270.
Ling, Y Y, C.W. Ibbs and W.Y. Hoo, Determinants of international architectural, engineering and construction firms’ project success in China. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 132, 2 (2006): 206-214.
Ling, Y Y and M. Liu, Factors considered by successful and profitable contractors in mark-up size decision in Singapore. Building and Environment , 40, 11 (2005): 1557-1565.
Ling, Y Y, C W Ibbs and J C Cuervo, Entry and Business Strategies used by International AEC Firms in China. Construction Management and Economics, 23, 5 (2005): 509-520.
Liu, M and Y Y Ling, Modeling a contractor's markup estimation. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 131, no. 4 (2005): 391-399.
Ling, Y Y, S L Han, E Chong and L P Ee, Predicting performance of DB and DBB projects. ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 130, 1 (2004): 75-83.
Ling, Y Y, Model for predicting performance of architects and engineers. ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 128, 5 (2002): 446-455.
Ling, Y Y, Managing the implementation of construction innovations. Construction Management and Economics, 21 (2003): 635-649.
Ling, Y Y, How project managers can better control the performance of DB projects. International Journal of Project Management, 22, 6 (2004): 477-488.
Ling, Y Y, Key performance determinants in design-bid-build projects. Building Research and Information, 32, 2 (2004): 128-139.