Bio
Dr. Maria Calahorra-Jimenez is an assistant professor in the Department of Construction Management at California State University, Fresno. Maria holds a Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder and a Ph.D. degree in Engineering Science from the Catholic University of Chile. Dr. Maria Calahorra-Jimenez is also Project Management Professional (PMP). Before earning her doctorates, Maria worked in international engineering firms for 14 years. She served as technical office manager, project manager, and project engineer involved in the design and construction oversee of more than a hundred infrastructure projects—totaling nearly $2 billion—in Spain and Chile.
Dr. Calahorra-Jimenez’s research focuses on improving construction performance metrics by enhancing pre-construction management strategies in public infrastructure projects. Dr. Calahorra-Jimenez worked on research projects focused on highway and road management improvement such as Oportunidades para el mejoramiento de la gestión de proyectos de infraestructura pública en Chile funded by the Center of Public Policy of the Pontifical Catholic of Chile; Effectiveness of the SCDOT Design-Build Highway Program funded by South Carolina Department of Transportation, Deciding how to select: exploring award algorithms to reach best-value in design-build highway projects funded by Fresno State Chancellors Office & Contracting Strategies: a different approach to address long-term performance in road projects funded by Fresno State Transportation Institute. Further, Dr. Calahorra-Jimenez is currently exploring research lines involving sustainability in infrastructure and data analytics for decision-making.