Shankar Sankaran

Professor Shankar Sankaran is a leading academic at the University of Technology Sydney, affiliated with the School of the Built Environment and serving as a Core Member of the Robotics Institute in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. He joined UTS in 2006 and is also associated with the UTS Climate Society and Environment Research Centre. His work bridges project management with sociotechnical systems, focusing on human-robot teaming and ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) principles in megaprojects. He has supervised 50 higher-degree research students to completion.

• Research Interests: Project Governance, Sociotechnical Systems, Organisational Project Management, Systems Thinking, Action Research
• Leadership Roles: Chief Investigator, ARC Research Hub for Human-Robot Teaming; Associate Editor, Project Management Journal

His research trends encompass:

• Project governance in sustainable construction
• AI and robotics integration in project management
• ESG impacts on megaprojects
• Public-private partnership frameworks
• Digital transformation in construction

Scientific Awards:

• PMI Research Achievement Award (2022)
• IPMA Research Award (2021)
• PMI David Cleland Literati Award (2021)
• Walter Lipke Award (2019)

Supervision & Grants:

• Supervised 50+ PhD/Master’s students
• Secured major grants from ARC Linkage Projects, PMI, and UTS including: Governance of Innovation in 3P, ESG reporting impacts, and Human-Robot Teaming

Labs & Teams:

• Core member of UTS Robotics Institute
• Contributor to UTS Climate Society and Environment Research Centre
• Active in Engineers Australia’s College of Leadership and Management