Seeking Truth: The Luminous Power of Serious Games & Simulations | Zofia Rybkowski | TEDxTAMUSalon

Amidst the noise of varied opinions, how can we be confident that something is actually true? We might look to research by medical scientists, who hold up the randomized controlled trial as the “gold standard” of rigorous research, for example.

Dr. Zofia Rybkowski speaks to her personal transformation from bench scientist to academic researcher and educator of architecture and construction management at Texas A&M. She shares how serious games and simulations can serve a similar—though more lighthearted—role in controlled experimentation, as way of seeking truth in the sometimes confusing and contradictory world of project management.

Zofia K. Rybkowski, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Construction Science of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University, and Holder of the Harold Adams Interdisciplinary Professorship for Construction Science.

Dr. Rybkowski’s research experience includes Integrated Project Delivery, productivity analysis and lean construction, serious game and simulation development and testing, target value design, life cycle cost analysis, sustainable design and evidence-based design. She has extensive experience as a construction, architectural, and engineering researcher and consultant. She has consulted for firms in Boston, San Francisco, Tokyo and Hong Kong, and has offered Lean and Target Value Design workshops to such varied organizations as the Penrose/St. Francis Healthcare and Walt Disney Imagineering. Dr. Rybkowski holds degrees from Stanford, Brown, Harvard, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the University of California, Berkeley. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx