The state’s third-largest building contractor is donating a new research lab to Florida International University’s OHL School of Construction in an effort to strengthen the program’s national reputation.

Moss and Associates

Moss and Associates, a Fort Lauderdale-based construction management company, is giving the school $250,000 to build the new facility, which will be named the Moss and Associates Built Environment Informatics Laboratory (BEIL) in honor of the company. Moss and Associates will also consult the school as it equips the lab with state-of-the-art technology.

“This innovative facility is going to be critical to the development of the construction industry and to our students excelling in that field,” said Dr. Susan R. Jay, director of development at FIU’s College of Engineering and Computing. “It will also solidify FIU’s position as a leading teaching and research institution for the construction industry.”

New hi-tech equipment in the lab will allow students to learn from real-world data and case studies using virtual simulations without having to make trips into the field, which can be expensive and unsafe, according to Jay.

Over the past decade, Moss and Associates has played a key role in the school’s current strength among the top undergraduate construction education programs in the country, Jay said. Chad Moss, the company’s senior vice president, received his Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from FIU in 1994 and is now a member of the school’s board of directors.

Moss and Associates is a privately held construction company with four offices in Florida and one in Greenville, S.C., and Raleigh, N.C.

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http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/20/3462425/ft-lauderdale-construction-company.html