School of Architecture and Building
Faculty of Science and Technology
DipBuildEcon, W.England, 1971
MSc, Sal, 1989
On graduation from Bristol Polytechnic David Picken worked as a volunteer on an aid project to build a teacher training college in Papua New Guinea. He then worked as a consultant quantity surveyor in Adelaide, and, following this, in the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. His teaching career began as a lecturer at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where he played a leading role in the development of quantity surveying education in Hong Kong between 1980 and 1995. He completed a research Masters at the University of Salford in life cycle costing for construction in 1989, and in 1993 he studied value engineering practice during an industrial placement with Hanscomb in San Francisco, Atlanta and Washington. David made a strong contribution to professional affairs in Hong Kong leading the development of procedures for professional competency assessment.
He joined Deakin University's School of Architecture and Building in 1995, and has been closely involved in achieving professional recognition of the School's courses in Construction Management. His publications include textbooks for construction measurement practice and papers in international refereed journals. In 2001 David received the F E Crowle Memorial Prize awarded annually by the Australian Institute of Building for teaching excellence and the Deakin University Vice Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching. In 2003 he received a teaching excellence award from the Faculty of Science and Technology. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and the Oceania representative on the Institution's Construction Faculty Board. He is also a State Chapter Councillor for the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors in Victoria.
In the real world David coaches junior soccer and supports Port Vale Football Club in the English Second Division, and Geelong Football club in the AFL.
