Dr. Hastak is the Professor and Head of the Division of Construction Engineering and Management as well as Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue University. He has been involved with the construction industry for the past 30 years where he has conducted research, taught, and assisted industry in the area of construction engineering and management including process improvement, disaster risk reduction, infrastructure management, cost control, project management decision-making, risk management, and strategic planning. 

Dr. Hastak is a Professional Engineer(PE) and a Certified Cost Professional (CCP). As an academic, he has worked on numerous Construction Industry Institute (CII) projects over the past 25 years. Dr. Hastak has authored over 200 publications that relate to process improvement, project controls, capital rehabilitation planning, strategic planning and decision-making based on his work. He has co-authored a widely used book on Infrastructure Planning, Engineering, and Economics published by McGraw-Hill (2006 and 2015).

 He serves on the Education Board of the Association for Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE) where he is also the editor for the 6th edition of the Skills and Knowledge of Cost Engineering (2015) and the 2nd Edition of the CCP Certification Study Guide (2016).In addition to his strong analytical skills, Dr.  Hastak utilizes his verbal and written communication skills in developing training material and workshops as well as regularly teaching professional courses for the A/E/C industry.