Michael Gabriel Ayoub is a final year Construction Management (Quantity Surveying) Honours student with a passion for critical infrastructure. Currently an undergraduate at ACCIONA on the Western Harbour Tunnel, and previously working with Downer on asphalt design and quality control, experience that sharpened his focus on safety, efficiency, and buildability. His thesis, “Optimising Equipment Fleet Utilisation in Asphalt Construction: A Lean-Based Value Stream Mapping and Decision-Making Analysis,” translates lean thinking into practical, data-driven improvements across paving operations. Blending a strong academic record with hands-on site exposure, he partners effectively with multidisciplinary teams to deliver reliable outcomes. Beyond study and work, he enjoys hiking and playing tennis, interests that reflect his energy, persistence, and commitment to continuous improvement.

Michael Gabriel Ayoub

 

My project tackles chronic underutilisation of equipment fleets in asphalt construction by integrating Lean Construction, Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and structured decision-making into a single, practical framework for day-to-day planning and longer-term ownership choices. Working end-to-end across production, haulage and paving with an industry partner (Downer), we first map the current value stream from plant to laydown to expose scheduling, logistics and decision bottlenecks. Semi-structured interviews with operations, maintenance, engineering and commercial teams capture pain points and clarify decision rights; root-cause analysis and an impact-versus-effort matrix are then used to prioritise fixes that actually move the dial. The resulting future-state framework standardises dispatch rules, roles and information flows, links utilisation targets to make/buy/lease and pooling strategies, and establishes clear KPIs and governance so improvements persist beyond a single project. We expect measurable gains in fleet utilisation, with fewer truck queues, reduced plant idling, and lower ownership and hire costs, supported by a defendable decision toolkit and procurement VSM to forecast demand, supplier lead times and maintenance windows. Results are necessarily context and time bound, however, the method is designed to transfer to tier one surfacing contractors operating similar integrated models.