News Archive
2024
June 2024: SICIS and LIVE paper entitled "Enabling BIM-Driven Robotic Construction Workflows with Closed-Loop Digital Twins ." has been accepted for publication in Computers in industry. Elsevier.
May 2024: Congratulations to SICIS and LIVE PhD student Somin Park for successfully completing her PhD studies.
May 2024: Congratulations to LIVE and SICIS PhD student Hongrui Yu for successfully completing her PhD studies. Dr. Yu will be joining Virginia Tech starting August 2024.
April 2024: Prof. Menassa and Prof. Kamat awarded the University of Michigan Provost’s Teaching Innovation Prize for project titled “Digital Sandbox for Experiential Model-Based Engineering Education”. Learn more here.
March 2024: SICIS and LIVE receive funding from the USDOT Center for Connected and Automated Transportation (CCAT) for project entitled “COVERT: Cognitive Internet of Vulnerable Road Users in Traffic .”
March 2024: Congratulations to LIVE and SICIS PhD student Hongrui Yu for receiving the Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship from the Rackham Graduate School.
February 2024: SICIS and LIVE paper entitled "Natural Language Instructions for Intuitive Human Interaction with Robotic Assistants in Field Construction Work." has been accepted for publication in Automation in Construction. Elsevier.
January 2024: SICIS and LIVE paper entitled “Cloud-Based Hierarchical Imitation Learning for Scalable Transfer of Construction Skills from Human Workers to Assisting Robots.” has been accepted for publication in Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering. ASCE.
2023
November 2023: SICIS paper entitled "A Systematic Analysis of Physiological Responses as Indicators of Driver Takeover Readiness in Conditionally Automated Driving.” has been accepted for publication in Accident Analysis and Prevention. Elsevier.
September 2023: Prof. Menassa has been elected to ASCE Fellow.
September 2023: SICIS and LIVE paper entitled "Automatic High-Level Motion Sequencing Methods for Enabling Multi-Tasking Construction Robots." has been accepted for publication in Automation in Construction. Elsevier.
August 2023: SICIS and LIVE paper entitled "Learning-Based Personal Models for Joint Optimization of Thermal Comfort and Energy Consumption in Flexible Workplaces ." has been accepted for publication in Energy and Buildings. Elsevier.
April 2023: Congratulations to SICIS PhD student Min Deng for successfully completing his PhD studies. Dr. Deng will be joining Texas Tech University starting August 2023.
April 2023: Congratulations to SICIS and LIVE PhD student Somin Park for being named as Barbour Scholar for 2023-2024 by the Rackham Graduate School.
March 2023: SICIS and LIVE paper entitled "Mutual Physical State-Aware Object Handover in Full-Contact Collaborative Human-Robot Construction Work." has been accepted for publication in Automation in Construction. Elsevier.
February 2023: SICIS receives the ASCE John O. Bickel Award for paper entitled “Trajectory-Based Skill Learning for Overhead Construction Robots Using Generalized Cylinders with Orientation," published in Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, March 2022.
January 2023: SICIS paper entitled "A Comprehensive Evaluation of Factors Influencing Acceptance of Robotic Assistants in Field Construction Work .” has been accepted for publication in Journal of Management in Engineering. ASCE.
2022
December 2022: SICIS research on “Empowering End-To-End Mobility For Wheelchair Users.” was featured in The Michigan Minds Podcast, Season 6, Episode, December 2022. The recording and transcript can be downloaded here.
September 2022 : SICIS receives funding from NSF for project entitled "SCC-IRG Track 1: Advancing Human-Centered Sociotechnical Research for Enabling Independent Mobility in People with Physical Disabilities." More information about the project here award
June 2022: SICIS paper entitled "Investigating the effect of wearing masks on office work in indoor environments during a pandemic using physiological sensing.” has been accepted for publication in Building and Environment. Elsevier.
April 2022: Prof. Menassa awarded the Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize from ASCE. More information about the award can be found here.
April 2022: SICIS paper entitled "Digital ID Framework for Human-Centric Monitoring and Control of Smart Buildings.” Building Simulation." has been accepted for publication in Building Simulation. Springer.
March 2022: SICIS paper entitled "Real-time state synchronization between physical construction robots and process-level digital twins ." has been accepted for publication in Construction Robotics. Springer.
March 2022: SICIS gave a Research Review Presentation entitled “Can Physiological Sensing Indicate Driver Takeover Abilities in Conditional Level 3 Automation?” to the University of Michigan Center for Connected and Automated Transportation. The recording of the presentation can be found here.
January 2022: Modern Machine Shop highlighted our research on robot assistants in construction in this article.
2021
October 2021: SICIS paper entitled "Trajectory-Based Skill Learning for Overhead Construction Robots Using Generalized Cylinders with Orientation." has been accepted for publication in Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering. ASCE.
September 2021: SICIS work featured in “How To Reinvent Construction Using Robotics.” The Next Byte Podcast, Episode 36, September 2021. The recording and transcript can be downloaded here.
September 2021: ASCE SmartBrief for Civil Engineers highlighted our research on robot assistants in construction in this article
September 2021: dbusiness (Detroit's Premier Business Journal) highlighted our research on robot assistants in construction in this article
September 2021: For Construction Pros highlighted our research on robot assistants in construction in this article
August 2021: SICIS receives funding from NSF for project entitled "FW-HTF-R: Collaborative Research: Partnering Workers with Interactive Robot Assistants to Usher Transformation in Future Construction Work." More information about the project here award
June 2021: SICIS paper entitled "Measurement and Prediction of Work Engagement under Different Indoor Lighting Conditions using Physiological Sensing." has been accepted for publication in Building and Environment. Elsevier.
June 2021: SICIS paper entitled "Interactive and Immersive Process-Level Digital Twin for Collaborative Human-Robot Construction Work " has been accepted for publication in Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering. ASCE.
May 2021: SICIS receives the ASCE Collingwood Prize for paper entitled "Evaluation of Preference- and Constraint-Sensitive Path Planning and Navigation in Indoor Building Environments," published in Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, June 2020.
May 2021: SICIS paper entitled "Human-Robot Collaboration in Construction: Classification and Research Trends" has been accepted for publication in Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. ASCE.
April 2021: SICIS paper entitled "Shared Autonomy in Assistive Mobile Robots: A Review" has been accepted for publication in Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology. ITCon.
April 2021: SICIS receives the ASCE Arthur M. Wellington Prize for paper entitled "Evaluation of Preference- and Constraint-Sensitive Path Planning and Navigation in Indoor Building Environments," published in Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, June 2020.
March 2021: Xi Wang was selected by Rackham to receive the Barbour Scholarship. Congratulations Xi!
March 2021: SICIS receives funding from the USDOT Center for Connected and Automated Transportation (CCAT) for project entitled “Predicting Driver Takeover Performance in Conditional Automation (Level 3) through Physiological Sensing.”
March 2021: SICIS paper entitled "From BIM to digital twins: a systematic review of the evolution of intelligent building representations in the AEC-FM industry" has been accepted for publication in Journal of Information Technology in Construction.
2020
August 2020: SICIS receives funding from NSF for project entitled "FW-HTF-P: Redesigning the Future of Construction Work by Replicating the Master-Apprentice Model in Human-Robot Worker Teams". More information about the project here award
August 2020: Prof. Menassa selected to serve as a Governor on the ASCE Construction Institute (CI) Board of Governors link
July 2020: Ci-Jyun Liang's paper entitled "Teaching robots to perform quasi-repetitive construction tasks through human demonstration" has been accepted for publication in Automation in Construction
June 2020: Prof. Menassa was interviewed by TechBrief. Read more about it here interview
June 2020: Popular Mechanics highlighted our HEAT work in this article
June 2020: NSF Research News highlighted our HEAT work in this article
June 2020: 7th Space highlighted our HEAT work in this article
June 2020: TechXplore highlighted our HEAT work in this article
June 2020: Science Daily highlighted our HEAT work in this article
June 2020: Michigan Engineering News Center highlighted our HEAT work in this article
May 2020: SICIS research was highlighted in American Scientist article
April 2020: SICIS paper entitled "HEAT: Human Embodied Autonomous Thermostat" has been accepted for publication in Building and Environment.
February 2020: SICIS collaborative work on optimizing comfort for nurses in high stress environments is highlighted in this video.
2019
October 2019: Da Li has successfully defended his PhD dissertation. Congratulations Dr. Li!
May 2019: Da Li's paper entitled "Robust non-intrusive interpretation of occupant thermal comfort in built environments with low-cost networked thermal cameras." has been accepted for publication in Applied Energy.
May 2019: Xi Wang's paper entitled "Investigating the effect of indoor thermal environment on occupants' mental workload and task performance using electroencephalogram." has been accepted for publication in Building and Environment.
May 2019: SICIS paper entitled "Evaluation of Preference and Constraint-Sensitive Path-Planning for Assisted Navigation in Indoor Building Environments." has been accepted for publication in ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering.
March 2019: Da Li has been selected to receive the Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship the supports outstanding PhD students.
March 2019: SICIS article : "Robotic data collection and simulation for evaluation of building retrofit performance." has been published in Advances in Engineering.
January 2019: Da Li's paper entitled "Understanding energy-saving behaviors in the American workplace: A unified theory of Motivation, Opportunity and Ability" has been accepted for publication in Energy Research and Social Science.
January 2019: SICIS article "Offices are too hot or too cold - is there a better way to control room temperature?" has been published in The Conversation.
2018
October 2018: Da Li has received the Communication Award at the UM Engineering Graduate Symposium. The award recognizes a student who demonstrates excellence in scientific communication in the Advanced Graduate Student Research Poster Session. Da presented a poster entitled:" An Infrared Thermal Imaging Based Method for Personalized Thermal Comfort Assessment."
August 2018: SICIS receives funding from NSF for project entitled "Non-Intrusive Interpretation and Improvement of Multi-Occupancy Human Thermal Comfort through Analysis of Facial Infrared Thermography".
July 2018: Da Li's paper entitled "Non-Intrusive Interpretation of Human Thermal Comfort through Analysis of Facial Infrared Thermography" has been accepted for publication in Energy and Buildings.
May 2018: Albert Thomas's paper entitled "A Systems Simulation Framework to Realize Net-Zero Building Energy Retrofits" has been accepted for publication in Sustainable Cities and Society.
April 2018: Prof. Menassa receives the 2018 CEEFA Faculty Award.
March 2018: Bharadwaj Mantha has successfully defended his PhD dissertation. Congratulations Dr. Mantha!
March 2018: Bharadwaj Mantha's paper entitled "Robotic Data Collection and Simulation for Evaluation of Building Retrofit Performance" has been accepted for publication in Automation in Construction.
2017
October 2017: Da Li's paper entitled "Personalized Human Comfort in Indoor Building Environments under Diverse Conditioning Modes" has been accepted for publication in Building and Environment.
July 2017: Prof. Menassa receives the 2017 Alfred Noble Prize from ASCE.
July 2017: Albert Thomas's paper entitled "Lightweight and Adaptive Building Simulation (LABS) Framework for Integrated Building Energy and Thermal Comfort Analysis" has been accepted for publication in Building Simulation.
June 2017: Prof. Menassa has been elected as secratary of CRC during CRC business meeting in Vancouver, Canada.
April 2017: Albert Thomas has successfully defended his PhD dissertation. Congratulations Dr. Thomas!
March 2017: Prof. Menassa receives the 2017 Daniel W. Halpin Award for Scholarship in Construction from ASCE. The award is given for demonstrating outstanding scholarship in construction engineering through pioneering research and education in sustainable infrastructure and constructed facilities.
March 2017: Bhardwaj Mantha receives the Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship. Congratulations!
February 2017: Bharadwaj Mantha's paper entitled "Task Allocation and Route Planning for Robotic Service Networks in Indoor Building Environments" has been accepted for publication in ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering.
January 2017: Prof. Menassa receives the Outstanding Early Career Researcher (1-10 years) Award from Fiatech CETI (Celebration of Engineering and Technology Innovation).
2016
November 2016: Da Li's paper entitled "Energy Use Behaviors in Buildings: Towards an Integrated Conceptual Framework" has been accepted for publication in Energy Research and Social Science.
July 2016: Our paper entitled "Semi-Autonomous Mobile Robots for Ambient Data Collection in Indoor Environments has received the Best Paper Award at the 33rd International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction (ISARC 2016). The authors are: Bharadwaj Mantha, Carol Menassa and Vineet Kamat.
May 2016: Da Li successfully completed his Preliminary Exam and advanced to candidacy. Congratulations Da!
April 2016: Aslihan Kartas and Allisandra Stoiko's paper entitled "Framework for Selecting Occupancy Focused Energy Interventions in Buildings" has been accepted for publication in Building Research and Information.
April 2016: Prof. Menassa receives the 2015 Outstanding Reviewer Award for ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering.
March 2016: Albert Thomas's paper entitled "A System Dynamics Simulation Framework to Study Effect of Material Performance on a Building's Life Cycle Energy Requirements" has been accepted for publication in ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering. Congratulations Albert!
January 2016: Prof. Menassa selected to receive the 2016 CEE Department Excellence Award.
January 2016: Da Li joins SICIS as a PhD student. Welcome Da!
2015
December 2015: Bharadwaj Mantha successfully completed his Qualifying Exam and advanced to candidacy. Congratulations Baddu!
October 2015: Albert Thomas successfully completed his Preliminary Exam and advanced to candidacy. Congratulations Albert!
September 2015: Bharadwaj Mantha's paper entitled "A Taxonomy of Data Types and Data Collection Methods for Building Energy Monitoring and Performance Simulation" has been accepted for publication in "Advances in Building Energy Research. Congratulations Baddu!
July 2015: Prof. Menassa receives best paper award from ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering. Awarded for paper entitled: "Determining the Optimal Premium for ADR Implementation Insurance in Construction Dispute Resolution"
June 2015: Albert Thomas successfully completed his Qualifying Exam. Congratulations Albert!
May 2015: Prof. Menassa receives the Distinguished Professor Award from the Construction Industry Institute (CII).