Team
Director:
Dr. Hexu Liu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering at Western Michigan University (WMU). Before joining WMU, Dr. Liu worked as a post-doctoral fellow with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)–Industrial Research Chair (IRC) in the Industrialization of Building Construction at the University of Alberta for two years. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Shaanxi, China in 2008 and 2011, respectively, as well as a Ph.D. degree with a specialization in Construction Engineering and Management from the University of Alberta in 2016.
Dr. Liu’s research interests include the application of building information modelling (BIM), construction simulation, Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR), sensor technology, computer vision, and other emerging technologies to advance the knowledge of construction planning and management, especially for off-site construction projects. He has largely contributed to construction automation by the development of innovative BIM technologies for construction planning, such as BIM- and knowledge-based construction design detailing, semantic quantity take-off, and computational BIM-based construction scheduling.
Dr. Liu is an asst. specialty editor of Industrialized Construction and an editorial board member within ASCE‘s Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (JCEM, Q1). He also served as a guest editor for such journals as JCEM, Advances in Civil Engineering, and Buildings. In addition, Dr. Liu is an NSF reviewer and an active reviewer for several leading peer-reviewed journals, such as ASCE‘s Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Automation in Construction, Advanced Engineering Informatics, and Expert Systems with Applications, and Journal of Information Technology in Construction, and several international conferences (e.g., CRC 2018, ISEC 2017, and MOC 2016). Dr. Liu has also received several awards from the University of Alberta, including the Joseph D. Thompson/Zurich Canada Graduate Award, GSA Professional Development Award, Mary Louise Imrie Graduate Award, and Ernie Tromposch Graduate Scholarship, several awards from the universities in China (e.g., Outstanding Graduate Award 2007; 2010), and Outstanding Reviewer from the Journal of Automation in Construction (2017; 2018) and ASCE‘s Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (2021).
Current Members
Shengxian Tang
Shengxian Tang is a PhD student of Construction Engineering at the Western Michigan University. Shengxian joined the DSC lab in Fall 2019, after receiving a master degree in Highway and Railway Engineering from Central South University, China. He has a strong background in road and railway engineering and construction management. His research interests include Building Information Modeling, Human-centered Augmented/Virtual Reality, Robotics, and Bridge Inspection. He is currently working on applications of Augmented/Virtual Reality in construction engineering.
Hosam Olimat
Hosam Olimat is a Ph.D. student at Western Michigan University, co-supervised by Dr. Abudayyeh and Dr. Liu. He earned his master’s degree from WMU, with a major in Construction Engineering, in 2022. His research is centered on the innovative application of blockchain technology to enhance safety in offsite construction. By leveraging blockchain's capabilities, he aims to develop secure, transparent, and efficient safety protocols that can revolutionize offsite construction practices.
Amr Altalhoni
Ph.D., Co-supervised by Dr. Abudayyeh and Dr. Liu
Owen Su
Owen is a sophomore at the University of Michigan majoring in Computer Engineering. He is currently interning as a Cost Analysis Intern for highway construction projects, where he applies his skills in machine learning and Python programming to enhance cost analysis processes. His role involves evaluating the financial aspects of construction projects and contributing to cost estimation.
Alumni
Dr. Obaidullah Hakimi
Obaidullah Hakimi was a Ph.D. student (Co-supervised by Dr. Abudayyeh and Dr. Liu) in Construction Engineering at Western Michigan University, starting in the Spring of 2022. As a Fulbright Scholar, he earned his master’s degree from WMU, with majors in Construction Engineering and Structural Design in 2018. He also earned his undergraduate degree from Nangarhar University, Afghanistan, in 2013. In addition, He received an Exchange Student Scholarship through the EU-NICE-Erasmus Mundus Program to Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Obaidullah’s research interests include Digital Twin in Construction, Smart Facility Management, Building Information Modelling (BIM), Real-time Virtual-physical Data Integration, and Intelligent Predictive Maintenance.
Dr. Hakimi works as a Commercial Project Manager at AVB.
Dr. Manea S. Almatared
Dr. Manea works as a Lecturer in the civil engineering department at Najran University
Manea S. Almatared started his PhD in Construction Engineering at Western Michigan University in the Fall of 2019. Before this, he worked as a lecturer in the civil engineering department at Najran University for one year. Manea received his bachelor’s degree in Najran and master’s degree from Western Michigan University. His research interests include Artificial Intelligence (AI) in construction, Building Information Modeling (BIM), Process Simulation, and BIM-enabled cyber-physical systems.
Dr. Mohammed Sulaiman
Currently, Mohammed works as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Al-Baha University. Mohammed’s research interests include Off-site Construction, Robotics, and Building Information Modeling (BIM).
Mohammed Sulaiman was a Ph.D. Student in the Civil and Construction Engineering Department at Western Michigan University (Fall 2018-Spring 2022). Mohammed graduated from Umm Al-Qura University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 2012. Shortly after graduating, he worked with Dar Alhandsa as a Consultant Engineer in the Expansion Project of Al-Masjid Al-Haram for two years. In 2014, Mohammed moved to Al-Baha University to work as a Teaching Assistant in the Civil Engineering department. After that, Mohammed joined WMU and earned his Master's degree in Civil Engineering in 2016.
Dr. Mohamed A. M. Binalhaj
Dr. Mohammed is a Lecturer in the Department of Civil Engineering at Sebha University.
Mohamed joined the lab as a PhD student of Construction Engineering in Fall 2018. Mohamed obtained his Master's degree at Western Michigan University, with his master's thesis focusing on evaluating IoT sensors for construction safety. In addition, Mohamed has a Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering from the University of Sebha. Mohamed's research interests include Building Information Modeling (BIM), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Sensor technology for construction and facility management applications.
Ms. Anam Hussain Mirza
Anam was a thesis-based Master student in Construction Engineering at Western Michigan University. Anam’s research interests include AI, data analytics, and bridge design and management. She worked on the construction cost analysis for Michigan highway construction projects.
Anam works as a Civil Engineer at MDOT.