2022

• 12/06/2022 - Congratulations to our own Xi He!

Dr. He successfully defended her doctoral dissertation on December 05, 2022 on the topic "A Data Quality Measurement and Control Framework for Improved Data Mining in Construction Projects."

The research was motivated by her experience working as a cost consultant on construction projects in China where she experienced several challenges with the quality of data used in performing analysis.

A major contribution of her research was the development of a framework that enables end users of data to continuously improve the quality of data they use along the quality dimensions of accuracy, completeness, noise, etc.

We wish Dr He all the best in the next phase of her career!

• 09/08/2022 - PhD Student Kofi Asare speaks at Airport Operations and Technology Symposium

As part of our continuous engagement with industry on data integration in Operations and Maintenance (O&M), our PhD Student Kofi Asare was invited to speak at the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) Operations and Technology Symposium in San Antonio, TX.

Kofi has been working on the embedded research project at the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority since 2020 and carried out extensive work on the integration of BIM an GIS with facility management (FM). 

In his presentation, Kofi demonstrated the integration of BIM and GIS for FM and shared processes and techniques to achieve such integration. Kofi continues to work on the AAAE's Digital Twin Working Group, where he brings his expertise on the subject  of application of Digital Twins to O&M, which is the focus of his PhD research.

2021

• In September 2021, Kofi presented his research "A Unified Acceptance Model for BIM for FM: Conceptual Development" at the 2021 ASCE International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering (i3CE 2021)

• 08/01/2021 - Congratulations to our own Hyunsoung Park!

Dr. Park successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on July 14, 2021 on the topic "Construction safety analysis of BIM using ontology-based knowledge model for safety code inspection at the design stage."

Dr. Park conducted a two-part study to automatically perform construction safety analysis from the design stage by integrating safety knowledge and information into the BIM using ontology to increase the efficiency of construction safety management in the pre-construction stage.

In Study 1, the construction safety knowledge base was developed using the ontology model. So, safety information related to the BIM model can be identified by automatically receiving information from BIM and the safety requirements provided by OSHA.

Study 2 integrates knowledge base into BIM by using a programming language platform and an add-in. So the safety analysis results from the knowledge base can be brought into BIM, and the results are linked with a 3D model to make it easier for users to view the results.

As a result, more knowledge and information can be accepted and used due to the ontology knowledge base in the future. The automation of construction safety analysis enables safety management from the pre-construction stage to reduce human errors and save time and money.

Dr Park will start the second phase of his academic life from this coming fall as a faculty member in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Evansville. We wish him all the best in his new role!

• 06/23/2021 -Congratulations to our own Meiqing Fu!

 Dr Fu successfully defended his PhD dissertation on the topic " Investigating the effect of building features on individual wayfinding decisions during indoor emergencies."

Dr Fu's study employed a novel approach, which combines virtual reality (VR) and eye-tracking technologies, to investigate human emergency wayfinding in controlled experiments. Two VR-controlled experimental studies were conducted to investigate participants’ visual attention and route choices in two typical wayfinding situations.

Study 1 focused on the route choice at an intersection of corridors. The results indicated that participants preferred to evacuate by their familiar routes. When participants had familiar routes, they were less likely to sense the environment adequately, detect exit signs, and explore other available routes. Social influence also influenced the route choices of participants at the intersection. Also, participants used the evacuation route more when there was a visible emergency exit door on it. However, the emergency lighting did not affect the route choices of participants significantly. Study 2 investigated the use of an exit door in a corridor. When participants were familiar with the other route, they were less likely to notice the exit door and signs, which resulted in less use of the exit door. The color and type of the door did not significantly affect their route choices and visual attention. However, participants paid less attention to the stair sign when the door had a glass window.

The results of both experimental studies also revealed that participants increased the use of a route or exit when they paid more visual attention to it and detected exit signs or stairs signs. Hence, visual access, attraction, and clear information are critical to increasing the use of evacuation routes or exits.

We wish him all the best in his future endeavors. 

2019

• 06/28/2019 - Faxi Yuan presented a research topic on “Utilizing Crowdsourcing and Real-Time Road Condition Data for Assisting Search and Rescue Volunteers: Following 2017 Hurricane Harvey in Houston” at the AESS 2019 conference in Orlando, FL. 

• 06/18/2019 - Meiqing Fu presented a paper on “Automatic Generation of Path Networks for Evacuation Using Building Information Modeling” at the i3ce conference in Atlanta, GA. 

• 06/17/2019 - Faxi Yuan presented a paper on “Identifying Damage-Related Social Media Data during Hurricane Matthew: A Machine Learning Approach” at the i3ce conference in Atlanta, GA.

2018

• 10/17/2018 - Rui Liu took presentation at the DCP Research Seminar at the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

• 07/12/2018 - Rui Liu and Faxi Yuan presented a paper on “Integration of crowdsourcing data with real-time road condition data for effective volunteering rescues: a case study of Hurricane Harvey in Houston” at the Infrastructure Resilience Division (IRD) Research Forum in ASCE Headquarters, Reston, VA. 

• 04/03/2018 - Meiqing Fu presented a paper on “The Application of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in Dealing with Project Schedule Risks” at the CRC 2018 conference in New Orleans, LA. 

• 04/03/2018 - Faxi Yuan presented a paper on “Integration of Social Media and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for Rapid Damage Assessment in Hurricane Matthew ” at the CRC 2018 conference in New Orleans, LA. 

• 01/25/2018 - Faxi Yuan received “2018 DCP Research Symposium Third Place Award - Ph.D.” from College of Design, Construction and Planning, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. 

2017

• 06/26/2017 - Rui Liu presented a paper on “A Real-Time Emergency Evacuation Management System (REEMS) Using Indoor Localization Technology” at the IWCCE conference in Seattle, WA.