S2MART Construction Lab
Smart and Sustainable Management with Automation and Robotics Technologies in Construction
Smart and Sustainable Management with Automation and Robotics Technologies in Construction
Welcome to S2MART Construction Lab at North Dakota State University! The overarching goal of S2MART Construction Lab is to advance safety, efficiency, and sustainability in built environments, construction operations, and communities through innovative approaches, including multimodal sensor fusion and IoT sensing networks for data collection, AI and deep learning for data analytics, and simulation techniques such as digital twins and virtual reality, for realistic modeling and training. Our mission is to conduct research in areas of human-building interaction, automation in construction, human-robot collaboration, workforce training, safety risk-informed decision support, and disaster response training.
Recent News
2025
May 2025 Dr. Jang's research group received the Centennial Endowment Fund from the NDSU Foundation and Alumni Association for "AI-driven personalized course materials generation for automation and robotics." Thank you for the support!
May 2025 Our journal paper on "Vehicle intrusion detection in highway work zones using inertial sensors and lightweight deep learning" has been accepted by Automation in Construction.
Feb. 2025 Our journal paper on "Comparative analysis of deep learning approaches for automatic recognition of awkward postures in construction environments through wrist-worn biosensors" has been accepted by the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management.
2024
Sep. 2024 Dr. Jang's research group received a grant from NSF for the "disaster response metaverse for enhancing community engagement through immersive, interactive experiences." Thank you for the support!
Aug. 2024 Dr. Jang received the Professorship Award - Malcolm and Linda Selig Distinguished Professor. Thank you for the support from Malcolm and Linda Selig!
Jul. 2024 Our journal paper on "Predicting human trust in human-robot collaborations using machine learning and psychophysiological responses" has been accepted by Advanced Engineering Informatics.
Jun. 2024 Our journal paper on "Advancing highway work zone safety: A comprehensive review of sensor technologies for intrusion and proximity hazards" has been accepted by Transportation Research Record.
May 2024 Dr. Jang's research group received a grant from NDSU Sparking Big Ideas: Interdisciplinary Research Planning Grant Program for the "crowd movement prediction in community events." Thanks for the support!
May 2024 Our collaborative journal paper on "Risk evaluation of radioactive concrete structure decommissioning in nuclear power plants using Fuzzy-AHP" has been accepted by Buildings.
Apr. 2024 Our journal paper on "Edge AI-enabled road fixture monitoring system" has been accepted by Buildings.
Mar. 2024 Dr.Jang's group presented the research on 'Physiological signal analysis for awkward working postures of construction workers using wearable biosensor' and 'Remote virtual inspection of infrastructure in metaverse environment' at the Construction Research Congress (CRC) 2024, Des Moines, Iowa.
Feb. 2024 Our journal paper on "Investigating effects of indoor temperature and lighting on university students' learning performance considering sensation, comfort, and physiological responses." has been accepted by the Building and Environment.
Jan. 2024 Our journal paper on "Analyzing trust dynamics in human-robot collaboration through psychophysiological responses in an immersive virtual construction environment" has been accepted by the Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering.
2023
Oct. 2023 Our journal paper on "Deep-learning-based activity-aware 3D human motion trajectory prediction in construction" has been accepted by Expert Systems With Applications.
Oct. 2023 Dr.Jang's research group received a grant from AI SUSTEN for the "Real-time optimal thermal control for enhancing energy efficiency and occupants' comfort in building using IoT sensors and double deep Q-network." Thanks for the support!
Sep. 2023 Our journal paper on "Personalized optimal room temperature and illuminance for maximizing occupant's mental task performance using physiological data" has been accepted by the Journal of Building Engineering.
Aug. 2023 Ayenew joined our research group as a Ph.D. student. Congrats and Welcome Abroad!
Jul. 2023 Our journal paper on "Multi-camera-based human activity recognition for human-robot collaboration in construction" has been accepted by Sensors.
Jul. 2023 Dr.Jang's research group received a grant from MnDOT for the "Enhanced safety of highway construction site using low cost, wearable sensor." Thanks for the support!
Jul. 2023 Our journal paper on "Impact of COVID-19 on social and psychological well-being of workers in construction projects: a comparative analysis of managers and laborers" has been accepted by Buildings.
May 2023 Dr.Jang's research group received the Centennial Endowment Fund from the NDSU Foundation and Alumni Association for the "STEM distancing learning in Metaverse." Thanks for the support!
Mar. 2023 Sajib successfully defended his MS thesis entitled 'Multi-camera-based human activity recognition in construction environment using particle filter and long short-term memory network.' Congrats! He will join Braun Intertec Corporation as a civil engineering and construction materials testing Co-op. Best of luck with his new career!
2022
Nov. 2022 Surakshya successfully defended her MS thesis entitled 'Investigating the effect of temperature and lighting on learning performance of students using physiological responses.' Congrats! She will join Burgess Services as an assistant project manager. Best of luck with her new career!
Oct. 2022 Olu successfully defended his MS thesis entitled 'Social and psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the construction project.' Congrats! He will join the Kiewit group as a field/office engineer. Best of luck with his new career!
Aug. 2022 Moein and Hardik joined our research group as Ph.D. students. Welcome aboard!
Jun. 2022 Dr.Jang's group presented the research on 'Multi-camera-based 3D human pose estimation for close-proximity human-robot collaboration in construction' at the 9th International Conference on Construction Engineering and Project Management (ICCEPM) Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Apr. 2022 Sajib and Olu presented their research at the NDSU Student Research Day.
Apr. 2022 Sajib presented his research on context-awareness for close-proximity human-robot collaboration during construction tasks at ND EPSCoR State Conference.
2021
Oct. 2021 Dr. Jang gave a seminar on adopting emerging technologies in construction management and engineering in the Dept. Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at NDSU.
Oct. 2021 Dr. Jang's research group received the STEM Research and Education - Seed Award from NDSU EPSCoR. Thank you for the support!
Oct. 2021 Dr. Jang's research group received the STEM Research and Education - Seed Award from ND EPSCoR. Thank you for the support!
May 2021 Our paper on "Identifying the perception differences of emerging construction-related technologies between industry and academia to enable high levels of collaboration" has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management.
Mar. 2021 Surakshya Pradhan joined our research group as a master student. Congrats and welcome aboard!
Jan. 2021 Dr. Jang's research team received the Start-up Award (PI) from the NDSU EPSCoR. Thank you for the support!
2020
Dec. 2020 Our paper on "Identifying impact of variables in deep learning models on bankruptcy prediction of construction contractor" has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management.
Nov. 2020 Our paper on "Motion planning of mobile robots for autonomous navigation on uneven ground surface " has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering.
Dec. 2020 Olugbemiga Olatoye joined our research group as a master student. Congrats and welcome aboard!
Oct. 2020 Sajib Sarker joined our research group as a master student. Congrats and welcome aboard!
Aug. 2020 Dr. Jang joined as an Assistant Professor in the Construction Management Engineering Department at North Dakota State Univerisity!
Copyright @ S2MART Construction Lab 2021