smart construction, smart city, smart building
Our mission is to build and manage smart cities including infrastructure systems and buildings through smart construction and management. We conduct basic research in areas that include sensing and data analytics (AI, data science), information modeling/visualization and simulation (digital twin, VR), and human-robot interfaces, in the context of construction management, infrastructure management, and building science. We apply this research to projects that include teleoperation in construction workplaces (automation in construction), Human-Robot Interface for Extraterrestrial Construction (Lunar Construction), AI-driven disaster risk prediction (e.g., hurricanes, pandemics), smart city digital twin for vulnerable populations (e.g., older adults) and regions (e.g., coastal communities), smart building, and cyber-physical systems (CPS) for improving STEM education.
Our members are students, faculty, and affiliates of Texas A&M University (TAMU). We come from a variety of academic backgrounds across engineering and science. We currently have openings for highly motivated and driven students across multi-disciplinary backgrounds! If you are interested, please contact Dr. Ham sharing your CV and passion.
Recent News
2023
Aug. The paper "Participatory Sensing and Digital Twin City: Updating Virtual City Models for Enhanced Risk-Informed Decision-Making" from Journal of Management in Engineering, has been selected for the Sustainable Development Goals Showcase to promote content devoted to the UN Sustainable Development Goals!
Aug. Two of our lab members (Jaeyoon and Parth) received the COSC Outstanding Research Award at the hard hat ceremony yesterday. This award annually goes to the most deserving graduate student based on academic achievements. Again congratulations, Jaeyoon and Parth!!!
Aug. Minguk joined our research group as a PhD student. Congrats and Welcome aboard!
Jul. Wei-Lun William Tsai from National Taiwan University joined Ham Research Group as a Visiting Student. Welcome, William!
Jun. Dr. Ham was elected as a new officer of ASCE Visualization, Information Modeling, and Simulation (VIMS) committee.
Jun. Yoojun received the KACEPMA (Korean-American Construction Engineering and Project Management Association)/HanmiGlobal Graduate Student Scholarship. Congrats!
Jun. Jaeyoon, Yeon, Yoojun, Jinsol, and Miran presented their research in 2023 ASCE International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering, CH2M HILL Alumni Center, Corvallis, OR.
Jun. Journal paper on “Personal Thermal Comfort Modeling based on Facial Expression" was accepted by Elsevier Journal of Building Engineering.
Jun. Parth successfully defended his MS thesis entitled “Analysis of the Performance of Storm Drain Inlets under the Effect of Clogging near a Construction Job Site”. Congrats! He will be joining Kiewit as a Field/Office Engineer II. Best of luck on his new career!
May. Jaeyoon successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled “Digital Twin City for Enhanced Data Mapping and Virtuality-Reality Connectivity: Toward Risk-Informed Decision Making”. Congrats! He will be joining The University of Texas at El Paso as an Assistant Professor from August 2023. Best of luck on his new career!
Apr. Journal papers on “Location-Based Collective Distress using Large-Scale Biosignals in Real Life for Walkable Built Environments” and "Tunable Acoustic Properties in Reconfigurable Kerf Structures" were accepted by Nature Scientific Reports and ASCE Journal of Architectural Engineering.
Mar. Journal paper on “Measuring the Distance between Trees and Power Lines under Wind Loads to Assess the Heightened Potential Risk of Wildfire” was accepted by MDPI Remote Sensing .
Feb. Journal paper on “Simulating the Spatial Impacts of a Coastal Barrier in Galveston Island, Texas: A Three-Dimensional Urban Modeling Approach” was accepted by TAYLOR & FRANCIS Natural Hazards and Risk.
Jan. Journal paper on “Simulating travel paths of construction site workers via deep reinforcement learning considering their spatial cognition and wayfinding behavior” was accepted by Elsevier Automation in Construction.
2022
Sep. Jaeyoon successfully passed the prelim exam! Way to go!
Sep. Dr. Ham's team received funding from NSF to study Human-Robot Interface for Extraterrestrial Construction (Space Construction).
Aug. Dr. Seonghyeon Moon from Seoul National University, South Korea joined Ham Research Group as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Welcome, Seonghyeon!
June. Yoojun and Dr. Ham were selected to receive the Best Paper Award from the 9th International Conference on Construction Engineering and Project Management. Yoojun presented his research on Enhancing occlusion robustness for vision-based construction worker detection using data augmentation.
June. Yeon Chae from Seoul National University, South Korea joined Ham Research Group as a Visiting Student. Welcome, Yeon!
May. Mirsalar successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled “Construction Site Hurricane Preparedness Using Digital Twinning through Large-scale Visual Data”. Congrats! He will join The University of Southern Mississippi as an Assistant Professor from August 2022. Best of luck on his new career!
May. Journal paper by Kamari, M., Kim, J., and Ham, Y. on “Analyzing Safety Risk Imposed by Jobsite Debris to Nearby Built Environments via Geometric Digital Twins and Vision-based Deep Learning ” was accepted by ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering.
May. The lab members presented their research in a virtual experiment in 2022 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Workshop on Future of Construction: Build Faster, Better, Safer - Together with Robots, Philadelphia, PA.
Mar. Journal paper by Kim, J., Ham, Y., and Park, H. on “Underground Metal Pipeline Localization Using Low-cost Wireless Magnetic Sensors Mounted on an Excavator” was accepted by IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.
Mar. Jinsol presented his research on Exploring Human-Machine Interfaces for Teleoperation of Excavator in CRC 2022 conference, Arlington, Virginia.
Feb. Dr. Ham has been selected as a Assistant Specialty Editor in the Information Technologies (IT) area for American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (JCEM).
Jan. Minguk Kim from Incheon National University, South Korea joined Ham Research Group as a Visiting Student. Welcome, Minguk!