This project aims to develop an all-encompassing open-source digital platform tailored for complex industrial construction projects. The platform will integrate core functionalities such as visualization, constructability analysis, field-run scope design, and extended reality, through open-source technologies, client-supplied BIM, graph algorithms, WebXR/AR visualization, and multi-objective optimization techniques. This research will help to streamline constructability analysis and field-run scope design, allowing for more efficient allocation of construction resources.

This project aims to refine the research roadmap developed by the CIC in 2019 by identifying research themes on which to focus in the long-term. This may mean confirming areas of study already prioritized by the existing roadmap, or introducing new themes based on current and emerging research trends. The roadmap will form the basis for later identifying specific projects in each research theme, which may be short-, medium-, or long-term projects.

This project aims to determine the impact of recent changes to the construction engineering and management (CEM) job market, such as technological advances (e.g. robotics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things) and the pandemic. The outcome of this study will be implemented at the CEM group at the University of Alberta to update the curriculum and prepare the graduates for the future job market.

This project is a preliminary step in developing cost-effective and performance-targeted hybrid structural solutions for lateral load resisting systems (LLRSs) of multistory buildings to resist extreme loads. Focusing on masonry-based hybrid frame-wall dual (HFWD) system and hybrid frame-wall bracing (HFWB) system, the proposed project aims to improve our knowledge and understanding of these systems' structural behavior, and developing pertinent analysis models, performance evaluation tools, and rational design methods or guidelines, in both contexts of conventional prescriptive design and modern performance-based design.

This interdisciplinary research project aims to develop a robust, reliable, and adaptive tool capable of generating accurate, project-specific electricity load profile forecasts. This tool will support future revisions to electrical codes and technical standards related to building and community electrical load calculations, and will mitigate constraints imposed by the electrical infrastructure on the development of high-performance, energy-efficient communities, thereby accelerating the adoption and implementation of the highest feasible energy performance tiers of the national building and energy codes.

The proposed 5-year research program aims to establish a basis of personnel, knowledge, supply chain, and capital such that by the conclusion of the program, Canada is in a position to develop self-sustaining commercial operations of additive manufacturing in large-scale metallic components. The technology explored is wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), a latest generation approach to manufacturing combining robotics, welding, and advanced software. The ultimate goal of this project is to master the WAAM technology and develop a basis of HQP and capital that will enable self-sustaining commercial operations of this technology in Canada.

This project aims to develop an advanced cognitive monitoring to directly address risks related to crane operators’ cognitive function during crane operations. Research activities include developing a wearable electroencephalogram (EEG)-based cognitive monitoring framework that continuously tracks the operators’ cognitive failure risk during ongoing equipment operations, and an equipment operation training system that personalizes training sessions according to trainees’ cognitive responses.

This research develops a framework for legal professionals in the construction industry to create contracts optimized for collaborative project delivery. Focusing on contract language, decision-making and interaction, team selection, and addressing deficiencies in contracts identified by collaborative contract practitioners in Canada, this project is expected to provide the framework for professionals to develop an actual contract document.

This project is the first phase of a long-term research project that aims to develop tools for estimating and reducing of embodied carbon in civil infrastructure systems. The overarching objectives are to develop a tool that systematically quantifies the environmental impact of constructing steel buildings, and to propose guidelines for selecting structural and non-structural components to minimize embodied carbon in typical commercial and residential buildings.

This project aims to make an exiting autonomous truck mounted attenuator (ATMA) system fully operational for harsh Canadian weather conditions, and to improve motion planning of the control system. This will be achieved by augmenting the perception module with visual-LiDAR fusion and semantics integration into the ATMA system, then designing a robust control system to address low visibility and perceptually degraded conditions in harsh weather scenarios.