The prestigious Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, given annually by the American Society of Civil Engineering, has been awarded to CEE at Illinois associate professor Mani Golparvar-Fard. Golparvar-Fard received the prize “for cutting-edge research on computer vision data analytics resulting in a new class of algorithms and techniques for mapping the current state of production on construction projects in 3-D and exposing waste at both project and schedule task levels.”
In Golparvar-Fard’s research, building information models and visual data in the form of images, videos and 3-D point clouds are used to analyze and monitor construction and existing conditions of infrastructure projects. He recently led a research team which built “flying superintendents” – an end-to-end predictive visual data analytics platform that runs on aerial robots and uses still images and videos to monitor construction activities on project sites. With this technology, both actual and potential performance problems on construction sites can be identified in time to take corrective action. His research on this topic has resulted in several academic awards, patents, and a start-up company which has raised $2.4 million in venture capital funding and been recognized with an award by the World Economic Forum’s Future of Construction initiative.
Golparvar-Fard earned his B.Sc. and first M.Sc. in civil engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology in 2002. He earned his M.A.Sc. in civil engineering from the University of British Columbia in 2006, and his M.S. in computer science and Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2010. He was an assistant professor at Virginia Tech before joining the faculty of CEE at Illinois in 2012. He was one of the first Engineering at Illinois Faculty Entrepreneurial Fellows, and was recently named to Engineering News-Record’s national “Top 20 Under 40” list, which recognizes those who are making an impact in the design and construction industries.