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Carl Thomas Michael Haas

 

 

 

Ph.D., PEng, PE (inactive), FASCE, FCAE, FNAC

Professor and University Research Chair in Construction and Management of Sustainable Infrastructure

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Phone 519-888-4567 x35492

http://www.civil.uwaterloo.ca/chaas/

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Compound annual growth rates in productivity have exceeded 5% over the last decade in key construction sectors including industrial and multi-family residential. This is no accident. Advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, information technology automation and integration, new materials, and training have driven this outcome, and they in turn were driven by fundamental research advances. My research has contributed substantially to those advances and their implementation.

 

I am currently conducting research in construction automation, augmented reality, infrastructure computer vision, adaptive reuse, interface management and biomechanical applications in the construction trades. Past contributions include: (1) Information Technology for State Estimation through development of novel algorithms and automation systems for 3D scan-to-BIM, 3D scan-vs-BIM, object recognition and locating, and 4D materials tracking that contribute to the foundation for continuous and automated 3D process control, progress tracking, and as-built modeling, (2) Construction Robotics  including automated fabrication control systems, biomechanical analysis, and an earlier career research phase culminating in the deployment of several full-scale robotic systems in the field, (3) Capital Projects Process Management including automated construction process management systems, formalized collaboration processes, database and document management systems, and cloud based computing networks to support capital project practices such as front end planning, workflow and document status detection, and interface management, (4) Construction Productivity such as multiskilling implementation methods, studies of the impact of technology, activity analysis to improve direct work rate and reduce waste, rework reduction, and best productivity-practices implementation, and (5) Infrastructure Sustainability including system adaptive reuse methods, circular economy principles for capital project planning, system dynamics models used for self-financing, strategic planning, and “cradle to grave” life cycle analysis of water and waste water networks; as well as models for re-use, recycling and repurposing of construction materials such as steel.

 

 

ACADEMIC, ADMINISTRATIVE AND PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS

 

  • University of Waterloo
    • Professor, 2005 to present
    • Tier I Canada Research Chair, 2005 to 2019
    • Interim Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, 9/1/17-4/30/18 and 5/1/16-12/31/16 and Chair from 5/1/19-10/31/22
    • Over two dozen committee assignments at all university levels since 2005
    • Director of Center for Paving and Transportation Technologies, 2005 to 2010
       
  • ETH Zurich – visiting professor from 11/15/18-3/5/19
     
  • TUB Berlin – visiting scholar from 3/5/19-4/30/19
     
  • Ecole Centrale de Lille –brief visiting professorships in the summers of 2005, 2008, 2010, and 2012
     
  • University of Texas at Austin
    • Assistant Professor (1991-1996), Associate Professor and Liedtke Centennial Fellow (1996-2002), and Full Professor with Clyde E. Lee Endowed Fellow in Transportation Engineering (2002-2005)
    • Over two dozen committee assignments from 1991 to 2005
    • Director of Center for Construction Industry Studies (2004-2005)
    • Construction Engineering and Project Management Area Coordinator (2002-2004)
       
  • Arizona State University – invited as Visiting Eminent Scholar in July 2002
     
  • Computing Devices Corporation as Defense Systems Engineer from 1986-1987

 

GRANTS AND CONTRACTS

 

Since 1991, I have held well over 80 significant grants and contracts from many granting agencies and companies. Significant highlights follow:

  • Approximately $26,500,000 of cash funding (in inflation adjusted dollars) jointly awarded since 1991, excluding industry in-kind contributions, the annual Canada Research Chair contribution which goes entirely to support my salary, and scholarships of graduate students
  • Approximately $13,500,000 of that funding was my share since 1991 

 

 

EDUCATION

  • University of Waterloo, Systems Design Engineering, BS, 1985
  • Carnegie Mellon University, Civil Engineering, MASc, 1986
  • Carnegie Mellon University, Civil Engineering, PhD, 1990

 

MAJOR AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

  • ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) Computing in Civil Engineering Award, 2019 – the award is made annually to a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers who has made an outstanding contribution to the application of computers to the practice of civil engineering
  • CSCE (Canadian Society of Civil Engineers) Alan Russell Award, 2019 – the award is in recognition of significant and lasting impact on the Canadian Construction Engineering and Management community
  • As co-founder of Glove Systems Ltd, top prize of 50K in the Velocity Fund Finals (a start-up pitch competition), Kitchener, Ontario, March 29, 2019
  • The University of Waterloo Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision for 2016 – the highest level graduate supervision award from all of the faculties
  • ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) Peurifoy Construction Research Award, 2015 – the premier international award in construction research, given annually for outstanding contributions to the advancement of construction engineering through research and development of new technology, principles or practices
  • CII (Construction Industry Institute) Outstanding Researcher of the Year Award, 2014 – given annually amongst the two dozen or so active funded researchers in North America for contributions to CII research of the highest quality and impact in the preceding few years
  • CSCE (Canadian Society of Civil Engineers) Walter Shanly Award, 2014 – for outstanding contributions to the development and practice of construction engineering in Canada
  • Fellow of the US NAC (National Academy of Construction), inducted in 2013 – with formal ties to the US National Academy of Engineering, the NAC elects less than one out of ten nominated fellows from all sectors of construction including industry leaders and academics (less than 15%)
  • Tishman Distinguished Lecturer, November 20, 2013 – one leading construction engineer or researcher is invited annually to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI to give this talk
  • Fellow of the ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers), inducted in 2010 – election to fellow is based on an outstanding track record of accomplishments in the community including service such as journal and conference leadership as well as research 
  • Co-Chair of 30th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction (ISARC), August 11-14, 2013 – with 395 registered participants, this conference held in Montreal, Quebec was a major success within the construction automation research community
  • CII (Construction Industry Institute) Annual Conference Best Poster Award, 2009 – given to graduate students under my supervision and direction (Duncan Young, Saiedeh Razavi, Hassan Nasir) and selected from approximately forty submitted and ten displayed during the conference
  • Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), inducted in 2009 – election to fellow is based on contributions to practice and to the profession over the course of a career
  • IAARC (International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction) Tucker-Hasegawa Award, 2009 – IAARC has held conferences annually since the first one at Carnegie Mellon University in 1983, and it sponsors the Elsevier Journal of Automation in Construction; the award is given for cumulative contributions to the body of knowledge and to IAARC
  • CII (Construction Industry Institute) Outstanding Researcher of the Year Award, 2002 – given annually amongst the two dozen or so active funded researchers in North America for contributions to CII research of the highest quality and impact in the preceding few years
  • Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award, University of Texas at Austin, 2001 – this award is given annually to two or three professors out of over 2,000 across the campus who have demonstrated outstanding success in teaching and mentoring graduate students at UT Austin
  • Engineering Foundation Award, College of Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2000 – this award is given annually to a few professors out of over 300 in the college who have demonstrated outstanding success in research in the preceding year
  • National Research Council’s TRB (Transportation Research Board) D. Grant Mickle Award, 1998 – well over 10,000 people attend their annual meeting at which close to two thousand papers are presented annually and of which a few receive best paper awards; this was given for  “A Life Cycle Cost-Benefit Model for Road Weather Information Systems,” published in 1999 in the Transportation Research Record
  • ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize, 1995 – awarded to the best paper annually from the previous year’s journal articles in the ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, and in this case for "Computer Aided Planning of Heavy Lifts," published in 1993
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Scholarship (1988, '89, '90)
  • Roads and Transportation Association of Canada (RTAC) Scholarship (1988, '89)
  • 3rd Place Award at Ontario Engineering Design Competition (1985) – awarded for a machine vision based automated pavement crack detection and classification system produced as a fourth year design project that predated many dozens of articles and commercial developments in this area

 

Please find a detailed copy of my Resume below

 

 

carl_haas_topic_indexed_cv_august_2019.docx59 KB