Research News

Research News @ Rinker School

Here, we highlight the latest accomplishments and milestones of our faculty and graduate students. It features updates on externally funded research awards received by our faculty, showcasing the breadth and impact of their contributions to advancing knowledge in construction management and the built environment. This page also serves as a space for announcing upcoming PhD and master’s thesis defenses, celebrating the achievements of our graduate students and inviting the academic community and public to engage with their work.

A dissertation defense flyer for Ali Katooziani’s PhD presentation at the M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Construction Management, featuring presentation details, date, location, committee members, and his photo on the left.

PhD Defense – Ali Katooziani

Please join us for Ali Katooziani’s PhD Defense titled “VirtuaAI-Safe: GPT-Enabled Personalized Situated Learning in Virtual Reality for Safety Education” at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, July 8, in Rinker 303.

A dissertation defense flyer with a photo of Chady Elias, details for his PhD defense on Context-Aware Operational Digital Twins for AI-Augmented Facility Management, scheduled for June 12, 2026, at Rinker Hall 338.

PhD Defense – Chady Elias

Please join us for Chady Elias’s PhD Defense titled “Context-Aware Operational Digital Twins for AI-Augmented Facility Management” at 10:00 AM on Friday, June 12 in Rinker 338.

Deepak Balakrishnan's Dissertation Defense at 8:00 AM on Friday, February 6, 2026 in room 331F, Dean's Conference Room at Antevy Hall

PhD Defense – Deepak Balakrishnan

Please join us for Deepak Balakrishnan’s PhD Defense titled “Powering Digital Twins: Development of an NVIDIA™ Omniverse Bi-Directional Connector for Near Real-Time Building Energy Simulation and Optimization” at 8:00 AM on Friday, February 6, in ARC331F.

MSc Defense by Aditi Thanedar at 1:00 PM on November 15th, 2025 in #304, Small Conference Room at Rinker Hall

MSc Defense – Aditi Thanedar

Please join us for Aditi Thanedar’s MSc Defense titled “A Decision-Making Framework for 4D BIM Adoption in Construction Scheduling” at 1:00 PM on Friday, November 14, in RNK304A (Small Conference Room).

Fernando De Howitt

MSc Defense – Fernando De Howitt

Please join us for Fernando De Howitt’s MSc Defense titled “CRAVE: A Construction Robotics Acceptance-Validation-Evaluation Framework for Industrialized Construction” at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, October 22, in RNK304A (Small Conference Room).

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