Dr. Yihai Fang
Dr. Yihai Fang
Dr Yihai Fang is a Senior Lecturer in Construction Engineering and Management at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Monash University. He is the founder and director of the ICON Research Lab, where he leads research on developing next-generation construction systems that integrate robotics, artificial intelligence, and digital technologies to address fundamental challenges in construction and infrastructure delivery.
He received his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Before joining Monash, he worked as a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Florida. Yihai‘s research interests include Construction Automation and Informatics, Construction Robotics, Digital Twin for Construction and Built Environments, and Construction Safety and Human Factors. Yihai is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Engineers Australia (EA), and is registered as a Professional Engineer in Victoria (RPEV).
Qualifications
- Ph.D, Civil Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, 2016
- B.Sc, Civil Engineering, Tongji University, China, 2011
Expertise
- Construction Automation and Informatics
- Construction Robotics
- Digital Twin for Construction and Built Environments
- Construction Safety and Human Factors
Academic Appointments
Monash University, Australia Aug 2017 – Present
Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Florida, USA 2016 – 2017
Postdoctoral Associate, College of Design, Construction and Planning
Honours and Awards
- Outstanding Supervision Award, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 2025
- Excellence in Research Award, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 2024
- Best Paper Award, European Council on Computing in Construction 2024
Academic Leadership and Engagements
- Department Research Theme Lead, Sensing and Automation Technologies
- Research Theme Coordinator, “Connected construction sites”, Building 4.0 CRC
- Member, ASCE Visualization, Information Modeling, and Simulation (VIMS) committee
- Member, ASCE Data Sensing and Analysis (DSA) committee
- Member, Global Leadership Forum for Construction Engineering and Management (GLF-CEM) – Future Leaders Committee
Journal Editorial Services
- Editorial Board Member, Automation in Construction
- Editorial Board Youth Member, Smart Construction
- Guest Editor, Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology
Journal Peer-Review Services
- ASCE Construction Engineering and Management
- ASCE Computing in Civil Engineering
- ASCE Management in Engineering
- Automation in Construction
- Advanced Engineering Informatics
- Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering
- Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
- Frontiers in Built Environment
- International Journal of Construction Management
- Safety Science
- Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology
Research Interests
Dr Fang’s research interests include construction automation and informatics, construction robotics, digital twins for construction and the built environment, and construction safety and human factors. His work draws on extensive expertise in machine learning, robotics, sensing and 3D mapping, and virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR). Guided by a vision of embedding human-centric intelligence into construction automation, his work brings together physical systems, machine intelligence, and human decision-making to improve safety, productivity, and operational intelligence across the built environment.
For a list of completed and ongoing research projects, please go to the ICON Lab website.
For my most up-to-date publications, please refer to the Google Scholar site.
(Lead CI) ARC Discovery Project, “Positional accuracy for robotic structural assembly”, DP260102099, AU$412,000
(Lead CI) ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities, “Collaborative robotics for structural assembly and construction automation” LE210100019, 2021-2026, $664,580
(Co-CI) Consluting Research Project, “Using Technology for Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) of Housing for People with Disability”, 2025-2026, $110,000
(Co-CI) ARC Research Hub for Infrastructure Net Zero, IH180100010, 2024-2028, $5,000,000
(Co-CI) Building 4.0 CRC Project, “Building Productivity—Product, Process, People”, 2024-2027, AU$900,000
(Co-CI) Building 4.0 CRC Project, “Evaluating the effectiveness of roofing work inspection using Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems”, 2025-2026, AU$200,000 <Completed>
(Lead CI) Building 4.0 CRC Project, “Monash Smart Manufacturing Hub – A Digital Twin Living Lab”, 2023-2024, AU$260,000 <Completed>
(Lead CI) Building 4.0 CRC Project, “Evaluation of emerging technologies for remote (virtual) inspections of building work”, 2022-2023, AU$118,000 <Completed>
(Co-CI) Building 4.0 CRC Project, “Critical path impact through productised approach” 2021-2022, AU$150,432 <Completed>
(Co-CI) Building 4.0 CRC Project, “Automated tracking of construction materials for improved supply chain logistics and provenance” 2020-2021, AU$175,003 <Completed>
(Lead CI) Building 4.0 CRC Project, “Field Data Collation to support real-time operational management – Scoping Study” 2020-2021, AU$180,000 <Completed>
(Lead CI) ARC Industry Transformation Hub Project, “Development of crowdsourcing technology for pavement condition assessment including the use of smart mobile phones” IH18.03.4, 2020-2024, AU$156,550 <Completed>
(Lead CI) ARC Industry Transformation Hub Project, “Enhanced road safety through smart sensing for road construction, planned interruptions/worksites and interaction with autonomous vehicles” IH18.03.7, 2020-2024, AU$163,550 <Completed>
(Co-CI) ARC Research Hub for Smart Next Generation Transport Pavements, IH180100010, 2019-2025, $4,918,357 <Completed>
(Lead CI) Research Consulting Project, “Automated task planning for robotised brick paving in walkway construction” 2019-2020, AU$76,608 <Completed>
(Co-CI) Building 4.0 CRC Project, “VR/AR technologies in vocational education and training” 2019-2020, AU$151,653 <Completed>
(Lead CI) Innovation Connection Grant, “High-fidelity simulation for crane lift planning and training in complex construction environments”, ICG001494, AU$42,476 <Completed>
(Co-CI) ARC Industry Transformation Hub Project, “Use of big data analytics including machine learning to interpret pavement condition data for pavement remaining life analysis and decision making” IH18.03.5, 2019-2023, AU$130,550 <Completed>
(Co-CI) ARC Industry Transformation Hub Project, “Remote sensing and advanced analysis of measurements of density through the possible use of appropriate sensing techniques, including LIDAR and GPS” IH18.03.3, 2019-2023, AU$264,705 <Completed>
(Co-CI) ARC Industry Transformation Hub Project, “Development of smart traffic management options with connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs)” IH18.04.5, 2019-2023, AU$129,576 <Completed>
(Lead CI) Monash Infrastructure Seed Fund, Monash University, “A security-aware and contractually supported framework for data management in Building Information Modelling (BIM) enabled infrastructure projects” 2019-2019, AU$49,776 <Completed>
(Co-CI) Monash Infrastructure Seed Fund, Monash University, “Image-based crack evaluation and database design using bridge information modelling and artificial intelligence” 2019-2019, AU$49,776 <Completed>
(Lead CI) Faculty of Engineering Seed Fund, Monash University, “BIM-based Cyber-Physical Systems for Intelligent Crane Operation in Complex and Dynamic Environments” 2019-2019, AU$26,000 <Completed>
Supervision
PHD
Songbo Hu
Identification and prevention of crane operational hazards by integrating BIM and lift path planning
2018 to 2021
Mostafa Hallaji
A digital twin framework for predictive maintenance in wastewater treatment plants using BIM and deep learning
2019 to 2022
Jiantsen Goh
Contextual visualization of crane lift information for real-time execution in modular integrated construction
2021 to 2025
Qiqin Yu
Characterising road roughness using accelerometer- and profilometric-based methods
2021 to 2024
Yizhe Wang
Optimising human-robot collaboration in modular structure assembly
2022 to 2025
Tanghan Jiang
Quantifying safety risks in remotely operated crane lifts
2022 to 2025
Qishen Ye
Enhancing road work zone safety through smart sensing and interaction with vehicles
2022 to 2025
Tyson Kieu
Digital Twin for temporary structures in construction processes
2022 to 2026
Junlin Wang
A data-driven and knowledge-based approach for automated crane lift planning and monitoring
2023 to 2026
Xiaoming Wang
A LLM-based task planning and robot control framework for structure assembly
2024 to 2027
Xingjian Yang
Vision Language Model (VML) for on-site robotic operations
2026 to 2029
Teaching Commitments
- ENG1021 - Spatial Communication in Engineering
- CIV5899 - Infrastructure Information Management