About

I am an Assistant Professor of Construction Engineering and Management in the Department of Civil Engineering at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). I joined the faculty in Fall 2025 after completing my Ph.D. in Construction Science and M.E. in Computer Engineering from Texas A&M University in May 2025.

My research centers on Smart Construction and Smart Cities, where I leverage advanced automation and information technologies to address critical challenges in industry and society. My current focus is on Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and their potential to provide real-time insights and predictive analytics that enhance decision-making in engineering and management.

I actively seek opportunities for collaboration across disciplines and welcome highly motivated students interested in joining my research group. I would be glad to connect, so feel free to contact me via email.

Recent News

Honors & Awards

  1. ASCE Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 2026

  2. NSF Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) Rising Star, National Science Foundation (NSF), 2025

  3. Outstanding PhD Student Award, Department of Construction Science, Texas A&M University, 2024

  4. Extramural Scholarship, Korean-American Construction Engineering and Project Management Association (KACEPMA) & Hanmi Global, Corvallis, OR, 2023

  5. Best Paper Award, The 9th International Conference on Construction Engineering and Project Management (ICCEPM), Las Vegas, NV, 2022

  6. Top Off Scholarship, Department of Construction Science, Texas A&M University, 2021

  7. Best Paper Award Runner-up, The 7th International Conference on Construction Engineering and Project Management (ICCEPM), Chengdu, China, 2017

Research

Break the bronc. The devil is in the details.

Publication

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

  1. 7.   Kim, Y., Ham, Y., Spatio-temporal heat risk analysis in construction: Digital twin-enabled monitoring. Automation in Construction, Elsevier, 168, 2024. [Link]
  2. 6.   Kim, Y., Ham, Y., From public forecasts to occupational heat safety management: Evaluating the effectiveness of the national weather service's operational heat risk forecasts. Environmental Health Insights, Sage, 2024. [Link]
  3. 5.   Kim, Y., Ham, Y., Revealing the impact of heat radiation on construction: A microclimate simulation utilizing meteorological data and geometric modeling. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE, 150(4), 2024. [Link] (ASCE Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize)
  4. 4.   You, C. F., Kim, Y., Jeong, W., Chi, H., Kim, M., A study on the external stone cladding system in production and installation stages: The case of Hong Kong. Applied Sciences, MDPI, 10(22), 2020. [Link]
  5. 3.   Kim, Y., Yeom, D., Kim, Y., Development of construction duration prediction model for project planning phase of mixed-use buildings. Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, Taylor & Francis, 18(6), 2019. [Link]
  6. 2.   Yeom, D., Seo, H., Kim, Y., Cho, C., Kim, Y., Development of an approximate construction duration prediction model during the project planning phase for general office building. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, VGTU Press, 24(3), 2018. [Link]
  7. 1.    Yeom, D., Na, E., Lee, M., Kim, Y., Kim, Y., Cho, C., Performance evaluation and life cycle cost analysis model of a gondola-type exterior wall painting robot. Sustainability, MDPI, 9(10), 2017. [Link]

Peer-Reviewed Conference Articles

  1. 8.   Sultana, J., Raheem, A., Jang, J., Lee, J., Kim, Y., Kim, J., Kim, J., EEG-based assessment of mental fatigue during exoskeleton-assisted construction postures: A GAN-Augmented Approach. 2026 ASCE Construction Research Congress (CRC), San Antonio, TX, Mar. 18-21, 2026.
  2. 7.   Yupanqui, R., Sohn, J., Kim, Y., Flores, R., Lee, H., Kim, J., Lee, S., Ham, Y., Lee, C., Chaspari, T., A multimodal analysis of environmental stress experienced by older adults during outdoor walking trips: Implications for designing new intelligent technologies to enhance walkability in low-income Latino communities. The 26th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction, San José, Costa Rica, Nov. 4-8, 2024. [Link]
  3. 6.   Kim, Y., Ham, Y., Enhancing occupational heat risk preparedness through the integration of public weather forecasts and on-site observations. Proceedings of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering Annual Conference 2024, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, June 5-7, 2024. [Link]
  4. 5.   Kim, Y., Ham, Y., Heat stress monitoring in construction for risk-informed decision-making. 2024 ASCE Construction Research Congress (CRC), Des Moines, IA, Mar. 20-23, 2024. [Link]
  5. 4.   Kim, Y., Ham, Y., Digital twin-based heat stress monitoring system in construction. 2023 ASCE International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering (i3CE), Corvallis, OR, June 25-28, 2023. [Link]
  6. 3.   Kim, Y., Kim H., Sim, S., Ham, Y., Enhancing occlusion robustness for vision-based construction worker detection using data augmentation. The 9th International Conference on Construction Engineering and Project Management (ICCEPM), Las Vegas, NV, June 20-23, 2022. [Link] (Best Paper Award)
  7. 2.   Yeom, D., Hong, Y., Kim, Y., Yoo, H., Kim, Y., Around view monitoring system for hydraulic excavators. The 7th International Conference on Construction Engineering and Project Management (ICCEPM), Chengdu, China, Oct. 27-30, 2017. [Link] (Best Paper Award Runner-up)
  8. 1.    Yeom, D., Kim, Y., Kim, J., Kim, Y., An analysis of contractors' construction productivity to develop a prediction model for construction period. Proceedings of the 2016 Korea Institute of Construction Engineering and Management (KICEM) Annual Conference, Incheon, Korea, Nov. 11, 2016. [Link]

Registered Patents

  1. 9.   Concrete pile head cutting apparatus, Korea Patent (#10-2126262), 2020. [Link]
  2. 8.   Steel pile head fixing and cutting apparatus, Korea Patent (#10-2106021), 2020. [Link]
  3. 7.   Concrete pile head fixing apparatus, Korea Patent (#10-2106016), 2020. [Link]
  4. 6.   Steel pipe head cutting apparatus, Korea Patent (#10-2079014), 2020. [Link]
  5. 5.   Method for steel pipe head cutting and arranging, Korea Patent (#10-2063639), 2020. [Link]
  6. 4.   Concrete pile head cutting and treating method, Korea Patent (#10-1975648), 2019. [Link]
  7. 3.   Concrete pile head cutting apparatus, Korea Patent (#10-1881251), 2018. [Link]
  8. 2.   Apparatus for compensating around view image distortion according to gradient variation of construction equipment, Korea Patent (#10-1864985), 2018. [Link]
  9. 1.    Concrete pile head cutting apparatus, Korea Patent (#10-1780591), 2017. [Link]