Interested in joining us?
INFORMATION FOR PROSPECTIVE RESEARCHERS
By the lab director
This information is addressed to prospective young researchers who would like to
join the CITL research group. Please read it carefully before submitting your application
and verify that it fits your needs.
I accept into the CITL research group every year a limited number of prospective student
(BS, MS and PhD) researchers and post docs based on the lab's current projects and
funding availability. Candidates are expected to have a basic understanding and
significant interest in relevant civil engineering and programming disciplines
commensurate with their level of studies. This includes the following:
• Civil Engineering: information technology for construction engineering and management,
intelligent automation of construction tasks, project control systems and construction
databases.
• Programming: basic programming skills in functional and/or object oriented languages
such as Fortran, Visual Basic, C++ or Java.
It is understood that the actual knowledge may vary on a case by case basis. Also, most
incoming student researchers refresh and enhance their knowledge on these subjects in
their first year at the CITL. Hence, you are not required to know everything, but you must
have at least basic knowledge of some of these subjects. You should also be willing to
pick up some additional knowledge or refresh existing ones when required.
I expect you to be able to work with a large degree of independence (with proper
supervision, of course), and to solve all “small” problems on your own. Normally, we
organize group meetings each week to discuss the progress made and potential
problems/solutions.
The most important thing is that you have to be really interested in your research
area. Hence, your first task is to study all the relevant information on this
website and, if necessary, contact me for more information. When working with enthusiasm,
results can be achieved much faster than when just doing work to graduate. I expect that
you have a certain degree of enthusiasm and that you are interested more in learning than
in simply getting a degree.
The lab's main research focus is visual and spatial pattern recognition for construction
engineering and management, which belongs to the broader area of construction
information technology. This area (ConIT) has steadily gained popularity since the early
90’s and its impact in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Facilities
Management (AEC/FM) Industries is becoming more apparent with time. Information
technology for visual and spatial data is new and, hence, many new discoveries are to be
made. You may take a part in it.
I normally invite every promising applicant for a phone interview. The purpose of the
interview is to make sure that you have appropriate knowledge and skills, a piece of
enthusiasm, and that you are ready to attack a complex problem with a reasonable
probability of success. It is very important that you have a proper background so you
are able to finish your work on time and to avoid any disappointment.
If you wish to do your graduate studies under my supervision, you should have a good
grade average especially on related courses and competitive GRE (and TOEFL) test scores.
Keep in mind that all GRE scores are important, not just the quantitative score. If this
is the case, please apply to our graduate program in Civil & Environmental Engineering
(www.ce.gatech.edu) or Building Construction (www.coa.gatech.edu/bc/) and indicate me as
your potential supervisor. If you do so, however, please send me an email, indicating your
application confirmation (when you receive it). Funding is available on a case by case
basis to outstanding students (i.e. that satisfied the above criteria). Due to a large
number of applications, I will contact only competitive applicants.