CIVL Faculty and Research Teams Excel at CIC AI Award 2026
Faculty members and research teams from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have performed exceptionally well at the Construction Industry Council (CIC) AI Award 2026, winning six awards — a Gold Award won by Prof. Hong K. Lo’s research team, three Gold and one Bronze Award by Prof. Jack C. P. Cheng’s teams, and a Silver Award by Prof. Yantao Yu’s team. The CIC AI Award, established to recognize outstanding achievements in the development and adoption of artificial intelligence technologies for the construction and built environment sectors, is divided into the adoption and research and development (R&D) main categories, with sub-categories spanning design and planning, construction and monitoring, safety, design optimization, sustainability, robotics, and total lifecycle management.
Prof. Hong K. Lo’s team, comprising Dr. Ka Fai Ng, Chengshen Ge, and Ho Kit Wun, received a Gold Award in the AI adoption (design and planning) category for their project “Road Works for Smart and Green Mass Transit System Phase 1 in the Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area — Investigation, Design and Construction”. Conducted in collaboration with the Civil Engineering and Development Department as well as Mannings (Asia) Consultants Limited, the project integrates VISSIM microscopic traffic simulation with hybrid neuro-evolution optimization to support AI-enabled adaptive signal control at shared junctions, helping improve transit efficiency, passenger waiting time, service punctuality, and traffic delay management.
Among Prof. Jack C. P. Cheng’s teams, one comprising Dr. Chao Yin, Dr. Boyu Wang, Zhenyu Liang, Bing Sun and Mintao Chen won a Gold Award in AI adoption (construction and monitoring) for the project “Leveraging AI Application in Driving Project Excellence in Development of the Loop”. This particular project is a collaboration with Tyfron Solutions Limited and AECOM Asia Company Limited, and applies AI, BIM, point-cloud analytics, UAV monitoring and AIoT sensing to support automated progress tracking, deviation detection, safety risk alerts, as well as environmental survey workflows for a major infrastructure project in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.
The second of Prof. Cheng’s teams, consisting of Dr. Lufeng Wang and Wenli Liu, received a Gold Award in AI R&D (design optimization) for their project “HA-iGEN: Housing Authority Intelligent Design Generator”, developed in collaboration with the Hong Kong Housing Authority. HA-iGEN is a generative AI design tool for public housing that introduces a macro-to-micro workflow, linking master planning, building massing, and flat layouts into an integrated, performance-informed design process. The system helps architects generate feasible and sustainable design options faster, improving design efficiency, decision-making quality, and the long-term delivery of public housing projects.
A third team under Prof. Cheng, consisting of Dr. Peter K.Y. Wong, Dr. Wei Wei, Xiaowen Guo, and Yifan Wu, received a Gold Award in AI R&D (safety) for ViRoSafe, a VLM and robotics-driven intelligent AI site safety inspection system developed in collaboration with the Drainage Services Department. ViRoSafe integrates robotic dogs, retrieval-augmented generation, and vision-language models to support intelligent site safety inspection. By enabling scene-adaptive navigation, real-time safety-rule retrieval, as well as semantic compliance checking, it improves the reliability and coverage of construction safety inspections.
Moreover, a team comprising Prof. Jack C.P. Cheng, Dr. Peter K. Y. Wong, Dr. Helen Hoi-Ling Kwok, and Mr. Kelvin Yu won a Bronze Award in AI R&D (sustainability) for the project “SSV Connect: Sustainability-Aware AI Agents with Decision Intelligence for Building Operations”, developed by Sustainable SmartTech Ventures Limited in collaboration with HKUST’s Campus Management Office and Modern Living Investments Holdings Limited. SSV Connect uses AI agents, openBIM, IoT/BMS integration and robotics to support indoor air quality forecasting, HVAC optimization, ESG reporting, and sustainability-driven building operations.
Last but certainly not least, Prof. Yantao Yu’s team, comprising Dr. Chen Xinyu, Xie Minshan, and Wang Yunpeng, received a Silver Award in AI R&D (safety) for their project “Multimodal Data Fusion for Ergonomic Risk Assessment and Fatigue Analysis in Construction Workers”. The team developed an AI-enabled model for ergonomic risk assessment and fatigue analysis that targets construction workers. By integrating multimodal data such as visual and pressure-sensor information, the project supports intelligent early warnings and data-driven safety management in construction operations.
These projects exemplify the Department’s growing strength in AI-enabled design, construction automation, transport planning, site safety, and sustainable built-environment operations. Our congratulations to Prof. Hong K. Lo, Prof. Jack C. P. Cheng, Prof. Yantao Yu, as well as all team members and collaborators on their outstanding achievements at the CIC AI Award 2026.
