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AI symposium, Bearcat AI Award

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AI & Emerging Technology Symposium, UC Bearcat AI Award,  

Please join us at the UC 2026 AI & Emerging Technology Symposium on 02/18/2026 at UC TUC Center.

AI-Based Spatial Computing with BIM: Performance, Sustainability, and Wayfinding on the UC Campus
This project introduces an AI-enhanced spatial computing framework that integrates building-scale digital twins with intelligent autonomous navigation. Using BIM-derived geometry and utility metadata, the system combines LLM-assisted building-performance analytics with predictive modeling to support sustainable operations across an interactive, campus-scale digital twin environment. In parallel, we present INARA, a ROS 2–based indoor navigation platform that merges BIM-accurate simulation environments with a hybrid deep-reinforcement-learning and classical-control architecture, enabling safe, adaptive mobile-robot navigation within UC facilities.

Together, these systems advance AI-driven spatial computing by unifying building analytics, embodied intelligence, and digital–physical interoperability—laying the foundation for next-generation smart-building management and autonomous robotic applications.

The project is based on two XR-Lab student fellows’ research funded by the 2025–2026 Bearcat AI Award:

  • Mikhail Nikolaenko ($4,400) — Integrating Digital Twin and GPT for Sustainable Building Analytics and Green Design Education in DAAP and CEAS

  • Aayush Kumar ($5,000) — INARA (Intelligent Navigation and Autonomous Response Agent): An Adaptive Indoor Navigation Assistant for UC Spaces

Supervisor: Ming Tang.  Collaborator: Sid Thatham. Team support by Semere Abraha.

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Call for Papers: Architecture Journal Special Issue

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Call for Papers: Architecture Journal Special Issue

Next-Generation Building Performance and Optimization

Dear Colleagues,

The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry is undergoing rapid transformation driven by artificial intelligence (AI), computational design, and digital twin technologies. As the demand for high-performance, low-carbon buildings grows, research focus has shifted from isolated efficiency measures to integrated frameworks linking early-stage design with long-term operation. This Special Issue invites contributions that advance the discourse on next-generation building performance and optimization, exploring how computational intelligence, sustainable strategies, and smart systems can reshape the building lifecycle. By combining theoretical inquiry with applied research, this Special Issue seeks to illuminate how emerging technologies are redefining design workflows and operational performance, effectively bridging pre-construction simulations with post-construction realities.

The aim of this Special Issue is to advance both theoretical and practical knowledge on the ways in which emerging technologies can be embedded into the design and operation of buildings. Submissions may highlight methodological innovations, case studies of energy-efficient and low-carbon strategies, and cross-disciplinary collaborations connecting architecture, engineering, computer science, and environmental studies. By positioning building performance within the wider discourse of sustainability and cyber–physical systems, this Special Issue will provide a platform for envisioning next-generation approaches in which design intelligence and operational feedback converge to foster a more resilient and sustainable built environment. We welcome submissions that investigate, but are not limited to, the following thematic areas:

  • Integration of AI-driven generative designs for massing, orientation, and layout to improve daylighting, ventilation, thermal comfort, and carbon reduction;
  • Predictive modeling and energy simulation in early-stage design;
  • Use of AI and computer vision for occupancy analysis and behavioral insights;
  • Adaptive building automation for HVAC, lighting, and environmental control;
  • Machine learning applications for predictive maintenance and resource efficiency;
  • Digital twins and IoT sensor networks for real-time monitoring, feedback, and optimization;
  • Development of intelligent, data-driven, and responsive building systems;
  • Sustainable strategies at the urban scale;
  • Performance-based design approaches;
  • Building Information Modeling (BIM) for integrated workflows;
  • Building energy modeling for efficiency and carbon reduction.

Prof. Ming Tang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Architecture is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI’s English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • building performance
  • energy simulation
  • digital twins
  • IoT data integration
  • green building
  • smart buildings
  • sustainable design
  • performance-based design
  • post-occupancy evaluation
  • artificial intelligence
  • data-driven prediction
  • generative design
  • computational design
  • parametric modeling
  • machine learning for built environments
  • predictive maintenance
  • real-time monitoring and control
  • human-centered design
  • climate-responsive architecture
  • net-zero energy buildings
  • resilient and adaptive design
  • lifecycle assessment (LCA)

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal’s social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI’s Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.

Digital Twin, LLM & IIOT

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IIOT for legacy and intelligent factory machines with XR and LLM feedback with a Digital Twin demonstration of real-time IOT for architecture/building applications using Omniverse. 

  • PIs: Sam Anand, Ming Tang.
  • Students: Anuj Gautama, Mikhail Nikolaenko, Ahmad Alrefai, Aayush Kumar, Manish Raj Aryal,c, Eian Bennett, Sourabh Deshpande 

$40,000. UC Industry 4.0/5.0 Institute Consortium Research Project: 01.2024-01.2025

The project centers on the development of a Digital Twin (DT) and a multi-agent Large Language Model (LLM) framework designed to access and interpret real-time and historical data through an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platform. Real-time data is sourced from legacy machines and smart machines, integrating Building Information Modeling (BIM) with environmental sensors. The multi-agent LLM framework comprises specialized agents and supports diverse user interfaces, including screen-based systems, Virtual Reality (VR) environments, and mobile devices, enabling versatile interaction, data visualization, and analysis.

The research evaluates leading DT platforms—Autodesk Tandem, NVIDIA Omniverse, and Unreal Engine—focusing on their capabilities to integrate IoT and BIM data while supporting legacy machine systems.  Autodesk Tandem excelled in seamlessly combining BIM metadata with real-time IoT streams for building operations and system scalability.  NVIDIA Omniverse demonstrated unmatched rendering fidelity and collaborative features through its Universal Scene Description (USD) framework. Unreal Engine, notable for its immersive visualization, proved superior for LLM integration, leveraging 3D avatars and conversational AI to enhance user interaction.

Read more

Tilted Deck. Design Build in China

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Ming Tang, Yingdong Hu advised a group of BJTU students to participate in the “Xinzhaiping” Rural Design-Build Competition in China in 2021.

Project name: Titled Deck. 

BJTU Students: Bingxu Gao, Zhu Chen, Xiangyu Zhou, Haolong Guo.

Advisors: Yingdong Hu (BJTU), Ming Tang (UC)

Location: Hunan Province, China.

More info on the competition “2021乡见新寨坪·乡村建造大赛”

Award:

The build project won second place in the Rural Design Build competition 2021.

The build project also won the excellent award of the 19th 2021 Asian Design Awad.

   

paper @ NCBDS

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Paper “Interstitial Latency in Design-Build Architecture Education” by Ming Tang, Whitney Hamaker, Yingdong Hu is published n the NCBDS 2022 conference proceedings. April 1-2, 2022. Municie, Indiana.

National Conference on the Beginning Design Student 37 (NCBDS 37)

This paper presents two design-build projects that encapsulate a two-phase process broadly outlined as “design and build.” The collected work spanned multiple seminars and studio courses at the University of Cincinnati, Beijing Jiaotong University, and Nanchang University. Both projects progressed from client proposals, concept design, detail development, construction documents, scheduling, coordination and culminated in a series of completed constructions. The paper illustrates the latent discoveries and learning that occurred in these design-build projects through the more blatant lenses of the design process by serving as both architects and builders. The first project consists of six multi-level steel and wood structures, including three short-term residences, a tea house, a bathhouse, and an observation tower coupled with extensive landscape development. The second project is a public restroom. Both projects are sited in rural villages in China.

First, we describe the design stage, where the conceptual models were generated with the local context, community issues, and proposed architectural interventions. The concepts are represented through digital models. These designs were later developed into physical mockup models without a reference to the craftsmanship required of the onsite build process. As a result, the drawings and mockup models serve as the immaterial representation of form but do not fully define the materials and strategy necessary for full-scale making. The intangible form of the virtual model carries in the early the design information and intent from the conceptual design forward to the following phases.

In the build stage, students participated in the manifestation of the immaterial through onsite construction, experiencing first-hand the transformative potential of a series of diverse activity-based programmatic structures in a rural community. This phase emphasized the construction and exploration of craftsmanship with local resources and materials, producing an outcome that stimulated new activities in the village. By immersing students in the complete design-build cycle, the projects demonstrated the power and possibility of interstitial spaces between phases in the design process.

Students were empowered to consider the various responsibilities architects, engineers, and builders provided in practice. This pedagogical method actively questions where the latent effects of translation between immaterial and material can be learned from both architects and builders. Simultaneously, the projects engaged in a large-scale rural revitalization effort, providing an alternative paradigm for redevelopment. A downstream effect of the teaching methods contributes to the discourse surrounding revitalization and growth in rural communities by exploring a path to instigate positive change through a synthesis relationship of architects and builders.