Zijian Wang

Zijian Wang

Building Information Graphs, Researcher at TUM GNI

Biography

Dr. Zijian Wang (王资健) is an independent postdoctoral researcher at the TUM Georg Nemetschek Institute (GNI). He obtained his PhD from Technion Israel Institute of Technology as a Marie Curie Early-Stage Researcher in the Cloud BIM (CBIM) project, funded by the EU Horizon 2020 program (November 2020 – January 2024). He worked under the supervision of Prof. Rafael Sacks. Before that, he completed a master’s degree in Computer and Machine Vision at Cranfield University (2019–2020) and a second master’s in Civil Engineering at Central South University. He received his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Chongqing Jiaotong University (2014–2018). He has also visited the University of Cambridge as a researcher (2022) and worked at Trimble Finland (2023).

As an interdisciplinary researcher with expertise in both civil engineering and machine learning, he is dedicated to advancing digitalization in the construction industry through the application of advanced computer science techniques.


Current Research: Building Information Graphs (BIGs)

BIGs aim to adopt graphs as an alternative information modeling method to support graph learning and graph applications. Graphs inherently capture relationships explicitly between objects, enabling a more detailed, object-level data representation. Graphs are also flexible in representing and embedding multi-modal data in a machine-accessible format, enabling computational learning. By transforming design information into graphs, BIGs could enable a variety of innovative graph applications that current BIM technologies struggle to support, such as multidisciplinary change propagation, automated consistency maintenance, object-based version control, and more. This approach has the potential to foster a more collaborative, intelligent, and generative future in design.


Selected Publications

  • Wang, Z.*, Ouyang, B. and Sacks, R., 2023. Graph-based inter-domain consistency maintenance for BIM models. Automation in Construction, 154, p.104979. Paper link

  • Sacks, R.*, Wang, Z., Ouyang, B., Utkucu, D., Chen, S., 2022. Toward artificially intelligent cloud-based building information modelling for collaborative multidisciplinary design. Advanced Engineering Informatics, p. 101711. Paper link, Data

  • Wang, Z.*, Sacks, R., Ouyang, B., Ying, H. and Borrmann, A., 2024. A Framework for Generic Semantic Enrichment of BIM Models. Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 38(1), p.04023038. Paper link

  • Wang, Z.*, Sacks, R. and Yeung, T., 2021. Exploring graph neural networks for semantic enrichment: Room type classification. Automation in Construction, p.104039. Awarded Thrope Medal, Paper link, Source code

  • Wang, Z., Cai, Z. and Wu, Y.*, 2023. An improved YOLOX approach for low-light and small object detection: PPE on tunnel construction sites. Journal of Computational Design and Engineering, 10(3), pp.1158-1175. Paper link


Awards

  • Thorpe Medal, European Council on Computing in Construction (EC3) (2023)

  • Eastman Best Ph.D. Paper, Int Joint Conference CIB W78 - LDAC (2021)


News

Nov. 1, 2024: Started the new independent Post-doc scientist position at Georg Nemetschek Institute (GNI) of Technical University of Munich (TUM).

Feb. 1, 2024: Started the Post-doc position at Technion, continuing the collaboration with Prof. Rafael Sacks.

Jan. 9, 2024: Successfully defended my PhD – I am Dr. Wang now!

Oct. 1, 2023: Started to visit Trimble Finland to conduct CBIM cloud collaboration prototypes, and participated in Trimble Live Collaboration project.

Sept. 26, 2023: Delivered the second PhD seminar at Technion about Graph Representation of Building Information Models video

July. 12, 2023: Received Thorpe Medal from EC3. Visit the awarded paper which applies GNN to enrich BIM graphs Paper link

Oct. 8, 2022: Started to visit CMS chair led by Prof. André Borrmann at Technical University of Munich

Aug. 20, 2022: Published our first CBIM position paper. We systematically describe what’s the future of BIM collaboration

April 10, 2022: Started to visit CIT lab at the University of Cambridge

Dec. 1, 2021: Published our first GNN in BIM paper at Automation in Construction

Nov. 17, 2021: Defensed my PhD research proposal successfully. Became a Ph.D. candidate at the Technion

Oct. 14, 2021: Obtained the Eastman Best Ph.D. Paper at the LDAC-CIB W78 2021 Conference (paper)

Sept. 5, 2021: Delivered a seminar about my Ph.D. research proposal at the Technion (recording)

Nov. 5, 2020: Became a Marie-Curie researcher in CBIM project and a Ph.D. student at the Technion