Faculty
Sheryl Staub-French
, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Sheryl Staub-French, PhD, PEng, is a Professor of Civil Engineering and Associate Dean of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She is Director of the BIM TOPiCS Lab where she leads research to support the digital delivery of sustainable building projects through the collaborative use of building information modeling (BIM). She has contributed more than 100 papers in leading journals and conferences on BIM and topics related to the technological and organizational issues associated with its implementation. As Associate Dean, she helps to lead the engineering outreach program Geering Up!, which promotes engineering and STEM skills to kids and youth, parents and teachers. She also leads EDI initiatives in the Faculty to enhance the diverse representation of students in engineering, and to cultivate inclusive spaces and experiences that support all members of the community.
Collaborators
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
 | Puyan Zadeh, Dr.-Ing. | Puyan A. Zadeh is a Building Innovation Specialist and an adjunct professor at the Project and Construction Management (PCM) group since fall 2017. He joined UBC as a postdoctoral fellow in late 2013. Before joining UBC, he obtained his B.Sc. (2001) in Civil Engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Tehran, Iran and earned both his M.Sc. (2007) and Dr.-Ing. (2012) in Informatics in Civil Engineering from Technische Universität Darmstadt (TUDa), Darmstadt, Germany. His current research at UBC covers topics related to innovation in construction including BIM-based design and coordination, application of IPD and Lean Construction, Digital Fabrication and Modular Construction, as well as XR (AR/VR/MR) for Construction. |
 | Rachel Pottinger, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia |
Current Students
| Name | Program | Research Interests | Advisor(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Devarsh Bhonde | Ph.D. | His research primarily focuses on improving collaboration and communication among stakeholders in the construction industry using new technologies. His recent projects include analyzing the performance benefits of using Virtual Reality (VR) to incorporate design inputs, improve the design coordination process using cloud-BIM tools, and apply visual analytics tools to ease the document control and progress management processes. He investigated the barriers faced by owner organizations to adopt the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) procurement model on an industry-sponsored project and is currently studying the innovative methods, tools, and processes implemented on BC Housing's first IPD project. | Sheryl Staub-French , Rachel Pottinger, Puyan Zadeh |
 | Gustavo Tsay | Ph.D. | Gustavo did his undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering at Universidade Federal do Parana (Brazil), and his master's degree in Construction Engineering and Management at the University of Southern California (US). He joined the BIM TOPiCS lab in 2019, and he is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in the delivery of digital asset information through BIM. He has been recently involved in research projects that investigates the digital delivery of large public projects such as the Royal Columbian Hospital Phases I, and II by Fraser Health Authority and in the Vienna House Project by BC Housing. His research interest includes standardization of building information management (e.g., IFC, COBie, ISO 19650), use of BIM for facilities management, data structure in building information models, and Linked Data. | Sheryl Staub-French, Rachel Pottinger |
 | Danilo Caron | MASc | Danilo Caron is a Master of Applied Science student of mixed Italian and Anishinaabe heritage who's research focuses on project delivery methods, their ability to harness Indigenous perspectives and ways the engineering industry can advance reconciliation in the broader Canadian society. Danilo completed a Bachelor of Science in physics at Thompson Rivers University in 1999 and a Bachelor of Applied Science at UBC in civil engineering in 2020. When Danilo isn't studying or working for Urban Systems, he can be found on the local trails and beaches with his wife and daughter. | Sheryl Staub-French |
 | Najme Hashempour | Ph.D. | Najme joined BIM TOPiCS Lab as a PhD student in 2021. She received her Master's and Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the Imam Khomeini International University, Iran. Her major is construction management and engineering. Najme is interested in improving the energy performance of new and existing buildings. Her current focus is on closing the gap between actual and designed energy performance. She is currently involved in the Vienna House Project by BC Housing, which is a social housing development pursuing Passive House certification. Najme is interested in improving the energy performance of new and existing buildings. Her current focus is on closing the gap between actual and designed energy performance. She is currently involved in the Vienna House Project by BC Housing, which is a social housing development pursuing Passive House certification. | Sheryl Staub-French, Puyan Zadeh |
 | Onyekachukwu Odenigbo | Ph.D. | Onyekachukwu received his Bachelor of Science degree in Building at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka (Nigeria) in 2014 and his Master of Science degree in Construction Management at the University of Lagos (Nigeria) in 2017. He joined the BIM TOPiCS lab in fall of 2021, and he is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in project and construction management. His research interest includes Integrated Project Delivery, Innovative process in construction, Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) and Procurement and collaboration. When Onyekachukwu isn't studying or researching design and collaboration, he also loves going to the movies and travelling. | Sheryl Staub-French, Puyan Zadeh |
 | Oluwalonimi Awonaike | MASc | Nimi holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. She joined the BIM TOPiCS Lab to start her master’s degree in the fall of 2021. She has a strong interest in researching how emerging technologies can be adopted to improve construction operations. In her spare time, she enjoys listening to music, watching basketball, and playing video games. | Sheryl Staub-French, Puyan Zadeh |
 | Ruth Irene | MASc | Ruth had her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Benin in 2012 and a master’s degree in Structural Engineering from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, in 2017. She is currently pursuing her Master of Applied Science degree program in Project and Construction Management at UBC, Vancouver and joined the BIM TOPiCS lab in 2021. Her research focuses on Lean Design Management, Integrated Project Delivery, and Building Information Modelling. | Sheryl Staub-French, Puyan Zadeh |
 | Jianing Luo | Visiting, Post-Doctorate | Dr. Jianing Luo is an Assistant Professor in the School of Architecture at Nanjing Tech University in China since 2019. He joined the BIM TOPiCS lab as a postdoctoral fellow in late 2021. Luo obtained his Ph.D. in Architecture from Southeast University in China in 2018. Prior to this, he received his master degree in Architecture at Southeast University in 2012 and bachelor degree in Architecture at Nanjing Tech University in 2010. During his Ph.D. study, he was a joint Ph.D. (visiting) candidate in Construction Management at the University of Newcastle in Australia from 2015 to 2017. His research is devoted to improving the design and construction coordination based on design methodologies, digital methods, and tools (BIM, VDC), off-site construction (OSC) and lean construction (LC), etc. His recent research projects include investigating the innovative OSC adoption in Vienna House Project by BC Housing and the City of Vancouver and analyzing the constructability in architectural design to improve the design and construction coordination in Orchard Commons Student Resident and Brock Commons Tallwood House in the lens of architects. | Sheryl Staub-French, Puyan Zadeh |
 | Christian Thiele | Visiting, Ph.D. | Christian is currently doing his Ph.D. at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. There, he also received his bachelor’s (2014) and master’s degrees (2016) in civil engineering. Before he came back to university to do his Ph.D., he worked for three years at HOCHTIEF Engineering GmbH as a structural engineer. Since 2018, he has been working as a research assistant at the Institute of Numerical Methods and Informatics in Civil Engineering (IIB) at TU Darmstadt. Christian joined the BIM TOPiCS Lab in spring 2022 as part of a research stay via the Visiting International Research Student (VIRS) program. In his research, Christian focuses mainly on Scan to BIM techniques using Augmented Reality (AR) and AI methods. | Sheryl Staub-French, Puyan Zadeh |