One Ph.D. student position with full financial support is available in Fall 2024 within the Bert S. Turner Department of Construction Management at Louisiana State University. The admitted students will pursue a Ph.D. degree in construction management. The students are expected to work with Dr. Chao Wang, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Advisor, in the general fields of construction automation and robotics, human-robot interaction, human factor, and ergonomics, occupational safety and health. Funded Ph.D. students will have the opportunity to work on Dr. Wang’s research projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Dr. Wang’s group also actively interacts with local businesses including general contractors, manufacturing facilities, and non-profit organizations for research collaborations and technical assistance, and you will learn skills and knowledge through hands-on experience through the projects to help you land a summer internship or full-time job after graduation. If you are passionate about the future technology and future workforce, this will be the place for you to grow and thrive.

The CM department has 24 faculty and 8 staff members. This growing collection of faculty and staff combines their strengths and talents to meet the teaching, research, and outreach of the Department. They are actively supported by a large construction industry base that has gifted funds for endowed chairs, professorships, scholarships, and discretionary funding. There are about 1,700 students across four undergraduate degree programs (campus and online) that are studying to major, or intending to major, in construction or facilities management. In addition, we have 125 graduate students working towards a Master of Science in CM (campus and online) and 39 working towards their Ph.D. in CM. The LSU CM undergraduate and master’s programs are accredited by the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE). The CM Department houses three federally funded centers: Industrial Innovation Center (IIC) funded by the US Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) funded by the US Department of Energy, and the Region 6’s University Transportation Center (Tran-SET) funded by the US Department of Transportation. There are over 82 active research grants and sub-grants within the CM Department totaling almost $5 million annually.

Louisiana State University is one of the nation’s premier public land-, sea-, and space-grant institutions, and is recognized as a "Very High Research Activity (R1) institution" under the Carnegie Classification system. LSU maintains high levels of research activity and high standards for teaching excellence, offering Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees. The University is nationally recognized for its commitment to academic excellence, its positive work environment, its student engagement, and its beautiful campus. LSU is located in Baton Rouge, the second-largest city in Louisiana, which enjoys a thriving and diverse community.

Minimum Requirements:

• B.S. in Engineering, Construction Management, Industrial Engineering, or related fields;
• Be interested in at least one of the abovementioned research areas;
• Good English communication skills and personality;
• Hard worker, fast learner, team player;
• Basic knowledge of VR development or Ergonomics Analysis

Preferred Requirements:

• M.S. in Construction Management, Industrial Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related fields;
• Be able to enroll in Fall 2024;
• Familiar with VR/AR/MR, digital twin, human factor experiment design, data statistics, and wearable sensors;
• Good writing skills with conference paper or journal article writing experience;
• Have prior project experience with VR development using Unity or Unreal Engine;
• Have prior research experience in ergonomic analysis, eye-tracking, EEG/EMG, and human factor;

Interested applicants please email Dr. Chao Wang (chaowang@lsu.edu) indicating your research interest area together with your CV including GPAs, GRE/TOEFL scores, and publications (if applicable). The top candidates will be contacted for further discussions if selected. For other general program information and admission requirements (TOEFL, GRE, GPA, etc.), please refer to
http://www.lsu.edu/eng/cm/academics/phd/general-information.php