People
Dr. Frank DarConte, RA
Director of Applied Research, Ph.D.
Dr.
DarConte
is
a
licensed
architect
in
the
State
of
New
York
and
has
a
successful
track
record
of
leading
project
teams
delivering
complex
building
programs.
He
is
an
advocate
of
“project
first”
thinking,
applying
both
his
theoretical
and
his
practice-based
expertise
in
construction
project
delivery
to
focus
on
the
...
building
of
collaborative,
high-performance
teams.
Project
team
alignment
process
models,
resulting
from
his
research
at
the
NYU
Tandon
School
of
Engineering,
are
currently
being
utilized
by
the
State
University
Construction
Fund
(NY)
and
New
York’s
Metropolitan
Transportation
Authority
as
team
building
and
risk
management
tools
on
two
major
projects.
For
over
two
decades,
Dr.
DarConte
has
served
as
a
senior
construction
management
executive,
providing
pre-construction
and
construction
phase
services
for
both
private
and
public
sector
clients
at
a
regional
and
national
scale.
He
has
overseen
the
construction
of
complex
building
programs
under
a
variety
of
delivery
methods
for
the
successful
completion
of
more
than
$1
billion
of
diverse
projects
ranging
from
K-12,
higher
education,
commercial,
institutional,
sports
facilities,
and
multi-family
housing
projects.
His
accomplishments
include
several
highly
visible,
large-scale
NY
metropolitan
area
projects
such
as
EAB
Plaza,
Uniondale,
NY;
the
USPS
GMF/VMF
at
Spring
Creek,
Brooklyn;
and
the
West
Campus
Tournament
Facility
at
the
Billie
Jean
King
National
Tennis
Center,
Flushing
Meadow,
Queens,
NY.
Dr.
DarConte
holds
a
Ph.D.
in
Civil
Engineering
from
New
York
University
Tandon
School
of
Engineering
where
he
also
holds
an
appointment
as
a
research
professor.
In
addition,
he
received
a
BS
in
Architectural
Technology
from
the
New
York
Institute
of
Technology
and
an
MS
in
City
and
Regional
Planning
from
the
Pratt
Institute.
Dr. Semiha Ergan
Assistant Professor, Ph.D.
Dr.
Ergan’s
wide
variety
of
interests
include
IT
to
support
design,
construction,
and
operations
of
civil
infrastructure
systems;
studying
urban
challenges
for
the
construction
industry;
building
informatics
for
efficient
and
healthier
buildings;
infrastructure
information
modeling
and
visualization;
and
understanding
the
interactions
between
buildings
and
city
performance.
At
NYU
Tandon
she
...
spearheads
the
biLab
which
focuses
on
understanding
the
operational
challenges
associated
with
construction
and
operation
of
facilities
and
infrastructure
systems
in
urban
settings.
She
received
her
Ph.D.
from
Carnegie
Mellon
University
(Computer
Aided
Engineering)
where
she
was
an
Assistant
Research
Professor
as
well
as
a
Visiting
Assistant
Professor.
Her
MS
and
BS
degrees
are
from
the
Middle
East
Technical
University
in
Ankara,
Turkey.
Lawrence Chiarelli
IDC Foundation Chair; Industry Professor, PE, Esq.
Since
joining
the
NYU
Tandon
faculty
in
the
Department
of
Civil
and
Urban
Engineering
in
2004,
Professor
Chiarelli
has
been
the
Program
Director
for
the
undergraduate
and
graduate
construction
management
degree
programs,
Associate
Director
of
the
Center
for
Construction
Management
Innovation,
and
the
faculty
advisor
for
the
student
chapter
of
...
the
Construction
Management
Association
of
America
(CMAA).
Professor
Chiarelli
is
a
Fellow
of
the
American
Society
of
Civil
Engineers
(ASCE)
and
past
President
of
the
ASCE
Metropolitan
Section.
He
is
a
member
of
Chi
Epsilon
civil
engineering
honor
society
and
the
recipient
of
the
NYU-Poly
2010
Distinguished
Teacher
Award.
He
has
also
served
as
the
academic
advisor
to
the
CMAA
Board
and
on
the
committee
to
establish
ABET
criteria
for
Construction
Management
under
the
Applied
Science
Accreditation
Commission
as
well
as
a
judge
for
the
National
Engineering
Excellence
Awards
for
the
American
Council
for
Engineering
Companies
(ACEC).
Professor
Chiarelli
is
a
licensed
Professional
Engineer
in
New
York
and
earned
both
a
Bachelor
of
Engineering
and
Master
of
Engineering
from
The
Cooper
Union.
In
addition,
he
holds
a
Juris
Doctor
degree
from
Brooklyn
Law
School
and
is
Special
Counsel
to
the
law
firm,
Duane
Morris
LLP.
His
previous
experience
includes
working
as
a
structural
engineer,
construction
project
manager,
and
contract
manager
for
an
international
construction
management
firm.
Dr. Chen Feng
Assistant Professor, Ph.D.
Dr.
Feng
is
an
Assistant
Professor
with
a
joint
appointment
to
NYU
Tandon’s
Department
of
Civil
and
Urban
Engineering
and
the
Department
of
Mechanical
and
Aerospace
Engineering.
Prior
to
joining
the
NYU
Tandon
faculty,
Dr.
Feng
was
a
research
scientist
at
the
Computer
Vision
Group
at
the
Mitsubishi
Electric
Research
Laboratories
...
(MERL)
where
he
worked
on
visual
simultaneous
localization
and
mapping
(vSLAM)
and
deep
learning
where
he
invented
several
patented
algorithms.
He
currently
is
leading
a
multi-disciplinary
research
group
named
AI4CE
(A-I-force)
which
stands
for
Automation
and
Intelligence
for
Civil
Engineering
where
he
aims
to
advance
the
area
of
construction
robotics
with
novel
robotic
vision
and
learning
algorithms
and
systems.
He
earned
a
bachelor’s
degree
in
Geodesy
and
Geomatics
from
Wuhan
University
(China)
followed
by
an
MSE
in
construction
engineering
and
management,
an
MSE
in
Electrical
Engineering-Systems,
and
a
Ph.D.
in
Civil
Engineering
from
the
University
of
Michigan
at
Ann
Arbor.
Judith (Judy) DeScenza Cooper
Associate Director, IDC Innovation Hub, F.SAME
Ms.
Cooper
joined
the
NYU
Tandon
School
of
Engineering
in
January
2019
as
Associate
Director
of
the
Institute
of
Design
Construction
(IDC)
Innovation
Hub.
Prior
to
her
tenure
at
NYU
Tandon,
she
spent
15
years
as
a
Senior
Vice
President
and
Global
Director
of
Corporate
Communications
at
Parsons
Brinckerhoff
(PB),
...
a
14,000-person
engineering,
planning,
and
construction
management
firm.
At
PB,
she
was
responsible
for
all
media
relations,
publications,
social
media,
advertising,
branding,
and
all
internal
and
external
communications.
Ms.
Cooper
also
worked
at
Sverdrup
Corporation
(now
part
of
Jacobs)
where
she
was
the
Director
of
Marketing
for
the
Northeast
region,
responsible
for
the
preparation
of
all
proposals
from
Maine
to
Florida.
She
also
served
as
the
Business
Development
Manager
for
the
firm’s
New
York
City
office.
Ms.
Cooper
is
a
Fellow
of
the
Society
of
American
Military
Engineers
(F.SAME)
and
served
as
the
past
President
of
the
New
York
City
Post,
past
Chair
of
the
Scholarship
Fund
Dinner
Dance,
and
currently
serves
as
the
Chair
of
the
Student
Activities
Committee
and
Vice
Chair
of
the
Scholarship
Fund.
She
was
a
recipient
of
the
Thomas
Dianna
“Spirit
of
Volunteerism”
award
from
the
March
of
Dimes
(Construction
sector)
and
is
a
past
President
of
the
Greater
NY
Chapter
of
WTS
(Women’s
Transportation
Seminar).
She
has
a
bachelor’s
degree
from
Misericordia
University
(PA)
and
a
master’s
degree
from
New
York
University.