2025 PACE Research Seminar
Integrating and Harmonizing
April 22-23, 2025
Location:
Nittany Lion Inn
Agenda
April 22:
6:00 PM: Reception
6:45 PM: Dinner
7:30 PM: State of the Department – Jim Freihaut, Interim Department Head and Student Awards
7:45 PM: Dinner Presentation
Speaker
Title, Company
Presentation title
Topic Summary
April 23:
7:00 AM – Breakfast –
8:00 AM: Welcome and Program Overview
8:15 AM: Keynote Presenter
Speaker
Title, Company
Presentation title
Topic Summary
9:00 AM: Break & Poster session
9:30 AM: Session 1 –
10:15AM: Break & Poster session
10:45 AM – Session 2 –
12:00 PM: Lunch
1:00 PM – Introduction of new S:PACE Officers
1:15 PM – Session 3 –
2:15PM: Break & Poster session
2:45 PM –
3:45 PM: Closing Comments, Poster Competition Winner, and Adjourn
We would like to extend a special Thank You to all of our PACE contributors for supporting student participation in this event.
2024 PACE Research Seminar
Building Intelligence
April 15-16
Location:
Penn State Conference Center and Hotel
Agenda
April 15:
6:00 PM: Reception
6:45 PM: Dinner
7:30 PM: State of the Department – Jim Freihaut, Interim Department Head and Student Awards
7:45 PM: Dinner Presentation
Emily O’Keefe
Senior Project Manager, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
Up in Smoke: Post-Fire Investigation and Damage Assessment of the New Zealand International Convention Center
When completed, the New Zealand International Convention Center (NZICC) will be a signature attraction in the heart of Auckland, New Zealand. Tragically on October 22, 2019, while construction on the NZICC was nearing 80% completion, the roof caught on fire. The nature of the roof design prevented firefighters from being able to extinguish the fire until four days later, leading to extensive thermal, smoke, and water damage throughout the building’s fourteen levels. The immediate aftereffects of the fire rendered the building inaccessible due to environmental and health hazards, exacerbating the consequences of water and fire damage and complicating the determination of causation (fire vs. water vs. post-event weather exposure) and documentation of damage appropriate for insurance claims and remedial works. The result was a multi-year remediation process that included reconstructing the damaged structure, evaluating and identifying new coating and fire protection systems, and evaluating and replacing architectural systems and finishes. This presentation will walk through the fire event and highlight key lessons learned, and successes, during this complex fire investigation and damage assessment.
April 16:
7:00 AM – Breakfast – The Gardens
8:00 AM: Welcome and Program Overview
8:15 AM: Keynote Presenter
Dr. Alan R. Wagner,
Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering
Senior Research Associate for the Rock Ethics Institute
The Pennsylvania State University
Understanding Human-Robot Trust during Emergencies
Trust is often a necessary precursor for the adoption and correct use of an autonomous robot, especially when that use of a robot entails significant risk. Following a robot’s evacuation directions during an emergency presents serious risk and requires trust on the part of the evacuee. This work examines how and why humans trust robots by evaluating whether people will follow a robot during a stress-inducing emergency evacuation. Our work demonstrates that people tend to overtrust robots, relying on them when they should not, potentially increasing the risks they face. This work also explores Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) in situations when the human is under duress, and their decision-making may be influenced by their fight-or-flight instincts. We present results from simulation, virtual reality, and physical experiments and also discuss the ethical ramifications of creating emergency evacuation robots that may one day be tasked with assisting in saving human lives.
9:00 AM: Break & Poster session
9:30 AM: Session 1 – Building Intelligently
- Chase Walter (Finalist) – Using drones to assess Envelope Performance
- Ethan French (BAE/MAE) – Implementing Layout Robots
- Justin Miller (BAE) – Re-thinking PSU Dorm Renovations using Modular Construction
10:15AM: Break & Poster session
10:45 AM – Session 2 – Building Sustainably
- Kira Blenk (BAE/MAE) – Understanding the changing market for office spaces
- Klaudia Bak (Finalist) – Consol Project
- Zachary Hasco (BAE/MAE) – Living Building Challenge
- Zachary Brown (BAE/MAE) – Sustainable Concrete
- Patrick Doherty (BAE/MAE) – Soil Contamination and Treatment
12:00 PM: Lunch
1:00 PM – Introduction of new S:PACE Officers
1:15 PM – Session 3 – Building our People
- Andrew Talarico (BAE/MAE) – Why do we Build?
- Caterine Yunez-Cosme (BAE/MAE) – Using Personality Profile Assessments in Teams
- Joseph Saglimbeni (BAE) – Leveraging Emotional Intelligence to Develop Leadership
- Brent Darnell (Brent Darnell International)
– Transform the Future of Construction by Focusing on Your People
2:15PM: Break & Poster session
2:45 PM – Building Efficiently
- Emily Pugh (BAE/MAE) – Early Trade Involvement
- AJ Banas (Finalist) – Atrium Health
- Adith Calix (BAE) – Pull Planning
- Ryan Gamler (BAE/MAE) – Digitalization of the Last Planner System®
3:45 PM: Closing Comments, Poster Competition Winner, and Adjourn
We would like to extend a special Thank You to all of our PACE contributors for supporting student participation in this event.
The PACE Roundtable event, held each fall, combines inspirational presentations with interactive work sessions focused on identifying key issues that require further attention and research. The Roundtable is attended by industry leaders, students, and faculty. The results from the event include the identification of research topics that will drive ongoing research and scholarly activities by students and faculty at Penn State. Results from a portion of the research are then presented at the Spring PACE Research Seminar.
2020 PACE Roundtable
Wednesday, November 11th
To join the social platform for the PACE Roundtable, please use this link:
https://gather.town/app/1iJv7zdsBn2kpxV4/PACE_Roundtable
Information about using Gather: https://gather.town/
Theme 2020-2021
Building Together
Program Book: Download
Agenda:
Presenter:
Digital Twins for Structural Health Monitoring
Rebecca Napolitano
Assistant Professor, Architectural Engineering
9:45 AM: Breakout 1
Facilitator: Robert Leicht
Panelists: Jacob Maines, Molly Sizemore, Nicole Slavic, Nicholas Adams
Break for lunch
https://gather.town/app/1iJv7zdsBn2kpxV4/PACE_Roundtable
1:00 PM: Breakout 2:
2:00 PM: Break
https://gather.town/app/1iJv7zdsBn2kpxV4/PACE_Roundtable
We would like to extend a special Thank You to all of our PACE supporters for supporting student participation in this event.
Program:
The PACE Roundtable event, held each fall, combines inspirational presentations with interactive work sessions focused on identifying key issues that require further attention and research. The Roundtable is attended by industry leaders, students, and faculty. The results from the event include the identification of research topics that will drive ongoing research and scholarly activities by students and faculty at Penn State. Results from a portion of the research are then presented at the Spring PACE Research Seminar.
2020 PACE Roundtable
Wednesday, November 11th
Location:
This year’s PACE Roundtable will be an online event, hosted through Zoom. More details will be provided to registrants before the meeting.
Details for joining will be made available to registrants directly as the event approaches.
Theme 2020-2021
Building Together
Agenda
November, 11:
8:30 AM: Welcome and State of the Department
Presenter:
Digital Twins for Structural Health Monitoring
Rebecca Napolitano
Assistant Professor, Architectural Engineering
9:30 AM: Breakout 1:
-
1A: Changing approaches to collaboration and integrated design
-
1B: Human-Robot Collaboration on Construction Sites
-
1C: Women in Construction Leadership
-
1D: Digital Twin – is it a revolution or just another step toward digitalization?
10:30 AM: Break
11:00 AM: Presentation:
Student Panel: The “student experience” during Covid-19
Facilitator: Robert Leicht
Panelists: Jacob Maines, Molly Sizemore, Nicole Slavic, Nicholas Adams
Break for lunch
1:00 PM: Breakout 2:
-
2A: Field adoption of lean methods
-
2B: The use of Augmented and Virtual Reality for workforce training
-
2C: COVID-19 and Labor Challenges in Construction
-
2D: How can technology help with pandemic driven changes to design and construction
2:00 PM: Break
2:30 PM: Industry / Student Discussions
3:30 PM: Closing Remarks & Adjourn
We would like to extend a special Thank You to all of our PACE supporters for supporting student participation in this event.
PACE operates through an annual cycle of events.
Advisory Board Meeting (Summer)
Kicking off in the summer, the Advisory Board meets to review the outcomes from the past year, discuss trends and upcoming issues in the industry, and ultimately to set the direction for the upcoming year’s events. Representatives from PACE Member companies meet to discuss key issues facing the building industry, and establish a research agenda for the next year.
Research Roundtable Meeting (Fall)
The cycle moves forward through the Fall Research Roundtable Meeting in the Fall. At the Roundtable, the direction and trends identified from the Advisory Board meeting are explored in a series of breakout discussions, invited speakers, and panels. An open forum discussion in which key topics selected by the advisory board are discussed by students and industry practitioners. Specific and target research topics are defined to be pursued by research teams. These discussions are used to engage the graduate and senior undergraduate students in identifying relevant topics for their research.
Research Seminar (Spring)
The events for the year conclude with the Spring Research Seminar. Held each spring, the research seminar combines presentations of research results and timely speakers for a diverse audience of building industry professional. At the Seminar industry speakers are brought together with a combination of graduate students and undergraduate students that present the findings from their efforts. It also allows us the opportunity to recognize the efforts of our participants, through the Hettema Leadership Award given to leaders from our undergraduate students, PACE Excellence Award, and our Hall of Fame induction.
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