Professor, Department of Architecture
Mattia Flabiano III AIA/Page Southerland Page Endowed Professor
Student Government Association Open Educator Presidential Impact Fellow, Texas A&M University
Associate Directors, CRS Center and TITIL
Co-Founder, BIM-SIM Group
Dr. Wei Yan, Professor of Architecture at Texas A&M University, Associate Director of the CRS Center and Texas A&M Institute for Technology-Infused Learning (TITIL), with expertise in Computational Methods in Design, Building Information Modeling, Visualization, and Augmented Reality. As a PI, he has led research projects funded by the NSF, DOE, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), etc. He received the Best Paper Prize in Design Computing and Cognition ‘06. He has served as a reviewer for NSF, Austrian Science Fund, the Research Grant Council, Hong Kong, etc. He was named a Presidential Impact Fellow in 2017 and was a recipient of the Student Government Association Open Educator Award in 2019, both at Texas A&M. Yan was educated at the University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. in Architecture and M.S. in Computer Science), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, and Tianjin University. In 2012, he was a Guest Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a Visiting Professor at Stanford University.
Teaching
• Taught courses in the multidisciplinary areas of Architecture, Visualization Science, and Computer Science.
• Developed new graduate courses on design computing
Undergraduate courses
1. ENDS 170 - Computer Technologies
for Design Visualization
2. ENDS 370 - Virtual Architecture
3. ENDS 489 - Special Topics in Game Prototypes
4. ENDS 116 - Foundations of Design Communication
Graduate courses
5. VIZA 654/CPSC 646/CSCE 646 - The Digital Image
6. VIZA 627 - Computer Graphics Production Studio (with Dr. Fred Parke and Reel
FX Creative Studio, Summer 2007)
7. ARCH652 - Facility Information Technology
8. ARCH689 - Special Topics in Building Information Modeling
9. ARCH653 - Building Information Modeling in Architecture (New course created in Fall 2010)
10. ARCH689 - Parametric Modeling in Architecture
11. ARCH655 - Parametric Modeling in Design (New course created in Fall 2014)
Research
Selected Grants / Funded Projects
PI, Brick by Brick: Augmented Reality-based Making and Gaming for Teaching Creativity and STEM, PTTG – Presidential Transformational Teaching Grants, Texas A&M University, with Song, D. (Co-PI). $60,000. Project Period: 1/13/2020-1/12/2022
PI, A Web-based Parametric BIM Viewer for Online Collaborative Parametric Design Presentation and Optimization (Phases 1 and 2), with Mohammad Rahmnai Asl (Consultant). Autodesk Forge Research Grant, Autodesk, Inc. $10,000. Grant Period: 2016-2018.
PI, Analyzing and Documenting BIM-based Building Performance Analysis Software & Building Performance Analysis and Optimization, with Mohammad Rahmnai Asl (Graduate Researcher). Autodesk, Inc. $114,502. Grant #467061. Grant Period: 2013-2015.
PI, Physical Building Information Modeling for Solar Building Design and Simulation, with Clayton, M. (Co-PI) and Haberl, J. (Co-PI). Environmental Sustainability Program, Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET), National Science Foundation (NSF), $300,000. Award#0967446. Grant Period: 2010-2015.
PI, Physical Building Information Modeling for Solar Building Design and Simulation, with Clayton, M. (Co-PI) and Haberl, J. (Co-PI). Supplemental Grant - Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), Environmental Sustainability Program, Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET), National Science Foundation (NSF), $16,000. Grant Period: 2013-2015.
Senior Personnel and Steering Committee Member, RCN-SEES: Predictive Modeling Network for Sustainable Human-Building Ecosystems (SHBE), with PI: Tao, Y., Co-PIs: Zhu, Y., Cartes, D., Tolone, W., and Lam, K.P., and Senior Personnel: Hadzikadic, M., Feiock, R., Thompson, R., Spiegelhalter, T., Menassa, C. and D’Souza, D. National Science Foundation (NSF), $652,846.00. Award#1338851. Grant Period: 2013-2020.
Co-PI, Enabling Partnerships to Enable Science ("TOOLS"): anyFish: a User-Friendly Software Package for Creating Realistic Animations for Animal Behavior, with Rosenthal, G. (PI) and Johnson, J. (Co-PI). Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) Program, Division of Biological Sciences (BIO), National Science Foundation (NSF), $300,000. Grant Period: 2010-2012.
Co-PI, Development of a Reference Building Information Model (BIM) for Thermal
Model Compliance Testing, with Clayton, M. (PI) and Haberl, J. (Co-PI). The American Society Of Heating, Refrigerating, And Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), $175,311. Grant Period: 2009-2011.
PI, Design and Analysis of Ice Thermal Storage Buildings Using Building Information Modeling, $60,000. (Subcontract of project: Use of Ice Thermal Storage Systems to Improve LWR Plant Efficiency and Relieve the Cooling Water Requirement, Zhao, H. (PI), Zhang, H. (Co-I), and Yan, W. (Co-I). U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Lab Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Grant, Idaho National Laboratory, $200,000.)
Grant Period: 2009.
PI, High Dynamic Range Imaging for Preserving the Chromaticity Information of Architectural Heritage, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant, $30,000. Grant Period: 2007-2009.
PI, Integrating Video Tracking and Virtual Reality in Environmental Behavior Study: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Program to Enhance Scholarly and Creative Activities, Office of the Vice President for Research, Texas A&M University, $10,000. Grant Period: 2006-2007.
Other Projects
Participant, New generation computational tools for building and community energy systems based on the Modelica and Functional Mockup Interface standards, International Energy Agency (IEA) EBC Annex 60, with PI: Wetter, M., and other participants. Publications (Google Scholar)
Patent Pending
Systems and Methods Performing Object Occlusion in Augmented Reality-based Assembly Instructions, USPTO
Service
Selected roles
• Invited Grant Review Panelist, National Science Foundation
• Invited Ad Hoc Grant Reviewer, National Science Foundation
• Invited Grant Reviewer, Austrian Science Fund
• Invited Grant Reviewer, Hong Kong Research Grant Council
• Organizing team for five workshops/symposium sponsored by National Science Foundation
• Local Arrangement Chair and Paper Committee Co-Chair for research conferences.
• Associate Director, CRS Center for Leadership & Management in the Design & Construction Industry, 1/2016 - present
• Chair (2017), Co-Chair (2016), Member (2013-16) Promotion and Tenure Committee, Department of Architecture, Texas A&M University
• Board of Directors (2010-14), Membership Officer (2011-14): Association for Computer Aided Design in
Architecture (ACADIA)
Ph.D. and Master's Students Graduated
Ph.D. Students Graduated
as
Chair WoonSeong Jeong, Assistant Professor at Chungbuk National University, Korea Mohammad Rahmani Asl, High Performance Building Design Researcher at Autodesk Zhouzhou Su, WHR Architects Jawad Altabtabai, Assistant Professor at Kuwait University Emad Al-Qattan, Assistant Professor at Kuwait University Shermeen Yousif, Assistant Professor, Florida Atlantic University
as Co-Chair Qing Xing, Sr. Software Engineer at HERE Saied Zarrinmehr, 3D Modeling R&D Development Manager, Dassault Systemes, Spatial Corp Chengde Wu, Research Fellow, UNC Charlotte Jaeheum Yeon, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University, Commerce Yang Liu, Chief Engineer, Wanda Commercial Planning Gonen Ozgur, Senior Software Developer at Hue AS
Master's StudentsGraduated
as
Chair
Mohammad Alawadhi
(Ph.D. student, Texas A&M University)
Seda Tuzun Canadinc
(Ph.D. student, Texas A&M University)
as Co-Chair Trisha Butkowski, DreamWorks Animation Ji Zhang, Ph.D. Student at Carnegie Mellon University Xiaoxi Bi, OMNIPLAN Architects, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design
Awards/Honors
Selected Awards/Honors
Alternate for the SXSW 2020 Innovation Awards - XR Category (https://www.sxsw.com)
SGA Open Educator Award, from the Student Goverment Association at Texas A&M University, 2019
One of selected "Tianjin University Architecture Alumni" (since 1977) , School of Architecture, Tianjin University, featured in World Architecture magazine《世界建筑》, Tsinghua University Press, Vol. 05, 2017, ISSN1002-4832
American Institute of Architects (AIA) Latrobe Prize Finalist (with Dr. Lou Tassinary and Dr. Charles Culp), 2013
Best Paper Prize - Yan, W. and Kalay, Y.E. "Geometric,
Cognitive, and Behavioral Modeling of Environmental Users", in Design Computing and Cognition '06, Ed. Gero, J., Springer; The Second International
Conference on Design Computing and Cognition (DCC'06), Eindhoven University
of Technology, Netherlands, 10-12 July 2006.
Keynote Speech, "Parametric Modeling and BIM: Teaching and Research", in The 8th Conference on Digital Technologies in Architectural Education and International Symposium on Digital Architecture Design, China, August 24, 2013.
Appreciation Certificate for serving the Board of Directors, 2010-2012, Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA), presented during 2012 Annual Conference on October 19, 2012 by ACADIA President.
Outstanding Reviewer awarded by Automation in Construction (Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands), November 2014. "In recognition of the contribution made to the quality of the journal."
Outstanding Reviewer awarded byEnergy and Buildings (Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands), December 2016. "In recognition of the contribution made to the quality of the journal."
Graduate Scholarships, University of California, Berkeley, 1999-2003
Nachdiplomstudium (Postgraduate study) Scholarship, ETH Zurich, 1997-1998.
Fun
...
Project BRICKxAR: Augmented Reality for LEGO® Construction with iPhone®
LEGO Arc de Triomphe Speed Build with AR
Models by students in my Parametric Modeling and BIM classes
Bird Nest modeled using Rhino/Grasshopper by Yan Lu in ARCH689 Parametric Modeling
(http://yanluarch689.blogspot.com)
Bird Nest modeled using Autodesk Revit by Jason Minter in ARCH653 Building Information Modeling
(http://minterrevit.blogspot.com)
Travels to the Bird Nest before and after the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
Photo on the left credit: Prof. Guillermo Vasquez de Velasco
Working in my mini-CAVE. T-shirt designed by my classmates at ETH Zurich in 1997.
