Education

Academic Degrees

• Ph.D., Construction, University of Florida, 2007
• M.S., Computer Engineering, University of Florida, 2003
• M. Architecture, Tongji University, China, 1997
• B. Engineering, Architecture, Zhengzhou University, China, 1992

Experience

Dr. Shen's six-year industry experience includes being an architect at Tianchen Chemical Engineering Corporation (ENR Global Top 100 Engineering Firm), Tianjin Office, an architect at John Portman & Associates, Shanghai Office,  an intern/Project Engineer at Weitz Company, West Palm Beach Office, an estimator at Ecclestone Homes, Palm Beach Garden Office, a Project Engineer at Catalfumo Construction and Development Inc, Plam Beach Garden Office. 

His academic experience includes being an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, a visiting Associate Professor at New York University, and an Assistant/Associate/Full Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 

Areas of Research and Professional Interest

High-performance Building Envelope,  Autonomous Infrastructure NDE, 3D Modeling/Remodeling, Computer Vision, Image Processing, Robotics, UAS / UAV, VR/AR

Research Profiles:

• Digital Commons
• Google Scholar
• ResearchGate

In the News: Powered by the 

Nov 08, 2024: Duncan, Shen chosen to 2024-25 FLAIR cohort

Mar 13, 2024: Shen’s innovative camera focused on improving pipeline safety, reliability

Apr 17, 2023: 19 Nebraska Engineering faculty receive promotion and/or tenure

Oct 28, 2022: Shen chosen to NSF CMMI Game Changer Academies for Advancing Research Innovation Program

Apr 20, 2015: Engineers introduce design that mimics nature’s camouflage

Feb 12, 2015: Durham faculty's team creates 3-D model to help manage U.S. bridge repairs

Oct 30, 2014: Professor's 3D modeling enhances monitoring of bridge conditions

Nov 14, 2011: Durham School's Shen and Jensen honored at ASCE conference

Jun 20, 2010: Nebraska Engineering gains DOE funding to train veterans for more energy efficient healthcare facilities

Inventions/Patents

Provisional Patents/Software Copyright:

1. US Provisional Patent Application 63/413,132; “3D pipeline modeling using vSLAM and depth camera array”
2. US Provisional Patent Application No. 63/311,312; “Single-Pass 3D Reconstruction of Internal Surface of Pipelines Using Depth Camera Array”
3. Filed Software Copyright “ DelamKing” infrared-based concrete delamination profiling software NUTech Approved Disclosure: D2021-0015 

Courses Taught

• CNST860, CNST378, CNST379, CNST225

About Zhigang Shen

Dr. Shen’s current research is focused on the NDE of civil infrastructure (optical, infrared, and/or hyperspectral) and high-performance building envelopes. As PI/Co-PIs, he was awarded more than $3M+ research grants from funding agencies such as  DOT (PHMSA), NSF, EPA, DOE, NDOT, and DOL. He published 70+ peer-reviewed articles in his research areas. He had six years of industry experience in the design and construction of large-scale commercial buildings and high-end residential buildings. He joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2007 as an assistant professor after serving two years at the University of Wisconsin-Stout as an assistant professor. He was a visiting associate professor at New York University from 2014 to 2015.  He likes many sports, such as running, swimming, hiking, golfing, skating, and skiing.

Honors and Awards

1. 2022 UNL Outstanding Postdoc Mentor Award
2. 2020-2021 Excellence in Research of College of Engineering, UNL
3. 2019-2020 Excellence in Research of College of Engineering, UNL
4. 2018 Outstanding Reviewer of Elsevier Journal of Automation in Construction
5. 2017 Outstanding Reviewer of Elsevier Journal of Applied Energy
6. UNL College of Engineering Faculty Service Award 2012
7. 2011 Best Feature Article Award of ASCE Journal of Leadership and Management in Engineering
8. The Inaugural Alumni Pre-doctoral Fellow, the University of Florida, 1999-2003

Funding

Short Title

Sponsor

Year

PI / Co-PI

Total $

1

Gas pipeline UAS aerial inspection and 3D modeling

US DOT-PHMSA

2019-2023

PI

$249,964

2

Detecting, Locating, and Mapping Internal Gas Pipeline Corrosion using Thermography and Photogrammetry

US DOT-PHMSA

2018-2022

PI

$299,998

3

Automating the detection of bridge deck defects using aerial thermography

NDOT

2019-2020

PI

$109,844

4

Early Detection of Near-surface Void Defects in Concrete Pavement Using UAV-Thermography

NDOT

2018-2019

PI

$94,668

5

IMPACT-Trade Adjustment Assistance

US DOL

2012-2016

Co-PI

$725,842

6

3D Element-based Bridge Condition Rating System

NDOT

2013-2015

PI 

$46,091

7

Case-based virtual simulation of project failure

NSF

2011-2014

PI

$100,000

8

Building Energy Efficient Homes for America

US DOE

2011-2012

CO-PI  

$528,254

9

Healthcare energy commissioning training

US DOE

2010-2013

PI 

$405,741

10

Decentralized water/energy systems

US EPA

2009-2014

Co-PI

$750,000

11

Home Building Education Leadership Program

NAHB

2009-2012

Co-PI

$75,000

Total Amount (excluding cost share)

$3,385,402

Selected Publications

Computer Vision

2023

Dual-function depth camera array for inline 3D reconstruction of complex pipelines

Automation in Construction

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2023.104893

UAV Control

2022

Flight Planning for Survey-Grade 3D Reconstruction of Truss Bridges

Remote Sensing

https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14133200

UAV Control

2022

Topology-based UAV path planning for multi-view stereo 3D reconstruction of complex structures

Complex and Intelligent Systems

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40747-022-00831-5

UAV Control

2020

A Co-optimal Coverage Path Planning Method for Aerial Scanning of Complex Structures

Expert Systems with Applications

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2020.113535

Infrared Image

2020

The application of the gray-scale level-set method in the segmentation of concrete deck delamination using infrared images

Construction and Building Materials

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.117974

Infrared Image

2020

Semi-real-time detection of subsurface consolidation defects during the concrete curing stage

Construction and Building Materials

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.121489

Infrared Image

2019

Thermographic Laplacian-pyramid filtering to enhance delamination detection in concrete structure

Infrared Physics & Tech

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infrared.2018.12.039

Infrared Image

2019

Bridge Deck Delamination Segmentation Based on Aerial Thermography Through Regularized Grayscale Morphological Reconstruction and Gradient Statistics

Infrared Physics & Tech

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infrared.2019.03.018

Deep Learning

2020

Automatic delamination segmentation for bridge deck based on encoder-decoder deep learning through UAV-based thermography

NDT&E International

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ndteint.2020.1

Computer Vision

2022

Single-pass inline pipeline 3D reconstruction using depth camera array

Automation in Construction

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2022.10

Computer Vision

2018

Multi-point vibration measurement and mode magnification of civil structures using video-based motion processing

Automation in Construction

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2018.05.025

Building Energy

2020

Assessing cooling energy reduction potentials by retrofitting traditional cavity walls into passively ventilated cavity walls

Building Simulation

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-020-0740-0