R. Raymond Issa, J.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Building Construction

College of Design, Construction and Planning

2012 Awardee

R. Raymond Issa’s research focuses on technology and building information modeling, two increasingly important areas for improving productivity in the construction industry and performance in the built environment.

Issa’s research program involves the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT), especially in the fields of database management, artificial intelligence, and visualization into the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. He strives to incorporate insights from his practical experience in civil engineering, computer science, and his legal educational background into his research. Over the past 20 years at UF, he has successfully mentored and graduated over 250 Masters and 30 Ph.D. students.

In 2010, he established the Center for Advanced Construction Information Modeling and recently received a grant from UF to establish an associated 3D building information modeling visualization laboratory.

Issa has co-developed a novel method for the extraction and aggregation of knowledge across legacy sources that are heterogeneous both physically and semantically: Scalable Extraction of Enterprise Knowledge (SEEK). He also co-developed an artificial neural network based method for coarse-grain modeling of transient heat-flow in buildings.

His work has appeared in leading journals in construction and information technology. Issa has been recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and by its Technical Council for Computing and Information Technology (TCCIT) for service and leadership on committees and in organizing conferences. Issa was elected as a Fellow of the ASCE in 2009 and was selected for the 2012 ASCE Computing in Civil Engineering Award. Issa was also nominated by the ASCE in 2012 and elected to the Pan American Academy of Engineering, a prestigious organization that recognizes professionals in the Americas who have contributed to the progress of their countries and the world.