Professor receives research fund from Korea Institute of Civil Engineering

Dr. Jonghoon Kim, University of North Florida assistant professor in construction management, has received research funds from the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) to study the “preliminary research on advanced facility management (FM) scenario investigation and reverse engineering data collection.” Kim will conduct his research project along with Dr. Taewook Kang, visiting scholar from KICT, South Korea.

Facility management is a set of managerial services performed to support a particular business. This field involves the coordination of people and their work in a physical workplace. FM encompasses all the activities for integrating business administration, behavioral science, architecture and engineering science.

This research study will examine the case studies currently applied to the FM industry and guidelines in the United States. The study will provide information on the technological prowess of the advanced FM industry in the United States, as well as basic information for effectively integrating the latest technology in the related industry in South Korea.

The two main objectives of this research study include:

• Review the distinct documents, previous studies, use of applications and FM market trends in the U.S.
• Utilize lidar scans of existing structures to reverse engineer historical data that will assist in future planning and repairs

Below is an example of “Simultaneous Localization and Mapping” (SLAM) using Velodyne Lidar, a laser scanning technology that uses eye-safe laser beams to create a 3D representation of the surveyed environment. The data was collected from Skinner-Johns Hall, Building 4. The lidar scan created an accurate layout of the structure which was then compared to existing data on the building to compare accuracy. This type of reverse engineering can help fill in the gaps in the history of a structure, and can help professionals in the the FM industry create updated plans for future structure changes and repairs. The Velodyne Lidar also presents an opportunity create the most accurate depictions of a structure while also saving money.