Graduate Advising at a Glance
Successfully advised 73 graduate students, along with postdoctoral associates, exchange PhD students, invited Fulbright Scholars, and international faculty visitors to the UrbSys Lab at UF. Graduated 10 PhD students and 10 master’s students as Committee Chair.
- PhD committees: Chair — 12, Co-Chair — 1, Member — 19
- Master’s committees: Chair — 10, Co-Chair — 10, Member — 22
Teaching Awards
Mentor / Teacher of the Year Award, University of Florida, 2017.
Nancy Perry Teaching Excellence Award, University of Florida, 2014.
Innovation in Green Design Award, for the development of the Net Zero Energy Training Series, U.S. Green Building Council, Massachusetts Chapter, Boston, MA, 2010.
Ph.D. Students Graduated as Committee Chair
- Dr. Ali Komeily (2017). Dissertation: Towards Context-Aware Socioeconomic Benchmarking of Neighborhoods. Employed at McKinsey, Boston, MA, USA.
- Dr. Zeyu Wang (2017). Dissertation: AI-based Ensemble Model for Energy Prediction of Educational Buildings. Associate Professor, Guangzhou University, China.
- Dr. Dongsoo Kim (2018). Dissertation: Forecasting Environmental Impact Assessment of Residential Buildings in Florida under Future Climate Change. Project Manager, Yates Construction, TX, USA.
- Dr. Mengda Jia (2018). Dissertation: Occupant Behavior Modeling for Improving Commercial Building Energy Use Simulation. Employed at NVIDIA™, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Dr. Soheil Fathi (2019). Dissertation: Campus Energy Use Prediction for Assessing the Effects of Climate Change Using AI. Technical Product Manager, Coda, CA, USA.
- Dr. He Zhang (2021). Dissertation: Factors Influencing Indoor Air Pollution in University Buildings. Assistant Professor, Xiamen University, China.
- Dr. Haekyung Im (2022). Dissertation: Machine Learning-Based Prediction of Urban Building Energy Use owing to Climate Change. Employed at Faithful + Gould, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
- Dr. Rahul Aggarwal (2025). Dissertation: Non-Invasive Spectral Analysis of IGU Using Full-Spectrum Camera Technology. Employed at AEI Engineers.
- Dr. Damilola Onatayo (2025). Dissertation: Understanding the Photo-Optics’ Spatial and Temporal Changes of a Solar Spectrum. Employed in Atlanta, GA, USA.
- Dr. Deepak Balakrishnan (2026). Dissertation: Powering Digital Twins: Development of an NVIDIA™ Omniverse Connector. Postdoctoral Associate, UrbSys Lab, University of Florida.
Design Pedagogy & Studio Culture
- Comprehensive Design Studios — Co-taught the terminal Architecture Design 8 (D8) comprehensive studio in the UF School of Architecture for several years, grounded in traditional design pedagogy and studio culture.
- Global Design Education — Developed and delivered a 2-credit graduate short course, “Architecture and Systems Ecology,” at Southeast University, Nanjing (16 graduate students), based on the authored Routledge textbook.
- Design Juries & Reviews — Invited external reviewer for graduate theses at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (2014); annual invited graduate seminar presenter, Department of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania (2011–2019).
New Courses Developed & Delivered
2020-Present, Foundations, Principles and Applications of Sustainable Development, IDS 2935, 3 credit hours
Co-developed new course that fills Social and Behavioral Sciences and International Gen Ed Requirements at University of Florida. This interdisciplinary course provides an understanding of human interventions on the environment in various forms that has led to the destruction of natural resources. In this course, the key concepts related to sustainable development worldwide, gain familiarity with key environmental and resource issues and the effects on humankind if present population and consumption trends remain unchanged.
2011-Present, Buildings Energy Modeling, BCN 4594 & BCN 6584, 3 credit hours
Instrumental in developing a new course during my first year at University of Florida, approved by the State of Florida University System: BCN 4594 Undergraduate and BCN 6584 Graduate courses. These courses build essential knowledge of building energy and sustainability, and provide the necessary background to use building energy simulation software tools as an investigative instrument to improve overall energy efficiency of the building.
2014-Present, Buildings & Energy: Design and Operation vs. Sustainability, EML 4930 and EML 6934, 3 credit hours
Co-developed new courses approved by the State of Florida University System in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering (2014); offered as an online course via the UF Edge Program.
2014-Present, International Sustainable Development, BCN 1582 Online
Co-developed new 100% online course owing to increased enrollment. This course fills Social and Behavioral Sciences and International Gen Ed Requirements at UF.
2009-2010, Net Zero Energy Training Series
18 Short Courses from concepts to advanced energy and daylight modeling, 175 professionals attended; offered AIA, IES & USGBC continuing credits.
2009-2010, Building Energy Simulation Analyst (BESA) Certification Exam & Preparatory Course, Association of Energy Engineers; covers the theory and practice of computerized building energy modeling. Conducted 3-day workshop in Dallas, TX. Attendees included industry professionals (KEMA, Alcatel-Lucent), US Department of State, and Oregon Department of Energy.
2010, Building Energy Modeling Training Program
For LEED EAc1 / ASHRAE Standard 90.1 Appendix G Compliance for WSP Flack + Kurtz, Boston MA.
Courses Delivered
2020-Present, Doctoral Core II, DCP 7911, 3 credit hours
This mandatory course for doctoral students is designed to help PhD students navigate the dissertation process and become critical, astute readers of other people’s research. It covers research formulation and design, research approaches and methods, and quantitative data analysis; the semester-long project involves writing an NSF-style research proposal closely related to the student’s dissertation.
2011-Present, Building Energy Modeling, BCN 4594 and BCN 6584, 3 credit hours
Uses DOE approved software, refers ASHRAE 90.1 and ASHRAE Fundamentals for engineering calculations.
2011-Present, International Sustainable Development, BCN 1582, 3 credit hours
This course fills Social and Behavioral Sciences and International Gen Ed Requirements at University of Florida.
2012-2019, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) Studio & Practicum, BCN 4787 & 4905; BCN 5789 & 5905, 6 credit hours
The integrated studio format includes students from Construction Management, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Interior Design working in teams. Every year, the teams are posed with new challenging projects:
2012: Multi-use Building Program with a site in Singapore
2013: Mobile Outreach Hut for University of Florida Office of Sustainability
2014: Design, Build, and Operate Solar-Powered House
2015: Solar Decathlon
2016: Integrated Neighborhood Infrastructure for the 21st Century
2017: Extreme Coastal Adaptation Studio with a focus on sea level rise, in Miami
2018: Good Will Reconsidered, Community of Newton, Sarasota, Florida
2019: San Felasco Tech City Tower
2014-Present, Buildings & Energy: Design and Operation vs. Sustainability, EML 4930 and EML 6934, 3 credit hours
An energy engineering course building a solid foundation of energy and sustainability principles for building design and operation in Florida climate conditions.
2011, Sustainable Construction, BCN 6985, 3 credit hours
Application of the sustainable development paradigm to the built environment, including environmental ethics and justice, ecological/environmental economics and Life Cycle Costing, building assessment frameworks, and ecolabels.
University Governance & Service
University Service
2023-Present, Member, UF Graduate School Advisory Council
2018-2022, Elected Faculty Senator (twice elected)
2013-2019, Sustainability Committee
College Service
2025-Present, Co-Chair, UF Council for Research Associate Deans
2024, Post-Tenure Review Committee, College of Design, Construction and Planning
2017-2020, Elected Faculty Council
2017-2019, Elected Administrative Council
2018-2020, Witters Competition Committee
Departmental Service
2021-Present, Chair, Merit Pay Committee
2019-2021, Elected Endowment Committee
2014-2021, Elected Faculty Advisory Committee
2017, Rinker School Director Search Committee
2013-2017, Computing Committee
2011-2021, Graduate Research Committee
The Built Ecologist 