Jun.-Prof. Dr. Reza Maalek joined the Institute of Technology and Management in Construction (TMB) in late 2020 as the endowed professor and chair of Digital Engineering in Construction, supported by GOLDBECK GmbH. Before joining TMB and moving to Germany, he lived in Calgary, Canada, where he received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with Project Management Specialization at the University of Calgary with distinction, and also completed Postdoctoral Associate positions at the University of Calgary in both Civil and Geomatics Engineering. Dr. Maalek has taught multiple courses as an instructor at the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Calgary, and the B.Sc. in Construction Project Management program (the only Project Management Institute (PMI)-accredited program in Canada) at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT).

Jun. Prof. Dr. Maalek’s research covers the various aspects of digitization and automation in construction, with proclivity to the application of sensors and remote sensing technologies to improve building information modeling (BIM) to field as well as field to BIM processes. Due to his decade long success in creating new and innovative solutions for the automation of the construction industry in Canada, Dr. Maalek was the recipient of the Alberta Science and Technology (ASTech) 2018 award for Outstanding Achievement in Applied Technology, which is the highest honour in technology and innovation in Alberta Canada.

• Autonomous processing of point clouds acquired using optical instruments, such as LiDAR and photogrammetry, for digital documentation, progress reporting, static health monitoring and dimensional compliance control of civil and infrastructure projects.
• Computer-aided simulation and modeling of energy consumption and dissipation to foster and promote sustainability in construction.
• Real-time location systems (RTLS) for locating resources using Radio Frequency-based technologies to improve safety, security, and productivity on construction projects.
• Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR)-based technologies to aid seamless information transition from BIM to field and field to BIM.

• Endowed professorship and chair of Digital Engineering and Construction at TMB
• Winner of the ASTech award 2018 for Outstanding Achievement in Applied Technology.
• Recipient of multiple prestigious international scholarships, including the 2015 Alberta Innovates Technology Futures and the Bill Bridger Award of Excellence.
• Various international conference awards, including:
  • 2nd place Ph.D. competition at the ASCE Construction Research Congress 2014
  • Best paper award at the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) Conference 2012
  • 3rd place graduate student competition in automation in construction at the CSCE 2011

• Leading Guest Editor for the special issue on “Digitization for Sustainability in Construction” at the journal of Sustainability (2019 Impact Factor 2.576)
• Leading Guest Editor for the special issue on “Sensors for Construction Automation and Management” at the journal of Sensors (2019 Impact Factor 3.275)
• Leading advocate for the “Women in STEM” Program at the University of Calgary (2011)