Carl Haas

Carl Haas is the University Research Chair and the Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo in Canada, where he has been a professor since 2005. Prior to that, Dr. Haas taught and conducted research at The University of Texas at Austin, beginning in 1991.

Carl's focus has been on research projects with unique impact on the construction industry – especially in the areas of technology, automation, and robotics. For example, he has used 3D imaging and automated sensing algorithms to create digital twins of constructed facilities. He also developed radio-frequency identification tags and algorithms to locate items on the construction site quickly, reducing the hours previously wasted trying to locate construction materials. Today, construction companies use commercialized versions of these tools to automate their processes and efficiently track the flow of materials to the workface.

Dr. Haas has been a principal investigator on nearly a dozen CII research projects since the early 1990s. Most of these focused on the intersection of technology and work processes to improve project safety and performance. In addition, Carl has served as a member of three different standing committees and as the academic advisor for two communities of practice. In spite of all of his achievements, there’s a special humility to Carl which belies just how enormous his contributions to our industry have been.

CII is pleased to honor Carl Haas with the James B. Porter, Jr. Award for Technology Leadership.