Zhengbo Zou

Zhengbo Zou

Zhengbo Zou’s research aims to understand how intelligent agents, such as construction robots and building control systems, interact with human operators, occupants, the built environment, and the society. Zou leverages machine learning and control theory to design, build, and control these intelligent agents, and conducts human participant experiments to study their impacts on the end users. Zou works in three interconnected areas: (1) dexterous manipulation of robots enabling human-robot collaboration during construction, (2) monitoring of the built environment using autonomous robots, and (3) responsive environments considering energy efficiency, indoor environment quality, and human comfort.

Zou received his B.Eng. from Tongji University, M.Sc. from Carnegie Mellon University, and Ph.D. from New York University, all in Civil Engineering.

Zou manages the ICON Lab at Columbia University which focuses on embedding intelligence and advancing automation in the lifecycle of design, construction and maintenance of civil infrastructure. Students interested in working with the lab should email Zou.

For more information about Zou's research, please visit his website.

  • Graduate Research Assistant, New York University, 2017-2021
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of British Columbia, 2021-2024
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Columbia University, 2024-current
  • American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
  • Computing Machinery (ACM)
  • Best Paper Award (with supervised Ph.D. students Lei Huang and Weijia Cai) at the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) Annual Conference, Canada, 2022
  • Outstanding Dissertation Award, New York University, 2021
  • Editor's Choice Award by Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, New York University, 2019
  • Inaugural class of Urban Doctoral Fellowship, New York University, 2018
  1. Duan, K., Zou, Z. (2024). “Morphology Agnostic Gesture Mapping for Intuitive Teleoperation of Construction Robots”. Advanced Engineering Informatics, 62, 102600.
  2. Huang, L., Cai, W., Zhu, Z., Zou, Z. (2023). “Dexterous manipulation of construction tools using anthropomorphic robotic hand”. Automation in Construction, 156, 105133.
  3. Li, R., Zou, Z. (2023). “Enhancing Construction Robot Learning for Collaborative and Long-Horizon Tasks using Generative Adversarial Imitation Learning”. Advanced Engineering Informatics, 581 102140.
  4. Duan, K., Suen, C., Zou, Z. (2023). “Robot morphology evolution for automated HVAC system inspections using graph heuristic search and reinforcement learning”. Automation in Construction, 153, 104956.
  5. Cai, W., Huang, L., Zou, Z. (2023). “Actively-exploring thermography-enabled autonomous robotic system for detecting and registering HVAC thermal leaks”. Automation in Construction, 152, 104901.
  6. Zhang, H. X., Zou, Z. (2023). “Quality assurance for building components through point cloud segmentation leveraging synthetic data”. Automation in Construction, 155, 105045.
  7. Yu, X., Zou, Z., Ergan, S. (2023). “Extracting principal building variables from automatically collected façade images for energy conservation through deep transfer learning”. Applied Energy, 344, 121228.
  8. Huang, L., Zhu, Z., Zou, Z. (2023). “To imitate or not to imitate: An integrated approach to boost reinforcement learning-based construction robotic control for long-horizon tasks using virtual demonstrations”. Automation in Construction, 146, 104691.
  9. Zou, Z., Ergan, S. (2023). “Towards Emotionally Intelligent Buildings: A Convolutional Neural Network based Approach to Classify Human Emotional Experience in Virtual Built Environments.” Advanced Engineering Informatics, 55, 101868.
  10. Ergan, S., Zou, Z., Bernardes, S. D., Zuo, F., Ozbay, K. (2022). “Developing an integrated platform to enable hardware-in-the-loop for synchronous VR, traffic simulation and sensor interactions.” Advanced Engineering Informatics, 51, 101476.
  11. Zou, Z., Ergan, S. (2021). “Evaluating the effectiveness of biometric sensors and their signal features for classifying human experience in virtual environments.” Advanced Engineering Informatics, 49, 101358.
  12. Zou, Z., Ergan, S., Fisher-Gewirtzman, D., Curtis, C. (2021). “Quantifying the Impact of Urban Form on Human Experience: An Experiment using Virtual Environments and Electroencephalogram.” ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 35(3), 04021004.
  13. Zou, Z., Yu, X., Ergan, S. (2020). “Towards Optimal Control of Air Handling Units using Deep Reinforcement Learning and Recurrent Neural Network.” Building and Environment, 168, 106535.
  14. Ergan, S., Radwan, A., Zou, Z., Tseng, H. A., Han, X. (2019). “Quantifying Human Experience in Architectural Spaces with Integrated Virtual Reality and Body Sensor Networks.” ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 33(2), 04018062.
  15. Du, J., Zou, Z.., Shi, Y., Zhao, D. (2018). “Zero Latency: Real-time Synchronization of BIM Data in Virtual Reality for Collaborative Decision-making.” Automation in Construction, 85, 51-64.
  16. Du, J., Shi, Y., Zou, Z., Zhao, D. (2018). “CoVR: Cloud-based Multiuser Virtual Reality Headset System for Project Communication of Remote Users.” ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 144(2), 04017109.