Assistant Professor Houtan Jebelli and CEE graduate student Yogesh Gautam received the Best Paper Runner-Up Award at the 2026 International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering (i3CE). The duo was presented this recognition for their paper, "TinyML-Based Real-Time EMG Fatigue Monitoring for Construction Workers".
Organized by the American Society of Civil Engineers, i3CE brings together top global researchers and practitioners at the intersection of computing, sensing, robotics, artificial intelligence, and civil and construction engineering. The conference is recognized as a premier venue for showcasing new and innovative computational technologies with relevant applications to civil and construction engineering.
Jebelli and Gautam's award-winning paper focuses on developing real-time, human-centered sensing and machine-learning approaches to monitor construction worker fatigue. Specifically, the paper explores the use of electromyography signals and TinyML to enable fatigue-monitoring models to run on small, resource-constrained devices. This project, and their overall research in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, works towards the goal of improving construction worker safety and well-being.
The i3CE Awards Ceremony took place during the conference, which was held June 14-17 in Songdo, Incheon, South Korea. Jebelli and Gautam attended virtually.