When Joe Fassbender, Kimya Green and Amey Sanap set out to write a paper in Dr. Jeong Woo’s Construction Data and Information Management course, they had no idea it would end up leading to an international presentation.

“To fulfill our term project, we did preliminary research on the cost and productivity benefits of using drones for surveying in the construction industry in lieu of traditional surveying methods like total stations, builders levels or GPS technology,” said Fassbender, who, like Sanap, is pursuing a master’s degree in civil engineering. Green is working toward an MBA with a specialization in construction management.

After reviewing their paper about the work, Woo recommended they submit it to the International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction (ISARC) Conference. They did, and the conference organizers selected their paper for publication and presentation at the 35th annual conference in Berlin, Germany. At the event, researchers present their work on projects relating to advancements in construction technology.

In July, Fassbender and Sanap traveled to Berlin with Woo. This year, some of the main topics discussed were BIM (building information modeling), quality, deep learning, robotics, construction management and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). The students presented their paper in the UAV section of the conference.

“It was an incredible experience to both present our own and see projects being researched and developed that could very well be the next big breakthrough,” said Fassbender. “I was fortunate to participate in an event that opened my eyes to the work being done on advancing construction automation and robotics technology, and I was honored to represent MSOE.”