Dr. Francis Baek joined the faculty of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in August 2025. He completed his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, specializing in Construction Engineering and Management, at the University of Michigan in 2025. Baek earned an M.S. in Electrical Engineering, focusing on Intelligent Systems, Robotics, and Control (ISRC), from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Arizona.
Dr. Baek's research focuses on advancing construction operations through the human-centric integration of robotic technologies to enhance both task performance and worker well-being. His research leverages robotics, human-sensing technologies such as wearable biosensors, and artificial intelligence. Baek has explored human nervous system-based human-robot collaboration, where robots understand and adapt to physical, cognitive, and emotional human responses—regulated by the nervous system—to foster desired worker responses and improve task performance while teaming with workers.
| Ph.D. | University of Michigan | 2025 |
| M.S. | University of California, San Diego | 2016 |
| B.S. | University of Arizona | 2014 |
Dr. Baek’s teaching interests encompass fundamental construction management and the integration of digital innovation into civil engineering, with a current focus on Building Information Modeling (BIM). He is committed to expanding his pedagogical reach to include automation in construction and Artificial Intelligence, aiming to bridge the gap between traditional engineering practice and emerging technologies. By developing curricula for both undergraduate and graduate levels, he seeks to prepare students to navigate and lead the digital transformation of the construction industry through data-driven and robotic solutions.
- 2023, 1st Rank, the 4th Annual Visualization, Information Modeling, and Simulation (VIMS) Datathon Competition 2023 by American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
- 2023, Grduate Student Scholarship, Korean-American Construction Engineering and Project Management Association (KACEPMA)/HanmiGlobal
- 2023, Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Prize for Distinguished Academic Achievement, University of Michigan
- 2022, Best Paper Award, the 22nd International Conference on Construction Application of Virtual Reality (CONVR)
- 2020, Rackham Merit Fellowship, University of Michigan
- Baek, F., Sohn, J., Bae, J., Kim, D., & Lee, S. (2026). Physical, Cognitive, and Emotional Responses and Their Interrelated Effects on Human–Robot Team Performance in Construction. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 152(1), 04025224.
- Baek, F., Kim, D., Penfield, J., Barker, R., & Lee, S. (2025). Vision-Based Computing Pipeline for Recognizing Hand Grip-Types During Tool Handling. IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors, 13(3), 200-215.
- Baek, F., Kim, D., Lee, G., Choi, B., & Lee, S. (2024). Effect of human emotional responses on human-robot team pty in construction. Automation in construction, 166, 105608.
- Baek, F., Kim, D., Park, S., Kim, H., & Lee, S. (2022). Conditional generative adversarial networks with adversarial attack and defense for generative data augmentation. Journal of computing in civil engineering, 36(3), 04022001.
- Park, S., Baek, F., Sohn, J., & Kim, H. (2021). Computer vision–based estimation of flood depth in flooded-vehicle images. Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 35(2), 04020072.