Noh Awarded NSF Career Award

Assistant Professor Hae Young Noh was recently selected for a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation. The award is one of the most prestigious for junior faculty researchers in science and engineering.

Noh's research focuses on the new concept of “structures as sensors” to enable physical structures, such as buildings, to be user- and environment-aware. These structures indirectly sense humans and surrounding environments through vibrations by inferring the desired information (human behaviors, environmental conditions, heating and cooling system performance), instead of directly measuring the sensing targets with additional dedicated sensors like cameras or motion sensors. She utilizes this “noise” to empower the structures with the ability to perceive and understand the information about users and surroundings using their own responses, and actively adopt and/or interact to enhance their sustainability and the occupants’ quality of life. The “structures as sensors” concept brought a paradigm shift in how we view structures and how structures interact with us.

“Professor Noh brings her multi-disciplinary skills and impressive creativity to advance a forefront research area for civil and environmental engineering and a focus for our department – sensing for infrastructure control,” said David Dzombak, Hamerschlag University Professor and Head of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Noh earned an MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering, an MS in Electrical Engineering, and a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. She completed her BS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell.