2025
Automated UAV Image-to-BIM Registration for Planar and Curved Building Façades using Structure from Motion and 3D Surface Unwrapping
Automation in Construction, 174, 106148
About
I'm a Lecturer in Digital and Sustainable Infrastructure at Loughborough University.
I have focused on developing automated and digital approaches to replace labour-intensive practices across the lifecycle of complex buildings and large-scale infrastructure assets. This incorporates three thematic areas:
- Robotic reality capture via Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), Laser Scanning (LS), Computer Vision (CV), and Infrared Thermography (IRT).
- Digitalised data management using Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Digital Twin (DT).
- Data-driven decision-making leveraging Numerical Analysis, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Extended Reality (VR/AR/MR).
My core objective in the research field is to advance next-generation infrastructure inspection and management system, contributing to a smarter, safer and better built environment.
In 2024 I co-founded BuiltScan Technologies to take this research into practice.
Appointments
2026–present
Lecturer in Digital and Sustainable Infrastructure
Loughborough University, UK
2024–present
Co-founder and CEO
BuiltScan Technologies Ltd, New Zealand
2024–2025
Professional Teaching Fellow (part-time)
University of Auckland, New Zealand
2022–2024
Graduate Teaching Assistant
University of Auckland, New Zealand
Education
2020–2024
PhD in Civil Engineering
University of Auckland, New Zealand
2017–2020
MSc in Civil Engineering
Southeast University, China
2013–2017
BE in Civil Engineering
Northwestern Polytechnical University, China
Recent publications
2024
Rapid In-flight Image Quality Check for UAV-enabled Bridge Inspection
ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 212, 230–250
2023
Automated UAV Image-to-BIM Registration for Building Façade Inspection using Improved Generalised Hough Transform
Automation in Construction, 153, 104957
2023
Thermal-textured BIM Generation for Building Energy Audit with UAV Image Fusion and Histogram-based Enhancement
Energy and Buildings, 113710
2023
UAV Navigation in Large-scale GPS-denied Bridge Environments using Fiducial Marker-corrected Stereo Visual-inertial Localisation
Automation in Construction, 156, 105139
Awards
2025
Excellent Doctoral Thesis Award · New Zealand Chinese Scientists Association
2025
Gold Award, national finals · China International College Students' Innovation Competition
2022
Best Paper Award, Sustainable Facility Management and Maintenance · CIB World Building Congress
2022
Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad · China Scholarship Council
2020
Doctoral Scholarship · University of Auckland
2018
Best Performance Award, first place · Asia-Pacific-Euro Summer School on Smart Structures Technology
Work with me.
I'm based at Loughborough University in the UK and work with colleagues at the University of Auckland, the University of Canterbury, University College London and Southeast University.
Email mec.zhang8@lboro.ac.uk
Researchers
I welcome PhD enquiries in construction informatics and in digital and sustainable infrastructure, and applications from visiting scholars and visiting PhD students.
Industry and funders
Have an asset that is slow, risky or costly to inspect? I'm open to pilot studies, joint funding bids and invited talks.