Sogand Hasanzadeh, assistant professor in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering and the Division of Construction Engineering and Management, along with a team of researchers at Purdue University and George Mason University, have received a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to address fundamental questions regarding the risk-taking behavior and cognitive processes of workers with neurodiversity, barriers to adopting AI and wearable technologies, and the socioeconomic impacts of improved access to construction jobs for workers, especially in the context of interdependent human-AI partnerships.

The multidisciplinary team of researchers integrates expertise in civil engineering/construction engineering (Behzad Esmaeili GMU PI/lead, Sogand Hasanzadeh Purdue PI), computer science (Craig Yu, GMU), cognitive and behavioral psychology (Sarah Karalunas, Purdue), industrial engineering and the human factor (Vincent Duffy, Purdue), education (Brenda Bannan, GMU), and public policy and economics (Maurice Kugler, GMU).

More information on this project, including the full abstract, can be found on the NSF website.