Hwangbo Bae received his bachelor’s degree (2017) and master’s degree (2019), both in civil engineering from Virginia Tech. He is a current PhD student in civil and coastal engineering at the University of Florida (UF), Gainesville. His research background is in qualitative studies employed in construction, project management, and the civil engineering workforce. At UF, he is focused on civil engineering students’ development of leadership competencies, their career preparation, and retention of construction professionals. In his research assistant duties, he is working to find the relationship between construction safety and workers’ competencies. He has served in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps as an artillery sergeant and as a volunteer at a Korean orphanage. He is a member of the UF Korean Student Association, Korean American Scientists and Engineers Association, and American Society of Engineering Education, among others. In the future, he plans to probe into underrepresented minority students’ collegiate and internship experiences to address the lack of diversity and inclusion and gender/racial segregation. As a future faculty member, he will optimize students’ abilities to learn information and share thoughts effectively via online platforms, recognizing that they sometimes feel more comfortable communicating in channels such as Canvas. He will utilize online discussion boards, chats, and polls to allow students to express their opinions beyond speaking up in class.

Research Interests

Workforce development in civil engineering