Prof. YoungJin Cha, Ph.D., P.Eng., HCR, F.ASCE. 

Laboratory for Infrastructure Science and Technology (LIST)

 

Dr. Cha is a tenured full Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Manitoba. He received his Ph.D. in structural engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas in 2008, and served as a Postdoctoral Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T). He pioneered deep learning–based structural health monitoring (SHM), including the use of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), with publications in top-tier journals. Since 2016, researchers, professors, scientists, students, and industry professionals from many countries have shown strong interest in this innovative area and have conducted numerous follow-up studies. His journal article (Cha et al., 2017) published in CACAIE which is a top 1-2 ranked journal in the entire civil engineering field was reported as the lifetime topmost highly cited paper, and he was also reported as the lifetime topmost highly cited author in this same journal. In 2024, Elsevier Data Repository analyzed by Stanford University identified him as one of the most cited scientists in the field of civil Engineering, ranking in the top 0.26% on a global scale by excluding self-citations. In 2025, he was also named a “Highly Cited Researcher (HCR)” by Clarivate (Web of Science), placing him in the top 0.1% of the entire field of Engineering. He has been reported several hundred times as the most read author, with the most read research items and citations in the Civil Engineering Department at U of M, with more than 129,000 readings since his account on www.researchgate.net was opened (retrieved on November, 2025). He also achieved the prestigious title of Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). This distinction is awarded to members who have made significant and sustained contributions to the civil engineering profession, demonstrating exceptional achievements in areas such as research, engineering practice, and leadership.

 

Research Interests:

Dr. Cha’s primary scientific research interests lie in SHM, structural control, and construction automation through the integration of advanced deep learning, data analytics, digital twin approaches, and robotics. The specific research areas include:

  • Deep learning–based detection of structural external and internal damages using computer vision and multispectral thermal imaging
  • Deep learning–based diagnosis of diseases in medical images, plants, and industrial products
  • Deep learning–driven monitoring and planning of construction activities
  • Construction automation through the integration of advanced deep learning and robotic systems
  • Autonomous control and operation of UAVs, unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) for SHM applications
  • Advanced deep learning–based full 3D digital twin model generation for damage mapping
  • Non-contact remote sensing utilizing video cameras, laser scanners, and LiDAR
  • Vibration control using advanced hybrid control systems under wind, earthquake, wave, and vehicular loadings
  • Computational modeling and simulation using finite element methods (FEM) for highly nonlinear analyses
  • Nonlinear system identification based on Bayesian recursive estimation
  • Unsupervised approaches for damage detection using deep learning.
  • Optimal sensor distribution of wireless sensors for SHM
  • Passive, active, semi-active, and hybrid control for sustainable high-rise buildings and bridges subjected to multi-hazardous loads to improve resiliency and reliability
  • Effective performance-based design for multi-hazards (i.e., wind, seismic, blast, and impact) of high-rise buildings and bridges
  • Large-scale real-time hybrid testing of civil structures for natural or man-made hazards
  • Structural dynamics and nonlinear model and seismic design and analysis

Contact information:

Dr. Youngjin Cha, Ph.D., P.Eng., HCR, F.ASCE.

Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Manitoba
Office: (204) 272-1646
Email: young.cha@umanitoba.ca

Associate Editor, Transactions on Industrial Informatics (IF 9.9), IEEE
Associate Editor, Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence (IF 8.0), Elsevier
Associate Editor, Structural Health Monitoring (IF 5.7), SAGE
Academic Editor, Structural Control & Health Monitoring (IF 5.1), Wiley
Academic Editor, Engineering Reports (IF 2.0), Wiley
Academic Editor, Journal of Advanced Transportation (IF 1.8), Wiley,

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