Dr. Barney Miao
Affiliations
Assistant Professor
Schulich School of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering
Contact information
Location
Office: ENF208
Background
Educational Background
PhD Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 2026
PhD minor Computer Science, Stanford University, 2026
MS Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 2023
BSc Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, 2021
Biography
Dr. Barney Miao is an Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary. He received his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University in 2026 with a PhD minor in Computer Science. He earned an MS in Structural Engineering from Stanford University in 2023 and a BSc in Civil Engineering with a minor in Structural Engineering in 2021. His research spans materials science, sustainability, and infrastructure health, with a focus on developing innovative cement-free construction materials. Through a systems-level approach to carbon-neutral infrastructure, he seeks to advance sustainable construction technologies that reduce environmental impact while improving the resilience and longevity of the built environment.
Dr. Miao leads the Smart Building Materials (SbM) Lab at the University of Calgary, which focuses on advancing and deploying novel low-carbon construction materials using the Smart Circular Building Materials (SCBM) framework, which focuses on:
- Developing sustainable, biologically inspired building materials to decarbonize the construction industry
- Analyzing and optimizing manufacturing strategies using life cycle assessment
- Identifying circular construction strategies
- Integrating sensors and AI-driven structural health monitoring to facilitate smart material manufacturing
- Performing microstructural analysis and developing multi-physics models to simulate material performance under diverse conditions
These components collectively enable the development of decarbonized, durable, and multifunctional construction materials, with the ultimate mission of advancing communities "toward a decarbonized and equitable built environment.''
Please see our website for more information
Research
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Awards
- Craig F. Bohren Best Student Presentation Award 1st Place, SPIE Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation 2026. 2026
- Best Poster Award, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability Research Review, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. 2024
- Leavell Fellowship on Sustainable Built Environment, Stanford Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. 2024
- Best Poster (Runner-Up), 9th ACM International Conference for Energy Efficient Buildings, Cities, and Transportation (BuildSys '22), ACM BuildSys 22'. 2022
- School of Engineering Graduate Fellowship, Stanford Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. 2021
- NSERC Research Award, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. 2020
- Louise McKinney Scholarship, Government of Alberta. 2020
- Alex Bakshan Memorial Scholarship, Alberta Chapter of the American Concrete Institute. 2020
- Japex/Jacos Scholarship in Engineering, Japex. 2020
- Calgary Construction Association (CCA) Member's Scholarship, Calgary Construction Association (CCA) . 2019
- Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (Calgary Section) Scholarship, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering . 2019
- TransAlta Corporation Memorial Scholarship, TransAlta . 2018
- Jason Lang Scholarship, Government of Alberta. 2018
- Alexander Rutherford Scholarship, Government of Alberta. 2017
Publications
- PhD Forum Abstract: Promoting Smart and Sustainable Built Environments Through the SCBM Research Framework. Barney H Miao. Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Sustainability Week (ACM Sustainability Week Companion'26). (2026)
- Using Reified Knowledge Graph to Enhance RAG Performance on Emerging Material Science. Muran Yu, Barney H Miao, Andrew C Lesh, Jie Wang, Michael D Lepech. Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Sustainability Week (ACM Sustainability Week Companion'26). 575-576. (2026)
- SingSys: acoustic vibration sensing for strength monitoring and characterization of Engineered Biopolymer Composite (EBC). Barney Miao, Andreas Theissler, Yiwen Dong, Andrew Lesh, Hae Young Noh, David Loftus, Michael Lepech. Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Sustainability Week (ACM Sustainability Week Companion'26). 379-382. (2026)
- Engineered biopolymer composite manufacture and life cycle design. Barney H Miao. Stanford University. (2026)
- Engineered biopolymer composite: an affordable, cement-free material for sustainable construction. Barney H Miao, Andrew C Lesh, Paul Hart, David J Loftus, Michael D Lepech. Biologically Inspired Materials, Processes, and Systems (BIMPS) 2026. 1394409-1. (2026)
- AI-powered non-destructive testing for smart manufacturing of carbon-negative biopolymer-bound soil composite. Barney H Miao, Yiwen Dong, Andreas Theissler, Andrew C Lesh, David J Loftus, Michael D Lepech. Communications Engineering. 64. (2026)
- Solvent selection enables sustainable and affordable lignin biocomposite for cement-free construction. Barney H Miao, Daniel Woo, Andrew C Lesh, David J Loftus, Michael D Lepech. Cleaner Materials. 100371. (2026)
- Composite Materials Having Natural Granular Materials or Soils and Hydrophobic Biologically-derived Binders. Michael D Lepech, Barney Haoyun Miao. US Patent office. (2025)
- Taking advantage of biological binders to solidify granular material: manufacture and recyclability of lignin-based biopolymer composites. Barney H Miao, Andrew C Lesh, David J Loftus, Michael D Lepech. Biologically Inspired Materials, Processes, and Systems (BIMPS) 2025. 81-94. (2025)
- Recycling of lignin-based biocomposites: Improving sustainability and enhancing material strength. Barney H Miao, Daniel Woo, Darius Javan, Edward J Garboczi, Robert J Headrick, Andrew C Lesh, Zhiye Li, David J Loftus, Michael D Lepech. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 108104. (2025)
- Development of Public Transit Measures to Mitigate the Impact of COVID-19 on Pedestrians and Station Performance using PTV Vissim Simulation. Barney H Miao, Saeid Saidi. Transportation Research Procedia. 2294-2312. (2025)
- BioSys: Efficient Quality Control System for Manufacturing of Sustainable Biopolymer Composites. Barney H Miao, Yiwen Dong, Andreas Theissler, Andrew C Lesh, David J Loftus, Michael D Lepech. Proceedings of the 11th ACM International Conference on Systems for Energy-Efficient Buildings, Cities, and Transportation. 11-21. (2024)
- Development of biopolymer composites using lignin: A sustainable technology for fostering a green transition in the construction sector. Barney H Miao, Robert J Headrick, Zhiye Li, Leonardo Spanu, David J Loftus, Michael D Lepech. Cleaner Materials. 100279. (2024)
- Life cycle assessment and design of LignoBlock: A lignin bound block on the path towards a green transition of the construction industry. Barney H Miao, Robert J Headrick, Zhiye Li, Leonardo Spanu, David J Loftus, Michael D Lepech. Journal of Cleaner Production. 143610. (2024)
- Integration of physics-based building model and sensor data to develop an adaptive digital twin: poster abstract. Barney H Miao, Yiwen Dong, Zheng Y Wu, Bulent N Alemdar, Pei Zhang, Monica D Kohler, Hae Young Noh. Proceedings of the 9th ACM International Conference on Systems for Energy-Efficient Buildings, Cities, and Transportation. 282-283. (2022)
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