Reachsak Ly

Assistant Professor | Ph.D. | Applied AI/ML Researcher


I am currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Construction Management at Eastern Illinois University's School of Technology. I received my Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University's Myers-Lawson School of Construction.

My dissertation research explores the application of generative AI, blockchain, and decentralized governance in smart building facilities management — examining how decentralized decision-making within facilities management operations works in building cyber-physical systems, and how physical space can be owned and operated in the future using generative AI and web3 technology.

Research Interest

  • Edge AI with Small Language Model
  • Vision-Language Models (VLMs), and Large Language Models (LLMs)
  • Smart Buildings and Smart Cities
  • Human-Computer Interaction and Mixed Reality (MR)
  • Human-Building Interaction
  • Construction Robotics
  • Blockchain Technologies and Cybersecurity

Reachsak Ly
Background

Education & Appointments

Eastern Illinois University
Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), Construction Management — School of Technology
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Ph.D., Myers-Lawson School of Construction
Zhejiang University
B.Eng. Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering specialization
Undergraduate Research Assistant — deep learning for structural health monitoring
Funding

Research Funding

2026 · Grant
Redden Grant · Eastern Illinois University
Generative AI-Powered Human-Robot Collaboration Demonstration for Construction Technology Education · Award: $2,500
IP

Intellectual Property

2025 · Approved
Decentralized Autonomous Building Cyber-Physical System (DAB-CPS)
Reachsak Ly, Alireza Shojaei — Virginia Tech IP Disclosure · Invention ID: INV2025-123
2025 · Approved
LLM-Based Autonomous Building Operations and Virtual Assistants for Smart Buildings
Reachsak Ly, Alireza Shojaei — Virginia Tech IP Disclosure · Invention ID: INV2025-121
Research

Selected Publications

Journal Articles
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Decentralized Autonomous Organizations in Built Environments: Applications, Potentials and Limitations
Reachsak Ly, Alireza Shojaei
Information Systems and eBusiness Management Journal · DOI:10.1007/s10257-025-00699-1
[DOI] [BibTeX]
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Autonomous Building Cyber-Physical Systems Using Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, Digital Twins, and Large Language Models Under Review
Reachsak Ly, Alireza Shojaei, Xinghua Gao, Philip Agee, Abiola Akanmu
Automation in Construction (Revision Submitted) · Preprint: arXiv:2410.19262
[arXiv]
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Public and Private Blockchain for Decentralized Digital Building Twins and Building Automation Systems Under Review
Reachsak Ly, Alireza Shojaei
Information Systems and eBusiness Management (Submitted) · Preprint: arXiv:2604.16534
[arXiv]
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Data-Driven and Distributed Governance of Building Facilities Management Using DAO, Digital Twin, and LLMs Under Review
Reachsak Ly, Alireza Shojaei, Abiola Akanmu, Xinghua Gao, Philip Agee
Frontiers of Engineering Management (Submitted) · Preprint: arXiv:2605.16298
[arXiv]
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DAO and Blockchain-Based Incentivization Framework for Community-Based Facilities Management Under Review
Reachsak Ly, Alireza Shojaei, Xinghua Gao, Philip Agee, Abiola Akanmu
Information Systems Frontiers (Submitted) · Preprint: arXiv:2605.18773
[arXiv]
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Industry Perspectives on the Role of Education Programs in Supporting Construction Diversity and Inclusion in U.S. Construction Under Review
MohammadHossein Heydari, Hossein Naderi, Reachsak Ly, Alireza Shojaei
Innovative Higher Education (Submitted)
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Faculty Development Program to Enhance Teaching Quality in Construction
Saeed Rokooei, Alireza Shojaei, Reachsak Ly
International Journal of Construction Management · DOI:10.1080/15623599.2024.2304475
[DOI] [BibTeX]
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Autonomous Construction Safety Incentive Mechanism Using Blockchain-Enabled Tokens and Vision-Based Techniques
Hossein Naderi, Alireza Shojaei, Reachsak Ly
Automation in Construction, Vol. 153 · DOI:10.1016/j.autcon.2023.104959
[DOI] [BibTeX]
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Virtual Site Visits in Construction Management Education: A Practical Alternative to Physical Site Visits
Alireza Shojaei, Reachsak Ly, Saeed Rokooei, Amirsamman Mahdavian, Ahmed AlBayati
Journal of Information Technology in Construction (ITcon) · DOI:10.36680/j.itcon.2023.036
[DOI] [BibTeX]
Conference Proceedings
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Smart Building Operations and Virtual Assistants Using LLM
Reachsak Ly, Alireza Shojaei, Xinghua Gao
33rd ACM Symposium on Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE 2025), Trondheim, Norway · DOI:10.1145/3696630.3728706
[DOI] [BibTeX]
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AVATAR: AI-Assisted Virtual Assistant and Augmented Twin for Advanced Real-Time Smart Building Facilities Management Accepted
Reachsak Ly
2026 ATMAE Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA · Oral Presentation · Submission ID 32
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Edge AI for Human-Building Interaction and Smart Building Operations with Small Language Models Accepted
Reachsak Ly
2026 ATMAE Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA · Poster Presentation · Submission ID 33.0
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DT-DAO: Digital Twin and Blockchain-Based DAO Integration Framework for Smart Building Facility Management
Reachsak Ly, Alireza Shojaei, Hossein Naderi
Construction Research Congress 2024, ASCE, Des Moines, Iowa · DOI:10.1061/9780784485262.081
[DOI] [BibTeX]
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From Data to Value: NFT-Powered Framework for Data Exchange of Digital Twins in the AEC Industry
Hossein Naderi, Reachsak Ly, Alireza Shojaei
Construction Research Congress 2024, ASCE, Des Moines, Iowa · DOI:10.1061/9780784485262.031
[DOI] [BibTeX]
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Assessment of Annoyance from Traffic Noise in a School and a Hospital
Hassan Azad, Alireza Shojaei, Reachsak Ly, Saleh Naseer, Laurie M. Heller
Inter-Noise 2024, Nantes, France · DOI:10.3397/IN_2024_4264
[DOI]
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Continual-Learning-Based Framework for Structural Damage Recognition
Jiawei Zhang, Jiangpeng Shu, Reachsak Ly, Yiran Ji
10th International Conference on Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure, Porto, Portugal
[PDF]
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Image-Based Structural Damage Recognition Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks
Jiawei Zhang, Reachsak Ly, Weijian Zhao, Yunyi Liu
fib Symposium 2020 — Concrete Structures for Resilient Society, Shanghai, China
[PDF]
Research Reports
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Investigation of Gender and Racial Diversity in U.S. Construction Higher Education
Reachsak Ly, Mohammad Hossein Heydari, Hossein Naderi, Josh Iorio, Alireza Shojaei
Research Report
[PDF]
Poster Presentations
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Autonomous Building Operations and Virtual Assistants Using Generative AI
Reachsak Ly
2025 Paul E. Torgersen Graduate Student Research Excellence Award, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
[PDF]
Teaching

Teaching

Eastern Illinois University
Virginia Tech (TA)