Engineering faculty member Chau Le recognized nationally for research and academic service

June 22, 2026
Categories: General News Tags: Awards, Faculty, research
Portrait of Chau Le super imposed on an image of uptown Charlotte during the day

The newly launched Albert School of Construction at UNC Charlotte is already making waves on the national stage. At the recent ASCE Construction Institute and Construction Research Congress 2026 Joint Conference in San Antonio, Texas, Chau Le, assistant professor in engineering technology and construction management, earned multiple prestigious honors for his research and academic service.

Le’s achievements directly advance the Albert School’s mission to drive digital transformation in the construction industry, signaling the high caliber of expertise defining UNC Charlotte’s newest school in the William States Lee College of Engineering.

“Dr. Le’s national recognitions reflect the quality and impact of his applied research and service,” said Lingguang Song, director of the Albert School of Construction. “His achievements align strongly with the school’s mission and pursuit of excellence in construction digital transformation, emerging technologies and service to the profession.”

Key Recognitions and Achievements

Le was honored for his leadership in data analytics, digital delivery and modern project management through several awards and recognitions.

  • Best Paper Award (ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management): Previously earned in 2024, this award was formally presented at the 2026 conference. This award recognized the paper, “Sequential Machine Learning for Activity Sequence Prediction from Daily Work Report Data,” featuring Le as the corresponding author.
  • Best Paper Award (Track 1: Advanced Technologies, AI, and Data Analytics): Le co-authored this winning paper, spotlighting work that directly aligns with the Albert School’s focus on emerging tech.
  • Invited Judge for the Undergraduate Research Competition: Le served as one of only two nation-wide judges selected to evaluate top-tier undergraduate research presentations.
  • Session Moderator for Digital Delivery: Le led the academic conversation on modernizing public works during the session “The Case for Digital Delivery for Infrastructure Projects.”
  • Session Moderator for Project Management: Leveraging his deep expertise in procurement and contract administration, Le moderated the session “Contracting, Project Delivery, Organizational Management and Legal Issues.”

In addition to his conference recognitions, Le was selected as a 2025 Outstanding Reviewer for both the ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering and the ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. The honors recognize his professional service and scholarly contributions to two leading journals in construction engineering, management and project delivery.

Together, these accolades highlight how the Albert School bridges academic theory with field-ready digital delivery, ensuring its research outputs and academic programs are uniquely prepared to solve the construction sector’s most pressing modern challenges.

Edited by Monica Hughes