Rate My Professor Minsoo Baek

Dr. Minsoo Baek is an Associate Professor in the Construction Management Department within the College of Architecture and Construction Management at Kennesaw State University, where he also serves as Director of the RAISE Lab (Resilient Architecture and Infrastructure for a Sustainable Environment). This cross-disciplinary initiative integrates design, construction, and intelligent systems to advance resilience and sustainability in the built environment. He earned his Ph.D. in Building Construction from the Georgia Institute of Technology, M.S. in Civil Engineering from Purdue University, and B.S. in Architectural Engineering from Yeungnam University in South Korea. Joining Kennesaw State University in 2019 following a postdoctoral position at Georgia Tech, Baek's academic leadership shapes construction management education, research, and practice.

Baek's research focuses on construction analytics, cost estimating, risk management, and innovative project delivery, employing data-driven methodologies such as advanced statistical modeling, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to address uncertainties across project lifecycles—from economic and organizational risks to environmental and regulatory challenges. He has secured substantial external funding, including as Principal Investigator for a $300,000 Georgia Department of Transportation grant on enhancing maintenance decision trees considering treatment effectiveness (2022-2024), Co-Principal Investigator on a $260,000 GDOT grant improving accuracy of construction cost estimates for lump sum pay items (2020-2022), and Co-Principal Investigator on a $5,000 U.S. EPA Environmental Education grant educating engineers on sustainable demolition practices (2023-2024). Key publications include "Analysis of the Variability of Submitted Unit Price Bids for Asphalt Line Items in Highway Projects" (Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 2019), "A Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Model for Building Energy Benchmarking" (Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 2019), "Profile Monitoring for Examining Impact of Hurricane Katrina and Rita on Highway Construction Cost" (Transportation Research Record, 2018), and "Prediction of Resurfacing Projects Unit Price Bids through Ensemble Learning" (Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 2018). He teaches courses including CM 3040 Building Information Modeling I, CM 3440 Heavy Estimating, and CM 6340 Analytical Tools for Construction Management. Baek received recognition as one of the top three researchers in his college at the 2025 KSU Apex Awards and selection as a Fellow for the 2026-2027 Governor’s Teaching Fellows Academic-Year Program. His contributions enhance performance, reduce risks, and promote sustainable infrastructure resilience.