Dr. Ok-Youn Yu

Dr. Ok-Youn Yu joined Appalachian State University in 2010 and currently serves as the Chairperson of the Department of Sustainable Technology and the Built Environment. He earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University in 2009. He holds a remote pilot certificate (FAA Part 107) and is a licensed professional civil engineer in North Carolina. With extensive research experience, Dr. Yu has secured nearly $2 million in research funding as Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) from agencies such as the NSF, EPA, USDA, NCDOT, and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services since 2011. 

His research interests encompass the use of UAV technology in construction (e.g., construction surveying, soil erosion/bridge scour monitoring), infrastructure sustainability, and the development of integrated sustainable energy systems (such as greenhouse root zone heating and biochar applications for soil amendments and building materials). Over the years, Dr. Yu has mentored more than 30 graduate students and numerous undergraduates on various research projects. Dr. Yu’s academic contributions include numerous publications in refereed journals, conference proceedings, and technical reports, as well as dozens of invited presentations. His work has also been featured in outlets such as the “Watauga Democrat,”, “Energy Central News,” and “Appalachian Today.”  Prior to his academic career, he worked for five years as a bridge and tunnel engineer.

Areas of expertise

• Sustainable energy system development: biomass greenhouse heating and landfill gas monitoring systems
• Infrastructure sustainability: remote health monitoring and natural hazard mitigation
• Building energy performance management and 4D CAD
• Project risk management: life cycle assessment, Bayesian probability and optimal modeling