About

Tae Wan Kim is an Associate Professor of Business Ethics at the Tepper School of Business. His role involves engaging in research and teaching within the field of business ethics, contributing to the academic community at Carnegie Mellon University. His contact email is twkim@cmu.edu, and he is part of the faculty and research team dedicated to advancing knowledge in business ethics and related areas.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Computer Security
• Communication
• Mathematics
• Civil engineering
• Risk analysis (engineering)
• Organic chemistry
• Chemistry
• Cognitive psychology
• Physics
• Psychology
• Business
• Construction engineering
• Geometry
• Transport engineering
• Inorganic chemistry

Selected publications

• Divide-and-Conquer–Based Stratified Models for Predicting Precast Concrete Installation Times

  Journal of Construction Engineering and Management · 2025-06-27 · 1 citations

  article

  Precast concrete (PC) is increasingly recognized for offering sustainable building solutions in urban development. However, the realization of its benefits crucially depends on strategic planning and coordination throughout the entire process, from production to installation. This study is part of efforts to employ data-driven approaches to predict PC installation times. Specifically, this study employs a divide-and-conquer approach to stratify the PC installation process into two levels of detail, develops a distinct model for each level, evaluates these models under four regression algorithms, and determines the level of detail and the algorithms that are most suitable for creating reliable predictive models. Utilizing data collected from a logistics center in South Korea, this study found that the random forest model significantly outperformed others in forecasting the PC installation process. Additionally, the nine-stage decomposed model outperformed the two-stage aggregate model, particularly through enhanced feature selection tailored to the complexities of each work step. The study also identified significant variability in prediction accuracy among different work steps, with installation-related work steps showing more reliable predictions than unloading-related work steps. These refined predictions can support PC project managers by providing insights that identify time-intensive work steps and optimize planning to minimize delays, thereby enhancing overall project efficiency.

  PublisherDOI

• Feasibility of VR-generated synthetic data for automated productivity monitoring in modular construction

  Automation in Construction · 2025-08-02 · 2 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Automated Assessment of Construction Workers’ Accident Risk During Walks for Safety Planning Based on Empirical Data

  Sustainability · 2025-12-26

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Ensuring workers’ safety is a critical component of social sustainability in the construction industry. Accidents that occur while workers are walking on construction sites constitute a significant portion of overall accidents, yet they are often overlooked in conventional task-oriented safety risk assessments. This study proposes novel Accident-During-Walk (ADW) risk indices, hierarchical and data-driven metrics designed to quantify workers’ accident risk during walks. The indices are built on Association Rule Mining and utilize structured accident data, accounting for both environmental and work-related attributes. By integrating these indices with project-specific work schedules and worker allocation plans, this study establishes an automated method for daily and weekly look-ahead ADW risk monitoring aligned with construction progress. Case studies on two construction projects validate the discriminative power of the proposed method. The results demonstrate that the indices effectively capture risk fluctuations driven by concurrent multi-trade operations and environmental severity. Notably, the analysis reveals counterintuitive patterns where adverse weather conditions paradoxically reduce risk values by constraining worker mobility, a nuance often missed by static assessments. Ultimately, this framework serves as a data-driven decision-support tool, enabling safety managers to transition from uniform inspections to targeted interventions during high-risk periods, thereby fostering a safer and more socially sustainable construction environment.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• When work becomes a game: the moral costs of gamified labor

  Ethics and Information Technology · 2025-12-19

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Gamification promises to make work more engaging by translating ordinary tasks into systems of points, badges, and leaderboards. This paper offers a conditional normative analysis of its moral significance. Gamified designs reorient attention and motivation through continuous feedback and quantified rewards. I argue that if such designs durably redirect agents from acting on justifying reasons to acting on instrumental incentives, then they diminish the moral worth of work even when performance outcomes improve. This constitutes a distinct form of moral loss: actions remain right in outcome but become defective in moral quality. Extending the analysis, I suggest that the systematic replacement of justification by metrics threatens a second-order harm: the fragmentation of moral understanding within organized labor. Situated within the ethics of incentives, the paper concludes that gamification’s promise should be assessed not only by its capacity to enhance engagement and efficiency, but also by its effects on the conditions of moral agency itself.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• An Integrated Framework of Multidisciplinary Decision Making Under Uncertainty for Sustainable Infrastructure Development

  IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management · 2025-01-01 · 4 citations

  article

  Uncertainty management in multidisciplinary decision making (MDM) involving stakeholders with discipline-specific expertise is imperative for the operations of developing urban infrastructure projects with multidimensional sustainability goals. Preference uncertainty and outcome uncertainty must be addressed simultaneously for theorizing and modeling in such MDM processes. Thus, in this article, we formalize an integrated MDM (iMDM) system to consistently mitigate preference uncertainty in decision alternative evaluation and expeditiously manage outcome uncertainty in decision alternative selection. Unlike the existing decision-making methods that often overlook different uncertainty characteristics in multidisciplinary operations management, the proposed system accounts for both uncertainties by specified information representation and integrated information optimization to enlarge decision spaces. Empirical evaluations in three real-world scenarios indicate that the iMDM system can mitigate and manage uncertainty to derive distinguishable alternative rankings and to generate optimized Pareto alternative sets. We further validate the effectiveness of the system using Charrette tests by quantifying the consistency and expeditiousness of both managing uncertainty and deriving desirable decision alternatives. Our contributions build upon the theoretical foundation of MDM under uncertainty and extend sustainable operations management science by clarifying decision information rationales from an uncertainty management perspective. Practically, findings benefit infrastructure operations’ managers and urban planners in making sustainability decisions in visualized, integrated, and automated manners.

  PublisherDOI

• Digitalized and User-Centered System for Construction Site Layout Planning and Assessment

  Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering · 2025-02-28 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author

  This study addresses project managers’ challenges in drafting, evaluating, and communicating construction site layout plans (CSLP) due to the need for a specialized CSLP system. It highlights the absence of a scientific methodology in identifying system requirements and designing user interfaces for such systems. Thus, this study applied the design science research methodology to propose a design of the digitalized and user-centered CSLP system. By understanding the CSLP creation process, this study identified 12 key functions of a CSLP system through a literature review, focus group interview, and expert survey. The user interface was designed to align with these functions and the CSLP process. A prototype was developed and validated through eight case studies, demonstrating high usability and applicability, rated at 4.0 and 3.9 on a Likert scale. This study contributes theoretical and practical insights into CSLP system development, offering knowledge of system requirements and design strategy.

  PublisherDOI

• Agarivorans sediminis sp. nov., an alginate-degrading bacterium isolated from sediment

  INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY · 2025-12-03 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  A marine bacterium capable of degrading alginate, designated as strain TSD2052 T , was isolated from a tidal flat sediment sample collected in Taean County, Republic of Korea. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain TSD2052 T belonged to the genus Agarivorans, showing 96.2–97.8% sequence similarity. The whole genome of strain TSD2052 T was 4.62 Mb, with a DNA G+C content of 44.3 mol%. The average nucleotide identity, average amino acid identity and digital DNA–DNA hybridization values between strain TSD2052 T and all genome-sequenced species of the genus Agarivorans were below 76.7%, 81.7% and 20.6%, respectively, indicating values lower than the standard cut-off for species delineation. Growth was observed at 10–35 °C (optimum 25 °C), pH 6–10 (optimum pH 8) and 1–5% (w/v) NaCl (optimum 3%). The major fatty acids (>10%) were C 12:0 , C 16:0 , summed feature 3 (C 16 : 1 ω 6 c and/or C 16 : 1 ω 7c ) and summed feature 8 (C 18 : 1 ω 6 c and/or C 18:1 ω 7c ). The respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-8. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified aminolipid and four unidentified lipids. Based on the results of phenotypic characterization, phylogenetic analysis and genome-based comparisons, strain TSD2052 T represents a novel species in the genus Agarivorans , for which we propose the name Agarivorans sediminis sp. nov. (=KCTC 92288 T =JCM 35392 T ).

  PublisherDOI

• A Study on the Structural Relationship Analysis between Autonomous Driving Living Labs and Urban Traffic Problem Solving

  The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems · 2025-06-30

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Field validation of beacon-based indoor tracking and localization system for construction workers

  KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering · 2025-01-07 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Construction operations involve various entities that require reliable tracking to ensure safety, optimize resources, and monitor progress. Traditional manual methods are labor-intensive and error-prone, making automated systems essential. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons are preferred for their minimal infrastructure setup and cost-effectiveness. However, their reliability is affected by environmental changes, presenting challenges in dynamic environments like construction sites. This study investigates the impact of beacon-receiver distance, beacon placement strategies, and indoor environmental geometry on BLE beacon-based tracking reliability. Experiments were conducted in two indoor environments with sixteen beacon installation points, with beacons placed at ground level and 1.2 m high. The impact of signal obstruction was assessed by collecting data with a smartphone inside and outside a pocket. A researcher walked across the testbed, holding a smartphone to collect stable RSSI readings from all beacons. Overall, the experiments yielded over 20,000 RSSI readings. The findings indicate that calibrated models, which require minimal setup, align closely with site-specific data and are recommended for effective tracking. The effective RSSI range was identified as one to six meters. Based on these experimental findings, the optimized BLE beacon deployment strategies are proposed to enhance tracking stability and accuracy on construction sites.

  PublisherDOI

• A Vertically‐Stacked Optoelectronic Sensor for Localized Hemodynamics Monitoring

  Advanced Functional Materials · 2025-05-12 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Abstract Optoelectronic sensors are widely used as they monitor important biosignals in real‐time, many times in non‐invasive ways by making use of the degree of light absorption through live tissues. In many of the applications, the optoelectronic sensors in a small form factor with attachable or insertable forms enable understanding the critically important biological states and mechanisms, including localized activities in very complex biological environments, such as in the brain. In this report, an optoelectronic sensor is presented, built by vertically integrating two different micro light emitting diodes (microLEDs) next to a photodetector with a predetermined interoptode distance in attachable or insertable forms. Both of the optical simulations and experimental results validate the designs and capabilities of the approach, by demonstrating the sensors on a human finger, around femoral vessels in a mouse model, and in mouse brains to monitor optogenetically‐induced localized hemodynamics.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Seung Hyun

  Korea University Medical Center

  17 shared

• Jin Hong

  University of Science and Technology of China

  14 shared

• Seung Seob Bae

  Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea

  12 shared

• Choongwan Koo

  Incheon National University

  12 shared

• Jung-Hyun Lee

  Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology

  12 shared

• Jin-Woong Hong

  Kwangwoon University

  11 shared

• Jong-Yeol Shin

  11 shared

• L. J. Mawst

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  10 shared

Education

• PhD, Civil and Environmental Engineering

  Stanford University

  2013