Imagine you’re sitting at your desk at work, languishing just a little, when the office lights begin to brighten and you enter a state of focus and flow. Or maybe you just experienced a stressful meeting – your workspace senses your increased heart rate and responds by playing calming, mood-boosting music.
The research focus of Mohamad Awada, Ph.D. ’24, involves developing “smarter” office environments that dynamically adapt to reduce stressors and enhance worker well-being. Based within the USC Sonny Astani Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Awada is integrating the skills developed during his two master’s degrees in construction management and computer science.