Damon Lau

Principal Research Scientist, Autodesk Research

AI for how buildings are designed & built

Columbia GSAPP · UC Berkeley CED

About

Damon Lau is a Principal Research Scientist at Autodesk Research in the AEC Industry Futures group, where he leads work at the intersection of artificial intelligence, generative design, and the built environment. He brings a spatial and systems-level perspective to computational research, seeking more sustainable and innovative approaches to design and construction. Trained at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design.

His research spans generative design, net-zero carbon methods, adaptive reuse, and industrialised construction. Outside the lab, he is an active alpinist and visual artist — pursuits that inform the rigour, patience, and spatial intuition he brings to his research practice.

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Patents

AI & Machine Learning

• AI Agent for Automated Construction Issue Detection and Management — In Prep. Multi-modal large language model agent that autonomously identifies, logs, and manages construction site issues.
• Model Context Protocol for Multi-Modal Construction Data and LLM Reasoning in AEC — Filed · 2025. Standardised protocol enabling large language models to reason over heterogeneous construction data sources in AEC environments.
• Techniques for Analyzing Vehicle Design Deviations Using Deep Learning with Neural Networks — Issued · US 11,468,292 · US 11,842,262 · EP 202019006019. Deep learning approach for detecting and measuring styling and engineering deviations between target and actual vehicle design realisations.
• AI with Limited and Multimodal Data to Predict Non-Visible Materials in Existing Walls — Filed · 2025. Multimodal AI inference of hidden wall materials through a graph-based representation, enabling non-destructive building assessment.
• Techniques for Using Computer Vision to Track Production Processes for Decision Making and AI Training — Filed · 2025. Comprehensive computer vision solution for tracking construction and fabrication sequences using knowledge graphs, generating labelled data for downstream AI models.
• Techniques for Using Knowledge Graphs to Automatically Complete Draft Structural Designs — Filed · 2024–2025 · PCT + US. AI-driven BIM completion that automatically infers and populates missing structural elements from partial design data using knowledge graph representations.
• Automated Generation of Responses via Retrieval-Augmented Generation Based on Multimodal Construction Documents — Filed · 2025 · 3 continuations. RAG pipeline that retrieves and synthesises answers across heterogeneous construction document corpora including drawings, specifications, and reports.
• Techniques for Integrating Heterogeneous Construction Data into Knowledge Graphs — Filed · 2026. Methods for fusing diverse construction datasets — drawings, specifications, sensor data — into unified, queryable knowledge graph structures.
• Semi-Autonomous Self-Enriching Semantic Operational Knowledge Base — In Prep. AI-automated knowledge base with zero-configuration embedding management, multi-entity semantic linking, and semantic gap detection.

Generative Design for Buildings

• Creating Viable Building Designs on Complex Sites — Issued · US 12,073,351. Computational methods for generating architecturally viable designs on geometrically complex or constrained urban sites.
• Optimizing Building Design and Architecture for Sustainability Certification — Issued · US 11,875,296. Automated computational optimisation of building designs targeting sustainability rating thresholds across multiple certification systems.
• Optimizing Building Design for Future Transformation and Expansion — Issued · US 11,823,110. Design optimisation methods that embed long-term flexibility, transformation potential, and expansion capacity as first-class objectives.
• Rapid Exploration of Building Design Options for Ventilation — Issued · US 11,681,971. Fast computational framework for exploring and evaluating building design variants across ventilation and indoor air quality performance.
• Techniques for Designing Manufacturing Facilities — Issued + Published · Filed 2021. Computational generative techniques for layout, flow optimisation, and accelerated design of complex manufacturing facilities.
• Generative Design for COVID-19 and Future Pathogens Using Stochastic Multi-Agent Simulation — Published · Filed 2023. Stochastic multi-agent simulation optimises spatial layouts for resilience against airborne pathogens, balancing performance with programmatic constraints.
• Techniques for Generating Architectural Site Designs Based on Carbon Considerations and Goals — Published · Filed 2025. Generative methods that balance embodied and operational carbon against landscape carbon sequestration in site and architectural design.
• Generating Building Designs While Computationally Optimizing for Work Conditions — Filed · 2020. Generative building design approach that encodes occupant work condition metrics as optimisation objectives alongside conventional spatial constraints.

Material Assessment

• Evaluating Buildings for Material Value and Recovery Using Contactless Scanning — Filed · 2025–2026. Automated multi-modal contactless scanning approach to assess existing building material condition, value, and recoverability in support of circular economy deconstruction.

Earlier Work — Automotive & Industrial

• Computer-Implemented Method for Space Frame Design — Issued · US 10,606,981 · US 11,126,760 · US 11,640,487. Parametric computational method for generating optimised space frame geometries, construction kits, and structural assemblies.
• Generative Design Techniques for Automobile Designs — Issued · US 11,475,178 · US 12,190,022. Multi-objective generative optimisation applied to automotive form, structure, and performance trade-offs.
• Generating Building Designs That Optimize Productivity of the Building — Issued · CN ZL2020800800918 · Filed EP. Computational design method encoding occupant productivity metrics — circulation efficiency, daylight, acoustic privacy — as generative optimisation objectives.
• Techniques for Generating Comprehensive Information Models for Automobile Designs — Issued · US 11,775,709. Integrated system information model linking geometry, material, manufacturing, and performance data for automotive design.