HaRTCon Symposium 2026

The 2026 HaRTCon Symposium brings together leading researchers, industry professionals, government representatives, students, and stakeholders in the fields of robotics, AI, and construction. The Symposium serves as a collaborative platform to discuss key challenges and opportunities in the construction sector and highlight current progress and potential solutions in Human–Robot Teaming (HRT) for construction. It will feature talks from experts across academia and industry, a roundtable discussion, a Q&A session, and poster presentations showcasing research projects from across the Hub.

By bridging the gap between academic research and real-world application, the event fosters the exchange of ideas necessary to address critical challenges in construction, such as labor shortages, safety risks, environmental impact, sustainability, and resilience - through four interdisciplinary themes:

Technology: Advancing AI, intelligent robotics, and HRT methodologies for the construction sector.
People: Enhancing safety and wellbeing of workers while driving workforce diversity and the retention of skilled workers.
Business: Creating strategic and comprehensive models to integrate HRT into complex economic and regulatory ecosystems.
Quality: Ensuring industry confidence in the quality of the construction performed using HRT.

HaRTCon 2026 symposium presentation setup.png

Agenda

8:30 – 9:00 am

Breakfast

9:00 – 10:30 am

Invited Talks

10:30 – 11:00 am

Morning tea
Poster presentations (running simultaneously)

11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Invited Talks

12:30 – 1:00 pm

Roundtable discussion and Q&A

1:00 – 2:00 pm

Lunch
Poster presentations (running simultaneously)

When and Where

Date

Friday, 24 April 2026

Time:

8:30am to 2:00pm

Location

Room 10, Level 5, UTS Building 3, 755 Harris Street, Ultimo, NSW 2007

Speakers

The HaRTCon Symposium will feature the following industry and academic experts:

Prof. Ning Xi

Chair Professor of Robotics and Automation at the University of Hong Kong, specializing in manufacturing automation and micro/nanomanufacturing.

Prof. Gang Chen

Professor of Power Engineering at MIT and a world-leading expert in nanoscale heat transfer and energy conversion technologies.

John McGuire

CEO (ANZ) of Meinhardt Group, an engineering leader focused on delivering innovative infrastructure and sustainable building solutions across the region.

Dr. Ralf Dicke

Director of Strategy, Transformation, and Innovation at Laing O’Rourke, where he leads digital transformation and operational excellence in global construction.

Prof. Wenhui Duan

Director of the ARC Nanocomm Hub at Monash University, specializing in the integration of nanotechnology with structural engineering to create advanced construction materials.

Additional speakers to be confirmed and may be subject to change.

to learn more or if you have any inquiries regarding our upcoming symposium

15 Broadway, Ultimo

NSW, 2007

Email: HaRTCon@uts.edu.au

Hub Director : Dikai.Liu@uts.edu.au

Hub Manager: Mahdi.Hassan-1@uts.edu.au