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Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture co-hosted a global summit of leaders in the building and construction industries, highlighting the college’s research through faculty presentations and a student competition judged by industry leaders. 

At the mid-April BuiltWorlds 2026 Chicago Global Summit, six student groups from the College of Architecture and Armour College of Engineering pitched current research projects as part of the newly created BuiltWorlds competition. A panel of industry veterans awarded a $12,500 prize to a group from each college. 

The winning competition project from the College of Architecture, titled “(P)recast,” was presented by Ivan Gonzalez-Vasquez (M.ARCH. ’26), Nayoung Im (M.ARCH. ’26), and Emmett Mach (B.ARCH.  ’27) under the name “Masonry ARchitecture.” The project proposed an onsite construction process of collecting brick demolition debris and recycling the brick fragments by using artificial intelligence-enhanced “augmented reality” to place them like jigsaw puzzle pieces into reusable panels. The panels would then be solidified through sand casting.  

The team was composed entirely of students of Assistant Professor Dillon Pranger, who directs the College of Architecture’s Deconstruction/Reconstruction Lab.  

“It is great to see a project like Masonry ARchitecture be acknowledged through an industry event such as BuiltWorlds,” Pranger says. “The use of emerging technology will not only shape the next era of construction practices, but as seen in the student’s work, be able to provide additional benefits such as the recovery and remanufacture of discarded building materials. It is through innovative ideas like this that we will be able to create a more sustainable future for the built environment.” 

Pranger, as well as assistant professors Youngjin Hwang and Il Hwan Kim, also presented their own research to summit attendees following a tour of the college’s fabrication center. 

BuiltWorlds is a global member network of buildings and infrastructure professionals who provide “analysis of key trends, data driven research, high-impact events, and collaborative, topic-focused research tracks to succeed in a complex and changing world,” the organization states. The April summit was the first to be held in collaboration with the College of Architecture. 

“Collaborating with Illinois Institute of Technology during the 2026 Chicago Global Summit illustrated the strong connection between Chicago’s academic community and its role in driving innovation across the architecture, engineering, and construction [AEC] industry,” says BuiltWorlds Chief Executive Officer Rosemarie Lipman. “Summit attendees from all over the world got a firsthand look at the talent and innovation emerging from IIT and this city.”