Special Issue 12

Call for Papers

Special Issue of the International Journal of Engineering, Project, and Production Management (EPPM-Journal)
Title: Generative AI in Engineering and Project Management: From Exploratory Applications to Integrated Frameworks
Lead Guest Editor: Dr. Yang Li, China, (liyang328@shzu.edu.cn)

Aims and Scope

Generative Artificial Intelligence—including large language models, multi‑modal generative systems, and AI agents—is rapidly transforming how engineering tasks are performed and how projects are planned, executed, and controlled. Recent industry developments demonstrate this momentum: construction management platforms are embedding AI agents to automate submittals, requests for information, contract reviews and daily logs while maintaining human‑in‑the‑loop oversight. Real‑world deployments of generative scheduling are reducing schedule exploration time by orders of magnitude compared to manual approaches. In risk management, researchers are developing LLM‑powered agents such as RiskGPT that augment human expertise in identifying project risks and impacted activities. Systematic reviews have documented expanding applications of Generative AI across project planning, design optimization, risk management, and sustainability assessment. Adoption across different project management process groups is uneven, and integration with established project management tools remains incomplete. Key challenges persist: data variability and interoperability gaps, limited regulatory alignment, ethical and governance concerns, and the absence of standardized evaluation metrics for assessing Generative AI outputs in project contexts. Moreover, the relationship between Generative AI capabilities and the human dimensions of project management—decision‑making authority, professional judgment, accountability, and skill development—has received insufficient theoretical and empirical attention.

This special issue aims to provide a dedicated, cross‑disciplinary forum for advancing the understanding of how Generative AI can be systematically integrated into engineering and project management. We seek to move beyond isolated applications toward integrated frameworks that address technical performance, human‑AI collaboration, governance, and empirical validation. The special issue will bring together high‑quality original research that spans the full project lifecycle—from planning and design through execution, monitoring, and closure—while honoring EPPM‑Journal’s multidisciplinary mission at the intersection of engineering management, project management, and production management.

Topics of Interest

Generative AI for project planning and work breakdown structure generation
Large language models for project risk identification and assessment
Generative AI for scheduling optimization and resource allocation
AI‑assisted documentation and reporting in engineering projects
Generative design and its integration with project management workflows
Human‑AI collaboration frameworks for project decision‑making
Multi‑agent systems for coordinated project execution and control
Governance models for responsible Generative AI deployment in projects
Evaluation metrics for Generative AI outputs in project contexts
Change management and organizational adoption of Generative AI

Important Dates

Manuscript submissions deadline: Jun 30, 2027
Notification of acceptance: Aug 30, 2027
Publication of Special Issue: Oct 30, 2027

Guest Editors

Yang Li (Lead Guest Editor)
Shihezi University, China
E-mail: liyang328@shzu.edu.cn

Jawad Ahmad
Edinburgh Napier University, United Kingdom
E-mail: J.Ahmad@napier.ac.uk

Aqil Tariq
Mississippi State University, USA
E-mail: at2139@msstate.edu

Short Bio of Guest Editors

Dr. Yang Li (IEEE Senior Member) received the Ph.D. degree in Information and Communication Engineering from Tianjin University, China. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Information and Communication Engineering at Shihezi University, China. His research interests include information fusion and processing, pattern recognition, and data quality assessment. He is an Associate Editor for several reputed journals, such as IEEE JSTARS (SCIE, JCR Q1), Information Processing in Agriculture (SCIE, JCR Q1), etc. He has managed several special issues in reputed journals, such as IEEE TCE, JSTARS, COMPAG. He has published over 100 research papers in international journals, including IEEE TII, TITS, TCE, IoT-J, etc. He won the ICT Express 2024 Contribution Award and 2023 Best Paper Award. He was included in the World's Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University from 2023 to 2025.
His Google Scholar Link: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Jz08dRMAAAAJ

Dr. Jawad Ahmad (IEEE Senior Member) is currently working as an Associate Professor in Edinburgh Napier University, UK, and Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, KSA. He has published in renowned journals including IEEE Transactions, ACM Transactions, Elsevier and Springer with over 150 research papers. For the past three years, his name has appeared on the list of the world's top 2% scientists in Cybersecurity, as published by Clarivate (a list endorsed by Stanford University, USA). Furthermore, in 2020, he was recognized as a Global Talent in the area of Cybersecurity by the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK). His main research interests include Cybersecurity, information security, multimedia encryption, AI for security & healthcare.
His Google Scholar Link: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dOAfp5cAAAAJ

Dr. Aqil Tariq received the Ph.D. degree in Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing from the State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, Wuhan, China. Currently, he is working in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mississippi State University, Mississippi, USA. His research interest areas include wildfire and vegetation dynamics, agricultural expansion, 3D geoinformation, urban analytics, spatial analysis to examine land use, geospatial data science. He is a Member of the IEEE (USA) and Associate Editor of Rangeland Ecology & Management, Fire Ecology, GeoJournal, and Discover Sustainability.
His Google Scholar Link: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=smgEU_kAAAAJ

Contact Information

For inquiries regarding the special issue or manuscript submissions, please contact:
Dr. Yang Li
E-mail: liyang328@shzu.edu.cn