Independent Research & Development Initiative
AI Engineering Research — MohdBali
Exploring how artificial intelligence can support architectural and structural engineering practice: inspecting buildings, producing technical documentation, and generating engineering visualisations.
mohdbali.com, a self-published engineering and science publication. It is
not a university, an accredited research institute, a national laboratory, or a degree-granting body.
Nothing listed on this page is peer-reviewed or formally published research, and no accuracy figures are claimed.
Work still in progress is labelled as such.
About the Initiative
MohdBali has published engineering and technology articles in Arabic and English for over a decade, and today maintains two free Android applications and a browser-based laboratory of 68 engineering and science tools. This initiative is the research-facing part of that work: a structured attempt to find out where current multimodal AI models are genuinely useful in day-to-day engineering practice and, just as importantly, where they are not.
The approach is applied rather than theoretical. Each research area starts from a task a practising engineer actually performs on site or in an office, tests whether an AI system can assist with it, and records the failure modes honestly. The intended outputs are working tools, documented test protocols, and public technical write-ups — including negative results.
Research Lead
Mohammad Sameer Fayez Bali — founder and director of MohdBali, and an independent researcher and developer based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
He is a practising architectural engineer with more than fifteen years of site and design experience, accredited by the Saudi Council of Engineers in the Architectural Engineering specialisation. That practice is the reason this initiative exists: the research questions below come from problems encountered in real building supervision and design coordination, not from a literature survey.
Alongside engineering practice he writes and edits the publication’s engineering sections and builds the software it distributes, including an Android application, a 68-tool engineering calculator suite, and an internal content production system built on self-hosted workflow automation and large language models.
Research Areas
1. AI-Assisted Building Inspection & Defect Analysis
Testing whether multimodal models can read photographs of concrete and masonry structures and identify visible distress — cracking, spalling, corrosion staining, deflection, moisture damage — and whether they can place a finding in context rather than merely name it. The central question is reliability: how often a model is confidently wrong, and whether its output can be constrained enough to serve as a first-pass screening aid for a qualified engineer. It is not intended to replace structural assessment, and no output of this work should be relied upon for safety decisions.
2. Engineering Report Automation & Technical Documentation
Turning field observations and measurements into structured, consistent technical documents: inspection reports, condition summaries, work inspection requests, and bilingual Arabic–English technical material. This area examines document structure, terminology consistency across two languages, and the verification steps needed before an AI-drafted engineering document can be relied upon by a consultant or a contractor.
3. AI-Powered 3D Modeling & Engineering Visualization
Investigating AI-assisted generation of architectural and structural visualisations — concept massing, detail illustration, and explanatory diagrams for technical publishing — and the boundary between an illustration that communicates an engineering idea correctly and one that misrepresents it. This builds on long-standing practice in AutoCAD and 3ds Max production drawings and renderings.
Current Activities
Separated by actual status. Nothing below is presented as a finished research result.
Completed and publicly available Delivered
- Published engineering sections — an active bilingual archive including Structural Engineering (Arabic), Architecture and Electrical Engineering.
- Two free Android applications published on Google Play and listed on the applications page.
- A browser-based laboratory of 68 engineering and science tools — unit conversion, scientific calculation, measurement, and chemistry, physics and astronomy utilities.
In development In progress
- Madar — an internal content production and analysis system built on self-hosted workflow automation, a PostgreSQL store and large language models, used to plan, generate, review and schedule the publication’s own technical material. Currently a private single-operator tool, not a product.
- Defect-recognition trials — structured prompt-and-image testing of commercially available multimodal models against photographs of real structural distress, recording both correct identifications and failures. The testing protocol is still being defined; no accuracy figure is claimed.
- Bilingual technical terminology work — building a consistent Arabic–English engineering vocabulary for automated documentation.
Planned Future goal
- A documented, repeatable evaluation protocol for AI-assisted visual defect screening, with published results including negative results.
- An open bilingual glossary of structural assessment and site-inspection terminology.
- Review and challenge of the trial findings by qualified structural engineers.
Professional Background
Education
- B.Sc. in Architecture Engineering — The University of Jordan, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Amman, Jordan. Awarded by the Deans’ Council on 10 June 2010. Certified by the University of Jordan and attested by the Jordanian Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Diploma in Architectural Engineering — Al-Balqa’ Applied University, Wadi Al-Seer College, Amman, Jordan, 2005. Ranked third in the Kingdom in this specialisation in the national community-college examination.
Professional accreditation and memberships
- Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE) — Professional Accreditation, membership no. 206332. Membership category: Engineer. Professional grade: Professional. Specialisation: Architectural Engineering. Member since 26 July 2014; accreditation certificate valid until 12 August 2027.
- Saudi Council of Engineers — Technical Expert — registered in the Technical Expertise register of the Saudi Council of Engineers. Certificate no. 206332, field: Architectural Engineering, area: Building engineering experience. Issued 17 July 2026, valid until 17 July 2028.
- Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) — Membership no. 6890/2, Architecture Engineering division, registered 4 July 2010.
Engineering practice
| Role | Organisation | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Architectural Engineer | Saudi Binladin Group — ABCD Sector (Architecture, Building Construction and Urgent Projects), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | 2014 – present |
| Architectural Engineer | Husam Abu Zaid Office | 2012 – 2014 |
| Architectural Engineer | Al Ramlah Al Bayda’a Office | 2010 – 2012 |
Work across these roles covered supervision and execution of residential, commercial and general buildings (structural and architectural); analysis of architectural and structural drawings and coordination with electrical, mechanical and survey engineers; site management and safety coordination; preparation of work and material inspection requests (WIR / MIR) for consultants; progress and problem reporting to head office; and architectural design and production drawings to international codes and to Jordan Engineers Association and Saudi Council of Engineers requirements.
Continuing professional development
Seminars and training courses attended and certified by the Saudi Council of Engineers:
| Seminar | Date | Hours | CPD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment of the Safety of Existing Structures and Methods of Strengthening and Rehabilitation | 21 Sep 2026 | 1 | 1.0 |
| Smart Ring Main Units (RMU) in Modern Distribution Networks | 22 Sep 2026 | 1 | 1.0 |
| Best Practices in Construction Project Management and Execution | 28 Sep 2026 | 1 | 1.0 |
| Digital Control Technologies and Their Role in Reducing Water Consumption | 29 Sep 2026 | 1 | 1.0 |
| How to Choose the Right Hardware for Your Complex Engineering Software | 29 Sep 2026 | 2 | — |
| Design of Water Supply and DWV Systems according to the Saudi Sanitary Installation Code SBC 701 (training course) | 11 – 15 Oct 2026 | — | 7.5 |
These are professional development records, not academic degrees. Each certificate carries a verification code issued by the Saudi Council of Engineers; originals are available on request.
In addition: Qualification of Engineering Offices for Issuing Building Permits — completion certificate CP-003544, Takamol Academy in cooperation with the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 30 June 2026.
Technical skills
AutoCAD (2D and 3D), 3ds Max, V-Ray and Mental Ray, Adobe Photoshop, C++, HTML and web development, and applied work with large language model and multimodal AI systems. International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL), issued by the UNESCO Cairo Office, 2005.
Selected Works
The works below are professional practice, not research outputs. They are shown because they are the material the research areas above draw on: the design and visualisation work defines the modelling problem, and the site work defines the inspection and reporting problem. All design, 3D modelling, rendering and site documentation shown here is the author’s own.
Renders were produced in Autodesk 3ds Max with V-Ray. Site photographs were taken by the author during supervision. Client names, project addresses and contract documents are withheld.
Researcher Profile
An Arabic version of this page is planned. For correspondence about this initiative, including review of or collaboration on the work described above, please write to info@mohdbali.com.
