Research Professors

Dr Lavindra De Silva is a Research Professor in the Cambridge University Engineering Dept..

He joined in February 2019 as Research Lead on the Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring

project, after which he took on the role of Programme Director on the Digital Roads of the

Future Initiative. In particular he is interested in: developing novel hierarchical and

hybrid (AI) planning approaches; in developing formal semantics for autonomous

(BDI-style) agent systems.

Dr Erika A. Pärn is a Research Assistant Professor at University of Cambridge based at

Civil Engineering Department Construction Information Technology Lab. Previously,

whilst working in industry, she led multiple research project technical deliverables for the

EU commission, such as the two H2020 initiatives, GreenInstruct and BIMERR, and the

UKRI project SeismPrecast. During her time in academia as lecturer at Birmingham City

University, she taught undergraduate and postgraduate students of built environment

school and accrued research experience.

Damian Palin is a Research Assistant Professor in the Digital Roads of the Future Initiative

at the University of Cambridge. Previously, he received an Irish national research fellowship

to work in Professor Daniel Kelly's Laboratory at Trinity College Dublin in 2021. Before that,

he was a European Commission-funded Marie Curie Global Fellow at the Cornell University

and at the Delft University of Technology, leading a project synthesising biologically inspired

material (2017-2020).

Dr Jie Xu is a Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Engineering at the

University of Cambridge. He is leading the Automation and Robotics team in the Digital

Roads of the Future initiative. Prior to this, he was a post-doctoral research associate in

Professor Richard Buswell’s group at Loughborough University to deliver two

EPSRC-funded significant projects (worth £2.2mil in total) that delivered the next generation

of 3D Concrete Printing technology-Hybrid Concrete Printing.  

Dr Stephen Green is a Research Assistant Professor at the Division of Civil Engineering

of the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. He is leading the Data

Science team in the Digital Roads of the Future (DRF) initiative. Prior to this, he was a

post-doctoral research associate in Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), University of

Cambridge. 

Embedded Senior Researchers

Dr Lilia Potseluyko is an Industrial Research Fellow at the Division of Civil Engineering

of the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. She drives the Digital

Twins team’s research impact and outputs for Costain and National Highways. She enjoys

working in a multidisciplinary team of Data Science, Automation&Robotics and Smart

Materials. Lilia aims to save significant money in road inspections and maintenance costs

by developing Digital Twin, which will aggregate road data from multiple sources and

visualise, predict, and provide insights for road maintenance processes. 

French-born Alix MARIE d’AVIGNEAU is an Industrial Research Fellow at Costain Group,

working on the Digital Roads of the Future initiative and specialising in Data Science

branch of the project. She completed her PhD in Information Engineering at the University

of Cambridge, as part of the Signal Processing and Communications laboratory. Her

research includes generic and efficient statistical tools and methodology, such as

changepoint detection, predator-prey models, single-molecule fluorescence microscopy,

and most recently, construction and maintenance of roads and infrastructure. 

N’zebo Richard Anvo is an automation and robotics industrial research fellow at Costain

Group, working on the Digital Roads project. He completed his PhD degree at London

South Bank University. His research interest focuses on roboticmaintenance and repair

alongside networked embedded sensing and control. He has extensiveknowledge and

experience in the development of robotic systems that can explore and manipulate

objects in extreme environments coupled with the development of complex control systems

for mobile robots for in-service inspection and non-destructive testing.

Research Associates and Fellows

Arsen Abdulali completed his Ph.D. degree with the Department of Computer Science

and Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea. In 2021, he joined the

Bio-inspired Robotics Lab in the Department of Engineering of the University of Cambridge

as a research associate. In 2022, Arsen was awarded a three-year fellowship by the

Future Roads program funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and

Innovation Program  under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant. 

Dr Jinying Xu’s research is currently focused on the theme of sustainability and data

science in smart construction of future roads. She completed her Ph.D. in construction

management and technology at the University of Hong Kong in 2021. Her research

track-records cover data science for construction sustainability, smart construction and

facility management, construction digital transformation, human-organisation -technology

fit, and human-machine augmentation in construction engineering. She is the author of 25

journal papers, 6 book chapters and 13 conference papers till September 2022. 

Dr Varun is currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Future Roads Fellow at the University of

Cambridge. He recently obtained his joint PhD from IIT Madras, India, and UTS, Australia,

where he studied the use of computer vision for monitoring construction projects.

His research area focuses on Automation in Construction, Digital Twins, and Construction

Management. Prior to his current position, he was awarded the prestigious Prime Minister’s

Research Fellowship at IIT Madras and received the UTS President's Scholarship and

Collaborative International Research Scholarship at the University of Technology Sydney.

Dr Linjun Lu is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Future Roads Fellow, working in the Future

Roads Programme. In this fellowship, his research focuses on improving the

trustworthiness of digital twins for road infrastructure inspection and maintenance.

Before his current position, he received his PhD in civil engineering from West Virginia

University. His research interests focus on structural health monitoring, intelligent sensing

and construction automation, infrastructure computer vision and machine learning, and

intelligent transportation systems

Dr Mengtian Yin is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Future Roads Fellow, working in the Future

Roads Programme. His research project focuses on the conceptualization and

implementation of the minimum viable products (MVP) of highway digital twins, with

product models and process models created and validated. He recently obtained his

PhD in Real Estate and Construction at the University of Hong Kong. His PhD research

was centred on the development of AI-driven Natural Language Interfaces (NLIs) for

efficient data retrieval from Building  Information Models (BIMs).  

Dr Yuandong Pan currently holds the position of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Future Roads

Fellow at the University of Cambridge. His research interests encompass the creation of

geometric digital twins from multi-modal data sources, point clouds, images, thermal

images, and ground penetrating radar data. Dr Pan's expertise lies in developing 

automated methods for generating digital twins for different facilities, significantly reducing

human labour. He earned his joint Ph.D. from the Technical University of Munich, Germany.

Dr Chapa Hewa Pelendage is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow in the Department

of Engineering, the University of Cambridge. Chapa received her bachelor’s and PhD

in Electrical Engineering from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. In 2023 she won

the prestigious Marie Curie Future Roads fellowship to continue her research in

Robotics in a Civil Engineering domain and develops a multi-agent system based on

sensor fusion to improve the safety of heavy machines and workers. 

Dr Yue Xie is a Marie Curie Future Roads Fellow at the University of Cambridge, specializing

in AI and multi-agent systems for future road automation. She earned her Ph.D. in

computer science from the University of Adelaide in 2021 and has experience as a

Postdoctoral Fellow at CSIRO and the University of Adelaide. Her research spans AI,

bio-inspired optimization, mining engineering, public health, and soft robotics. Her current

focus is on integrating AI and information theory for vehicle-road coordination.

Before joining the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge as a Marie

Sklodowska-Curie Future Roads Fellow, Shirin worked at University of Edinburgh as

research Associate in a Horizon-2020 BIM Project. Her PhD of Photogrammetry and

Geomatics was supported on ‘large-scale building reconstruction and enrichment using

drone photogrammetry’ by Young Scientist Award of DAAD in Stuttgart and Braunschweig.

She has different experiences as senior engineer, manager and developer in national and

state organizations in Iran and Germany and also in Industry.

Before joining the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge as a Marie

Sklodowska-Curie Future Roads Fellow, Junxiang worked at Curtin University for 5 years

as research assistant, research fellow, lecturer, and senior lecturer, where he managed and

delivered courses relating to digital construction and involved in the development of the

new Virtual Design and Construction course. He completed his PhD in Construction

Management at Curtin in 2019 on the topic of integration of Building Information Modelling 

and Geographic Information System (GIS) for smart infrastructure management. 

Dr Xiang Wang obtained his PhD at the Delft University of Technology. Before he was

appointed as the Marie Curie Fellow at the Future Roads project at the University of

Cambridge, he was a postdoctoral researcher funded by the Dutch Research Council at

the non-destructive testing laboratory at the Delft University of Technology and was

appointed as a postdoctoral fellow funded by Research Talent Hub for Innovation and

Technology Fund at the department of electronic and information engineering at

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Dr Zhaojie Sun obtained his PhD degree in Pavement Engineering from Delft University of

Technology in 2022 and worked as a Postdoc Researcher in the same section. Since 2024,

he joined the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge as a Marie

Skłodowska-Curie Future Roads Fellow. Dr Sun has the expertise of pavement

structure dynamic analysis, pavement structural quality evaluation, tire-pavement

interaction, and pavement material performance evaluation.

Dr Alwyn Mathew is a Research Associate sponsored by BIM2WIN, Horizon 2020 funded

project on developing 3D mobile mapping solutions for large-scale infrastructure assets.

Prior to this, Dr Mathew was a post-doctoral research assistant at the University of Dundee,

developing advanced 3D vision systems for endoscopy devices. He holds a Computer

Science and Engineering PhD degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Patna. His 

expertise spans digital twin technologies, 3D reconstruction, laser scanning, and

photogrammetry.

Dr Soheila Kookalani is a postdoctoral research associate at Cambridge University,

where she is working on the “Reuse of Structural Steel in Construction (RESTOR)” project.

She brings a diverse skill set in architecture, civil engineering, and computer science.

She completed her Ph.D. at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, specializing in machine

learning-based computing and generative models for structural design and optimization.

She strives to integrate cutting-edge technologies into the field, driven by a passion for

sustainable construction practices.

Dr Mudan Wang is a Research Associate in Digital Twin Construction sponsored by DigitAl

and physical incrEmental renovation packaGes/systems enhancing envIronmental and

energetic behaviour and use of Resources (AEGIR). She works on automatically

generating operation phase geometrical digital twins models of buildings to be renovated

based on machine learning and AI technique. She completed her PhD on Construction

Management at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Her research interests

include digital twin, 3D reconstruction, laser scanning, and prefabrication construction. 

Dr Hamidreza Alavi is a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge. He involves

in two projects, 'OMICRON,' aims to revolutionize the maintenance, renewal, and

upgrading of roads through the implementation of robotized technologies and intelligent

decision support tools. In the second project, 'AEGIR,' he contributes to the development

of digitAl and physical incrEmental renovation packaGes/systems that enhance

environmental and energetic behaviour while optimizing resource utilization. Dr Alavi holds

a PhD in Construction Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.

Ya Wen is a Research Associate working with Prof Ioannis Brilakis. Her role is to lead the

work package of the project – Enabling Innovative Space-Driven Services for Energy

Efficient Buildings and Climate Resilient Cities (BUILDSPACE), which is sponsored by

European Union Agency for the Space Programme. Within this project, Dr Wen focuses

on utilizing Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence techniques to automate the creation

of geometrical digital twin models derived from building point clouds. Dr Wen holds a PhD '

in Real Estate and Construction Department in University of Hong Kong. 

Dr Guangming Wang is a Research Associate working with Prof. Ioannis Brilakis. His role

is to lead a work package for the AEGIR project, funded by the European Commission, and

assist some parts of BIM2TWIN and OMICRON projects. He is broadly interested in

computer vision and robotic technologies and the application of these technologies. His

current research focuses on localization, mapping, multi-sensor fusion, Nerf-based SLAM,

point cloud processing, and 3D visual learning. In June 2023, he got his PhD degree in

the Department of Automation at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

PhD Students

Ms Jialei Ding is a PhD student in Infrastructure Digitalisation and Gamification at the

Construction Information Technology group. Her PhD is in partnership with Loclab Gmbh

in Germany and funded through the CBIM training network. Jialei's research focuses on

creating geometric digital twins of existing roads using videogrammetry, in combination

with game technologies. Jialei holds a BEng in Civil Engineering from The University of

Edinburgh and an MSc in Transport from London Imperial College. 

Diana Davletshina is a PhD student within EPSRC Industrial CASE studentship at the

Department of Engineering in partnership with National Highways and co-sponsored

by Costain.  Diana's research focuses on automating the process of generating digital

twins of roads using existing large-scale visual and spatial datasets to reduce costs and

enable performance optimisation, failure prediction and future scenario modelling. Diana

holds a Master's degree in Data Science from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

Haritha Jayasinghe is a member of the 3rd cohort of Future Infrastructure and Built

Environment: Resilience in a Changing World (FIBE2) CDT, a 1+3 year MRes and PhD

programme. Haritha's project is focused on the digitization of industrial facilities, and it

is conducted in partnership with AVEVA and BP. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in

Engineering from The University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, specializing in Computer

Science & Engineering. 

Percy Lam is an MRes + PhD student at the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in

Future Infrastructure and Built Environment. His PhD research focuses on the

construction and maintenance of a digital twin for highway networks. Percy graduated

from the University of Cambridge with MEng and MA in Civil, Structural and Environmental

Engineering in 2016. His professional experience includes geotechnical and construction

engineering on the expansion of the Hong Kong International Airport. 

Rui Kang is a PhD student in Digital Roads of the Future (DRF) research group, sponsored

by CSC Cambridge International Scholarship. Her research focuses on using machine

learning methods to optimise road maintenance planning on the basis of digital twins. Her

project is in collaboration with National Highway and Trimble. Rui graduated from Southeast

University in China with a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering.

Fergus Mok is enrolled in the 1+3 MRes/PhD programme of the FIBE2 CDT. His research

focuses on integrating legacy data sources from National Highways with the road digital

twin through data science techniques. Fergus graduated from the University of Cambridge

in 2022 with an MEng and BA specialising in Information and Computer Engineering. His

undergraduate final year research project involved using computer vision to automatically

detect road defects from imagery and point clouds data.

Peihang (Hank) Luo is an MRes + PhD student at the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral

Training in Future Infrastructure and Built Environment (FIBE2 CDT). Peihang’s research

focuses on the visualisation and human-information interaction of the road metaverse 

and the digital road infrastructure system. Peihang graduated from the University of

Cambridge with a BA & MEng degree in Engineering. His research interests lie in the

human-computer interaction design of computer systems, especially with the application

of natural language interactions and Large Language Models.

Xiaofang Wen is a PhD student in Engineering, sponsored by National Highways. She holds

both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree from Tongji University. Her PhD research focuses

on Digital Twin (DT) design automation, in alignment with National Highways’ vision to

enhance the safety, sustainability, and operational efficiency of the Strategic Road Network

(SRN). This research also adheres to the standards established by the Centre for Digital

Built Britain (CDBB).

Tao Huang is a PhD student in Engineering with an iCASE studentship sponsored by AMEY.

Tao's Ph.D. research centres on Highways Maintenance and Renewal Scheduling,

leveraging new data sources and digital twin technology. His primary focus lies in optimizing

resource allocation for maintenance decision-making, aiming to enhance the efficiency and

sustainability of infrastructure operations.

Anson Chan is a PhD Student in Engineering under Prof Ioannis Brilakis’ supervision

at the  Construction Information Technology group, sponsored by Dorsett Hospitality

International Scholarship. Anson’s PhD interdisciplinary research focuses on Sustainable

Digital Twin construction, AI-driven business strategies and technological innovation in the

built environment. She will work closely with Dorsett Hotels and Far East Consortium, a

leading international property developer to advance the digitalization of buildings for net

zero developments and business transformation.

Han(Shichen) Han is a MRes + PhD student in Engineering sponsored by EPSRC Centre

for Doctoral Training in Future Infrastructure and Built Environment: Unlocking Net Zero

(FIBE3 CDT). Han holds a BA and an MEng at the University of Cambridge with a focus on

Mechanical and Bioengineering. Han’s current research is focused on the planning of road

digital twins, which will enhance user experience in planning digital assets and building a

cost competitive advantage, while supporting digitalization of roads to Net Zero.

Staff

Dr Nevena Vajdic is a Senior Project Manager with expertise in project management,

problem-solving, and risk monitoring. She possesses extensive experience across

various infrastructure projects in both the road and airport sectors. Nevena is currently

working at the Digital Roads of the Future Initiative, Department of Engineering,

University of Cambridge, where she is responsible for managing the European

Commission’s MSCA COFUND Future Roads Fellowships project. Nevena holds a PhD

in Civil Engineering from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the University of Belgrade.

Aimee obtained her MA British Studies at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and was

formerly the International Partnerships Manager at the University of Southampton in 2021

and Manager of Education and Training at the Drug Safety Research Unit in Southampton,

UK, in 2022. She is currently the DRF Programme Coordinator. Her role coordinates and

monitors the operations of the initiative and is part of the management team.

Embedded Staff

Rachel Judson, employed by Costain, serves as the Digital Roads Project Manager

within the DRF programme at the University of Cambridge. Prior to her current role,

she worked as the project manager for the Centre for Digital Built Britain at the

University of Cambridge, which was a part of the National Digital Twin Programme.