We were delighted to host Dr François-Xavier Bécot from MATELYS – Research Lab for a fascinating lecture titled "From Microscopic to Multi-Scale Dissipation in Poro-Elastic Materials: Characterisation, Modelling, and Implementation."

Dr Bécot shared state-of-the-art research on noise abatement technologies, exploring the complex behaviour of poro-elastic materials and their role in multi-scale energy dissipation. His insights into characterisation techniques, modelling strategies, and practical implementation sparked engaging discussions among researchers from acoustics, material science, and structural dynamics.

A big thank you to FX for his inspiring talk and for sharing his expertise with our community. We look forward to future collaborations in this exciting area of research!

It was a pleasure to host Dr. Giorgia Giardina form TU Delft for her insightful talk on "Use of Remote Sensing Techniques in Post-Earthquake Reconnaissance Missions."

This was was a fascinating deep dive into how modern technology is transforming disaster response.

Dr. Giardina presented innovative methods for rapid post-earthquake damage assessment using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, demonstrating how remote sensing can complement field investigations when safety and accessibility are major concerns. The discussion highlighted the challenges of integrating diverse data sources and the potential of these techniques to improve urban resilience and emergency response strategies.

Following the talk, we had a productive discussion, exchanging ideas on the future of remote sensing in structural assessment, disaster mitigation, and infrastructure monitoring

A huge thank you to Dr. Giardina for an engaging and thought-provoking presentation that sparked great discussions and new ideas!

We are delighted to announce that Ali Gamra has successfully defended his PhD thesis on "Real-Time Assessment of Tunnelling-Induced Damage to Structures within the Building Information Modelling Framework" at the University of Nottingham!

Ali’s research has made a significant contribution to the integration of BIM and real-time damage assessment in tunneling, advancing digital engineering solutions for infrastructure resilience.

A special thank you to the examiners Dr Georgia Giardina from TU Delft and Prof Alec Marshall from the University of Nottingham, co-supervisors, and collaborators who have supported this research and contributed to its success.

Our Digital Engineering team from the School of Engineering, University of Birmingham had a strong presence at DTE2025 and AICOMAS2025, hosted at Arts et Métiers. Contributing to the Minisymposium on Data-Driven Methods and Digital Twin Applications in Geotechnical and Ground Engineering, we presented three exciting research talks:

🔹 Digital Twin for Damage Modelling of Tunnel Linings – Presented by Jelena Ninic, with contributions from Zehao Ye, (Hoang-)Giang Bui, Valentina Villa, and Paola Alice Rosa Cavallaro.

🔹 Bayesian Optimisation of Underground Railway Tunnels Using a Surrogate Model – Presented by Hassan Liravi, in collaboration with Javad Fakhraei.

🔹 Surrogate Modeling for Interactive Subrectangular Tunnel Track Design using the Cut Finite Element Method – Presented by (Hoang-)Giang Bui, in collaboration with Ba Trung Cao, Tai-Tien Nguyen, Van-Vi Pham, and Ngoc Anh Do.

It was a fantastic opportunity to exchange ideas, discuss the future of digital twins and data-driven modeling, and engage with leading experts in the field. Many thanks to the organizers and all participants for an inspiring and productive conference!

We are thrilled to share the success of our Minisymposium on Data-Driven Methods and Digital Twin Applications in Geotechnical and Ground Engineering, held at DTE2025 and the AICOMAS Conference!

Co-organized with colleagues Dr. Ba Trung Cao and Prof. Günther Meschke (Ruhr University Bochum), and Dr. Hassan Liravi and Dr. (Hoang-)Giang Bui (University of Birmingham), our MS005 session featured cutting-edge research and insightful discussions.

🔹 Keynote Highlights:

✅ Prof. Brian Sheil (University of Cambridge) – Digital Twins for underground engineering

✅ Prof. Pin Zhang (National University of Singapore) – Physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) in geotechnics

🔹 Technical Sessions:

With 15 contributed talks across three engaging sessions, we explored:

✔ Surrogate modeling and adaptive sampling for improved data efficiency

✔ Digital Twin workflows under uncertainty

✔ Automation in digital twin generation

✔ Inverse analysis and real-world applications in underground engineering

Thrilled to share that our paper has been featured in Engineering Structures (Vol. 321, Europe) for its innovation, originality, findings, and quality!

This work, led by Manuela Cabrera-Duran during her PhD under the supervision of Walid Tizani and myself, has already received multiple accolades, including:

🏆 Best Conference Paper Awards at UKACM 2022 & ICCCBE 2022

🏆 IStructE Midlands Research Award 2023

📄 Paper Title: Fusion of Experimental and Numerical Data for Development of Extended Hollo-Bolt Component-Based Model

You can download our pare on the following link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141029624014949 

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Huamei Zhu has been awarded a highly competitive Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship for her project M-Twin4US: Maintenance-oriented Digital Twin for Underground Infrastructure. The project will leverage sensing technologies, machine learning, BIM, and simulation to develop innovative solutions for underground infrastructure maintenance.Huamei’s proposal achieved an outstanding 97.6% score, with Excellence rated 5/5 on her very first submission, right after completing her PhD—a remarkable achievement!

In July, Huamei visited the School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham to collaborate with our team, preparing a compelling case for her research at the National Buried Infrastructure Facility (NBIF). We are thrilled to support her pioneering work and to see the exciting outcomes of this fellowship.

A huge thank you to our colleagues and partners who supported this successful application: Nicole Metje (co-supervisor), Chris Rogers, Daniel Boddice, Asaad Faramarzi, our partner Brian Sheil from the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction, and Severn Trent. Special thanks also to Qianbing Zhang, Huamei’s PhD mentor.

We look forward to seeing Huamei’s project grow and her academic career flourish!

We are delighted to welcome Ksenija Micić to the School of Engineering, University of Birmingham for her research stay. Ksenija is a geologist working on digital and numerical modelling of ground, considering soil variability and uncertainties. Another important piece of the puzzle for our Prescriptive Digital Twins for underground vision.

I’m particularly happy to strengthen collaboration with my old home institution University of Belgrade, Faculty of Civil Engineering, and I’m looking forward to this project and many other to come to transfer knowledge and technologies, and tackle pressing challenges to better design, construct and maintain our infrastructure.

On 1st of January 2025 Jelena started her service as President of the UK Association for Computational Mechanics (UKACM).

In the past years, she served in the UKACM EC as UKACM2022 Conference organiser and Chair, International Association for Computational Mechanics General Council member, and Vice-president. Now, she has taken this new role, with the goal to keep contributing to building and promoting UKACM community.

As president Jelena remis to be part of IACM general council and she becomes ECCOMAS manging board member.  

We have kicked off Giang's prestigious MarieCurie fellowship – TwinSSI on Digital Twin for Soil-Structure Interaction in collaboration with our partners Maidl Tunnelconsultants (Dr. Janosch Stascheit) and Network Rail (Matthew Kirke).

With TwinSSI, we aim to break new ground in integrating digital and advanced numerical models (CutFEM and IGA) and realize a living Digital Twin for soil-structure interaction, focusing on the effects of excavation on existing buildings at the National Buried Infrastructure Facility.

Dr. Hoang Giang Bui has joined the team and has started preparing for the launch of his TwinSSI project: Digital Twin Modelling for Soil-Structure Interaction based on CutFEM and BIM technologies as part of his Marie Curie Fellowship.

The team was impressed to learn about the numerous advances Giang has made in developing multi-physics simulations for structural applications, including isogeometric analysis, the CutFEM method, contact mechanics, constitutive modelling of solids, and plasticity modelling.

We are thrilled to begin this exciting project and look forward to numerous collaborations within the team to deliver an automated, executable digital twin for structures and soil-structure interaction problems.

1st secondment of Marie Curie fellow Hassan Liravi at MATELYS - Research Lab. Fruitful and lively discussions about mitigation of railway induced vibrations and noise within Meta-NOVIB project. 

Simulation methods will be based on SBM (Singular Boundary Method) and MFS (Method of Fundamental Solution) and experiments will rely on the facilities of Network Rail company.

I had the pleasure of opening a seminar lecture series at the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Oxford, with my talk, Towards Digital Twins for Ground Engineering. In this lecture, I shared insights into some of my team's recent work, focusing on key enablers of #digital #twins for underground engineering. It was an exciting opportunity to discuss the future of digital transformation in ground engineering with such an engaged audience. The presentation of my talk can be found under this link. 

I have delivered a keynote lecture at the Smart Geotechnics Conference (GESmart), where she presented her team’s latest advancements in Automation in Digital Twin Reconstruction, specifically applied to Underground Infrastructure. The lecture showcased innovative approaches that are helping to reshape the design, construction, and management of underground spaces. Thanks to Ground Engineering Magazine for the invitation to share and explore these groundbreaking developments alongside leading experts in the field.

We were delighted to welcome Huamei Zhu to the School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham, alongside the National Buried Infrastructure Facility (NBIF), to collaborate on her Marie Curie fellowship proposal. Huamei deliverd lecture on Data and simulation-driven maintenance for underground infrastructure, a field with tremendous potential for advancing infrastructure resilience and longevity.

We extend our gratitude to the School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham for supporting Huamei's visit with a travel grant, and we look forward to a successful outcome for her fellowship proposal in the coming year.

We are thrilled to welcome our Marie Curie fellow, Dr. Hassan Liravi, to the School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham. Hassan will be working on the METANovib project, which focuses on creating a Digital Twin for controlling railway-induced noise and vibration in underground tunnels using advanced metamaterials. This ambitious project is being conducted in collaboration with MATELYS - Research Lab and Network Rail.

An expert in computational mechanics, Hassan presented an impressive summary of his PhD work on meshless methods for soil-structure interactions in elastodynamics, highlighting his expertise in this area. My team and I are excited about the future of our work together in developing intelligent, knowledge-rich digital twins.

I had the honor of delivering a keynote lecture at the 7th Annual School of Engineering PGR Symposium at the University of Birmingham. The lecture focused on the transformative role of AI and Digital Modeling in Engineering, showcasing recent advances and their impact on modern engineering practices. The talk highlights  digital modelling for predictive maintenance, design accuracy, risk mitigation, lifecycle management, and data integration, leading to more efficient, safe, and sustainable projects.

 I was invited to present a seminar lecture at KTH on Automation in Reconstruction of Digital Twins for Civil Infrastructure. The talk highlighted how advanced Building Information Modeling (BIM) and computational tools are transforming project planning, design optimization, and maintenance in infrastructure projects.

Covering topics such as automated digital model reconstruction from diverse data, integration of BIM with high-fidelity numerical models, and AI-driven inspection methods, I demonstrated how these tools enable efficient decision-making, cost reduction, and sustainable practices across project life cycles. This lecture underscored the immense potential of digital twins in advancing civil infrastructure.