My research interests lie in developing and quantifying a robust understanding of urban resilience with a focus on complex interdependent infrastructure systems.
Civil infrastructure systems are increasing in demand due to urban growth and densification. This is compounded by various uncertainties related to rapid urbanization, climate change and resource limitations. Additionally, the complexity of interdependent systems supporting an increasing global population and the future well-being of society poses a major challenge. Thereby, cities stand as a paramount example of how a complex interplay of infrastructures, technologies and human behaviour may lead to outcomes and patterns very far from the usual cause-effect scheme. In this sense, research of smart mobility and smart cities have been developed as new research areas that have been greatly benefited from the digital revolution in the last decades. This further opens up a unique opportunity for a novel scientific approach to looking into the complexity of urban environments, so as to improve the infrastructure systems as a whole.
The urgency in research on complex infrastructure systems has been motivating me throughout my career. I am particularly interested in developing innovative solutions to enhance the resilience and sustainability of complex interdependent infrastructure systems. To gain a deeper understanding of such complex systems, new mathematical approaches and computational models are needed. In order to achieve this, we have to go beyond the classical boundaries of the individual disciplines and work in an interdisciplinary team. My previous work combines engineering, computer science, and applied mathematics.
Recent research includes: (i) development of an overarching process for intelligent risk and resilience assessments to climate change, (ii) probabilistic modelling of interdependent spatial-temporal events, (iii) determination of optimal restoration programs, (iv) creation of a modular simulation framework, (v) a mathematical representation of multi-layer spatially embedded networks, and (vi) development of a new generation of network analytic methods for spatial-temporal networks.
One of my current work is on formal methods in network science applied to dynamic processes in transport networks in order to gain a better understanding of our complex urban environment. Another focus of my work is on cloud-based simulations which enables high-performance computing for simulation-based risk and resilience assessments as well as provides a collaborative environment which strengthens communication, speeds actions, and improves the decision-making process. Along the line of my research topics, the on-going work focuses on transportation science, complex systems as well as computer science. Thereby, I use innovative and interdisciplinary approaches from operational research, scientific computation, network science, dynamic systems, stochastic, and spatial statistics to explain and describe emergent complex system phenomena.
