Personal profile

Research profile

Dr Ranjith Soman is an assistant professor in Digital Construction within the Integral Design and ManagementSection of the Materials, Mechanics, Management & Design (3MD) department at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and GeoSciences. He focuses on leveraging information technology to transition to sustainable and regenerative infrastructure by co-creating a future in construction that synergises human creativity with computational intelligence.

In addition to his current role, Dr Soman is the Dissemination chair for the 2024 EC3 Conference, an Honorary Associate Professor at University College London, UK, and an active reviewer for leading construction informatics journals such as Automation in Construction, the Journal of Management in Engineering, Advanced Engineering Informatics, and the Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering. He is also involved in the programme committees of key conferences such as ISARC 2024 and LDAC 2024.

 

Research interests

Dr Soman’s research vision is centred on leading innovation within the built environment, achieved through applied research in construction informatics, digital twins, systems engineering, artificial intelligence and complex systems modelling. The core of this vision is to initiate a significant shift in the civil engineering field by transforming the role of computers from mere tools into collaborative partners. To bring this vision to fruition, His research focuses on four key areas: Knowledge Modelling, Machine Learning, Human-Computer Interaction, and Digitally Augmented Processes. To realise the research vision, his expertise in areas such as knowledge graphs, advanced AI methods including deep learning and reinforcement learning, and human-computer interaction (HCI) with a focus on extended reality (XR) technologies is leveraged. Current research interests include developing intricate digital twins, knowledge graph integration in digital twins, graph machine learning, generative adversarial imitation learning, and digital twins informed by physical laws and principles. He is involved in the Smart Mobile Factories for Infrastructure project and the ResilientHydroTwin: Participatory Integrated Digital Twin for Adaptive Urban Resilience to Water Extremities project. He is also associated with DigiConstruct Lab.

Academic background

Before his tenure at TU Delft, Dr. Soman held the position of Post-doctoral research associate at the Future Cities Laboratory of ETH Zurich, where he contributed to the Circular Future Cities project. Prior to this, he also occupied the role of Postdoctoral research associate at the Centre for Systems Engineering and Innovation at Imperial College London, working on the AEC Production Control Room project.

Dr. Soman earned his Ph.D. in civil engineering, with a specialization in construction informatics, from Imperial College London. During his doctoral studies, he was selected as a Ph.D. enrichment scholar at The Alan Turing Institute. Preceding his Ph.D., he obtained his M.S. (by research) in Building Technology and Construction Management from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras.

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  • SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
  • SDG 13 - Climate Action

Education/Academic qualification

Doctorate, Automated look-ahead schedule generation using linked-data based constraint checking for construction projects, Imperial College London

Award Date: 1 Jan 2021

External positions

Honorary Associate Professor, University College London (UCL)

Keywords

  • TH Building construction
  • BIM
  • Digital Twin
  • Extended Reality
  • Digital Construction
  • Project Mangement
  • Lean Construction
  • TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
  • Generative Design
  • Resilient Infrastructure

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics where Ranjith Soman is active. These topic labels come from the works of this person. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
  • 1 Similar Profiles

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or