PhD Scholarship in Digital Twins for Autonomous and Safe Construction Production - DTU Construct

The Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) invites an excellent candidate to join our research team: 

• Fully-funded 3-year PhD position 

The successful candidate will have an exciting opportunity to work as part of a team on multiple research projects related to digital twins for autonomous and safe construction production, for example, digital fabrication, tracking progress, monitoring emissions, proactive safety and health, and personalized learning environments. 

Project description

The project is funded by the Horizon Europe projects BEEYONDERS. The selected candidate will work on the core parts of digital twins and in well-defined applications. 

The general theme for the position is the utilization of smart technologies for monitoring construction resources (i.e., personnel, equipment, temporary assets) and integration of data to its real-time status in a Digital Twin platform. The purpose is to explore information modeling and deep learning-based sensor fusion methods to gather and analyze data from multiple different type of sensors in the work environment or onboard autonomous mobile robotic machines. The multi-mode perception system needs to operate under the very harsh environmental and lighting conditions that exist in the constructions sector (e.g., dynamic progress, indoor/outdoor, above- or underground). The research topic of this project stands at the intersections of building information modeling, human-machine interaction, machine learning, computer vision, remote sensing, and automation and robotics. 

As part of our research team, you will lead efforts in at least one of the following areas: 

• Design and development of the Digital Twin architecture and platform
• Run-time autonomous data collection, sensor fusion (e.g., vision- and wireless, unmanned aerial vehicles/drones or terrestrial), and data analysis for hazard prediction and avoidance
• Human-machine interaction, safety and productivity monitoring, and proactive personalized feedback and learning methods (using augmented and/or virtual realities)
• 4D information modeling for a well-defined real problem
• Integration and field testing together with our other high-profile European partners of the BEEYONDERS project 

Responsibilities

We seek an excellent candidate with backgrounds in: Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Computer and Software Engineering or Sciences, or related discipline such as Architectural Engineering. Candidates must have completed their MSc or equivalent degree in or a closely related field. 

A desire to engage in cross-disciplinary research at the intersections of civil, mechanical, electrical engineering and computer science is important. It will be relevant to have deep experience with at least one of the following areas: 

• Construction engineering and project management, incl. lean production methods
• Construction informatics, in part related to Building Information Modelling (BIM), ontologies, graph theory, process modeling, databases, open data standards such as Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), and linked data,
• Sensors as part of Internet of Things (IoT) in Digital Twins (DT) and integration of sensory information in simulation models during run-time prediction,
• Data processing, incl. artificial intelligence and machine learning,
• Serious gaming (incl. AR/AV/VR), and/or
• Autonomous systems, automation and robotics, incl. human-machine interaction. 

Qualifications

The candidate(s) should have completed a two-year master's degree (120 ECTS points) in civil, mechanical, or electrical engineering, computer science, or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to a two-year master's degree. 

Application procedure

To apply, please read the full job advertisement by clicking on the 'Apply' button above 

Application deadline: 16 April 2023

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