An Artificial intelligence-driven delay analysis system for construction projects (AIDASCon) (Advert Reference: ERDF20/EE/MCE/GREENWOODDavid)

The PhD project forms part of the Intensive Industrial Innovation Programme (IIIP) which is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The IIIP Programme is a collaboration between Durham, Newcastle and Teesside and Northumbria Universities and aims to encourage a culture of innovation that benefits business, leading to greater export opportunities and increased graduate employment. The Programme enables small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop new products and services. This project will be a collaboration between Northumbria University and Project Advisors International (PAI). The successful applicant will spend part (minimum 51%) of their time at Northumbria University and part at the offices of PAI in Morpeth, Northumberland, as well as occasional visits to other locations (for example, to gather data).

PAI currently operates in a small, very successful niche as an international industry leader in forensic delay analysis for construction projects. Current PAI workflows rely upon the manual collection, verification, interpretation and analysis of multiple sources of project data in a range of formats, usually unstructured. PAI has recognised the opportunity of exploiting the increasing digitalisation of construction information in order to develop a more systematic, digital and AI-driven approach to these workflows, thus enabling a significant advance in its offering to clients and considerable competitive advantage. PAI has already invested in producing a body of scoping work but lacks the technical data science know-how take this work further. The aim of the study is to:
1. exploit the most recent advances in digital design and construction to create a digitally-enabled workflow for PAI’s current forensic delay analysis activities;
2. extend the system into a predictive risk management tool with an evolutionary database with AI/ machine learning functionalities, upon which to predict scenario outcomes. This would represent a new market opportunity for the company.

The main stages envisaged in the proposed PhD study involve:
• understanding the current offering of PAI to its clients and the potential for a structured AI-enhanced alternative approach;
• comprehending and incorporating the scoping work already completed by PAI;
• Based upon the above, developing a system architecture for a high-fidelity prototype for:
Digitalising PAI’s workflows and designing an evolutionary database with AI functionality for the predictive risk management of project delays.

The Principal Supervisor for this project is Professor David Greenwood. The second supervisor is Dr Kay Rogage.

Please note eligibility requirement:

Academic excellence of the proposed student e.g. 2:1 (or equivalent GPA from non-UK universities [preference for 1st class honours]); or a Masters (preference for Merit or above); or APEL evidence of substantial practitioner achievement.
Appropriate IELTS Score (6.5 or above), if required.

For further details of how to apply, entry requirements and the application form, see
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research-degrees/how-to-apply/

Please note: Applications that do not include a research proposal of approximately 1,000 words (not a copy of the advert), or that do not include the advert reference (e.g. ERDF20/EE/MCE/GREENWOODDavid) will not be considered.

Deadline for applications: Midnight 16th August 2020

PhD Start Date: 1st October 2020

Northumbria University takes pride in, and values, the quality and diversity of our staff. We welcome applications from all members of the community. The University holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award in recognition of our commitment to improving employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.