The University of the West of Scotland (UWS) is seeking to attract a PhD candidate of outstanding ability and commitment to join its vibrant and growing programme of internationally excellent research. The successful applicant will receive an annual stipend (currently £15,609 per annum for three years) and payment of tuition fees (current value £4,500 per annum for 3 years).
This project aims to develop a predictive maintenance-focused facility digital twin model by harnessing deep learning and Building Information Modelling (BIM) techniques. The intellectual merit of this project is driven as a holistic and predictive maintenance approach in facility operation and management, drawing upon image sensed big Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) data gathered from multiple structural components in numerous locations of the facility. The proposed analytical approach comparatively analyses the effect of what-if maintenance planning (i.e., schedule and cost) scenarios in the BIM-driven common data environment, which can be repeatable to extend such an analysis to a wide variety of scenarios.
According to the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET, 2019), it is expected that more than 68% of the global population by 2050 will be concentrated in cities to live. Given the trend in the built space, the unique spectrum of global societal challenges is represented by United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 8, 9, 11 and 12. In this sense, developing and managing digital twins for facilities can play a pivotal role in responding to these particular SDGs, by evaluating facility performance during the whole life cycle. More specifically, the digital twin proposed in this project can advance understanding and verification of existing conditions of facilities and provide a digital blueprint for future maintenance planning, responding to the aforementioned SDGs. In line with UWS Strategy 2025, this project highlights scalable and systematic technology innovations on built asset management, which can contribute to regional, national and global economic growth through business-to-university interaction.
Candidates should hold a first or second class honours degree from a university in the United Kingdom in a relevant discipline. Please quote the Project Reference number above when submitting your research proposal.
In the first instance, any informal enquiries and applications to these competitive studentships should be made by email to Dr Junseo Bae ([Email Address Removed]). Successful applicants will be asked to submit the application through the UWS online system (https://www.uws.ac.uk/study/research-degrees/admissions-application/).
Closing date 30th June 2021
Interview July 2021
Start date 1st October 2021