Research interests and experience  

I have developed a research portfolio that is internationally recognised, with a particular emphasis on sustainable built environment practices, digital transformation, and construction management, in my capacity as a Full Professor of Digital Engineering and Manufacturing and Centre Lead for the Centre for Sustainable Engineering at Teesside University.

My expertise extends across circular construction management, offsite construction, Lean-Six Sigma thinking (Yellow Belt Holder), BIM, digital twins, AI applications, and emerging Industry 4.0/5.0 technologies. I hold an integrated BSc and MSc (six years program) degree in Architectural Engineering and a PhD in Sustainable Architectural Studies. I am a Digital Engineering Professor, the Centre for Sustainable Engineering (CSE) Lead, Open Research and Output Quality Lead, and co-lead the Construction Innovation & Research (CCIR) at the School of Computing, Engineering and Digital Technologies (SCEDT), Teesside University, UK (joined in August 2019).

CSE keeps growing and now involves more than 100 senior, mid-career and early-career academics and several postdocs and PhD students. The centre now has an international reputation for enabling industries and making positive impacts on people’s lives and the environment through excellent research within mainstream areas of sustainability and NetZero, hosting several prestigious UK and EU-funded projects on Smart Energy, IoT, Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, AI and Data-Driven Digital Twins for Buildings and Infrastructures, Digital Heritage Preservation and Retrofit, Energy Policies, and Circular Construction. As the centre lead, I lead all these activities, help people excel in their careers, and act as an essential interface between the University and 100s of SMEs in Tees Valley and the region for research collaboration, CPDs and consultancy. 

I have a strong track record of academic achievements and working closely with industries for over two decades, exemplary character, and an enviable network of excellence comprised of several technology-savvy industry players (including world’s giant technology leaders such as Edinburgh Datalab, Bouygues Group, ARaymond, Acciona Energia, ITeC, IDP, CEMOSA, ICONS, Yondr Data Centres Group, Integrated Environmental Solutions, Research Center for Automatic Control of Nancy (CRAN) and several medium and small enterprises in UK) as well as leading scholars who work and publish with me at world-class universities in the UK, Europe and across the globe (including University of Alberta, Virginia Tech, Penn State University, IIT Madras, University of Cambridge, Edinburgh University, Queen’s Belfast University, University of Cardiff, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, TU Delft, Eindhoven University of Technology, University Barcelona, University of Amsterdam, National University of Singapore, University of Maryland, Purdue University, University of Lorraine (Visiting Professor), Chung-Ang University (Visiting Professor), Universiti Putra Malaysia (Visiting Professor), University of Florence (former Visiting Professor), RMIT (senior advisor for AUD 120m CRC funded project)).

My work is highly published by the world’s flagship journals and publishers and cited by peers across the globe. My publication performance has been ranked at the top 0.3% (last 5 years) and top 1.88% (Lifetime) in the Civil and Environmental Engineering discipline by ScholarGPS. My experience spans six countries: the UK, France, South Korea, Italy, Malaysia, and Iran, yet my network of excellence covers more than 20 countries globally. I have developed in the East and the West with people from various backgrounds (regardless of ethnicity, race, religious beliefs, gender, or sexual orientation). Scopus identified 140 co-authors for me; some are the world’s top scholars, and many are early-career researchers who had their first experience of high-level publication with me. 

To date, I have supervised and graduated 14 PhD students in the areas mentioned above. Several of these graduates now serve as senior academics at internationally respected institutions including the University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, University of Strathclyde, and University of Salford, while others hold leadership positions in industry.

My research career involves leading several large-scale research projects (total project value over £20m; my team’s budget over £2.6m) and numerous excellent research-active academics. Such experience encompasses strategic leadership, administrative expertise, resource planning, commitment to trans-disciplinary research, pedagogy across disciplines, equity, diversity, and inclusion. 

My work is also strongly aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), contributing to the following:

• Goal 4: Quality Education – 4 documents
• Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation – 1 document
• Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy – 10 documents
• Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – 1 document
• Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure – 29 documents
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities – 1 document
• Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities – 10 documents
• Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production – 16 documents
• Goal 13: Climate Action – 7 documents
• Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions – 3 documents
• Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals – 5 documents

Here is the list of recent research projects that I have been involved in, mainly as the Principal Investigator:

• RECONSTRUCT: A Territorial Construction System for a Circular Low-Carbon Built Environment; Total Value: Euros 7,865,878.75; TU Value: Euros 654,001.25; Funder H2021
• KTP – Teesside University and Faraday Center- Development of Virtual Training Environments using Serious Games Principles and Digital Twining for High-Risk Industry Training, TU Value: £249,085.83; Funder Innovate UK and Faraday Center; Role: Lead Academic
• KTP: Teesside University and Nicander: Data Science & Digital Twins for Transport Management, TU Value: £239,339; Funder Innovate UK and Nicander; Role: Lead Academic
• KTP: Teesside University and Direct Line Supplies Limited: Intelligent Digital Twin for Distribution, TU Value: 239,950; Funder Innovate UK and DLS; Role: Lead Academic
• Thermally Augmented Cork-based Thin Insulation Coating (TACTIC), TU Value: £46,543; Funder Innovate UK; Role: Co-I
• Development of Integrated Platform for Facilities Management Using Blockchain and Digital Twins; TU Value: £168,000; Funder: Yondr Data Centres Group; Role: PI
• BIM Integration Project Collaboration, between TU and Nicander Ltd; TU Value: £28,580.90; Funder: ERDF; Role PI
• KTP Norscot-Teesside University (1025662): Design and Implement a Community Led User-Centred Design to Support Elderly People; Pour Rahimian Leilabadi, F. (PI) and Matthew Lievesley; Total Value: £ 273,348.00; Norscot Joinery Limited: £ 91116, Innovate UK (TSB) 10 %+ AHR 75%+ SFC 15%: £ 182232; 1/01/19 → 31/12/21
• Development of BIM-Tango Integrated Virtual Showroom System for Offsite Manufactured Construction; Pour Rahimian Leilabadi, F. (PI); Total Value: £209473.00; Norscot Joinery Limited: £69,126.09, Innovate UK (TSB): £140,346.91; 4/09/17 → 3/03/20
• Real-Time Simulation of Construction Projects through Hybrid Application of Building Information Modelling and Image Processing; Pour Rahimian Leilabadi (PI), F., Stankovic, V. & Agapiou, A.; ADVANCED FORMING RESEARCH CENTRE (AFRC), ROUTE TO IMPACT 17/18 FUNDING: £40,831.63; 1/09/16 → 31/03/18
• Development of a Proof of Concept Prototype for BIM-Tango Integrated Virtual Showroom for OSP; Pour Rahimian, F. (PI); CSIC Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (SFC Innovation Centre, administered by HEI): £44,670.52; 1/07/17 → 31/12/17
• Using Artificial Intelligence for Optimising Retrofitting in Commercial Buildings; Pour Rahimian Leilabadi, F. (PI); Arbnco Ltd (formerly Co2 Estates Limited): £36,000.00; 1/05/17 → 30/04/20
• Optimising Decision-Making and Analysis of the Energy Performance of Building Portfolios with Artificial Intelligence; Pour Rahimian Leilabadi, F. (PI) & Marc Roper; DATALAB (SFC Innovation Centre, administered by the University of Edinburgh): 99,979; 01/08/17 → 30/04/18
• Building Capacity - Sustainable Development in the Built Environment (BC-SDBE), Ashraf Salama, Farzad Pour Rahimian (Co-I), & David Grison; British Council Newton Fund Institutional Links, Strathclyde Budget: £ 30,104; Role; Co-I;

List of Selected Recent Consultancy Projects:

• January 2020- March 2020, Market research contract with TVCA involving engagement with the SME community and relevant stakeholders in the Tees Valley to evaluate whether a new SME Energy Efficiency Scheme (SMEEES) will deliver greater energy efficiency, cost savings and CO2 reductions, Funder: Tees Valley Combined Authority, Mabbett Associates Limited, TU Value: £9,650.00
• June 2018- August 2018, Use of Low Cost Augmented Reality for Supporting Online Development Programme for Helping Children Learn Martial Arts, Funder: Scottish Funding Council and Indomitable Leaders Ltd. Value: £ 10,697.73
• December 2017- March 2018, Development of Augmented Reality-Based Network Vulnerability Simulator, Funder: Scottish Funding Council and Uppleuse Solutions Ltd. Value: £10,595.85
• January 2017-April 2017, Feasibility Study for development of BIM Integrated Virtual Showroom for Offsite Manufactured Production, Funder: Scottish Funding Council and Norscot Joinery Ltd. Value: £10,119.08

List of Recent Significant Awards:

• Nominated for Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards 2020, INNOVATOR OF THE FUTURE AWARD
• Special Distinction Award 2018, buildingSMART International
• Official Recognition by the Principal of the University of Strathclyde, Sir Jim McDonald, for winning The Innovation of the Year Award, 2018
• Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards 2018 - INNOVATION OF THE YEAR AWARD
• 2 Scales Pay Rise Award by The Faculty of Engineering, University of Strathclyde, due to Excellence of Service, 2017

Innovation:

• Patent filed, Applicant: Arbnco Ltd, Title: Optimising building energy use, Date Lodged: 17 May 2019, Application Number, GB1906986.3, Underpining Project: Optimising Decision-Making and Analysis of the Energy Performance of Building Portfolios with Artificial Intelligence; Pour Rahimian Leilabadi, F. (PI) & Marc Roper; Funder: DATALAB (SFC Innovation Centre, administered by the University of Edinburgh): 99,979; 01/08/17 → 30/04/18

List of Selected Book:

[1]        S. Sivashanmugam, S. Rodriguez Trejo, F. Rahimian, Enhancing Interoperability and Automation of Construction Waste Quantification, Routledge, London 2025. ISBN: 9781032998541

[ 2]       A. GhaffarianHoseini, A. Ghaffarianhoseini, F. Rahimian, M.B. Purushothaman, Proceedings of the International Conference of Smart and Sustainable Built Environment SASBE2024, 7-9 November, Auckland, New Zealand, Springer Nature, Berlin 2024. ISBN: 978-981-96-4050-8

[3]        H. Alavi, S. Kookalani, F.P. Rahimian, N. Forcada, Integrated Building Intelligence: Elevating Performance, Comfort, and Maintenance Efficiency with BIM and DSS, Springer Nature, Berlin 2024. ISBN: 978-3-031-68864-5

[4]        S. Kookalani, H. Alavi, F.P. Rahimian, Structural Design and Optimization of Lifting Self-forming GFRP Elastic Gridshells based on Machine Learning, Routledge, London 2024. ISBN: 9781032901206

[5]        C. Park, F.P. Rahimian, N. Dawood, A. Pedro, D. Lee, R. Hussain, M. Soltani, Digitalization in Construction: Recent Trends and Advances, Routledge, London, 2023. ISBN: 978-1032517896

[6]        S. Banihashemi, H. Golizadeh, F. Pour Rahimian, Data-driven BIM for Energy Efficient Building Design, Routledge, London. ISBN: 9781003207658

[7]        F. Elghaish, F. Pour Rahimian, T. Brooks, N. Dawood, S. Abrishami, Blockchain of Things and Deep Learning Applications in Construction: Digital Construction Transformation, Springer Nature, Berlin 2022. ISBN: 9783031068287

[8]        J.S. Goulding, F. Pour Rahimian, Offsite production and manufacturing for innovative construction: People, process and technology, Routledge, London, 2019. ISBN: 9781138550681

[9]        J.S. Goulding, F. Pour Rahimian, Digitalization in Construction, Routledge, London, 2023. ISBN: 9781032517896

[10]      L. Potseluyko, F. Pour Rahimian, N. Dawood, F. Elghaish, Platform Based Design and Immersive Technologies for Manufacturing and Assembly in Offsite Construction, Springer Nature, Berlin 2023. ISBN: 9783031329920

[11]      F. Pour Rahimian, J.S. Goulding, S. Abrishami, S. Seyedzadeh, F. Elghaish, Industry 4.0 Solutions for Building Design and Construction: A Paradigm of New Opportunities, Routledge, London, 2021. ISBN: 9780367618780

[12]      S. Seyedzadeh, F. Pour Rahimian, Data-Driven Modelling of Non-Domestic Buildings Energy Performance: Supporting Building Retrofit Planning, Springer Nature, Berlin, 2021. ISBN: 9783030647537