Poorang Piroozfar

I have participated in and led research initiatives, projects (pure and applied) and multi-disciplinary research teams since I was working in professional practice throughout my entire academic career. My research and scholarly roles include the co-founder and director of @BEACON (Advanced Technologies in the Built Environment, Architecture and CONstruction) research group, founder and immediate past director of BERG (Built Environment Research Group), founder and director of Digital Construction Lab, at School of Environment and Technology, University of Brighton, UK, co-founder and chairman of NoNames Design Research and Studies, founder and director of MAVRiC (Mixed, Augmented and Virtual Reality inter-Connected) research group, an academic member of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Science and Engineering in Arts, Heritage and Archaeology (SEAHA), a joint initiative between UCL, University of Oxford and University of Brighton to establish an infrastructure to meet challenges set by the heritage sector, industry and government, and a British Council Fund Reviewer. I also serve as a founding member, member of scientific and/or organising committee of several international conferences, including:

• International Conference on Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society
• International Conference on Zero-Energy Mass Custom Homes
• International Conference on Engineering, Project, and Production Management
• MCPC World Conference on Mass Customization, Personalization, and Co-Creation
• Association of Researchers in Construction Management Conference

and as a reviewer in several academic journals, including:

• Applied Energy, ISSN: 0306-2619
• Sustainable Cities and Society, ISSN: 2210-6707
• Journal of Building Engineering, ISSN: 2352-7102
• Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, ISSN: 0265-8135
• Journal of Architectural Engineering, ISSN: 1076-0431
• Journal of Architectural Engineering and Design Management, ISSN: 1745-2007
• Journal of Automation in Construction, ISSN: 0926-5805
• International Journal of Construction Management, ISSN: 1562-3599
• Facilities, ISSN: 0263-2772
• Journal of Facilities Management, ISSN: 1472-5967
• Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, ISSN: 1837-9133
• Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, ISSN: 1364-6826

My research publications have recieved several awards in different international conferences including:

• The Frontiers Best Paper Award for Building Performance and Evaluation, SEEDS2018 International Conference, Dublin, Ireland.
• SEEDS Best Paper Award in the Built Environment, SEEDS2016 International Conference, Leeds, UK
• RICS Best Paper Award for Sustainability, ARCOM2015 Annual Conference, Lincoln, UK
• CIOB Best Technical Paper Award, SEEDS2015 International Conference, Leeds, UK

I am also a registered architect (MICEO) with ICEO (Iranian Construction Engeering Organisation) and a chartered architectural technologist (MCIAT) with CIAT (Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists) where I serve on professional membership assessment panels, as a judge for student competitions and also as an educational officer to the CIAT Region 10 (South East Region).

As an educator, I have a long and sustained history in pedagodgy of architecture, architectural design/ technology/ engineering as well as ICT/BIM in the AEC subject areas where I have taught individuals, small groups and large groups at UG/PG/PGR levels in three different continents. I firmly believe that teaching is a very personal journey for learners and that they should be supported and provided with the means and practical solutions to be able to build their very own approach to it. Therefore, my teaching style is dynamic where I utilise innovative methods reinvigorated by technological tools and solutions to motivate and encourage the learners to find and develop the most suitable and personalised approach in their learning endeavour.

I have reviewed, restructured, evaluated, (re)designed and delivered new modules and courses over the years where institutional milestones, PSRBs' benchmarks and individual needs, requirements and preferences needed to have been responded to and met.

As an architect, urban designer and architectural technologist my research spans over a variety of areas but above all has a Multi-, Cross-, Inter- and Trans-disciplinary nature. As a designer I am interested in design research generally and design research in the fields of architecture and urbanism specifically. As an architectural engineer my research investigates the drivers, requirements, benefits and responses to deployment of advanced technologies in Architecture, the Built Environment and Construction, and triangulates people, information, technology and environment to find out the most viable and highly acceptable solutions to the problems in the field. My work involves both hard and soft technologies to achieve this goal.  

I am particularly interested in (Mass) Customisation, Personalisation (which formed the main theme for my Doctorate (PhD) at School of Architecture, University of Sheffield), Co-design and Co-creation of Values building upon and furthering the capacities and benefits new and emerging technologies can offer in the AEC industry. My other areas of interest include: Technology and design of building/urban facades, BIM (Building Information Modelling)/BEM (Building Energy Management)/BES (Building Energy Simulation), OSM (Off-site Manufacture)/OSC (Off-site Construction)/OSP (Off-site Production), Prefab and MMC (Modern Methods of Construction), AR (Augmented Reality)/MR (Mixed Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality), LCA (Life Cycle Assessment)/LCC (Life Cycle Costing).   

I have supervised three PhDs to successful completion in:

• Life Cycle Assessment of Double-Skin Facades for refurbishment of office buildings in temperate climates
• Integrated Façade Systems for highly- to fully-glazed office buildings in hot and arid climates
• The judgement process in architectural design competitions as a deliberative communicative practice

I have three more PhD students at different stages of their studies working on:

• Managing sustainability through architectural design decision processes: Underpinning influences of human values on design problem framing
• Future-proof cultural heritage: A UK perspective
• An integrated approach to Value Management (VM), Risk Management (RM) and Environmental Management (EM) in construction projects

I am interested in taking on new PhD students in following areas:

• IoT (BIM, aerial/UAV scan, point cloud scan to BIM) for Facilities Management, Urban Regeneration / Restoration and Cultural Heritage Preservation
• Design Research and Design Theory
• 3D printing and additive manufacturing for post-disaster fast recovery/relief
• Off-site Manufacture for constrcution, Prefabrication, MMC
• (Mass) customisation, presonalisation, modularisation, standardisation, industrialised building systems, and automation in the AEC industry
• Building kinetic, double-skin and integrated facade systems (energy, lighting, indoor comfort, carbon footprint, environmental impact, technology and design)