SURIC is a multidisciplinary research group based within the School of Engineering and the Built Environment which is shaped by the three core research themes of Infrastructure & Ecosystem Health, Disaster Preparedness & Response, and Circular Economy. Our vision aligns with the holistic concept of Planet-People-Places and is closely associated with ARU’s overarching research themes, with a particular emphasis on alignment with the Sustainable Futures Research Theme.
Our vision is to create a future where communities and their critical infrastructure are sustainably-resilient and adaptable in the face of evolving challenges thus ensuring the well-being of current and future generations. We aim to achieve this by leading transformative research and innovation that empowers communities and practitioners to build safer, more equitable and nature-inspired places, globally.
This research theme is dedicated to improving the design and operation of built environment structures, infrastructure, and ecosystems. It addresses emerging challenges to foster resilience and contributes to the development of healthier, safer and more adaptable communities.
Our focus spans tunnels, bridges, water and wastewater systems, green infrastructure, healthcare, and buildings. The theme is centered on planning, designing, and implementing inspection, data acquisition, and health monitoring practices, as well as the development of system modelling and risk & resilience assessment methodologies. Furthermore, we integrate cutting-edge technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twin (DT) applications, to elevate infrastructure health monitoring standards, ensuring longevity, efficiency, and providing actionable adaptation and mitigation strategies for a more sustainable future.
In addition to our technical endeavours, we proactively cultivate partnerships and collaboration with a diverse array of stakeholders. This approach ensures the adaptability of our research outcomes, acknowledging the critical role of collaborative efforts in achieving our goals. Additionally, community engagement lies at the core of our theme, ensuring that the community is a key beneficiary of the outcomes derived from our research.
This research theme is dedicated to cultivating resilient and adaptive communities capable of effectively mitigating the impact of both natural and man-made disasters.
It encompasses a comprehensive set of measures and actions designed to minimize the repercussions of disasters and adeptly manage their aftermath, with a particular focus on flood and earthquake events that can affect structures, infrastructure, and communities. Key components of this theme include emergency planning, infrastructure and building codes, community engagement, recovery and rehabilitation, lessons learned and improvement.
Additionally, this research theme has established partnerships with both national and international collaborators, creating a collaborative platform for exchanging knowledge and sharing experiences. The aspiration is to contribute significantly to the development of flexible and scalable strategies that can be adapted to diverse geographical and socio-economic contexts.
This research theme aims to promote and advance the responsible and sustainable use of materials within the built environment. The objective of the theme is to see the construction industry adopt and fully embrace circular principles, to minimise resource depletion, to prioritise high value re-use, and to take a holistic approach to minimising greenhouse gas emissions.
Through inter-disciplinary collaboration with fellow academics and industry partners, we work towards integrating circular economy strategies across all aspects of the built environment, with an emphasis on buildings and city infrastructure.
Recent work within this theme includes studies into waste architecture, these recognise that urban waste has become one of the main contributors to global pollution. The concept acknowledges the importance of addressing what is a stigmatised urban issue and encourages the architecture and engineering community to deal with waste, landfills and urban planning with more integration, embracing the opportunities for decentralisation and leapfrogging in developing countries.
We are also involved in research considering how principles of circular economy were integral to historical environments and architectural practice. The aim is to expand our knowledge of historical construction practices, techniques and materials, and to determine which processes and principles are still relevant and should be adopted by the architectural practitioners and construction industry of today.
Sarath Poyilil-Mohan
Title: A conceptual model for optimizing the Hybrid Urban Systems to achieve net-zero emissions using Nature-based Solutions.
Supervisors: Maryam Imani, Maria Vogiatzaki, Donya Hajializadeh (external)
Mohammad Shafiq Seddiqi
Title: Effective Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Strategies in the Context of Kabul, Afghanistan.
Supervisors: Maryam Imani, Biniam Ashagre
Gloria Osei
Title: Community-driven, nature-based design framework for the regeneration of neglected urban public spaces.
Supervisors: Federica Pascale, Nezhapi-Delle Odeleye, Alison Pooley (external)
Andrew Thompson
Title: Fitness for human habitation: the right to a healthy home.
Supervisors: Federica Pascale, Nadeeshani Wanigarathna, Keith Jones
Douglas Bawuah
Title: NHS Hospital Trusts readiness towards resilience automatization using digital technologies.
Supervisors: Federica Pascale, Nebil Achour, Keith Jones
John Antwi
Title: Structural performance of steel-concrete composite structures under combined actions and fire.
Supervisors: Yingang Du, Mariantonietta Morga, Reuben Brambleby
Ebisinbofa Williams
Title: exploring the value in near miss reporting for construction safety.
Supervisors: Olalekan Oshodi, Binh Le, Ana Cocho-Bermejo
Irina Shaklova
Title: artificial ecosystems for building envelopes.
Supervisors: Ana Cocho-Bermejo, Antonio Moreda
Kane Harris
Title: Urban Re-design and safe communities.
Supervisors: Maria Vogiatzaki, Lakshmi Babu Saheer, Elisa Orofino)
We offer our Engineering & the Built Environment PhD and have also identified a range of innovative research project opportunities for postgraduate researchers.
Dr Maryam Imani: [email protected]