Research Associate - Auditing AI for Construction

Job summary

The post is funded by the Innovate UK to investigate the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled auditing for construction materials and components in buildings and structures.

The BuildAudIt project will develop a platform for Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled auditing for construction materials and components in buildings and structures. The solution will support auditing throughout the lifecycle of a building or structure (construction, commissioning, in-use, refurbishment/change of use and demolition). However, to control project scope the focus will be on the priority areas of pre-retrofit (to support net-zero targets across c.30 million UK residential, public and commercial buildings) and pre-demolition (ensuring that materials/components are effectively reused/recycled from c50,000 buildings/annum).

We are seeking a highly motivated and skilled Post-Doctoral Research Associate (PDRA) with skills in machine learning, AI, coding, data base and knowledge management. The work will include data base construction, data manipulation, inference of insights and construction of tools to enable sustainable decisions to be made. The work will include interrogation of construction drawings, photographs and images to illicit key information on architecture and materials.

The successful candidate will be required to carry out research programmes in the application of AI to construction decisions and undertake project management to support the research. The Research Associate will be expected to submit publications to refereed journals.

Duties and responsibilities

Main Duties:

• Database construction, data manipulation, inference of insights and construction of tools to enable sustainable decisions to be made.
• To assist with the analysis of data.
• To ensure the validity and reliability of data at all times.
• To maintain accurate and complete records of all findings.
• To assist with the writing of reports to research sponsors.
• To present findings to colleagues.
• To provide advice to other staff and students.
• To assist with the publication of findings.
• To attend relevant workshops and conferences as necessary.

Essential requirements

• Hold a PhD in Architecture, Computer Science, AI Robotics, or a closely related discipline, or equivalent research, industrial or commercial experience
• Practical experience within a research environment and/or publication in relevant and refereed journals
• Experience of dealing with architects and construction personnel
• Practical experience in a broad range of techniques including application of machine learning, feature recognition, decision rationale and data analysis
• Knowledge of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and feature recognition

Please refer to the job description for a full list of desired and essential requirements. 

Further information

This is a 1-year research project commencing in  April 2024.

Should you require any further details on the role please contact Prof Peter Childs at [email protected] .

Any queries regarding the application process should be directed to Monika Delczyk at [email protected] .