Meet the academic driving digital transformation in the built environment

“I don’t believe in staying in my comfort zone; I always push boundaries,” says Dr Mohammad Mayouf, a pre-eminent built environment specialist working with Connected Places Catapult on a knowledge exchange programme with South Korea.

In his last year at school, Mohammad came third in a national young inventor competition for designing a refrigerator that runs without electricity. The next year, he entered the contest again and won; this time for creating a safety mechanism to prevent fingers being trapped in slammed doors.

Fast forward 20 years and Mohammad is an internationally renowned consultant in Building Information Modelling and teaches a Masters in BIM and digital construction at Birmingham City University.

His latest challenge is to build a database of digital interventions to help buildings tackle issues that contribute to climate change following his participation in a DIATOMIC international academic engagement programme with South Korea. The project builds on a UK-Republic of Korea Innovation Twins programme led by the Catapult.

“Innovation is so important,” Mohammad says, “because it allows humans everywhere to push boundaries.”

Looking to Britain for leadership

Mohammad grew up in Jeddah, one of the world’s fastest growing cities, and remembers being driven around by his father, a civil engineer, who would point out bridges and underpasses he worked on during the “golden era of construction” in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s and 90s.

He studied civil engineering in northern Cyprus, before moving to the UK to begin a Masters in project management at Teesside University where he developed an interest in BIM.

“Many project management students from the Middle East come to the UK, which is seen as the perfect hub to study leadership and strategy. Everybody looks up to British leaders because of the way they handle tasks and solve problems.”

With his Masters complete, Mohammad was encouraged by his supervisor to continue developing his knowledge around BIM, and he accepted a PhD scholarship at Birmingham City University to study how the tool can be used to improve building performance.

“Many people recognise building performance as being about energy efficiency, but it extends to occupant comfort, facilities management, health and safety, people’s experiences and behaviour inside buildings.”

Dr Mohammad Mayouf, Birmingham City University

Mohammad led a team of international students to Finland to see how digital tools could help diagnose human diseases, which led him to consider how technology could reduce the incidence of ‘sick building syndrome’.

“People typically spend 80% of their time within four walls. Factors that can impact their physical and mental health include materials used in construction, the types of building finishes, air quality, temperature and humidity,” he explains. Technology such as sensors can help track issues, he adds, to ensure spaces are healthy and safe for all.

Mohammad was also keen to understand why some buildings designed 300 years ago are still comfortable to live in, compared to others built 15 years ago. “Quicker delivery and production can sometimes diminish building quality,” he says.

Collecting better data could in future, he adds, inform AI models to identify a sick building and help suggest remedies for a successful retrofit.

Accelerating his academic career

Mohammad’s decision to pursue a PhD was not easy. “For a few months, I wondered why I hadn’t returned to the Middle East to work on construction projects. But when the PhD opportunity came, I saw that what I was doing would get me to where I wanted to be.”

He taught part time, led a postgraduate research network and established himself as a consultant – sitting on professional committees to help establish an international standard for BIM.

“Before engineering, my dream was to become a medical doctor and save lives,” he says. “Now I look for projects to improve communities and help save the planet.”

He became an associate professor in the built environment at Birmingham City University, and worked on several BIM-based projects. These included infrastructure, mega projects and also some commercial schemes where he supported workflows that improved scheduling, cost management and asset management.

Four years ago, Mohammad took charge of the university’s MSc in BIM and restructured it to include digital construction, and now works with several companies to create modules of continuing professional development.

“Digital transformation around the built environment had, until then, been mostly ignored, so I wanted to develop the course further,” he explains.

For many in the built environment, the acronym BIM stands for Building Information Modelling; but for Mohammad a better description is ‘Better Information Management’.

“By the time I finished my PhD, people were talking about BIM, digital twins, Internet of Things, robotics, and Industry 4.0 – and I realised that maybe we really are heading towards a future of digital construction.”

Exchanging knowledge in South Korea

Mohammad was introduced to DIATOMIC’s international academic exchange project at an event in the West Midlands, and was invited to take part to develop research into using digital tools help tackle climate change. The innovation twins partnership is built around a collaboration between cities in the UK and South Korea; and one of these pairings is Birmingham and Ulsan.

He noted that South Korea has very well-developed technologies to generate renewable energy, and took a keen interest in how motor manufacturers manage their international supply chains and synchronise processes in factories.

“The visit helped me better understand the areas which some postdoctoral researchers coming to the UK are working on, around the circular economy and smart cities.”

Mohammad describes Connected Places Catapult as having built a “spider’s web” of support for and between academics on the programme. He says the Catapult has helped link individuals with industry and business leaders to share understanding of digital processes and mutually beneficial opportunities between the UK and South Korea.

Placing greater focus on digital tools should help improve governance, policy and practice in the built environment, he says. Success for him would mean improving the quality and longevity of structures, reducing siloed working in favour of integrated thinking, and ensuring the benefits of digital working are open to everyone.

Ultimately, he adds, “digital tools will only be truly useful for buildings if they improve the lives of everyone”.

Read more about the DIATOMIC programme, and the UK-Republic of Korea Innovation Twins programme.