Our Research Candidates

The postgraduate research program benefits from a cohort drawn from almost every continent across the globe, focusing on tackling pressing environmental and societal challenges under the supervision of world-class academics and researchers, as well as leaders in the built environment professions. You can view the depth and breadth of postgraduate research currently undertaken by our students on this page.

Construction

Alan McNamara

Implementing Intelligent Contracts in Construction
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Samad Sepasgozar
Professor Shan Pan

Ann Godfrey

Information, Tenure, and Energy Efficiency
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Hazel Easthope
Professor Susan Thompson

George Denny-Smith

Maximising the social impact of Indigenous procurement policies in the Australian construction industry
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Riza Yosia Sunindijo
Associate Professor Leanne Piggott
Professor Martin Loosemore

Olatunji Abisuga

Integrated collaborative facilities management framework for post occupancy evaluation of higher education facilities
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Changxin Wang
Associate Professor Riza Yosia Sunindijo

Qian Zhang

Key factors affecting CSR practices in the construction industry: a study of large construction enterprises in China
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Benson Lim
Dr Bee Oo

Shadi Batarseh

Digital Twin for Smart Railway Infrastructure
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Sisi Zlatanova
Dr Abdoulaye Diakite
Dr Ahmed W A Hammad
Simon Vaux

Boadu Elijah Frimpong

Promoting health and safety management through procurement: framework for the construction industry in developing countries (case study of Ghana)
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Riza Yosia Sunindijo
Dr Changxin Wang

Maziar Yazdani

Designing a Smart Disaster Response System for Urban Areas in Australia
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Mohammad Mojtahedi
Professor David Sanderson
Professor Vinayak Dixit

Mahyar Habibi Rad

Risk Management in Buildings, Infrastructure, and Reconstruction.
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Mohammad Mojtahedi
Dr Bee Oo

Mirian Vaccari

Lean for non-profit organizations in the housing sector
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Mohammad Mojtahedi
Professor David Sanderson

Kamyar Kabirifar

Sustainable construction and demolition waste management in Australia
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Mohammad Mojtahedi
Dr Changxin Wang

Olawale Tosin Akinmoladun

Green Procurement in the Construction Industry
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Bee Oo
Dr Benson Lim

Mudan Wang

Integrated system for 3D optimisation of construction site layout planning
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Changxin Wang
Dr Samad Sepasgozar
Professor Sisi Zlatanova

Christina Liem

Promoting female skilful employment in Indonesian construction industry
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Riza Yosia Sunindijo
Dr Changxin Wang

Fahim Ullah

Modelling consumers' experience of using online information for Smart Real Estate Management
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Samad Sepasgozar
Dr Changxin Wang
Dr Steven Davis

Mohammad Mehdi Hassan

Proposing a collaborative system to optimize role of social procurement to provide innovative solutions to youth unemployment in Australia: a social network perspective
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Ahmed W A Hammad
Dr Dan Chamberlain

Yu-Cheng Lin

The Risk and Return Characteristics of Sector-Specific Real Estate Investment Trusts in the Asia-Pacific
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Chyi Lin Lee
Professor Graeme Newell

Siddra Qayyum

Construction quality risks in large scale Public-Private Partnership based infrastructure projects: Developing a Six Sigma Rating Framework
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Mohammad Mojtahedi
Dr Changxin Wang

Architecture

Anjalika Wijesurendra

Community Integration of Residential Aged Care: The case of the Australian Aged Care System
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Bill Randolph
Professor Emeritus Bruce Judd

Baojie He

Modelling Effects of Urban Ventilation on Urban Heat Island in Precinct Context
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Lan Ding
Scientia Professor Deo Prasad

Behnaz Avazpour

Innovative design approach to enhancing water sensitivity in semi-arid urban landscapes of drought-prone cities
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Paul Osmond
Professor Linda Corkery

Hao Wang

Housing density in China
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Xing Ruan
Associate Professor Harry Margalit

Hyungmo Yang

A study on apartment design strategies in reference to users’ requirements from diverse demographic characteristics: To inform suppliers’ decision-making
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Hazel Easthope
Dr Philip Oldfield

Jie Feng

Development, testing and application of advanced cool materials for facade, roof and pavement to mitigate heat islands in the urban environment
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Mattheos Santamouris
Associate Professor Lan Ding

Jonathan Fox

The effect of facades on outdoor microclimate
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Paul Osmond
Professor Alan Peters

Kirrily Sullivan

Whose heritage is it? Strategies for empowering communities in the conservation of their built heritage
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Robert Freestone
Dr Judith O'Callaghan

Malay Dave

High performance prefab housing: towards an evaluation framework for design, sustainability and affordability
Supervisor(s): 
Bruce Watson
Dr Laurence Kimmel
Scientia Professor Deo Prasad

Nurul Huda Mohd Annuar

A framework of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment as a new generation tool for building assessment system: A case study of Malaysia (MY-LCSA)
Supervisor(s): 
Scientia Professor Deo Prasad
Associate Professor Paul Osmond

Pengfei Ma

Chinese Inhabitation and Timber Framework
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Xing Ruan
Associate Professor Maryam Gusheh

Philip Drew

The Voice of Architecture: Thomas Vallance Wran sculptor 1832-1891
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Peter Kohane
Associate Professor Harry Margalit

Renate Carius

Community Architecture: permanence or impermanence in earthquake reconstruction of informal rural settlements in Nepal
Supervisor(s): 
Professor David Sanderson
Dr Christian Tietz

Sharryn Bowman

Collective Mood, Gentrification and Architecture: The Art Gallery of New South Wales and the influence of its Trustees within Sydney’s late 19th century society
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Harry Margalit
Dr Peter Kohane

Aysu Kuru

Biomimetic adaptive building skins for thermal comfort: An approach towards multifunctionality
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Philip Oldfield
Associate Professor Francesco Fiorito
Associate Professor Stephen Bonser

Jinda Qi

Decision-making Model for Government to Mitigate Urban Heat Island Effect
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Lan Ding
Associate Professor Samsung Lim

Marini Samaratunga

Modelling residential energy consumption behaviour
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Kate Bishop
Associate Professor Lan Ding
Scientia Professor Deo Prasad
Dr Kevin Yee

Maximilienne Whitby

Toward Design for Neurodiversity: person environment fit implications of atypical somatosensory function in neurodiverse adults
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Catherine Bridge
Dr Peter Kohane
Dr Simone Reppermund

Siliang Yang

Studies on Prioritized Application of Building Integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal Double-Skin Facade for Commercial Building in Australia
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Francesco Fiorito
Scientia Professor Deo Prasad
Associate Professor Alistair Sproul

Farzad Heyrani

Assessing Interior Design Circulation in Art Museums in Australia in Terms of Visitor Engagement
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Oya Demirbilek
Bruce Watson

Aya Alshawabkeh

Residential architecture and human experience: A phenomenological interpretation for a user-sensitive practice in Sydney and Amman
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Bruce Judd
John Gamble

Deepthie Perera

Changing role of outdoor and semi-outdoor transitional spaces and its socio-cultural implications on the tropical urban house and neighborhood.
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Harry Margalit
Associate Professor Maryam Gusheh

Eleonora D’Ascenzi

The changing role of the architects over the last ten years in Italy
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Harry Margalit
Dr Paola Favaro

Hassan Saeed Khan

Synergies between Urban Heat Island Intensity (UHII) and Heat Waves (HW) in Sydney and possible mitigation technologies.
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Mattheos Santamouris
Dr Laurence Kimmel
Dr Riccardo Paolini
Dr Peter Caccetta

Michael White

Generative space planning of landscaped rooftop gardens
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Matthias Haeusler
Ioannis Zavoleas

Ray Stevens

Space, Time & the Human Margin: A Way of Understanding Spatial & Temporal Symbolism in Sacred Architecture Through Participation
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Peter Kohane
John Gamble

Samira Garshasbi

Development of Advanced Thermochromic Materials to Decrease Energy Consumption and Fight Urban Overheating
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Mattheos Santamouris
Associate Professor Francesco Fiorito
Dr Shujuan Huang

Hafiz Suliman Munawar

Machine learning in humanitarian relief through employing rule-based verification on aerial imagery
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Ahmed W A Hammad
Prof S Travis Waller

Hamed Mohajer

Designing and modeling prefabricated multi-layer envelopes consisting of Bio-PCM modules reinforced with high-performance insulations
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Mattheos Santamouris
Associate Professor Lan Ding

Lisa Thomson

"NOVEL ECOSYSTEMS ON THE ROOFTOP: how a rooftop garden can be a catalyst for urban and social regeneration A case study of the native urban rooftop garden, Yerrabingin, South Eveleigh, Sydney"
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Linda Corkery
Dr Joshua Zeunert

Cathe Stack

Connectivity to Landscape through the Shaping Of Artefact
Supervisor(s): 
Ainslie Murray
Professor Linda Corkery

Abood Alamoudi

Exploring Urban Sustainability in Saudi Arabia: The Future Saudi Cities Program.
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Rotimi Abidoye
Dr Yat Lam

Florence Wong

Mass Engineered Timber (MET) Construction – its durability in hot & humid climate, a study in the Greater Bay Area of China
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Paul Osmond
Dr Philip Oldfield

Charlotte Firth

Soft Robotic End Effectors
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Kate Dunn
Associate Professor Matthias Haeusler

Sima Alizadeh

Towards Healthy Built Environment: the role of housing environmental quality on attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among children
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Catherine Bridge
Professor Bruce Judd
Professor Valsamma Eapen

Diane Jones

Codifying knowledge generated by the intersection of research and architectural practice: the design excellence of the contemporary court house
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Dijana Alic
Professor Linda Corkery

Anshuka

Increasing Resilience in Pacific Neighbourhoods through better risk analysis and systems based modelling
Supervisor(s): 
Professor David Sanderson
Dr Alec Thornton

Eunike Kristi Julistiono

Reducing Embodied Carbon of Vertical Residential Buildings in Asia
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Philip Oldfield
Dr Luciano Cardellicchio

Mohammad Nanda Widyarta

Economy, Cultural Scene, and Architecture in Indonesia, 1950-1965

Tao Jin

Assessment of big data driven high performance building for low carbon living
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Lan Ding
Scientia Professor Deo Prasad

Planning

Catherine Evans

Urbanising Nature and the Nature of Urbanisation: the politics of park making in late 20th century Sydney
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Robert Freestone
Emeritus Professor Jon Lang

Henrique Sala Benites

Regenerative urban developments
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Paul Osmond
Scientia Professor Deo Prasad

Jin Zhu

Housing affordability and planning regime in urbanising China
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Hal Pawson
Associate Professor Hoon Han
Associate Professor Bingqin Li

Richard Shepherd

Planning and the Public Interest: The civic rationale for the planning profession
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Robert Freestone
Associate Professor Simon Pinnegar

Saul Deane

Revealing the mechanics of foreshore dis/possession
Supervisor(s): 
Peter Williams

Shirleyana

Building Community Resilience in Urban Settlements. The Case of Kampung in Surabaya, Indonesia.
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Scott Hawken
Associate Professor Riza Yosia Sunindijo
Professor David Sanderson

Sukanya Rupa Ganguli

An institutional analysis of high density housing production
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Bill Randolph
Professor Hal Pawson

William Craft

A Decision-Making Framework for Regenerative Precinct Development
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Lan Ding
Scientia Professor Deo Prasad

Xueying Xiong

The Elderly Immigrants in Australia and Their Left-Behind Counterparts in China: A Comparison of Mobility Decision, Living Arrangement, and Intergenerational Exchange
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Hoon Han
Professor Bruce Judd

Oliver Lock

Using city dashboards for empowering citizens in the smart city
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Christopher Pettit
Associate Professor Simone Zarpelon Leao
Associate Professor Tomasz Bednarz

Peter Hunt

The Business Case for Sustainable Development in the Australian Built Environment.
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Paul Osmond
Dr Maria Balatbat

Simon Lloyd

Water sensitive innovations aimed at reducing pathogenic contamination of recreational water environments
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Paul Osmond
Professor Stuart Khan

Samaneh Arasteh

Developing Safe Public Spaces in Social Housing Renewal Projects through Physical, Social and Cultural aspects
Supervisor(s): 
Professor David Sanderson
Dr Dijana Alic

Cathy Smith

Occupying Vacancy: Nomadic Subjects, Temporality and Tenure in the Twenty-First Century City
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Simon Pinnegar
Professor Robert Freestone

Sugandha

Smart Cities and Social Sustainability: A critical analysis of the Indian Smart City Mission
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Robert Freestone
Dr Paola Favaro

Jinjin Yan

Seamless Pedestrian Navigation in Indoor/Outdoor Large Spaces with No Clear Patterns for Movement
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Sisi Zlatanova
Dr Abdoulaye Diakite

Linda Romanovska

Evaluation of green infrastructure from a whole-of-service life perspective
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Paul Osmond
Dr Philip Oldfield
Dr Sarath Mataraarachchi

Ripan Debnath

Modeling urban growth of coastal city: a disaster risk sensitive CA-ABM approach for Greater Sydney area.
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Christopher Pettit
Associate Professor Simone Zarpelon Leao

Xintian Wang

Refurbishment of neighborhood open space (NOS) in old urban areas in contemporary China: case studies in Qingdao
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Linda Corkery
Associate Professor Nancy Marshall

Samal Hama Salih

Spatial Analysis, Modelling, and Measures of Public Transit Network Accessibility: A New Technical Advancement
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Brian Lee
Associate Professor Hoon Han
Professor Christopher Pettit

Joe Harvey

Urbanisation, wellbeing and green infrastructure
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Paul Osmond
Professor Susan Thompson
Professor Linda Corkery

Jing Jia

Towards an Approach for Water Sensitive Super Block Design via A Comparative Study of Current Water Sensitive Situation in Beijing city, Shanghai city, Xi’an city, Shenzhen city and Chongqing city
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Scott Hawken

Claire Daniel

Smart planning for smart cities: Design of smart planning evaluation systems
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Christopher Pettit
Professor Lyria Bennett Moses
Elizabeth Wentz

Abdullah Alshehri

Increasing Residential Density and Adequate Housing Provision at the New Metro Stations in the City of Riyadh
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Hoon Han
Dr Benson Lim

Sudarshan Karki

A Prototype for a 3D Cadastral Data Update Model
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Sisi Zlatanova

Lin Meng

Responsive AI Augmented Design in Urban Design/Planning - A Game Theory Approach
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Matthias Haeusler
Dr Michael Bain

Antonius Rainier Haryanto

A New Development Model for Implementation of Sustainable Priority/Critical Infrastructure
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Sarath Mataraarachchi
Professor David Gordon Carmichael

Alana Crimeen

Urban airport regions and public health: Understanding how airport planning policy considers determinants of health
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Robert Freestone
Professor Bill Randolph
Professor Evelyne de Leeuw

Muhammad Saadmann R Sabeek Eusuf

Voxel-based approach to estimate the volume of fuel load from point cloud data for hazard reduction burning.
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Sisi Zlatanova
Dr Jack Barton

Sijie Liu

Sijie Liu
Thermal Affect of Outdoor Environments
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Negin Nazarian
Associate Prof. Melissa Hart
Dr. Graeme Wood

Josephine Roper

The contribution of transport infrastructure to property value
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Christopher Pettit
Dr Brian Lee

Matt Kelly

Recognition and empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the NSW Planning system.
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Hoon Han
Dr Ed Wensing

Kristina Ulm

A critical analysis of urban planning and policy impact on informal urban agriculture
Supervisor(s): 
Professor David Sanderson
Dr. Alec Thornton
Evelyne De Leeuw

Lerisca Lensun

UNSW BE HDR student Lerisca Lensun
Investigating affordability issues, rent-setting frameworks & work participation in NSW Social Housing
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Hal Pawson
Dr Chris Martin
Associate Professor Hazel Easthope

Parisa Zara

Geo-design in planning and designing for bicycling: an evidence-based approach for collaborative bicycling planning
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Christopher Pettit
Associate Professor Simone Zarpelon Leao
Dr Ori Gudes

Jason Harrison

Jason Harrison
Is healthy planning equitable? How health supportive is the public realm for people with a disability?
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Susan Thompson
Associate Professor Simon Pinnegar

Design

Catriona Quinn

The role of the client in Australian design history 1950-1970
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Paul Hogben
Dr Judith O’Callaghan

Samira Afshari

The perception of the wall in gated communities
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Dijana Alic
Associate Professor Harry Margalit

Frédérique Noëlle Sunstrüm

User Perception of Design Language Semantics
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Oya Demirbilek
Dr Nicole Gardner

K. Daniel Yu

Parametric Master Planning Using Artificial Organic Simulations Through Topographical Analysis
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Matthias Haeusler
Alessandra Fabbri

Khan Rahmat Ullah

Energy Poverty in NSW. Characteristics , Impact and Solutions
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Mattheos Santamouris
Dr Gloria Pignatta
Dr. Ana Deletic

Alumni

Fatima Afzal

Sustainability Management of Construction Organisations
Supervisor(s): 
Dr Benson Lim
Scientia Professor Deo Prasad

Nicola Pullan

Just a Roof Over Their Heads: Temporary Dwellings on Sydney's Urban Fringe 1945 to 1960
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Robert Freestone
Associate Professor Simon Pinnegar

Sarbeswar Praharaj

Enabling Smart City Transformation in Emerging Economies: India's 100 Smart Cities Mission
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Hoon Han
Dr Scott Hawken

Sardar Karim

Co-benefits of low carbon policies in the built environment: An Australian investigation into local government co-benefits policies
Supervisor(s): 
Professor Susan Thompson
Peter Williams

Sian Thompson

The role of the built environment in supporting casual social ties in large apartment complexes and their local areas
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Hazel Easthope
Professor Emeritus Bruce Judd

Tim Tompson

In becoming a smarter city: Pragmatist experiments in Sydney's transport information systems
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Matthias Haeusler
Professor Susan Thompson

Carlos Bartesaghi Koc

Assessing the thermal performance of green infrastructure on urban microclimate
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Paul Osmond
Professor Alan Peters
Dr Matthias Irger

Claudio Diaz Sandoval

Potential of Building Surface Evaporative Cooling using Rainwater in the Hot Humid Tropics
Supervisor(s): 
Associate Professor Paul Osmond
Professor Ivan Cole

Yolanda Tobing

Corporate sustainability and responsibility of private finance institutions in the transition to a low carbon economy: case studies in Australia and Indonesia
Supervisor(s): 
Scientia Professor Deo Prasad
A/Prof John Merson

Anumitra Mirti

Anumitra Mirti
My research is about adapting hospital built infrastructure to extreme weather event risks associated with climate change.
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