Thinklab

Envisioning Digital Futures

Dr. May Bassanino

Position held at THINKlab
Research Fellow

Time at THINKlab
June 2007-March 2018

My Experience at THINKlab

My experience at the University of Salford THINKlab for more than ten years has had a strong direction in the area of collaborative engineering, process modelling and evaluation frameworks. My research work was focused on investigating multi-disciplinary collaboration through my involvement in a number  of  European  funded  research projects such as CoSpaces (FP6 programme), Visionair, Design4Energy and ProSEco (FP7 programme) and RenoZEB (Horizon 2020) in which I led the tasks for process modelling to define various scenarios for requirements capture. Through my engagement in this research programme,  I  studied  in-depth  concurrent activities carried out by multidisciplinary design teams and explored the use of visualisation and interactive technologies to enhance team communication and collaboration.

While working at the THINKlab, I had the opportunity to be involved in teaching. I have successfully delivered courses in Digital Architecture for undergraduate and postgraduate students. I have also successfully designed and delivered a number of industry engagement activities such as training programmes,  webinars,  online  courses  and CPDs for large industrial users, SMEs and research scientists to address strategic, operational and technical aspects in the construction industry.

The THINKlab team under the leadership of Professor Fernando represents a rich environment for collaboration, enabling the centre’s members and their collaborators to exchange and share experiences and knowledge across all aspects of research, commercial and enterprise activities. The unique setting  of  the  THINKlab  facilitated close communications and friendships amongst the team members to develop, thus enjoying social celebrations when possible. I am privileged to say that I was part of such a great team for more than ten years, contributing to its success and I am keen to carry on working with  the  team  members  through my new role.

How has THINKlab supported/assisted your career and/or academic progression?

The THINKlab at the University of Salford is an interdisciplinary centre in every sense. I joined the THINKlab as a researcher with an architectural background, however, after more than 10 years of being involved in interdisciplinary research activities, my research portfolio has expanded far beyond  the  construction  industry  to cover a wide range of domains and industries: Aerospace, Automotive, Ecosystem, Social, Design and Energy, and Manufacturing, to name a few. This experience enabled me to appreciate “interdisciplinary” as an enabler for creativity and innovation.

Publications

  • Arayici, Y., Fernando, T., Manoz, V. & Bassanino, M (2018). Interoperability Specification Development for Integrated BIM Use in Performance Based Design. Automation in Construction Journal, Vol 85C, pp. 167-181.
  • Iram, S., Fernando, T. & Bassanino, M. (2017). Exploring Cross-Domain Data Dependencies for Smart Homes to Improve Energy Efficiency. In Proceedings of ACM/IEEE UCC conference (UCIOT2017). ACM, New York, NY, USA.
  • Fernando, T., Bassanino, M., Wu, K-C., Garcia, A., FHR team, Scherer, R., Kadolsky, M., Noack, F., Hassan, T., Fouchal, F., Firth, S. & Dimitriou, V. (2017). Design4Energy Technical Report D7.4: Final design and implementation of the virtual workspace to explore various design options.
  • Fernando, T., Bassanino, M., Tan, T., Fitton, R., Roberts, B. I. & Ji, Y. (2017). Design4Energy Technical Report D7.5: 3D On-line gaming environment for learning how to build green buildings.
  • Iram, S., Fernando, T. & Bassanino, M. (2016). A Novel Hybrid Engineering Methodology to Enhance Collaboration during the Design and Development of Meta Product Services. Proceedings of the PRO-VE2016, Porto, Portugal.
  • Bassanino, M., Fernando, T., Wu, K., Ghazimirsaeid, S., Klobut, K., Mäkeläinen, T. & Hukkalainen, M. (2016), A collaborative environment for energy-efficient buildings within the context of a neighbourhood, in: ‘ECPPM 11th European Conference on Product and Process Modelling’, CRC Press, Limassol,  Cyprus,  pp.299-307.
  • Fernando, T., Bassanino. & Munoz, V. (2016). Design4Energy Technical Report D6.4: Design4Energy Interoperability Specifications- Full Release.
  • Bassanino, M., Fernando, T., M. Masior, Kadolsky, M., Scherer, R. J., Fouchal, F., Hassan, T. M., Firth, S., Mäkeläinen, T. Klobut, K.  (2014). Collaborative environment for energy-efficient buildings at an early design stage. Proceedings of the European Conference on Product and Process Modelling  (ECPPM),  Vienna  University  of Technology, Austria.
  • Mäkeläinen, T. Klobut, K. Fernando, T. Hannus, M. Sepponen, M. Masior, J. Fouchal, F. Hassan, T. Firth, S. & Bassanino, M. (2014). New methodology for designing energy efficient buildings in neighbourhoods. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the European Conference on Product and Process Modelling  (ECPPM),  Vienna  University  of Technology, Austria.
  • Bassanino, M., Fernando, T., Wu, K. C. (2014). Can Virtual Workspaces enhance team communication and collaboration in Design Review Meetings? Architectural Engineering and Design Management Journal, No 10 (3-4), pp 200-217.
  • Fernando, T., Wu, K.& Bassanino, M. (2013). Designing a Novel Virtual Collaborative Environment to Support Collaboration in Design Review Meetings. ITCon 18 (372-396).
  • Bassanino, M., Wu, K. C, Yao, J., Khosrowshahi, F., Fernando, T. and Skjærbæk, J. (2010). The Impact of Immersive Virtual Reality on Visualisation for a Design Review in Construction. Proceedings of the BuiltViz 10 Conference, London, UK.  
  • Bassanino, M., Gautier, G., Wu, K. C., Fernando, T. and Skjærbæk, J. (2009) ‘An Innovation Approach to Improve Collaboration in a Futuristic Design Review’. In: McCaffer R (Ed.), Global Innovation in Construction Conference Proceedings, University of Loughborough, UK.
  • Gautier, G., Kubaski, S., Bassanino, M. and Fernando, T. (2009) ‘Solving the human problem: investigation of a collaboration culture’, I-ESA Conference Proceedings, China.
  • Gautier, G., Piddington, C., Bassanino, M., Fernando. T. and Skjærbæk, J. (2008) ‘Futuristic design review in the construction industry’. In: Zarli A and Scherer R (Ed.), eWork and eBusiness in Architecture, Engineering and Construction Conference, Sophia-Antipolis, France. Taylor and Francis  Group,  Vol.  1,  pp. 625-633.
  • Hinrichs, E., Bassanino, M., Piddington, C., Gautier, G., Khosrowshahi, F., Fernando, T. and Skjærbæk, J. (2008) ‘Mobile Maintenance Workspaces: Solving Unforeseen Events on Construction Sites More Efficiently’. In: Zarli A and Scherer R (Ed.), eWork and eBusiness in Architecture, Engineering  and  Construction  Conference,  Sophia-Antipolis, France. Taylor and Francis Group.
  • Bassanino, M., Underwood, J., Allen, T., Khosrowshahi, F. and Stokes, E. (2008) ‘Towards Developing an Industry led Educational Framework Using Lean Approach’. In: Tzortzopoulos P and Kagioglou M (Ed.). IGLC 16 Proceedings, Manchester, England.

My Future

After leaving the THINKlab, I am joining the School of Art, Design and Architecture team at the University of Huddersfield as a Senior Lecturer. In my new role, I will be leading the ‘Architectural Technology’ Programme and pursue my ambition to build my research area around ‘Design  for  the  Ageing  Population’.