The School signs memorandum of understanding with Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Under this memorandum of understanding (MoU), both universities will work towards the establishment of a UK-China Research Centre of Excellence in Digital Twins. The centre will bring in organisations from industry and the public sector in the UK and China.

It aims to transform construction with digital capabilities and address real-world problems while answering questions posed by industry, science and society as a whole.

Dr Ling Ma initialised this collaboration and visited Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) with Professor D'Maris Coffman in July 2019.

Dr Ling Ma, who is a Lecturer in Construction Management at the Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management, commented: 

“We have already had strong interest from leading engineering consultancies to join the future Sino-UK research centre. The centre will pool research and expertise in fields such as digital twin, Building Information Modelling, virtual and mixed reality and data sensing. These digital technologies are of increasing importance to modern construction and building maintenance”.

School Director, Professor D'Maris Coffman, commented:

“We are thrilled to sign this MoU with HUST, who are the leading research institution in Wuhan and our key partner in mid-China. They have a world leading civil engineering department where they do cutting edge work in digital construction, digital twins, pre-fabrication, uses of big data for health and safety and security on building sites, and a range of related topics. This is a very exciting development for BSCPM and look forward to fruitful collaborations.”

Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) is ranked 10th of the Best Global Universities for Engineering in U.S. News table. Its School of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering is particularly strong in the area of digital construction.

Image credit: By Glrain - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0