Kamyab Zandi

Kamyab Zandi is an Associate Professor at Chalmers in Structural Engineering, and a Visiting Professor at Stanford University in Aeronautics & Astronautics. He is the Director and Principal Investigator of the Digital Twins Lab, a joint Chalmers-Stanford initiative. He received his master’s in Civil Engineering (2006) and PhD (2010) in Structural Engineering at Chalmers, and his Postdoc (2012) in Materials and Mechanics at MIT, and his Docent (2015) in Concrete Structures at Chalmers.

His research interest spans over several aspects of Digital Twin, namely engineering of aerial vehicle platforms equipped with sensors for data collection from infrastructures, data analysis leveraging Big Data analytics and AI for damage detection, and advanced large-scale FE simulations for condition assessment and service life prediction. His team pioneered the integration of advanced physics-based and data-driven models into a Digital Twin as a decision-making support tool to assess the risks for building, cities and infrastructures subjected to current and future climate events as well as aging caused by environmental impacts.

His research has been recognized through several awards. His work on Digital Twin concept was recognized through “Future Research Leader Award 2017” by Swedish Research Council and “Osher Award” in 2017 and 2019 by Chalmers Foundation, and internationally through “Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship Award 2018” by European Union. Furthermore, his work in the field of structural simulation and performance modelling of deteriorated concrete structures earned recognition through “Concrete Researcher of the Year 2011”, and through “Achievement Award for Young Engineers 2013” by International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib) in Switzerland.

He works closely with industry to bring his research outcomes to engineering practice. A primary goal of Digital Twins Lab is to share the first proofs of Digital Twin in real-scale demonstrations with industry. His team implemented the first seamlessly integrated toolbox to create a Digital Twin of a cracked concrete beam. Furthermore, his team has developed and implemented an engineering bond model for corroded reinforcement in concrete, ARC 2010 Program, and demonstrated the application of the model in close cooperation with industry in several pilot studies.