What would be the possibilities if buildings would be able to talk to us?

Alex Donkers obtained a PhD degree cum laude in 2024, after completing his MSc degree cum laude in Construction Management and Engineering (2019) and his BSc degree in Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences (2017), all at Eindhoven University of Technology. Both his PhD and MSc theses received best thesis awards. He has professional experience in both architectural practice and engineering consultancy and has undertaken research visits at Ruhr University Bochum (Germany) and the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa). Alex co-chairs the W3C Linked Building Data Community Group, has co-organized multiple editions of LDAC, and teaches in the Master of Real Estate program at TIAS. His work has been published in Automation in Construction, Semantic Web Journal, IEEE, Building Research & Information, Applied Energy, and Transportation Research: Part B, among others. He is also the creator of several open-source projects, including LBDviz and the BOP, OFO and BAO ontologies.

Alex performs research as a postdoctoral researcher in the Information Systems in the Built Environment group. His research focuses on creating and using web-based digital twins by combining symbolic and sub-symbolic AI methods, such as semantic web technologies and natural language processing. His research interests include novel approaches to developing and interacting with BIM, and he has worked on topics such as linked building data, semantic digital twins, ontology developments, data federation, web developments, Open BIM, sensors and IoT, automated compliance checking, digital building permits, and robotics.

He is currently involved in two European projects: the Eureka ITEA4 FireBIM project, which aims to harmonize fire safety regulations and compliance-checking processes across Europe using semantic web technologies and large language models; and AM2PM, which focuses on predictive manufacturing for multistorey construction through 3D concrete printing and robotics.