Built Environment

Welcome to the Department of the Built Environment

We are driven by our ambitions to make a difference. Sustainability, in its broadest definition, is the cornerstone of our research and education.
We take the lead in (re)shaping the built environment and making it futureproof, safe, healthy, inclusive and with respect for planetary boundaries.
We are in an outstanding position to do so because we house the entire spectrum of technology, engineering, design and human behavior disciplines in the built environment, with world class experimental facilities, on all scale levels. This allows us to address societal challenges from a unique integral perspective.

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Education

We educate a new generation of students able to solve today’s and tomorrow’s complex challenges of society. We consider in-depth disciplinary knowledge as key for professional leadership and true autonomy in future professions. Our education is small scale. Students are offered a maximum degree of freedom to select education in the sub-discipline of their preference. Collaborative skills are trained in joint challenge-based projects that address societal challenges. We educate life-long learners, students with the abilities and attitude to maintain an open mind.

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Our research

Our research community covers the entire range of disciplines related to the built environment. By bringing multiple perspectives to the table and meaningly connecting these, we are able to contribute to innovative solutions for complex societal issues. By playing an active role in our academic network and by committing to Open Science principles, we contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge. We have world class experimental facilities, such as a fully equipped building physics, materials and structures laboratories, a largescale 3D Concrete Printer and Atmospheric Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel, as well as digital twinning and virtual reality facilities. This allows us to do laboratory experimental research from microscopic level to full-scale, from controlled laboratory conditions to field studies involving users, and everything in between. In collaboration with the TU/e institutes EAISI and EIRES we develop Key Enabling Technologies in the field of artificial intelligence and the energy transition.

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Impact

We believe that as an academic institute, we have a responsibility towards society. We do fundamental research with the ambition to not only advance the body of scientific knowledge, but also to drive technological innovation in society. By involving citizens and by collaborating with industrial, societal and public partners we bring knowledge from fundamental research directly to society. As such, we enable the building industry to mature and to innovate and we enable advanced informed solutions and future-proof decision making by municipalities and government. Co-creation with a human-centred approach (by involving citizens) is of crucial importance for success.

Events

  • 25 Apr
    [Translate to English:] Mahault Albarracin
    From Consciousness to Social Groups: Bridging Scales through Active Inference

    HumAIn Dialogues lecture: Mahault Albarracin

    Active in cognitive science, psychology, and technology, specifically in active inference, gender fluidity, affordances, and scripts.

  • 26 Apr
    With Philip de Goey | TU/e

    EIRES Lunch Lecture

    12h00-13h00 | Topic: The Iron Power Cycle, status and next steps

  • 13 May
    Models and Algorithms for Transit Centric Urban Mobility

    EAISI lecture by visiting Professor Samitha Samaranayake

    Models and Algorithms for Transit Centric Urban Mobility | Helping Better Buses make Better Cities

  • 14 May
    Matter and Meaning: Towards A Soft Science of Soft Robots

    EAISI lecture by visiting Professor Jonas Jørgensen

    Matter and Meaning: Towards A Soft Science of Soft Robots

  • 17 May
    With Claudia R. Binder | EPFL

    EIRES Lunch Lecture

    12h00-13h00 | Topic: The energy transition: a human-centered perspective towards tipping

  • 27 May

    PDA Best Paper Award 2024

    May 27, 2024 4:00 PM / TU/e campus (Blauwe Zaal, Auditorium)

  • 27 May
    workshop
    Science of AI & AI for Science

    Leuven.AI scientific workshop 2024

    The second Leuven.AI scientific workshop will zoom in on two perspectives on science and AI.

  • 28 May
    [Translate to English:]
    April 22, 2024
    TU/e Campus, May 28th, 2024

    2024 INTERSCT.Conference on Cyber Security of Internet-of-Things

    May 28, 2024 9:00 AM / Auditorium

  • 05 Jun
    ICAI Day

    ICAI DAY – exploring AI’s impact on society

    June 5, 2024 12:00 PM / Erasmus Campus, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam

  • 07 Jun

    MedTech Day 2024

    June 7, 2024 9:30 AM / Eindhoven University of Technology

  • 13 Jun
    Topic t.b.c.

    EnergyDays

    Topic t.b.c.

  • 13 Jun
    5 cupcakes with sparkles

    EAISI jubilee AI Symposium

    Symposium in honor of EAISI's fifth jubilee during which research findings of EAISI's funding programs will be presented.

    • News from our department

    April 3, 2024
    Marcel Loomans co-authors Science Policy Forum paper on indoor air quality standards
    The new publication mandates the agenda for safer indoor environments.
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    March 27, 2024
    Understanding and modelling individual preferences for mobility as a service
    Valeria Caiati defended her PhD thesis at the Department of Built Environment on March 27th.
    Read more
    More news
    TU/e honorary doctorates for building materials and mechatronics
    March 21, 2024
    67 years of women at TU/e
    March 4, 2024
    [Translate to English:]
    TU/e-led project ‘UPSCALE’ gets go ahead thanks to NWO KIC funding
    February 21, 2024
    Moisture and chloride transport in porous materials
    February 20, 2024

    Contact

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