TU/e-ETS workshop on DT for built environment, June 18th, 2026

Context

Digital twinning (DT) has emerged over the last decade as a key technology to improve and optimize various aspects of systems across construction, smart buildings, smart cities, and the broader built environment. The TU/e-ETS workshop on DT for the built environment brings together researchers and practitioners from TU/e and ETS to advance DT research and practice across disciplines including software engineering, AI/ML, built environment and construction engineering, as well as Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). With both universities pursuing campus-level DT initiatives, the workshop provides a collaborative forum to align activities, share insights, and identify common challenges, standards, and opportunities for interoperable, end-to-end DT solutions that span design, operation, and retrofit of built assets in the built environment.

Motivation for organizing this workshop stems from concrete observations: DT is a prominent research topic at both TU/e and ETS, with multiple ongoing projects addressing various aspects of the built environment. The cross-disciplinary nature of these efforts involves software engineering, AI/ML, construction engineering, and HCI. Furthermore, campus-level DT development at TU/e and ETS signals a shared trajectory toward integrated, data-driven DT engineering. Workshop participants include leading researchers from TU/e’s Mathematics and Computer Science, Built Environment, and EAISI Digital Twin Lab, alongside ETS GRIDD members from software engineering, construction engineering, and design. This offers a rich foundation for identifying use cases, defining requirements, and charting a roadmap for DT-enabled practices across the built environment.

Objectives

The objective of the workshop is to bring together researchers for both universities, and leading practitioners from The Netherlands and the Eindhoven area to:

• Present current DT research efforts at TU/e, ETS, and the Netherlands, highlighting recent findings, methodologies, and demonstrators relevant to the built environment. 
• Provide an up-to-date assessment of the status and plans for TU/e and ETS campus-level DT initiatives (from building to district), including governance, interoperability goals, and projected milestones.
• Identify concrete use cases and requirements for DT in the built environment and assess their feasibility and impact.
• Review the state-of-the-art and state-of-practice in DT engineering, with a focus on DT technologies and architecture.
• Explore opportunities for research collaboration between TU/e and ETS on DT for built asset delivery and management.

Agenda

• 09h00 – 09h10: Welcome 
• 09h10 – 10h00: Keynote: Roland van der Heijden, Chief Citiverse Officer bij Gemeente Rotterdam
• 10h00 – 10h30: Coffee break
• 10h30 – 12h00: Session 1: Built asset use cases from TU/e and ETS
• 12h00-13h00: lunch
• 13h00 – 14h30: Session 2: DT technologies – data, security and privacy, HCI aspects of DTs
• 14h30 – 15h00: Coffee break
• 15h00 – 16h30: Session 3: DT architecture
  • Presentations
  • Open discussion on DT architecture 
• 16h30 – 17h00:  Discussion + Closing session
• 18h00 – 21h00: Dinner at stadsbrouwerij Eindhoven (100watt.nl)

Venue

TU/e, room to be confirmed.

The workshop is organised by the Software Engineering and Technology cluster and the Information Systems
in the Built Environment group of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), and by the Software and Information Technology Engineering Department and the GRIDD group of École de technologie supérieure Montréal.

Organizers

Francis Bordeleau (ÉTS Montréal)
Mark van den Brand (Eindhoven University of Technology)
Pieter Pauwels (Eindhoven University of Technology)
Érik Poirier (ÉTS Montréal)