Dr Alejandro Veliz Reyes
Profiles

Dr Alejandro Veliz Reyes

Associate Head of School - Knowledge Exchange

School of Art, Design and Architecture (Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business)

Biography

Biography

Associate Professor in Digital Design, Associate Head of School of Art, Design and Architecture (Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise), and programme lead for MA Architectural Design.

I am a trained architect (Chile) with 15 years of experience in research, teaching and leadership in HE. I am interested in digital architectural innovation, with an emphasis on responsible social/inclusive innovation, digital fabrication, and virtual/extended reality. My work has been presented and published internationally, with research funding from AHRC, ESRC, EPSRC and Research England, and networks of industry and academic partners in Chile, UK, Italy and Australia (see "Research" for details of projects and publications).

Currently I supervise doctoral candidates in multiple areas of digital design and innovation, including Architecture, Digital Arts, and Arts and Media. Their projects investigate the value of digital design and innovation to social and creative settings, and follow action research and participatory approaches in areas such as healthcare, nature-based solutions, and community economies.

I have supported the expansion of our teaching portfolio through under- and post-graduate courses in digital innovation, including the short courses "Digital Design and Fabrication" and "Generative Design", BA Digital Design and Engineering, and MA Integrated Design Innovation.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Architecture - 2016 (University of Liverpool).
  • PGCert in Academic Practice - 2015 (University of Plymouth).
  • Registered Architect - 2007 (USM, Chile).
  • BSc Architecture - 2006 (Technical University Federico Santa Maria, Chile).

Highlights

Teaching

Teaching

Teaching interests

I lead the MA Architectural Design and the MA/MSc Integrated Design Innovation (IDI) programmes. I am also a Visiting Lecturer at The Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL). The IDI programme focuses on tackling real-world industrial challenges through the development of bespoke and innovative products, services and experiences following the Industry 4.0 digital agenda, working with a range of industry partners, academic staff, and our Digital Fabrication and Immersive Media Labs. Through a "Design Lab" model, our students are invited to engage with communities, users and co-design participatory methodologies to deliver successful and inclusive innovation projects.

In my previous roles I have developed the curriculum and led multiple digital design studios and technology Modules in Architecture programmes (nationally and internationally), and supervised more than 100+ undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations in Architecture (Part I and II), Quantity Surveying, Construction Project Management, Architectural Technology, Smart Urban Futures, and Architectural Design programmes.

Module leadership
Design Lab I/II
Advanced Design Thinking and Making Skills
Research Project

Research

Research

Research interests

My research is concerned with digital design and creative innovation. Two core areas of my work include architectural production and automation, and spatial media for health interventions and research. Current projects include ICONIC, GOALD, and Participatory Housing Manufacturing funded by the EPSRC Connected Everything Network: Accelerating Digital Manufacturing Research Collaboration and Innovation. 


To date, I have engaged with multiple disciplines (computer science and robotics, design research, material studies, architectural design, and design theory research) and audiences through projects supported by industry, academia and professional bodies. For example, I lead the only UK-based research team awarded by EPSON Robotic Solutions (Germany) to investigate creative applications of high precision robotic manufacturing technology, and my recent Automation Fellowship (South West Creative Technology Network, Research England) allowed me to explore creative opportunities of robotic 3D printing, leading the in-house development of fabrication strategies for creative material studies. This work has led to recent visiting roles in Chile (2019-21), and guest lectures in Italy, India, Chile, and Costa Rica. My research has been published in journals such as Architectural Science Review and Automation in Construction.

I am interested on supervising doctoral research on digital architectural design, design innovation for health interventions, creative and inclusive innovation, and digital fabrication in the creative sector. My current students include: 

Director of Studies
Ricky Burke (completed), PhD Arts and Media: Digital design for dementia.
Zahra Tehrani, PhD Architecture: Nature-inspired solutions in parametric architectural design.
Alexandra Carr, PhD Digital Arts and Technology: Participatory design and design interaction.
Mathew Holmes, PhD Digital Arts and Technology: Remediation of hyperlocal heritage practices with digital fabrication techniques through anachronistic artefacts.

2nd Supervisor
Mohammad Al-Haj Baddar, PhD Architecture: A criticism of the profile of the architecture of Jordan: The stakeholders, the processes, the outcomes.

Grants & contracts

Architectural Production and Automation

  • Building with/for Bridport: A systems thinking methodology for housing codesign in coastal communities. Principal Investigator, 2023. AHRC Design Exchange Partnerships Round 1, award value £22,232 (80% FEC, total project cost £33,790).
  • HE Short Course Challenge Competition: Digital Fabrication Studio and Data Studio - in partnership with Babcock International, Plymouth Manufacturers Group and Real Ideas Organisation. Programme Lead (BA Digital Design and Engineering), 2022, Office for Students Short Course Trial, award value £52,558 (80% FEC).
  • Participatory design for manufacturing of customisable building components. Principal Investigator 2021-22. EPSRC CEii Network, award value £45,613 (80% FEC).
  • Building High-performance 3D Scanning Capability in the Digital Fabrication and Immersive Media Laboratories. Co-Investigator 2021-22. HEIF + iMayflower (Cultural Development Fund), £9,000.
  • Automation Fellowship, South West Creative Technology Network. Automation Fellow 2019-20, Research England, £15,000.
  • Self-adaptable robot assisted manufacturing in intelligent sustainable work cells. Principal Investigator 2019. EPSON Robotics x3 VT6 Robots.
  • Computing craft: manufacturing of cob structures using robotically controlled 3D printing. Co-Investigator 2017-19. EPSRC Connected Everything Network £73,000 (100% FEC).
  • Augmented vernacular: embedding digital practices into traditional cob construction techniques. Principal Investigator 2017, Chartered Institute of Building, £7,000.
  • Reflective and dynamic use of Wikis to support collaborative design learning. Research Assistant 2023-24, Higher Education Academy, £7,000.

Spatial Media for Health Innovation and Research

  • ICONIC: Intergenerational co-creation of novel technologies to reconnect digitally excluded people with community & cultural landscapes in coastal economies. Co-Investigator 2022-24, EPSRC Equitable Digital Society, £1,248,051 (100%FEC).
  • Hard data: Rendering images of the mind in the physical world. Principal Investigator 2021, UoP Arts-Health Fund £3,925.
  • Digital asset archive of environmental models for use in navigational, VR and immersive arts and health research. Principal Investigator 2021, UoP Arts-Health Fund £3,923.
  • A next-generation toolkit for understanding navigational impairment. Co-Investigator 2021, UoP Pump-Priming Grant, £7,500.
  • GOALD: Generating Older Active Lives Digitally. Co-Investigator, 2021-24. ESRC Healthy Ageing Social, Behavioural and Design Research Programme. £1,999,885 (100%FEC).
  • E-Health Productivity & Innovation in Cornwall (EPIC). Advisor 2020-23. ERDF £4,417,612 (100%FEC).

Publications

Publications

Journals

  • Burke, R., Veliz Reyes, A., 2021. Socio-spatial relationships in design of residential care homes for people living with dementia diagnoses: a grounded theory approach. Architectural Science Review (Special Issue: Architectural Design Science for Dementia).
  • Gomaa, M., Jabi, W., Veliz Reyes , A., Soebarto, V., 2021. Development of a 3D printing system for earth-based materials. Automation in Construction 124 (April 2021, 103577).
  • Veliz , A., Jabi, W., Gomaa, M., Chatzivasileiadi, A., Ahmed, L., Wardhana, N., 2019. Negotiated matter: A robotic exploration of craft-driven innovation. Architectural Science Review 62(5: Special Issue “Means, Methods, Machines and Making in Architecture''): pp 398-408.
  • Gomaa, M., Carfrae, J., Goodhew, S., Jabi, W., Veliz, A., 2019. 3D printing of cob: Thermal Performance Assessment. Architectural Science Review 62(3): pp 230-237.
  • Veliz, A., 2013. Augmented modelling in the design studio: Augmented pedagogies. Augmented reality, art and technology 3: pp 58-63.
  • Veliz, A., Fernandoy, J., Serrano, P., 2010. Diseño arquitectónico basado en componentes, un caso de aplicación en infraestructura aislada (Architectural Component-Based Design, a case study on an isolated facility). Austro Ingeniería, Edition 2008-2009: pp. 17-25.
  • Veliz, A., Gonzalez, L.F., Barros, L., 2008. Design de componentes construtivos personalizados usando um método de desenho baseado nas restrições (Design of mass-customized constructive components by using a constraint-based design method). Pesquisa em arquitetura e construcao 1(3).
  • Veliz, A., Gonzalez, L.F., Barros , L., 2008. Transferencia de Tecnología para la producción de vivienda en Chile (Technology transfer for mass housing production in Chile). Cadernos de Pos-Graduação em Arquitetura e Urbanismo 8(1): pp. 1-12.

Conference Papers

  • Jabi, W., Chatzivasileiadi, A., Gomaa, M., Veliz, A., Wardhana, N., 2018. Computing craft: development of a robotically-supported cob 3D printing system. Presented at: Connected Everything Conference 2018 “Manufacturing a Brave New World”. 26-27 June 2018, Newcastle, United Kingdom.
  • Veliz, A., Gomaa, H., Jabi, W., Chatzivasileiadi, A., Wardhana, N., 2018. Computing craft: Early development of a robotically-supported cob 3D printing system. Proceedings of the 36th International Conference on Education and Research on Computer-Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) 2018: Computing for a better tomorrow. 18-20 September 2018, Lodz, Poland.
  • Balbo, R., Kocaturk, T., Veliz, A., 2013. Hybrid architecture: Coupling structural understanding and architectural education. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference in Architecture and Structures. 24-26 July 2013, Guimaraes, Portugal.
  • Kocaturk, T., Balbo, R., Medjdboub, B., Veliz, A., 2012. An Innovative Approach to Technology Mediated Architectural Design Education - A framework for a web-based Socio-cognitive Ecosystem. Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Education and Research on Computer-Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) 2012: Digital Physicality | Physical Digitality. 12-14 September 2012, Prague, Czech Republic.
  • Veliz, A., Kocaturk, T., Medjdboub, B., Balbo, R., 2012. Dialogues between physical and virtual modelling methods on architectural design. Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Education and Research on Computer-Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) 2012: Digital Physicality | Physical Digitality. 12-14 September 2012, Prague, Czech Republic.
  • Vanossi, A., Veliz, A., Balbo, R., Ciribini, A., 2012. Paths between real and virtual environments within a BIM-based scheme. Proceedings of the 1st UK Academic Conference on Building Information Modelling. 5-7 September 2012, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom.
  • Veliz, A., Kocaturk, T., Medjdoub, B., 2011. Visual programming of customizable building components: Review of three academic experiences. Proceedings of the 10th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC 2011), School of the Built Environment, University of Salford. 14-15 September 2011, Manchester, United Kingdom.
  • Veliz, A., Sills, P., 2011. Digital design of reconstruction proposals in Chile. Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Education and Research on Computer-Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) 2011: Respecting Fragile Places. 21-24 September 2011, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
  • Veliz, A., Medjdoub, B., Kocaturk, T., 2011. Bridging the gap in constraint-based design. Proceedings of the 14th CAAD Futures Conference 2011: Designing together. 4-8 July 2011, Liege, Belgium.
  • Veliz, A., Gonzalez, L.F., Barros, L., 2008. Transferencia de Tecnología para la producción de componentes constructivos de viviendas chilenas (Technology transfer for constructive components’ mass production in chilean housing). XII Congress of the Iberoamerican Society of Digital Graphics SIGRADI, December 2008. La Habana, Cuba.

Reports

  • Veliz, A., De Wilde, P., 2017. Interim project report “Augmented vernacular: embedding digital practices into traditional cob construction techniques”. Chartered Institute of Building.
  • Veliz, A., 2010. Departamento de Arquitectura UTFSM: Respuestas ante el Terremoto (Department of Architecture, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María: Responses against the Earthquake). Revista Ciudad y Arquitectura, n°145. Ed. Colegio de Arquitectos de Chile, Santiago.
  • Serrano, P., Solis, R., Berho, M., Gonzalez, L.F., Veliz, A., Munoz, A., Barria, P., Fernandez, J.P., Engelmann, E., 2010. Instructivos para la fabricación y armado de domos geodésicos de emergencia post-terremoto (DIY Instructions for the fabrication and assembly of emergency geodesic domes). Department of Architecture, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Valparaíso, Chile.
  • Veliz, A., Serrano, P., Hammersley, F., Fernandoy, J., 2009. Estación de Monitoreo en el Glaciar Jotabeche: Una propuesta sustentable para edificaciones en zonas extremas (The Jotabeche Monitoring Station: A sustainable proposal for buildings in extreme environments). Revista Ciudad y Arquitectura, n°139 Abril-Marzo 2009. Ed. Colegio de Arquitectos de Chile, Santiago.
  • Serrano, P., Veliz, A. (Ed.), Hammersley, F., 2009. Manual de armado y uso: Módulo para Monitoreo de Glaciares (Instructions for the assemblage of a glacier monitoring refugee). Project funded by Ministry of Public Works N°1019-146-LP09. Coyhaique, Chile.
  • Serrano, P., Veliz, A. (Ed.), Hammersley, F., Fernandoy, J., 2008. Manual de armado y uso: Estación de Monitoreo de Glaciares en el Nevado Jotabeche (Instructions for the assemblage of a glacier monitoring refugee in the Jotabeche mountain). Project funded by Ministry of Public Works N°1019-11354-LE08. Valparaíso, Chile.

Presentations and posters

  • Jabi, W., Veliz, A., Gomaa, M., Chatzivasileiadi, A., Wardhana, N., 2019. Computing craft: development of a robotically-supported 3D printing system for cob structures. Presented at: Connected Everything Conference 2019: Designing a Connected Future. 25-26 June 2019, Nottingham, United Kingdom.

Exhibitions

  • Virtual heritage for health and wellbeing (2021). Film and presentation at the Futures2021 Research Festival (European Commission), Devonport Markethall, September 2021.
  • Covid-19 micro-commissions program (2020). Exhibition of robotic 3D printed artifacts and digital media with Thomas Duggan Studio. The Box (Plymouth Museum), July 2020.
  • Alchemy in art (2019). Exhibition of robotic 3D printed artifacts with Thomas Duggan Studio. Tate St Ives, October-November 2019.
  • Design studio: Juan Fernandez reconstruction proposals (2010). Exhibition at the XVII National Architecture Biennale “8.8 Reconstrucción” (Chile), September 2010.

Other Publications

  • Veliz, A., Carr, A., 2022. Participatory Housing Manufacturing. Connected Everything Conference 2022: Digital Manufacturing Research Collaboration and Innovation. 18-19 May 2022, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
  • Jabi, W., Veliz, A., Gomaa, M., Chatzivasileiadi, A., Wardhana, N., 2019. Computing craft: development of a robotically-supported 3D printing system for cob structures. Presented at: Connected Everything Conference 2019: Designing a Connected Future. 25-26 June 2019, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
  • Veliz, A., 2013. A multimodal approach to digital architectural design education research. PhD Conference, Manchester Architecture Research Centre, Manchester School of Architecture. 22 November 2013, Manchester, United Kingdom.
  • Veliz, A., 2012. Grounded theory methodology in the context of new design pedagogies. Workshop “When social science meets Lean and BIM”. University of Salford in collaboration with the Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning of the University of Helsinki. 3-4 December 2012, Manchester, United Kingdom.

Personal

Personal

Reports & invited lectures

  • Creative Innovation and Digital Fabrication. Guest lecture at the S.B. Patel College of Architecture and Design, Pune, 10th June 2021, India.
  • Negotiated matter: Craft and robots in Architecture. Guest presentation at the Masters of Architecture (MArch), University of Hertfordshire. 23rd April 2021, United Kingdom.
  • 3D printing in Architecture. Guest presentation for CIBSE - Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (South West) and IET - Institution of Engineering and Technology, 12th April 2021, United Kingdom.
  • Experiencias de fabricación digital: aplicación en la arquitectura y su enseñanza (Experiences with digital fabrication in architectural teaching and learning). Guest lecture at the Digital Fabrication Laboratory, School of Architecture, Universidad de Costa Rica.
  • Design Thinking and Industrial Innovation: MSc Integrated Design Innovation. Guest lecture at the SNS College of Technology, Coimbatore, 8th October 2020, India.
  • Creative Innovation and Digital Fabrication. Guest lecture at the Saveetha College of Architecture and Design, Chennai, 17th September 2020, India.
  • Creative Innovation and CAD/Prototyping. Guest presentation at the Prototyping Seminar, Acceleration through Innovation (ATI) Cornwall, 8th September 2020, United Kingdom.
  • Presentation at the "Construction with earth: innovation and robotics" seminar (Construccion en Tierra, Innovacion y Robotica). Interdisciplinary Centre for Sustainable Construction and Production and University of Bio-Bio, 23rd July 2020, Chile.
  • Digital Fabrication: A framework for STEAM research. Presentation at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research (ICCMR), 25th March 2020, Plymouth, United Kingdom.
  • I+D: Experimentos multidisciplinares (R&D: Multidisciplinary experiments). Guest lecture at UBB. November 2019. Concepcion, Chile.
  • I+D: Experimentos multidisciplinares (R&D: Multidisciplinary experiments). Guest lecture at the Department of Architecture UTFSM. November 2019. Valparaiso, Chile.
  • A multimodal approach to digital architectural design education research. PhD Conference, Manchester Architecture Research Centre, Manchester School of Architecture. 22 November 2013, Manchester, United Kingdom.
  • Digital fabrication in architectural design. Workshop “Future Fabrication Technologies for Creative Designers and Artists”. VR Lab in Collaboration with Future Factory, Nottingham Trent University, 16 September 2013, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
  • Grounded theory methodology in the context of new design pedagogies. Workshop “When social science meets Lean and BIM”. University of Salford in collaboration with the Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning of the University of Helsinki. 3-4 December 2012, Manchester, United Kingdom.
  • Architecture in Extreme Environments: The work of the Department of Architecture at UTFSM, Chile. Research Lecture Series. Research and Documentation Centre in Technology, Architecture and City in Developing Countries (CRD-PVS), Polytechnic of Turin, Italy.

Additional information

Professional Memberships

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Design Innovation Network, Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Network
  • Research Network for Advancing AEC
Roles on External Bodies
  • Member of Advisory Board, Journal of Art, Design and Communication in Higher Education.
  • Paper reviewer: AI & Society, Advanced Engineering Informatics, Architectural Science Review, Journal of Technology, Architecture and Design.
  • Conference reviewer: Iberoamerican Society on Digital Graphics SIGRADI, European Architectural Envisioning Conference.

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