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Staff Profile

Professor Mohamad Kassem

Professor of Digital Construction and Project Management

  • Email: mohamad.kassem@ncl.ac.uk
  • Address: Room 3.54, Stephenson Building
    Newcastle University
    Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU
Background

Professor Mohamad Kassem is currently Professor of Digital Construction Management and Construction, the founder and lead of the Digital Innovation in Construction and Engineering Lab (NU-DICE), and the Degree Programme Director for MSc Engineering Management at Newcastle University.


He has an established academic leadership across research, enterprise, and teaching. Previous roles include: Deputy Director for Advanced Engineering Education within the School of Engineering (Newcastle University), the Head of Subject for the Project and Construction Project Management Group (Northumbria University), and the Director of Enterprise & Engagement at the Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering and the leader of the Digital Built Environment group at Northumbria University.


His work focuses on the advancement and application of digital transformation technologies—including BIM, Digital Twins for construction and urban-scale operations, Blockchain, Offsite Construction and AI — to tackle major challenges facing construction and the built environment such as such as low productivity, fragmented delivery processes, circularity, and the urgent need for decarbonisation across the built environment. In pursuing these challenges, he draws on a genuinely interdisciplinary approach spanning construction and project management, digital technologies, and computer and data science, to help shape more effective and sustainable futures for the sector.


He has led a diverse portfolio of research and innovation projects worth over £12 million, co-funded by UKRI councils, the European Union and private-sector partners. He has published extensively, with more than 165 peer-reviewed outputs (h-index: 75; citations: >7,100), and has chaired several major international conferences, including EC3 2023 and 2024 and CONVR 2013. He was also the Chair of the Human Data Interaction (HDI) technical committee of the European Council for Computing in Construction (EC3) between 2019 and 2021.


He serves on doctoral committees and as an external examiner at more than 12 leading universities worldwide, reflecting his broad academic influence and international engagement. Prof. Kassem has spent visiting academic time at prestigious universities, including ETH Zurich and the University of Cambridge.


Prof. Kassem is also recognised for his sustained collaboration with the private and public sector, working closely with policymakers, clients, contractors, consultants and technology providers. He has worked on collaborative R&D projects with more than 40 companies in the UK and internationally.

He has served as a digital transformation advisor to the European Commission, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Construction Industry Training Board, the Centre for Digital Built Britain (University of Cambridge), and the governments of Brazil, Mexico and others—supporting national-scale digital strategies in more than 11 countries.


His work has been recognised with awards such as the Scherer Award from the European Council for Computing in Construction, the RISE Award for Digital Innovation in Sustainability, and an Enterprise Fellowship.


He serves as an expert grant evaluator for leading international and national funding bodies, including the EU Horizon Europe, UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships, EPSRC and NERC (UK), NSERC (Canada), CDDB (UK), the Research Council of Norway, ETH Zurich (Switzerland), NWO (Netherlands), and the American University of Beirut (Lebanon).


Prof. Kassem is keen to develop R&D collaboration with others in academia and the industry in the UK and internationally, and he welcomes applications from prospective PhD students on these themes.

Research

His work focuses on the advancement and application of digital transformation technologies—including BIM, Digital Twins for construction and urban-scale operations, Blockchain, Offsite Construction and AI — to tackle major challenges facing construction and the built environment such as such as low productivity, fragmented delivery processes, circularity, and the urgent need for decarbonisation across the built environment. In pursuing these challenges, he draws on a genuinely interdisciplinary approach spanning construction and project management, digital technologies, and computer and data science, to help shape more effective and sustainable futures for the sector.


A full list of publication can be seen on Google Scholar


Professor Kassem welcomes opportunities for collaborative research with other academics and the industry around the themes above.


Prospective PhD students with proposals on these themes are also encouraged to apply.

 

Teaching

Module Tutor for

CEG3002 : Construction Management

CEG8011 : Construction Project Management

 

Contributor to

CEG3005 : The Data-Centric Urban Environment

CEG8003 : Public Policy: Infrastructure and Climate Change

CEG8006 : Digital Engineering and Analytics

Publications