Congratulations to Ali Sabzi Khoshraftar on His EngD Defence: Digital Twins to Save Our Steel Bridges

We’re proud to celebrate the successful EngD defence of Ali Sabzi Khoshraftar at the University of Twente on 4 March 2026.

His thesis, Digital Twins to Save Our Steel Bridges, explores how digital twin technologies can support steel bridge assessment and maintenance by integrating extended reality, artificial intelligence, and structural health monitoring. Conducted within the Pervasive Systems Research Group as part of the SUBLIME project, the work contributes to more sustainable, reliable, and long-lasting steel infrastructure.

Ali’s research focused on digital twin-enabled reference architectures for bridge assessment and maintenance, showing how predictive and AI-driven insights, together with interactive visualizations, can support faster, more accurate, and more objective inspection and maintenance processes.

The thesis also highlights the potential of virtual reality for remote bridge inspection and augmented reality for on-site inspection, and shows how digital twins can help guide the digital transformation of infrastructure management through data-driven and predictive maintenance strategies.

Congratulations again to Ali Sabzi Khoshraftar on this outstanding achievement!