P Block
Project Team

Lidia Morawska is Distinguished Professor at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia; the Director of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health at QUT, a Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organization (WHO); and the Centre Director for the ARC Training Centre for Advanced Building Systems Against Airborne Infection Transmission (THRIVE) ho sted at QUT. Lidia also holds positions of Vice- Chancellor Fellow, Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), University of Surrey, UK; and Adjunct Professor, Institute for Environmental and Climate Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China. An author of over 1,000 publication, Lidia has been involved at the executive level with a number of relevant national/international professional bodies, is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and is acting as an advisor to the WHO. She is the recipient of numerous scientific awards.

Rafat Alam is the Centre Manager of the ARC Training Centre for Advanced Building Systems Against Airborne Infection Transmission (THRIVE). The Centre’s intent is to change the way we view indoor air quality, to significantly reduce the burden by creating healthy shared indoor air environments around the world. Rafat was born in a humble household of Bangladesh. He moved to Australia in 2008 to peruse his undergraduate degree. He completed a Bachelor of Business Administration, and Graduate Diploma in Professional Accounting at the University of Canberra. Having completed his studies, Rafat has worked in the higher education sector for more than 13 years. He has been a business manager of several central university divisions and 2 faculties at the University of Canberra, School Manager of Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Australian National University, and the Lead Business Advisor to the Executives of the University of Southern Queensland. He was the recipient of multiple awards throughout his professional and academic career, including the Vice-Chancellor Excellence Award in 2012 and 2016, respectively (University of Canberra).

Dr Miller has initiated and conducted applied socio-technical research in the built environment for 20 years. She specializes in systems-thinking approaches to buildings and energy, encompassing all stakeholders. This has delivered research in a broad range of areas including building passports and mandatory disclosure, building regulations and compliance, energy and comfort ratings, cool roofs, structural insulated panels, natural ventilation performance and stakeholder management. She has a particular interest in residential dwellings and healthcare facilities, as well as concerns about the changing climate and what it means for our built environment and building users. She has contributed to national and international research on resilience, particularly in reference to heat waves and high temperatures.

Dr Martin Larbi has a background in architecture, urban design, and project management. He received his PhD degree in 2019 at the School of Architecture and Built Environment – University of Adelaide, South Australia. Martin is a scholar of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) and a Green Star Accredited Professional (Design and As-Built rating tool).
He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the ARC Training Centre for Advanced Building System against Airborne Infection Transmission (THRIVE) at Queensland University of Technology. His research focuses on ventilation design decision support tools for building design practitioners.

Dr. Richard Brown is a Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at QUT, where he leads the Environmental Fluid Mechanics Group and directs the Biofuel Engine Research Facility. He possesses deepexpertise in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and heat transfer, overseeinga vibrant research community of Research Fellows, postdoctoral researchers, and PhDstudents. Richard’s research has attracted over $6 million in grant funding from industry andcompetitive grants, including eight ARC Linkage and Discovery projects. His work spansemissions dispersion, applied thermodynamics, transport decarbonization, and renewable energy sources. Recognised nationally and internationally, he was elected a Fellowof the Australasian Fluid Mechanics Society in 2022. Richard has significantly influenced QUT’s research culture, enhancing its growth and development. He has published over 200 refereed journal papers, cited more than 8,000 times in Scopus, highlighting the substantial impact of his research in the academic community

Dr. Enoch K. Adotey, originally from Ghana, holds a Ph.D. in Science, Engineering, and Technology from Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan, where his research focused on fabricating functional nanomaterials as sensors to study air quality and atmospheric chemistry. He also holds an M.Sc. in Air Quality Control, Solid Waste, and Wastewater Process Engineering from the University of Stuttgart, Germany, and a B.Sc. in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana.

After completing his Ph.D. in 2023, Dr. Adotey became a consultant and research scientist at the Laboratory of Materials Processing and Applied Physics, Center for Energy and Advanced Materials at the National Laboratory of Astana, Nazarbayev University. He worked on projects including “Building Capacity to Improve Air Quality in South & Central Asia” at Nazarbayev University. With extensive experience in both indoor and outdoor air quality, Dr. Adotey brings expertise in air quality and material science.

Justine Hupkes is a PhD candidate specializing in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for air quality assessment with a focus on Displacement Ventilation. Holding an Honors Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Applied and Computational Mathematics, she brings a strong academic foundation to her research. With previous experience in climate and engineering consulting, Justine combines practical expertise with her academic pursuits. Originally from Belgium, she is fluent in Dutch and proudly represents the fifth generation of engineers in her family. Justine’s skill set includes proficiency in coding, mathematics, and software applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, along with a deep understanding of mining knowledge.

Simon has over 35years’ international experience in the master planning, sustainable design, engineering design, project management, project review and independent sign-off of a widerange of mechanical building services in a multidisciplinary environment. Simon’s systems design experience includes, ESD, heating, ventilation, medical gases, air conditioning systems, steam and HTHW systems, domestic services, and above ground drainage. Simon has specialist design experience in healthcare, laboratory, and education building design. Simon also has expert capabilities in building thermodynamics and in air movement and contamination control using state of the art computational fluid dynamic software. Simon is the co-author and editor of the current Victorian Design Guidelines for Hospitals and Day Procedure Centres prepared for the Department of Health and is a peer reviewer of the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air-conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) handbook.

Simon is also a:

• Member of Chartered Institute of BuildingServices Engineers (MCIBSE)
• Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia (FIEAust)
• Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng)
• Chartered Engineer (UK) (CEng)
• National Engineers Register (NER)
• Registered Professional Enginee

Dr Peter McGarry is part of the Thrive team as a Chief Investigator for the project“Improving The Resilience of Australian Indoor Environments”.Peter has been working in the field of occupational health and hygiene for over 30 years, in both the private and government sectors. He has certified occupational hygienist status with the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists and specialises in risk management of hazards such as asbestos, hazardous chemicals, noise, vibration, lead, radiation, heat stress, airborne contaminants, biological hazards and leads a team of occupational hygiene and health practitioners at the University ofQueenslandwho also specialise in these hazards. Prior to that Peter worked for 21 years with the Queensland work healthand safety regulator. He has completed a Diploma in Health Science, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Health and Safety, a Post-Graduate Diploma(Occupational Hygiene)and a Masters in Applied Science (Occupational Health and Safety).

Sara Omrani is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture and Built Environment at QUT. Sara’s background is in Architectural Engineering and her core area of expertise is in the field of building science with a particular focus on natural ventilation, thermal comfort, and the impact of indoor airflow on indoor air quality. Sara has been involved in a wide range of projects including industry and government funded grants and is currently QUT’s research program lead at Building 4.0 CRC.

Udita Gupta completed her Master in Technology in Environmental Engineering at the Gautam Buddha University in India. Her thesis focused on studying the role of traffic demand management scenarios on PM2.5 and PM10 ambient concentrations using dispersion modeling tool, ADMS_Urban. Her current researchat THRIVE bridges the gap between science andtechnology. She is working on developing a PM2.5 sensor network for a real building.

Bingnan Zhao holds a Bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master in Environmental Engineering. His previous research involved numerical modelling of atmospheric air quality. Currently, his research focuses on indoor air quality prediction and intelligent decision-making in Building Management Systems (BMS). By applying data analytics and machine learning, he aims to develop smart control strategies that ensure healthy indoor environments while optimizing energy consumption.

Nathan Richardson is the Director of Facilities Management at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). With over two decades of experience at QUT, Nathan has held several key roles including Manager of Maintenance Services and Associate Director of Operations within the Facilities Management division. His leadership spans strategic planning, operational excellence, and infrastructure stewardship across the university’s campuses. Nathan brings a robust skill set in plant maintenance, security clearance, total productive maintenance (TPM), and strategic infrastructure planning contributing to QUT’s reputation for world-class facilities and sustainable campus development.”

Adrian Rowe is the Manager, Engineering Services for Facilities Management at QUT in Brisbane, Australia. Adrian has over ten years’ experience working as a Mechanical and ESD consultant on building projects both in Australia and internationally, and more recently has worked in roles within the government and university sectors. Adrian holds a Master’s degree in Engineering (Sustainable Energy) from RMIT University and Bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering (Honors) and Science (Applied Mathematics) from Monash University in Melbourne, and is a professional member of Engineers Australia.

Geoff Woods is the Associate Director, Operations at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), with over 20 years of experience in the management, maintenance, and operation of building services. A qualified mechanical engineer, Geoff began his career in the heavy (steel) and manufacturing (automotive) industries before transitioning to building services management in a hospital environment. He later joined QUT as Manager of Engineering Services, a role that paved the way for his current leadership position. Geoff brings a wealth of practical and technical expertise to the operation and optimisation of contemporary building services.

Norm Higgins is an experienced Building Management Systems (BMS) Specialist with over 25 years of expertise in commercial building automation, including high-rise office buildings, hospitals, and shopping centres. He began his career in the early 1990s, completing an electrical apprenticeship in Industrial Automation with a focus on Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), before transitioning into the BMS field. For the past 15 years, Norm has been a key member of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) team, where he continues to apply his deep technical knowledge to optimise building performance and reliability.