I am an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) candidate in Civil Engineering and Management at the University of Twente, with a background in quantity surveying, Building Information Modelling (BIM), and digital construction.
My work focuses on how digital information can be structured, connected and reused to support better decision-making in construction and infrastructure. My current EngD research addresses underground utility information, particularly the challenge of preserving and reusing field-verified data from test trenches. I develop semantic data models and prototype digital solutions that connect heterogeneous information from sources such as utility registrations, survey measurements, photographs, point clouds and other field observations.
My broader interests include construction informatics, BIM-based information management, openBIM and interoperability, Common Data Environments, model-based quantity take-off and cost estimation, information requirements, semantic web technologies, linked data, knowledge graphs, digital twins and the application of AI in the built environment. I am particularly interested in how BIM concepts can be extended beyond individual building models towards connected information environments in which data from different systems, organisations and project phases can be integrated and reused.
Organisations
My research focuses on digital information management and interoperability in construction and underground infrastructure. A central theme of my current work is how field-verified information about buried cables and pipelines can be retained beyond the project in which it was collected and made accessible for later engineering and excavation activities.
My EngD research develops the Universal Test Trench (UTT) as a semantic framework for the interoperable exchange of test trench verification data. The work addresses test trench geometry, utility observations, verified 3D positions, measurement methods, accuracy, provenance, supporting data and deviations between registered and observed utility positions.
The UTT ontology uses Semantic Web and geospatial technologies, including RDF, OWL, SHACL, GeoSPARQL and SPARQL. It is designed to complement existing Dutch underground utility information structures such as IMKL while providing a machine-readable representation of field observations and their relationship with registered utility information.
Alongside the semantic data model, my research investigates how heterogeneous field information, including survey measurements, photographs, documents, GIS data and point clouds, can be integrated, queried and visualised through a common information environment. The wider research also considers distributed data exchange, allowing organisations to retain control over their own information while supporting interoperable access across organisational boundaries.
Other contributions
Selected PUBLICATIONS
Universal Test Trench (UTT): A System for Sharing Test Trench Data
4th 4TU/14UAS Research Day on Digitalisation of the Built Environment, Groningen, 2025.
Faith Tangara, Léon olde Scholtenhuis and Ramon ter Huurne.
Proceedings:
https://www.thuas.com/sites/hhs/files/documents/proceedings-4th-DBE-Groningen.pdf
A Semantic Data Model for Interoperable Exchange of Test Trench Verification Data
European Conference on Computing in Construction (EC³), Corfu, Greece, 2026.
Faith Tangara, Léon olde Scholtenhuis and Ramon ter Huurne.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.35490/EC3.2026.370
Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_4yvRgmkKQ
Integrating BIM Models and AI Models for Cost Estimation
Master's thesis, University of Ljubljana, 2023.
Publication: https://plus.cobiss.net/cobiss/si/en/data/cobib/187626755?format=hold
Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tttk81nu-5o
Professional profile
Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Civil Engineering and Management
- University of Twente, The Netherlands
2025 – present - EngD candidate within the Faculty of Engineering Technology, Department of Civil Engineering and Management, Market Dynamics group.
- EngD project: Designing and Developing a Unified Approach for Test Trench Information Exchange – Universal Test Trench (UTT). The project develops semantic and technical mechanisms for the interoperable exchange, integration and reuse of field-verified underground utility information.
European Master in Building Information Modelling - BIM A+
- University of Minho, Portugal / University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
2022 – 2023 - Master thesis: Integrating BIM Models and AI Models for Cost Estimation
- The research explored the integration of BIM and artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency of quantity take-off and construction cost estimation processes.
Master thesis
MSc supervision
- MSc researcher: Rens Bos
- The research investigates semi-automatic detection and quantification of three-dimensional geometric deviations between statutory utility records and open-trench point clouds. A prototype is being designed & developed to combine registered utility information with 3D reality-capture data, identify individual utilities, match observations with registered assets, and quantify horizontal and vertical deviations while retaining human involvement in decisions that cannot yet be reliably automated.
A Semantic Data Model for Interoperable Exchange of Test Trench Verification Data
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_4yvRgmkKQ
Integrating BIM Models and AI Models for Cost Estimation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tttk81nu-5o
Address
University of Twente
Horst Complex (building no. 20), room Z202
De Horst 2
7522 LW Enschede
Netherlands
University of Twente
Horst Complex Z202
P.O. Box 217
7500 AE Enschede
Netherlands