Research

Léon focuses on the role of digitalisation in the management of infrastructure, particularly buried utilities. His research includes technology development and studies of the impact of innovative technologies for mapping, modelling, monitoring, visualising, and predicting infrastructure behaviour. Practitioners play a pivotal role, which means Léon often employs action-driven interventionist approaches like Design Science Research. His research is mostly user-centric, focusing on how technology can (or cannot) support or streamline stakeholders' activities and key decisions.

LĂ©on is the research lead of ZoARG|ReDUCE, the national industry-driven programme aimed at the Reduction of Damage to Utilities and Careful Excavation. The programme started in 2014 and has expanded in 2025 into a programmatic national initiative, endorsed by many organisations in the excavation and utility sector.

LĂ©on is an Associate Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Researchers in Construction Management (ARCOM), and a co-founder of UT.Fieldlab and the UT Digital Twin Geohub.

Confidential Counsellor

"I have had the privilege of working with many professors, scientific advisors, staff, and postgraduate students. While our academic workplace often brings exciting and enriching experiences, it can also present challenges, stresses, and unwanted events. I find it very important to provide collegial aid in such situations. Therefore, I am one of the UT confidential counsellors for undesirable behaviour (sexual harassment, aggression and violence, bullying, or discrimination). Any PhD/EngD, support or scientific staff experiencing undesirable behaviour from a colleague can come to me*.

You can contact me directly by phone (6857), Teams, or email. Confidentiality is of the utmost importance, which means our meeting will not be recorded or registered, and you do not need permission from anyone to visit me. I will provide a listening ear, support in finding interventions, and aftercare in (often emotional) cases. *If believe that you or the complainant know(s) me too well, you can also decide to visit my colleague counsellors".

Expertise

  • Computer Science

    • Utilities
    • Models
    • Stakeholders
    • Ontology
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences

    • Ground Penetrating Radar
    • Utility
  • Social Sciences

    • Reliability
    • Construction

Organisations

Publications

2024

Smart Utility Registration: Towards Underground Digital Twinning (2024)[Thesis › EngD Thesis]. University of Twente. Zarrinpanjeh, N.Navigating the Underground: Exploring and supporting ground penetrating radar-enhanced utility surveying (2024)[Thesis › PhD Thesis - Research UT, graduation UT]. University of Twente. ter Huurne, R. B. A.https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036561952Doing ethnographic-action research (2024)In Embracing Ethnography : Doing Contextualised Construction Research. Taylor & Francis. olde Scholtenhuis, L. L.Embracing Ethnography: Doing Contextualised Construction Research (2024)[Book/Report › Book editing]. Taylor & Francis. Oswald, D. & olde Scholtenhuis, L. L.Ground penetrating radar at work: A realistic perspective on utility surveying in the Netherlands through a comprehensive ground-truth dataset (2024)Data in brief, 54. Article 110329. Huurne, R. B. A. t., Scholtenhuis, L. L. O. & Dorée, A. G.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2024.110329Technological mediation and 3D visualizations in construction engineering practice (2024)AI & society, 39, 207-220. Voordijk, H. & olde Scholtenhuis, L. L.https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-022-01420-3Digital Twin-based Instructor Support System for Excavator Training (2024)In Proceedings of the 41st International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, ISARC 2024 (pp. 521-528) (Proceedings of the International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction). International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction (IAARC). Vahdatikhaki, F., Scholtenhuis, L. o. & Doree, A.https://doi.org/10.22260/ISARC2024/0068Using formative interventions to study emerging technologies in construction practices: The case of the Ground Penetrating Radar (2024)Construction management and economics, 42(11-12), 943-962. Huurne, R. B. A. t., Scholtenhuis, L. L. O., Dorée, A. G. & van Oers, B.https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2024.2362388

2023

Dramatic voids and how to find them: In-pipe condition assessment of sewer pipes (2023)[Thesis › PhD Thesis - Research UT, graduation UT]. University of Twente. Noshahri, H.https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036559072Caught in the vicious circle of improvisation: how district heating construction teams cope with reliability (2023)[Contribution to conference › Paper] 39th Annual ARCOM Conference 2023. Jonker, W., olde Scholtenhuis, L. L. & Doree, A.

Research profiles

LĂ©on teaches on the topics of Smart Cities, Digitization in Construction, Construction Innovation, and Coordination of Underground Utility Construction

Affiliated study programs

Courses academic year 2024/2025

Courses in the current academic year are added at the moment they are finalised in the Osiris system. Therefore it is possible that the list is not yet complete for the whole academic year.

Courses academic year 2023/2024

One of the main issues during society’s transition toward smarter cities relates to the maintenance and upkeep of public infrastructure. It becomes more complicated, for example, to add new networks (e.g. fiber optics, smart grids, submerged waste transport etc.) and maintain existing buried utilities. Besides the physical limitations, information uncertainty (inaccurate or incomplete maps) and coordination issues caused by privatization make add more complexity to execution of inner city streetworks. The ZoARG | ReDUCE research programme that I lead aims to study and improve the existing situation by. Key research activities are centered on information, coordination and supporting technologies. Currently, we have a growing research and industry consortium that collaboratively:

  • Identifies how subsurface information can be effectively modelled to support life cycle decisions;
  • Further develops and implements subsurface mapping technologies, practices, and codes;
  • Implements detection and information solutions in practice to iteratively improve the tools, engage practice in advancing the field of smart inner city engineering, and develop new education curricula for inner city engineering.

Current projects

TISCALI

Technological Innovation for Sewer Condition Assessment Long Range Information System

Finished projects

Address

University of Twente

Horst Complex (building no. 20), room Z233
De Horst 2
7522 LW Enschede
Netherlands

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Organisations

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