معرفی
Prof. Catherine De Wolf is an Assistant Professor at ETH Zurich's Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering and Deputy Head of the Institute of Construction and Infrastructure Management. She leads the Chair of Circular Engineering for Architecture (CEA), an interdisciplinary lab focused on automating building material reuse through digital innovation. Her work bridges academia, government, and industry, exemplified by partnerships with institutions like the Centre Pompidou and initiatives like Anku and the Digital Circular Economy (DiCE) Lab. She is also a faculty member at ETH Zurich's AI Center and collaborates with EMPA's Urban Energy Systems Lab. Her roles include Chair of the Design++ Advisory Board and PI in the National Centre of Competence in Research on Digital Fabrication (DFAB).
Education: Catherine holds a PhD in Building Technology from MIT, with prior studies in Civil Engineering and Architecture at VUB and ULB. She has additional training in documentary filmmaking and postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge and EPFL's Structural Xploration Lab, funded by Marie Sklodowska-Curie and Swiss Excellence scholarships.
Research Interests: Her work centers on digital tools for circular construction, including blockchain-based material passports, AI-driven design, and automated deconstruction planning. Key areas include:
- Material reuse and lifecycle analysis
- Building Information Modeling (BIM) applications
- Decentralized data networks in construction
- Carbon reduction in structural systems
- Interdisciplinary collaboration across engineering, architecture, and computer science
Awards:
- Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (European Commission)
- Swiss Excellence Scholarship
Advising & Grants: Catherine has overseen projects funded by EU initiatives and industry partnerships. Her research group actively collaborates with firms like Arup and Thornton Tomasetti through initiatives such as the Structural Engineers 2050 Commitment. She advises on policy frameworks like the EU's Level(s) sustainability standard.
Labs & Teams: Her CEA lab operates with 20+ researchers and has pioneered tools like the '5D Digital Circular Workflow.' The lab's work is showcased in real-world projects such as the Centre Pompidou material reuse case study.
