David Ayala Cabrera

Dr. David Ayala Cabrera is an Ad Astra Fellow and Lecturer/Assistant Professor in the School of Civil Engineering at University College Dublin. He holds a PhD in Water and Environmental Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV, Spain), awarded Cum Laude with the Extraordinary Thesis Award 2017. His research focuses on cybersecurity, resilience engineering, and non-destructive testing (e.g., GPR) for critical infrastructure, particularly water distribution systems. He has contributed to projects like STOP-IT (H2020) and ResiWater, addressing cyber-physical threats and network vulnerability. His teaching includes modules like Civil Engineering Systems and Computer Applications in Civil Engineering.

Education: B.Eng. (Sanitary Engineering, Universidad del Valle, Colombia), MSc (Hydraulic & Environmental Engineering, UPV), PhD (Water & Environmental Engineering, UPV). He also holds postgraduate certifications in university teaching and leadership.

Research interests include smart city technologies, machine learning applications, and infrastructure resilience. His work spans over 49 publications, with recent focus on GPR-based leak detection, cybersecurity, and data-driven state estimation in water networks.

• Grants: Led projects like the EU-funded WatQual (2018–2019) and contributed to innovative tools for cyber-physical security.
• Awards: PhD Cum Laude, International Doctor honor, and multiple research fellowships (e.g., KIOS Research Center, Cyprus).
• Advising: Co-supervised PhD and Master’s theses at UPV on GPR applications and WDS analysis.

His lab collaborations include ICCS (Greece), Irstea (France), and the University of Cyprus’s KIOS Center, advancing tools for infrastructure resilience and smart water management.