Francesco Pilla

Francesco Pilla is a Full Professor at University College Dublin's School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, specializing in Smart and Sustainable Cities. His work bridges urban technology, geospatial modeling, and citizen science initiatives.

• Coordinates EU Horizon projects: iSCAPE (air pollution control), OPERANDUM (flood risk reduction), WeCount (mobility systems), Connecting Nature (nature-based solutions)
• Leads SFI Investigator Grant on scalable mobility analytics
• Co-Director of Spatial Dynamics Lab

Research focuses on:

• Geospatial big data & AI integration
• Participatory sensing with low-cost sensors
• Climate action through educational co-design
• Urban microclimate optimization
• Policy-driven AI consensus models

Key articles demonstrate expertise in air quality monitoring, traffic safety analysis, and energy-efficient urban design. Awards include:

• Haagen-Smit Prize for atmospheric research
• Electric Vehicle Awards 2024 for eMobility innovation
• Academic Research Award from Financial Times

Teaching responsibilities include:

• Advanced GIS (2018-2025)
• Smart Cities module (2019-2024)
• Research Methods coordination (2019-2024)

Labs & Teams: Co-Director of Spatial Dynamics Lab, member of Science Foundation Ireland Energy Institute, and collaborator with MIT & IBM research labs.