Building 4.0 CRC continues to expand and grow, we have welcomed four new staff!

Dr Sarah Omrani is new Program Leader at QUT, Dr Dane Miller is Light House Projects Manager, Dr Chris Landorf is Project Milestone and Reporting Manager and Dr Priya Das is now working on our Social Media. Read all about our new talent below!

Dr Sarah Omrani is a Senior Lecturer in Virtual Design and Construction at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). She completed her undergraduate studies in Architectural Engineering and undertook her PhD in building science. Prior to her PhD, Sara worked as an architect and software instructor, and after completing, before joining QUT, she worked as an Energy Efficiency Engineer for an energy consultancy firm. Since joining QUT, Sara has been involved in a range of different projects at both building and neighbourhood scales involving Urban Heat Island effect, ventilation and thermal comfort, indoor air quality, energy efficiency, asset and facilities management, and Building Information Modelling.

Associate Professor Dane Miller is an experienced researcher, design practitioner and educator.  Dr Miller’s role at the Building 4.0 CRC is in parallel with his appointment as the Discipline Leader: Construction at Bond University. He is also a founding partner of Structural Diagnostics, a Structural Engineering firm that specialises in the maintenance and remediation of large-scale buildings and infrastructure. He has worked extensively in the construction industry, across many aspects of design, procurement and delivery. His primary academic research interests are – design optimisation, the incorporation of sustainability into the design and delivery of buildings as well as structural health monitoring. He has a real focus on translational research projects, that provide tangible benefits to industry.  Dr Miller holds a B. Eng (HONS) and B. Env Sc. (HONS) as well as a PhD in the field of Structural Engineering. 

Dr Chris Landorf is an Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Queensland and member of the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia Accreditation Management Committee. She is a registered architect with postgraduate qualifications in business administration, facility management and the sustainable management of historic environments. She has also sat on early contractor involvement assessment panels and competition juries. As a full-time academic until December 2021, Chris coordinated architectural practice and technology courses, advised research thesis students and held several School-level leadership positions. She continues to advise four PhD candidates.

Dr Priya Das is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Civil Engineering at Monash University working on several Building4.0 CRC projects. Priya’s research interest lies in bringing business model innovation into the construction industry. During her doctoral research at the Centre for Smart Modern Construction (c4SMC) at Western Sydney University, she has worked on developing a maturity model for construction enterprises to assess their Industry 4.0 capabilities. Prior to commencing her doctoral research, Priya worked for Larsen and Toubro Construction for over half a decade in the planning, monitoring and control systems of transportation infrastructure projects such as highways, runways, and elevated corridors and had a short stint with the US-based technology-driven construction start-up Katerra.