Duncan is Director and Senior Lecturer at the Future Building Initiative at Monash University and Program Leader for Building 4.0 CRC. In addition, he is a Registered Architect (Qld). Duncan’s research interests lie broadly in the industrialisation of construction, that is the introduction of innovative techniques and processes to define new ways of designing and producing buildings. His PhD thesis, “The Case for Design-Value in Industrialised House Building Platforms: Product to Ecosystem”, examined how product platforms have been adapted to construction, from manufacturing, in order to coordinate the design and prefabrication of multi-storey buildings. The thesis argued for a greater emphasis on design in these platform approaches in order to develop new forms of value beyond economy and efficiency, proposing a new platform-based vision for industry.

Since the award of his PhD, Duncan’s research has considered: the role of logistics strategy in construction supply chain management; articulating the benefits of product platforms to industry; collaboration with Swedish industrialised construction researchers; the study of German and Swiss ‘Learning Factories’; and project managing a survey of Australian house building companies to understand the sector’s constraints and future requirements.