The appointment
He announced his appointment as Professor of Architecture and Built Environment Engineering at Auckland University of Technology in November 2022. AUT had announced his promotion to Associate Professor among its 2021 promotions, so the step to full professor followed within a year.
What it recognises
Promotion to professor in New Zealand universities is assessed on sustained excellence across research, teaching and leadership, and on standing in the discipline nationally and internationally. Rapid promotion between the two senior grades is uncommon and reflects a record that was already well established: an extensive body of international publications and citations, doctoral supervision, external research funding, editorial roles and leadership of the Built Environment Engineering department.
The title itself, spanning architecture and built environment engineering, reflects the interdisciplinary position he has held throughout his career, at the meeting point of design and engineering.
What followed
In the years after his promotion he chaired SASBE 2024 and IGLC32, founded GDI, delivered the DFBI keynote at TU Delft, and in 2026 was appointed Head of the School of Future Environments.
The interdisciplinary title
Professorships are usually defined by a single discipline. A chair spanning architecture and built environment engineering is less common, and it reflects a career spent between design and engineering: trained as an architect, researching building performance, BIM and smart cities, and teaching across both fields. That combination has shaped his leadership of a School built on the same premise.