Research Team

About

Atakilti Brhanu Kiros is a PhD researcher in Civil Engineering at Ariel University, specialising in GeoAI, geospatial data science, and intelligent mobility systems. His research examines how multimodal urban data, machine learning, Earth observation, and urban digital twins can support pedestrian-mobility forecasting, accessibility analysis, and evidence-based urban planning.

His doctoral research focuses on developing transferable and explainable GeoAI models to predict pedestrian activity across cities with diverse urban structures, climates, sensor networks, and levels of data availability. His work integrates pedestrian sensor observations with urban morphology, transportation networks, accessibility, socioeconomic indicators, weather, remote sensing, and other geospatial information.

Atakilti contributes to the METROPOLIS Urban Digital Twin project at the Architectural Artificial Intelligence Research Lab. His work explores scenario-based pedestrian forecasting under urban growth and climate change conditions, as well as the development of interpretable digital tools for researchers, urban planners, municipalities, and decision-makers.

Before beginning his doctoral studies, Atakilti worked as a lecturer, researcher, and academic leader in computer science and information technology in Mekelle University, Ethiopia. His broader interests include spatiotemporal machine learning, explainable AI, multimodal geospatial data fusion, inclusive mobility, and responsible urban artificial intelligence.

Projects