Dr. Tohid Erfani

Biography

Tohid Erfani is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering at University College London (UCL). He focuses on computational modelling and infrastructure systems engineering. As Co-Director of the Centre for Urban Sustainability, he leads the Environmental Systems and Data Analytics group, working on decision-support tools for sustainable and resilient infrastructure systems under uncertainty. His research encompasses environmental resource management, green infrastructure planning, and the expansion of water and energy systems. Dr. Erfani applies operational research, system dynamics, evolutionary algorithms, graph theory, and artificial intelligence to tackle real-world challenges related to infrastructure resilience and climate adaptation. He has led the United Nations University Sustainability Nexus AID Programme on infrastructure resilience and collaborates with governments and stakeholders to develop adaptive planning strategies. His work receives funding from various entities, including UKRI and international research bodies, addressing water security, climate mitigation, and integrated infrastructure design. Notably, he spearheaded UCL's modelling research as part of the £8 million Global Challenges Research Fund programme, which supports integrated water-energy-food-climate strategies across Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. His contributions to adaptive infrastructure planning were recognized with the American Geophysical Union’s Water Resources Research Editor’s Award in 2020.

Research Interests

Experience