Ardeshir Mahdavi is the Chair of the Institute of Architectural Sciences as well as the Director of the Department of Building Physics and Building Ecology at TU Wien. He is also the Director of the Graduate Studies Program "Building Science and Technology" at TU Wien.
Mahdavi has conducted scientific research in multiple fields, including Building Physics, Building Performance Simulation, Building Controls and Diagnostics, Building Ecology, and Human Ecology. Specific scientific contributions of Mahdavi include the development of a comprehensive ontology for monitored building data, the conception and implementation of an exclusively simulation-powered predictive building systems control methodology, analysis and modeling of the urban microclimate, including the urban heat island phenomena, development and evaluation of sky radiance and luminance distribution models, work on probabilistic room acoustics modes and the development and evaluations of models of building users' presence and behavior in buildings. Mahdavi tends to work on multiple research questions simultaneously. One essential line of inquiry he has pursued over the last 15 years addresses the inadequacy of models of buildings’ inhabitants, their presence, their requirements, their perception and evaluation processes, and their behavior and actions. Another area of concentration concerns the challenges of modelling the urban microclimate and urban-level energy transfer processes. He has been also working on the ontological aspects of building modelling.
Teaching
Mahdavi has thought introductory and advanced courses in building physics and building ecology, as well as scientific research methods. He has acted as a Visiting Professor at academic Institutes around the world. The topics of a number of his recently taught courses include:
Ardeshir Mahdavi is the recipient of the IBPSA Distinguished Achievement Award. Moreover, he received the "Der Baupreis 2006" and "Der Baupreis 2005" awards in the research category. Mahdavi is also the recipient of the "Henry Hornbostel Teaching Award" of the College of Fine Arts, Carnegie Mellon University.
Publication and presentation activities
Ardeshir Mahdavi is the author or co-author of over 140 journal papers, 550 conference papers as well as 70 scientific writings in book chapters and research documentations. He is also a frequent Keynote speaker at different international conferences such as IBPSA, CLIMA, PLEA, CIB, BAUSIM, BSA, CAAD Futures, eCAADe and ECPPM.
