Leonardo Messi
Postdoctoral Associate
Affiliation: NYU Abu Dhabi
Education: BA, MA, PhD Università Politecnica delle Marche
Research Websites: S.M.A.R.T. Construction Research Group
Research Areas: Building Information Modelling (BIM); Building Digital Twins; Digital Information Management; Cyber-Physical Systems; Artificial Intelligence; Internet of Things (IoT); Human-Centred Building Management; Smart Buildings
Leonardo Messi is a Postdoctoral Researcher at NYU Abu Dhabi and a building engineer specializing in digital technologies for the built environment. Leonardo earned a BSc and an MSc in Building Engineering in 2013 and 2017, respectively, and a PhD in Civil, Environmental and Building Engineering and Architecture in 2022, all from Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy. His doctoral research focused on developing a BIM-based simulator for workspace management in construction. Before joining NYUAD, Messi held research and postdoctoral positions at Università Politecnica delle Marche and visiting research appointments at NYU Abu Dhabi and the University of Plymouth.
At NYUAD, Messi leads the technical development of a Building Digital Twin for the university campus, supporting human-centered building management. The platform integrates BIM/IFC models, point clouds and 3D Gaussian Splatting, environmental and occupancy data, forecasting services, adaptive user interfaces, and artificial intelligence to support real-time decision-making and predictive maintenance. Messi is also engaging in exploratory discussions with UAE government entities and strategic operators to identify operational needs and assess potential use cases and pilot opportunities. More broadly, his research spans BIM, Digital Twins, cyber-physical systems, AI, IoT, AR/MR, construction management and safety, facility operations, and accessible navigation.
Messi has authored or co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and a specialist book. His research has received six national and international research and innovation awards. He also co-founded Digitalia, a university spin-off created to translate research and digital innovation into applications for industry and the public sector.