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President’s Gold Medal was awarded to Fahim Ullah of MS Construction Engineering & Management class of 2013-15 for academic excellence.
National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST)
The paper titled “Investigation of the empirical relation between student sketching, attendance, and performance in construction education” received the best student paper award at 42nd Australasian Universities Building Education Association (AUBEA) 2018 held in Singapore
42nd Australasian Universities Building Education Association (AUBEA) 2018
The Student Awards aim to recognise HDR candidates who help to create a lively research environment and supportive social atmosphere among the student cohort of their School or Centre.
University of New South Wales
Fahim Ullah ([email protected]) is a lecturer in construction project management at the University of Southern Queensland. He holds a Ph.D. degree from the School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, and has been a casual lecturer at the same institute for four years. He also taught various courses in Project Management at the University of Sydney as a lead lecturer. Previously he has worked for three years as a lecturer at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) in Pakistan, where he taught the courses of Construction Engineering and Management and Project Management at three schools. His research interests are in Construction Management, Project Management, Smart Cities, Digital Technologies, and Disruptive Innovation. Further, he has one year of field experience at Bin Nadeem Associates (BNA) Pakistan as Assistant Manager (Planning), and one year at Malik Abdul Hanan and Sons, Pakistan as Planning Engineer. To date, Fahim has published more than 40 high-quality research articles related to construction, project, smart cities, and real estate and property management.
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is recognized as one of the most significant technological breakthroughs in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. The pace of implementation of BIM in AEC has increased during the past decade with an enhanced focus on sustainable construction. However, BIM implementation lags its potential because of several factors such as readiness issues, lack of previous experience in BIM, and lack of market demand for BIM. To evaluate and solve these issues, understanding the current BIM implementation in construction organizations is required. Motivated by this need, the main objective of this study is to propose a tool for the measurement of BIM implementation levels within an organization. Various sets of indexes are developed based on their pertinent Critical Success Factors (CSFs). A detailed literature review followed by a questionnaire survey involving 99 respondents is conducted, and results are analyzed to formulate a BIMp-Chart to calculate and visualize the BIM implementation level of an organization. Subsequently, the applicability of the BIMp-Chart is assessed by comparing and analyzing datasets of four organizations from different regions, including Qatar, Portugal, and Egypt, and a multinational organization to develop a global measurement tool. Through measuring and comparing BIM implementation levels, the BIMp-Chart can help the practitioners identify the implementation areas in an organization for proper BIM implementation. This study helps understand the fundamental elements of BIM implementation and provides a decision support system for construction organizations to devise proper strategies for the effectual management of the BIM implementation process.
Qurratulain Malik; Abdur Rehman Nasir; Rabiah Muhammad; Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem; Fahim Ullah; Khurram Iqbal Ahmad Khan; Muhammad Usman Hassan. BIMp-Chart—A Global Decision Support System for Measuring BIM Implementation Level in Construction Organizations. Sustainability 2021, 13, 9270 .
AMA StyleQurratulain Malik, Abdur Rehman Nasir, Rabiah Muhammad, Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem, Fahim Ullah, Khurram Iqbal Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Usman Hassan. BIMp-Chart—A Global Decision Support System for Measuring BIM Implementation Level in Construction Organizations. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (16):9270.
Chicago/Turabian StyleQurratulain Malik; Abdur Rehman Nasir; Rabiah Muhammad; Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem; Fahim Ullah; Khurram Iqbal Ahmad Khan; Muhammad Usman Hassan. 2021. "BIMp-Chart—A Global Decision Support System for Measuring BIM Implementation Level in Construction Organizations." Sustainability 13, no. 16: 9270.
Global climate has been radically affected by the urbanization process in recent years. Karachi, Pakistan’s economic hub, is also showing signs of swift urbanization. Owing to the construction of infrastructure projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and associated urbanization, Karachi’s climate has been significantly affected. The associated replacement of natural surfaces by anthropogenic materials results in urban overheating and increased local temperatures leading to serious health issues and higher air pollution. Thus, these temperature changes and urban overheating effects must be addressed to minimize their impact on the city’s population. For analyzing the urban overheating of Karachi city, LST (land surface temperature) is assessed in the current study, where data of the past 20 years (2000–2020) is used. For this purpose, remote sensing data from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER GDEM) and Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors were utilized. The long short-term memory (LSTM) model was utilized where the road density (RD), elevation, and enhanced vegetation index (EVI) are used as input parameters. Upon comparing estimated and measured LST, the values of mean absolute error (MAE), mean square error (MSE), and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) are 0.27 K, 0.237, and 0.15% for January, and 0.29 K, 0.261, and 0.13% for May, respectively. The low MAE, MSE, and MAPE values show a higher correlation between the predicted and observed LST values. Moreover, results show that more than 90% of the pixel data falls in the least possible error range of −1 K to +1 K. The MAE, MSE and MAPE values for Support Vector Regression (SVR) are 0.52 K, 0.453 and 0.18% and 0.76 K, 0.873, and 0.26%. The current model outperforms previous studies, shows a higher accuracy, and depicts greater reliability to predict the actual scenario. In the future, based on the accurate LST results from this model, city planners can propose mitigation strategies to reduce the harmful effects of urban overheating and associated Urban Heat Island effects (UHI).
Bilal Aslam; Ahsen Maqsoom; Nauman Khalid; Fahim Ullah; Samad Sepasgozar. Urban Overheating Assessment through Prediction of Surface Temperatures: A Case Study of Karachi, Pakistan. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 2021, 10, 539 .
AMA StyleBilal Aslam, Ahsen Maqsoom, Nauman Khalid, Fahim Ullah, Samad Sepasgozar. Urban Overheating Assessment through Prediction of Surface Temperatures: A Case Study of Karachi, Pakistan. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 2021; 10 (8):539.
Chicago/Turabian StyleBilal Aslam; Ahsen Maqsoom; Nauman Khalid; Fahim Ullah; Samad Sepasgozar. 2021. "Urban Overheating Assessment through Prediction of Surface Temperatures: A Case Study of Karachi, Pakistan." ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 10, no. 8: 539.
Australia is a regular recipient of devastating bushfires that severely impacts its economy, landscape, forests, and wild animals. These bushfires must be managed to save a fortune, wildlife, and vegetation and reduce fatalities and harmful environmental impacts. The current study proposes a holistic model that uses a mixed-method approach of Geographical Information System (GIS), remote sensing, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)-based bushfire assessment and mitigation. The fire products of Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are used for monitoring the burnt areas within the Victorian Region due to the 2020 bushfires. The results show that the aggregate of 1500 m produces the best output for estimating the burnt areas. The identified hotspots are in the eastern belt of the state that progressed north towards New South Wales. The R2 values between 0.91–0.99 indicate the fitness of methods used in the current study. A healthy z-value index between 0.03 to 2.9 shows the statistical significance of the hotspots. Additional analysis of the 2019–20 Victorian bushfires shows a widespread radius of the fires associated with the climate change and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) phenomenon. The UAV paths are optimized using five algorithms: greedy, intra route, inter route, tabu, and particle swarm optimization (PSO), where PSO search surpassed all the tested methods in terms of faster run time and lesser costs to manage the bushfires disasters. The average improvement demonstrated by the PSO algorithm over the greedy method is approximately 2% and 1.2% as compared with the intra route. Further, the cost reduction is 1.5% compared with the inter-route scheme and 1.2% compared with the intra route algorithm. The local disaster management authorities can instantly adopt the proposed system to assess the bushfires disasters and instigate an immediate response plan.
Hafiz Munawar; Fahim Ullah; Sara Khan; Zakria Qadir; Siddra Qayyum. UAV Assisted Spatiotemporal Analysis and Management of Bushfires: A Case Study of the 2020 Victorian Bushfires. Fire 2021, 4, 40 .
AMA StyleHafiz Munawar, Fahim Ullah, Sara Khan, Zakria Qadir, Siddra Qayyum. UAV Assisted Spatiotemporal Analysis and Management of Bushfires: A Case Study of the 2020 Victorian Bushfires. Fire. 2021; 4 (3):40.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHafiz Munawar; Fahim Ullah; Sara Khan; Zakria Qadir; Siddra Qayyum. 2021. "UAV Assisted Spatiotemporal Analysis and Management of Bushfires: A Case Study of the 2020 Victorian Bushfires." Fire 4, no. 3: 40.
Floods have been a major cause of destruction, instigating fatalities and massive damage to the infrastructure and overall economy of the affected country. Flood-related devastation results in the loss of homes, buildings, and critical infrastructure, leaving no means of communication or travel for the people stuck in such disasters. Thus, it is essential to develop systems that can detect floods in a region to provide timely aid and relief to stranded people, save their livelihoods, homes, and buildings, and protect key city infrastructure. Flood prediction and warning systems have been implemented in developed countries, but the manufacturing cost of such systems is too high for developing countries. Remote sensing, satellite imagery, global positioning system, and geographical information systems are currently used for flood detection to assess the flood-related damages. These techniques use neural networks, machine learning, or deep learning methods. However, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) coupled with convolution neural networks have not been explored in these contexts to instigate a swift disaster management response to minimize damage to infrastructure. Accordingly, this paper uses UAV-based aerial imagery as a flood detection method based on Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to extract flood-related features from the images of the disaster zone. This method is effective in assessing the damage to local infrastructures in the disaster zones. The study area is based on a flood-prone region of the Indus River in Pakistan, where both pre-and post-disaster images are collected through UAVs. For the training phase, 2150 image patches are created by resizing and cropping the source images. These patches in the training dataset train the CNN model to detect and extract the regions where a flood-related change has occurred. The model is tested against both pre-and post-disaster images to validate it, which has positive flood detection results with an accuracy of 91%. Disaster management organizations can use this model to assess the damages to critical city infrastructure and other assets worldwide to instigate proper disaster responses and minimize the damages. This can help with the smart governance of the cities where all emergent disasters are addressed promptly.
Hafiz Munawar; Fahim Ullah; Siddra Qayyum; Sara Khan; Mohammad Mojtahedi. UAVs in Disaster Management: Application of Integrated Aerial Imagery and Convolutional Neural Network for Flood Detection. Sustainability 2021, 13, 7547 .
AMA StyleHafiz Munawar, Fahim Ullah, Siddra Qayyum, Sara Khan, Mohammad Mojtahedi. UAVs in Disaster Management: Application of Integrated Aerial Imagery and Convolutional Neural Network for Flood Detection. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (14):7547.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHafiz Munawar; Fahim Ullah; Siddra Qayyum; Sara Khan; Mohammad Mojtahedi. 2021. "UAVs in Disaster Management: Application of Integrated Aerial Imagery and Convolutional Neural Network for Flood Detection." Sustainability 13, no. 14: 7547.
Global disruption and innovation are revolutionising many industries and creating a digitally disruptive environment (DDE); real estate is no exception. Real estate online platforms (REOPs) are getting more attention in the era of COVID-19, where the real estate businesses must run online, and the service users are pushed to a forced digital experience adoption. The users or consumers are not satisfied or happy with the current state of REOPs and often regret their decisions due to the poor quality of the web-based information provided on these REOPs. Based on a mixed approach of integrated KANO-SISQual, the current study develops a comprehensive smart real estate technology adoption model (SRETAM) to model the users’ perception of the REOPs in DDE. Data is collected through a questionnaire survey from 407 Sydney based REOP users. A total of 31 key factors are identified by reviewing 256 articles vetted by 12 local real estate agents. The results highlight 19 factors to be very important to REOPs users: reliability, the accuracy of the information, and credibility of the online platforms are the top three important factors. The hypotheses’ results show that all the SRETAM categories contribute equally to the users’ behavioural intention to use the REOPs and the KANO categories are statistically different. For KANO categories, eight attractive features are identified: graphical statistics, familiar web technology, content structure, web design, immersive content, self-efficacy, information novelty, and presence of 3D interactive models. Displaying the users’ location, learning tutorials, and hyperlinks to external sources on the web portals dissatisfy REOP users. The factors and their classifications can help the users get more features, verified, and transparent information for making better decisions in the DDE, whereas the REOP can enjoy more business due to increased service consumers. This can lay the foundation for transforming the traditional real estate sector into smart real estate in lines with industry 4.0 requirements in the DDE.
Fahim Ullah; Samad M.E. Sepasgozar; Sara Shirowzhan; Steven Davis. Modelling users’ perception of the online real estate platforms in a digitally disruptive environment: An integrated KANO-SISQual approach. Telematics and Informatics 2021, 63, 101660 .
AMA StyleFahim Ullah, Samad M.E. Sepasgozar, Sara Shirowzhan, Steven Davis. Modelling users’ perception of the online real estate platforms in a digitally disruptive environment: An integrated KANO-SISQual approach. Telematics and Informatics. 2021; 63 ():101660.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFahim Ullah; Samad M.E. Sepasgozar; Sara Shirowzhan; Steven Davis. 2021. "Modelling users’ perception of the online real estate platforms in a digitally disruptive environment: An integrated KANO-SISQual approach." Telematics and Informatics 63, no. : 101660.
While historically significant for ancient civilizations, the Indus basin is also known for its floods and complex anthropogenic management history. Resulting from years of modifications by the pre-British era Mughal rulers followed by the post-partition division of river waters among the two neighbors, India and Pakistan, Pakistan faces severe management and financial challenges of water management. This study investigates the intricacies arising from this complicated management doctrine for the lower Indus basin. A detailed remote sensing-based analysis of the significant floods to hit the lower Indus basin since 2000 has been provided. Flood years were identified, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data for the years 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2016 were used to map their spatiotemporal extents. Almost all the flood water accumulated in the north is released in one river channel of the lower Indus basin. Further, the challenges were exacerbated due to the excessive rainfall in 2011 and 2012 in southeastern Sindh. A trend analysis of rainfall data shows an increase in the southern basin in the last 21 years, particularly toward the central plains and Sindh Province. The floodwater accumulated in the lower basin for as many as ~ 425 days on average, stretching to ~ 800 days of stagnancy in some places. The water stagnation period has been the highest in the river floodplain, highly populated and cultivated. The analyses of the current study suggest that the riverine channel has been better managed after the 2010 floods; however, the monsoon’s shift in 2011 and 2012 led to widespread disaster in low-lying regions of Sindh Province.
Salman Atif; Muhammad Umar; Fahim Ullah. Investigating the flood damages in Lower Indus Basin since 2000: Spatiotemporal analyses of the major flood events. Natural Hazards 2021, 108, 2357 -2383.
AMA StyleSalman Atif, Muhammad Umar, Fahim Ullah. Investigating the flood damages in Lower Indus Basin since 2000: Spatiotemporal analyses of the major flood events. Natural Hazards. 2021; 108 (2):2357-2383.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSalman Atif; Muhammad Umar; Fahim Ullah. 2021. "Investigating the flood damages in Lower Indus Basin since 2000: Spatiotemporal analyses of the major flood events." Natural Hazards 108, no. 2: 2357-2383.
Smart cities are complex endeavors that present several management challenges. The current study proposes a conceptual framework based on Six Sigma for managing smart cities. DMADICV is a novel method proposed in the current study for Six Sigma. The proposed DMADICV framework consists of six key constructs: Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Improve, and Control & Verify. These constructs are used as layers in smart cities, and relevant literature is reviewed to highlight the key factors and groups related to each layer. A conceptual framework is provided for smart city management and an assessment mechanism presented for measuring and testing the performance of smart city integrated processes. This is achieved by measuring and controlling the cost of quality non-conformance, right documentation in the first time, and timely implementation of control measures, the activity processing index, and quality controls. Improvement construct has a percentage of 35.67 % share in the DMADICV framework followed by define (16.76 %), design (15.52 %), control & verify (14.33 %), measure (10.08 %), and analyze (8.15 %). The top ten factors for managing smart cities through the Six Sigma method include process quality improvement, organizational development, process analysis, quality management, cost control, DMAIC, change management, project management plan, waste reduction, process quality measurement, and value creation, respectively. The DMADICV framework and its dynamic relations are shown through a system model and its key groups represented in layers of the smart cities whereby the city governance and management teams can provide services to their smart citizens effectively and efficiently. The proposed DMADICV method and associated smart city management framework are a humble addition to the body of knowledge that can be adopted and utilized in other knowledge fields.
Siddra Qayyum; Fahim Ullah; Fadi Al-Turjman; Mohammad Mojtahedi. Managing smart cities through six sigma DMADICV method: A review-based conceptual framework. Sustainable Cities and Society 2021, 72, 103022 .
AMA StyleSiddra Qayyum, Fahim Ullah, Fadi Al-Turjman, Mohammad Mojtahedi. Managing smart cities through six sigma DMADICV method: A review-based conceptual framework. Sustainable Cities and Society. 2021; 72 ():103022.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSiddra Qayyum; Fahim Ullah; Fadi Al-Turjman; Mohammad Mojtahedi. 2021. "Managing smart cities through six sigma DMADICV method: A review-based conceptual framework." Sustainable Cities and Society 72, no. : 103022.
Real Estate Online Platforms (REOPs) are used for conveying real estate and property-related information to potential users (buyers, renters, or sellers). The information leveraged through REOPs supports these users in reaching conclusive rent or buy decisions. Despite their promised utility, user perception about accepting online information through REOPs is unexplored. Using a comprehensive questionnaire and data collected from 65 users, the current study captures the users’ perception of REOPs. Risk, service, information, system, technology adoption model (RSISTAM) is proposed comprising of seven users’ perceptions: risk (PR), service quality (PSEQ), information quality (PIQ), and system quality (PSYQ) from the information systems success model, and usefulness (PU), ease of use (PEU) and behaviour to accept (BAU) from TAM. The results are analysed using the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) approach, which shows that PIQ, PSEQ and PEU are the causes and PR, PSYQ, PU and BAU are the effects. Among the criteria, the order of prominence is PEU > PSEQ > PIQ, and for net effects, the order is PU > BAU > PSYQ > PR. For addressing the causes, the REOP managers must provide more transparent, high quality and voluminous information to the users, focus on the system, services, and information qualities, and add more enjoyable, immersive and easy-to-use content through REOPs. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by exploring user perceptions and proposing methods to improve the quality and reliability of REOPs in line with Real Estate 4.0 and industry 4.0 aims.
Fahim Ullah; Samad M.E. Sepasgozar; Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem; Changxin Cynthia Wang; Muhammad Imran. It’s all about perceptions: A DEMATEL approach to exploring user perceptions of real estate online platforms. Ain Shams Engineering Journal 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleFahim Ullah, Samad M.E. Sepasgozar, Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem, Changxin Cynthia Wang, Muhammad Imran. It’s all about perceptions: A DEMATEL approach to exploring user perceptions of real estate online platforms. Ain Shams Engineering Journal. 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFahim Ullah; Samad M.E. Sepasgozar; Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem; Changxin Cynthia Wang; Muhammad Imran. 2021. "It’s all about perceptions: A DEMATEL approach to exploring user perceptions of real estate online platforms." Ain Shams Engineering Journal , no. : 1.
The real estate sector brings a fortune to the global economy. But, presently, this sector is regressive and uses traditional methods and approaches. Therefore, it needs a technological transformation and innovation in line with the Industry 4.0 requirements to transform into smart real estate. However, it faces the barriers of disruptive digital technology (DDT) adoption and innovation that need effective management to enable such transformation. These barriers present managerial challenges that affect DDT adoption and innovation in smart real estate. The current study assesses these DDTs adoption and innovation barriers facing the Australian real estate sector from a managerial perspective. Based on a comprehensive review of 72 systematically retrieved and shortlisted articles, we identify 21 key barriers to digitalisation and innovation. The barriers are grouped into the technology-organisation-external environment (TOE) categories using a Fault tree. Data is collected from 102 real estate and property managers to rate and rank the identified barriers. The results show that most of the respondents are aware of the DDTs and reported AI (22.5% of respondents), big data (12.75%) and VR (12.75%) as the most critical technologies not adopted so far due to costs, organisation policies, awareness, reluctance, user demand, tech integration, government support and funding. Overall, the highest barrier (risk) scores are observed for high costs of software and hardware (T1), high complexity of the selected technology dissemination system (T2) and lack of government incentives, R&D support, policies, regulations and standards (E1). Among the TOE categories, as evident from the fault tree analysis, the highest percentage of failure to adopt the DDT is attributed to E1 in the environmental group. For the technological group, the highest failure reason is attributed to T2. And for the organisational group, the barrier with the highest failure chances for DDT adoption is the lack of organisational willingness to invest in digital marketing (O4). These barriers must be addressed to pave the way for DDT adoption and innovation in the Australian real estate sector and move towards smart real estate.
Fahim Ullah; Samad M.E. Sepasgozar; Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem; Fadi Al-Turjman. Barriers to the digitalisation and innovation of Australian Smart Real Estate: A managerial perspective on the technology non-adoption. Environmental Technology & Innovation 2021, 22, 101527 .
AMA StyleFahim Ullah, Samad M.E. Sepasgozar, Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem, Fadi Al-Turjman. Barriers to the digitalisation and innovation of Australian Smart Real Estate: A managerial perspective on the technology non-adoption. Environmental Technology & Innovation. 2021; 22 ():101527.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFahim Ullah; Samad M.E. Sepasgozar; Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem; Fadi Al-Turjman. 2021. "Barriers to the digitalisation and innovation of Australian Smart Real Estate: A managerial perspective on the technology non-adoption." Environmental Technology & Innovation 22, no. : 101527.
Real‐estate advertisements through electronic and print media are bringing considerable fortune to the global real‐estate sector. However, innovative advertisement methods must be adopted if real estate aims to transform into smart real estate. The current study, which is based on a systematic literature review of 58 articles published in the last decade, identifies key media for real‐estate advertisements as print media (e.g., magazines, brochures, newspapers, and digests), electronic media (e.g., websites, social media, and other digital tools), and mixed methods (e.g., billboards, signs and banners, and personalized messaging). This study takes the case of Kingsford suburb in the eastern Sydney area, and investigates the performance of the Australian real‐estate industry in general and lists the key dynamics of properties in Kingsford and its prominent real‐estate agencies. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)‐based smart real‐estate advertisement material delivery system is proposed to deliver advertisement materials and gifts to the potential customers of these agencies. The system paths are optimized through four Java‐run algorithms: greedy, interroute, intraroute, and Tabu. Results based on six cases, three each for rent and sales with varying numbers of customers and UAVs and an 8‐h operating time, indicate that the Tabu algorithm provides the best‐optimized paths in all cases, followed by the interroute, intraroute, and greedy algorithms. However, the inter‐ and intraroute algorithms show superior performance in terms of computation speed. The proposed framework is a practical approach in disrupting the real‐estate advertising sector, thereby helping this sector transform into a smart real estate consistent with industry 4.0 goals.
Fahim Ullah; Fadi Al‐Turjman; Siddra Qayyum; Hina Inam; Muhammad Imran. Advertising through UAVs: Optimized path system for delivering smart real‐estate advertisement materials. International Journal of Intelligent Systems 2021, 36, 3429 -3463.
AMA StyleFahim Ullah, Fadi Al‐Turjman, Siddra Qayyum, Hina Inam, Muhammad Imran. Advertising through UAVs: Optimized path system for delivering smart real‐estate advertisement materials. International Journal of Intelligent Systems. 2021; 36 (7):3429-3463.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFahim Ullah; Fadi Al‐Turjman; Siddra Qayyum; Hina Inam; Muhammad Imran. 2021. "Advertising through UAVs: Optimized path system for delivering smart real‐estate advertisement materials." International Journal of Intelligent Systems 36, no. 7: 3429-3463.
Sustainable smart cities are confronted by technological, organisational and external risks, making their governance difficult and susceptible to manipulation. Based on a comprehensive literature review of 796 systematically retrieved articles, the current study proposes a multilayered technology-organisation-environment (TOE-based) risk management framework for sustainable smart city governance. A total of 56 risks are identified and grouped into TOE categories. There are 17 technological risks, including IoT networks, public internet management and user safety concerns, with a 38.7% contribution to smart city governance risks. With a 15.6% share, there are 11 organisational risks, including user data security and cloud management. There are 28 external risks with a contribution of 46.7% to the smart city governance and consist of smart city's environment, governance, integration and security risks. A multilayered TOE-based risk management framework is proposed to identify and manage the risks associated with smart city governance in the current study. The framework links smart citizens to each other through the smart city governance team and the integrated TOE layers. The iterative risk management process of identification, analysis, evaluation, monitoring and response planning is carried out in the TOE layers, both at the external layer levels and internal management levels. The proposed framework operationalises the risk management process for smart city governance by presenting the collection of pertinent risks and their thematic TOE categorisation. The criticality of the identified risks in line with the study's rankings can help researchers and practitioners understand the top risks of smart city governance. These risks present investment opportunities for city governance bodies to develop critical and effective responses as well as provide safety, security and enhanced privacy for citizens.
Fahim Ullah; Siddra Qayyum; Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem; Fadi Al-Turjman; Samad M.E. Sepasgozar. Risk management in sustainable smart cities governance: A TOE framework. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 2021, 167, 120743 .
AMA StyleFahim Ullah, Siddra Qayyum, Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem, Fadi Al-Turjman, Samad M.E. Sepasgozar. Risk management in sustainable smart cities governance: A TOE framework. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 2021; 167 ():120743.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFahim Ullah; Siddra Qayyum; Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem; Fadi Al-Turjman; Samad M.E. Sepasgozar. 2021. "Risk management in sustainable smart cities governance: A TOE framework." Technological Forecasting and Social Change 167, no. : 120743.
Blockchains-based smart contracts are disrupting the smart real estate sector of the smart cities. The current study explores the literature focused on blockchain smart contracts in smart real estate and proposes a conceptual framework for its adoption in smart cities. Based on a systematic review method, the literature published between 2000 and 2020 is explored and analyzed. From the literature, ten key aspects of the blockchain smart contracts are highlighted that are grouped into six layers for adopting the smart contracts in smart real estate. The decentralized application and its interactions with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) are presented to show the development of a smart contract that can be used for blockchain smart contracts in real estate. Further, a detailed design and interaction mechanism are highlighted for the real estate owners and users as parties to a smart contract. A list of functions for initiating, creating, modifying, or terminating a smart contract is presented along with a stepwise procedure for establishing and terminating smart contracts. The current study can help the users enjoy a more immersive, user-friendly, and visualized contracting process, whereas the owners, property technologies (Proptech) companies, and real estate agents can enjoy more business and sales. This can help disrupt traditional real estate and transform it into smart real estate in line with industry 4.0 requirements.
Fahim Ullah; Fadi Al-Turjman. A conceptual framework for blockchain smart contract adoption to manage real estate deals in smart cities. Neural Computing and Applications 2021, 1 -22.
AMA StyleFahim Ullah, Fadi Al-Turjman. A conceptual framework for blockchain smart contract adoption to manage real estate deals in smart cities. Neural Computing and Applications. 2021; ():1-22.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFahim Ullah; Fadi Al-Turjman. 2021. "A conceptual framework for blockchain smart contract adoption to manage real estate deals in smart cities." Neural Computing and Applications , no. : 1-22.
UAVs are increasingly incorporated in a wide range of domains such as disaster management and rescue missions. UAV path planning deals with finding the most optimal or shortest path for UAVs such that minimum energy and resources are utilized. This paper examines the path planning algorithms for UAVs through a literature survey conducted on 139 systematically retrieved articles published in the last decade that are narrowed down to 36 highly relevant articles. As retrieved from the shortlisted articles, the path planning algorithms include RRT, Artificial Potential, Voronoi, D-Star, A-Star, Dijkstra, MILP, Neural Network, Ant Colony Optimization, and Particle Swarm Optimization that are classified into four main types: Model-based, Conventional, Learning-based, and Cell-based. Most of the disaster-related articles are focused on the post-disaster phase only and use conventional and learning-based algorithms with applications to localize victims and optimize paths. Regarding the UAV communication network (UAVCN), the key challenges are communication issues, resource allocation, UAV deployment, defining UAV trajectory, and content security. UAV path planning’s key barriers are path optimization, path completeness, optimality, efficiency, and achieving robustness. Accordingly, a holistic IoT-powered UAV-based smart city management system has been recommended in the current study where all the smart city key components are integrated to address disasters like floods, earthquakes, and bush fire. The proposed holistic system can help prepare for disasters and mitigate them as soon as these arise and help enhance the smart city governance.
Zakria Qadir; Fahim Ullah; Hafiz Suliman Munawar; Fadi Al-Turjman. Addressing disasters in smart cities through UAVs path planning and 5G communications: A systematic review. Computer Communications 2021, 168, 114 -135.
AMA StyleZakria Qadir, Fahim Ullah, Hafiz Suliman Munawar, Fadi Al-Turjman. Addressing disasters in smart cities through UAVs path planning and 5G communications: A systematic review. Computer Communications. 2021; 168 ():114-135.
Chicago/Turabian StyleZakria Qadir; Fahim Ullah; Hafiz Suliman Munawar; Fadi Al-Turjman. 2021. "Addressing disasters in smart cities through UAVs path planning and 5G communications: A systematic review." Computer Communications 168, no. : 114-135.
Moazzam Azeem; Fahim Ullah; Muhammad J. Thaheem; Siddra Qayyum. Competitiveness in the construction industry: A contractor’s perspective on barriers to improving the construction industry performance. Journal of Construction Engineering, Management & Innovation 2020, 3, 193 -219.
AMA StyleMoazzam Azeem, Fahim Ullah, Muhammad J. Thaheem, Siddra Qayyum. Competitiveness in the construction industry: A contractor’s perspective on barriers to improving the construction industry performance. Journal of Construction Engineering, Management & Innovation. 2020; 3 (3):193-219.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMoazzam Azeem; Fahim Ullah; Muhammad J. Thaheem; Siddra Qayyum. 2020. "Competitiveness in the construction industry: A contractor’s perspective on barriers to improving the construction industry performance." Journal of Construction Engineering, Management & Innovation 3, no. 3: 193-219.
The aim of this paper is to examine students’ performance in a computation-based course by evaluating the effects of key factors including sketching, visualization resources provided to them during the lectures, their attendance and tutors’ experience. A systematic review was conducted including 192 articles published during January 2010 to December 2019. Further, a case study has been conducted in which 633 students from non-engineering backgrounds were taught a core course of construction over three-yearly sessions from 2017 to 2019. The performance has been assessed through two quizzes of 10% weight each, assignment of 40% weight and a final exam with 30% weight in 2017-18 and 40% weight in 2019 were utilized with an attendance criterion of below 75% as low attendance. The statistical result highlights that a clear difference of 14% overall marks exist between the students with less than 75% attendance and the ones with 75% and above in 2017 and a 10% gap in 2018. Students with high marks in sketching secured higher overall marks as compared to others highlighting that the sketching skill is useful to construction students. The findings contribute to the body of education knowledge by evaluating key influential factors and provide a useful benchmark to other educators in the field.
Fahim Ullah; Samad Sepasgozer; Faham Tahmasebinia; Samad M. E. Sepasgozar; Steven Davis. Examining the impact of students’ attendance, sketching, visualization, and tutors experience on students’ performance: a case of building structures course in construction management. Construction Economics and Building 2020, 20, 1 .
AMA StyleFahim Ullah, Samad Sepasgozer, Faham Tahmasebinia, Samad M. E. Sepasgozar, Steven Davis. Examining the impact of students’ attendance, sketching, visualization, and tutors experience on students’ performance: a case of building structures course in construction management. Construction Economics and Building. 2020; 20 (3):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFahim Ullah; Samad Sepasgozer; Faham Tahmasebinia; Samad M. E. Sepasgozar; Steven Davis. 2020. "Examining the impact of students’ attendance, sketching, visualization, and tutors experience on students’ performance: a case of building structures course in construction management." Construction Economics and Building 20, no. 3: 1.
Digital tools and marketing have been widely adopted in various industries throughout the world. These tools have enabled companies to obtain real-time customer insights and create and communicate value to customers more effectively. This study aims at understanding the principles and practices of sustainable digital marketing in the Malaysian property development industry by investigating the extent to which digital marketing has been adopted, the impediments to its adoption, and the strategies to improve digital capabilities for the local context. Digital marketing theories, practices, and models from other industries are adopted and applied to the local property development industry to lay the foundation for making it smart and sustainable. This paper proposes a marketing technology acceptance model (MTAM) for digital marketing strategy and capability development. The key factors used in the model are ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived cost, higher return, efficiency, digital service quality, digital information quality, digital system quality, attitude towards use, and actual use. The model and hypothetical relationships of critical factors are tested using structural modeling, reliability, and validity techniques using a sample of 279 Malaysian property development sector representatives. A quantitative approach is adopted, using an online questionnaire tool to investigate the behavior of respondents on the current digital marketing practices and capabilities of Malaysian property development companies. The results show that the sample property development companies are driven by the benefit of easily obtaining real-time customer information for creating and communicating value to customers more effectively through the company brand. Further strategies, such as creating real-time interactions, creating key performance indicators to measure digital marketing, personalization, and encouraging innovation in digital marketing are most preferred by local professionals. An adoption framework is provided based on the reviewed models and results of the current study to help transform the Malaysian property development sector into a smart and sustainable property development sector by facilitating the adoption of digital technologies. The results, based on real-time data and pertinent strategies for improvement of the local property sector, are expected to pave the way for inducing sustainable digital marketing trends, enhancing capabilities, and uplifting the state of the property development sector in developing countries.
Sheen Low; Fahim Ullah; Sara Shirowzhan; Samad M.E. Sepasgozar; Chyi Lin Lee. Smart Digital Marketing Capabilities for Sustainable Property Development: A Case of Malaysia. Sustainability 2020, 12, 5402 .
AMA StyleSheen Low, Fahim Ullah, Sara Shirowzhan, Samad M.E. Sepasgozar, Chyi Lin Lee. Smart Digital Marketing Capabilities for Sustainable Property Development: A Case of Malaysia. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (13):5402.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSheen Low; Fahim Ullah; Sara Shirowzhan; Samad M.E. Sepasgozar; Chyi Lin Lee. 2020. "Smart Digital Marketing Capabilities for Sustainable Property Development: A Case of Malaysia." Sustainability 12, no. 13: 5402.
The real estate sector is receiving mix responses throughout the world, with some countries like USA receiving lesser and European and Asia Pacific markets receiving more transactions in recent years. Among the concerning factors, post-purchase regrets by the real estate owners or renters are on the rise, which have never been assessed to date through scholarly research. These regrets can further increase in the time of lockdowns and bans on inspections due to Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and social distancing rules enforced by various countries such as Australia. The current study aims at investigating the key post-purchase regret factors of real estate and property owners and renters over the last decade using published literature and online threads. Based on pertinent literature, 118 systematically identified and text-mined articles, and four online threads with 135 responses, the current study develops system dynamics models to assess and predict the increase in consumers’ regrets over the last decade. Further, a user-generated thread with 23 responses involving seven real estate managers and five agents with more than 20 years of experience, 10 buyers with at least three successful rentals or purchases, and a photographer with more than 10 years of experience, is initiated on five online discussion platforms whereby the respondents are involved in a detailed discussion to highlight the regret reasons specific to real estate purchases based on online information. General architecture for text mining (GATE) software has been utilised to mine the text from both types of threads: Published and user generated. Overall, the articles and threads published over the last decade are studied under two periods: P1 (2010–2014) and P2 (2015–2019) to highlight the post-purchase or rent-related regret reasons. The results show that regret levels of the real estate consumers based on published post-purchase data are at an alarmingly high level of 88%, which compared to 2015, has increased by 18%. Among the major cited reasons, complicated buy–sell process, lack or accuracy of information, housing costs, house size, mortgages, agents, inspections, and emotional decision making are key reasons of regret. Overall, a total of 10% and 8% increases have occurred in the regrets related to the buy–sell process and lack of inspections, respectively. On the other hand, regrets related to agents and housing costs have decreased drastically by 40% mainly due to the good return on investments in the growing markets. However, based on the current trend of over reliance on online information and more powers to the agents controlling online information coupled with lack of physical inspections, the situation can change anytime. Similarly, lack of information, housing size, and mortgage-related regrets have also decreased by 7%, 5%, and 2%, respectively, since 2019. The results are expected to encourage policy level changes for addressing the regrets and uplifting the real estate industry and moving towards a smart and sustainable real estate sector. These results and pertinent discussions may help the real estate decision makers to uplift the current state, move towards a smart real estate, and avoid futuristic regrets, especially in the COVID-hit environment where most of the industries are struggling to survive. Careful attention is required to the top regret factors identified in the study by the real estate managers, investors, and agents to pave the way for a more managed real estate and property sector whereby the consumers are more satisfied with the value they receive for their money. This win–win situation will enhance the property business and remove the stigmas of intentional and deliberate withholding of information by managers and agents from the property and real estate sectors that can help boost the business through more purchases and satisfaction of its customers.
Fahim Ullah; Samad M. E. Sepasgozar. Key Factors Influencing Purchase or Rent Decisions in Smart Real Estate Investments: A System Dynamics Approach Using Online Forum Thread Data. Sustainability 2020, 12, 4382 .
AMA StyleFahim Ullah, Samad M. E. Sepasgozar. Key Factors Influencing Purchase or Rent Decisions in Smart Real Estate Investments: A System Dynamics Approach Using Online Forum Thread Data. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (11):4382.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFahim Ullah; Samad M. E. Sepasgozar. 2020. "Key Factors Influencing Purchase or Rent Decisions in Smart Real Estate Investments: A System Dynamics Approach Using Online Forum Thread Data." Sustainability 12, no. 11: 4382.
Big data is the concept of enormous amounts of data being generated daily in different fields due to the increased use of technology and internet sources. Despite the various advancements and the hopes of better understanding, big data management and analysis remain a challenge, calling for more rigorous and detailed research, as well as the identifications of methods and ways in which big data could be tackled and put to good use. The existing research lacks in discussing and evaluating the pertinent tools and technologies to analyze big data in an efficient manner which calls for a comprehensive and holistic analysis of the published articles to summarize the concept of big data and see field-specific applications. To address this gap and keep a recent focus, research articles published in last decade, belonging to top-tier and high-impact journals, were retrieved using the search engines of Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science that were narrowed down to a set of 139 relevant research articles. Different analyses were conducted on the retrieved papers including bibliometric analysis, keywords analysis, big data search trends, and authors’ names, countries, and affiliated institutes contributing the most to the field of big data. The comparative analyses show that, conceptually, big data lies at the intersection of the storage, statistics, technology, and research fields and emerged as an amalgam of these four fields with interlinked aspects such as data hosting and computing, data management, data refining, data patterns, and machine learning. The results further show that major characteristics of big data can be summarized using the seven Vs, which include variety, volume, variability, value, visualization, veracity, and velocity. Furthermore, the existing methods for big data analysis, their shortcomings, and the possible directions were also explored that could be taken for harnessing technology to ensure data analysis tools could be upgraded to be fast and efficient. The major challenges in handling big data include efficient storage, retrieval, analysis, and visualization of the large heterogeneous data, which can be tackled through authentication such as Kerberos and encrypted files, logging of attacks, secure communication through Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS), data imputation, building learning models, dividing computations into sub-tasks, checkpoint applications for recursive tasks, and using Solid State Drives (SDD) and Phase Change Material (PCM) for storage. In terms of frameworks for big data management, two frameworks exist including Hadoop and Apache Spark, which must be used simultaneously to capture the holistic essence of the data and make the analyses meaningful, swift, and speedy. Further field-specific applications of big data in two promising and integrated fields, i.e., smart real estate and disaster management, were investigated, and a framework for field-specific applications, as well as a merger of the two areas through big data, was highlighted. The proposed frameworks show that big data can tackle the ever-present issues of customer regrets related to poor quality of information or lack of information in smart real estate to increase the customer satisfaction using an intermediate organization that can process and keep a check on the data being provided to the customers by the sellers and real estate managers. Similarly, for disaster and its risk management, data from social media, drones, multimedia, and search engines can be used to tackle natural disasters such as floods, bushfires, and earthquakes, as well as plan emergency responses. In addition, a merger framework for smart real estate and disaster risk management show that big data generated from the smart real estate in the form of occupant data, facilities management, and building integration and maintenance can be shared with the disaster risk management and emergency response teams to help prevent, prepare, respond to, or recover from the disasters.
Hafiz Suliman Munawar; Siddra Qayyum; Fahim Ullah; Samad Sepasgozar. Big Data and Its Applications in Smart Real Estate and the Disaster Management Life Cycle: A Systematic Analysis. Big Data and Cognitive Computing 2020, 4, 4 .
AMA StyleHafiz Suliman Munawar, Siddra Qayyum, Fahim Ullah, Samad Sepasgozar. Big Data and Its Applications in Smart Real Estate and the Disaster Management Life Cycle: A Systematic Analysis. Big Data and Cognitive Computing. 2020; 4 (2):4.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHafiz Suliman Munawar; Siddra Qayyum; Fahim Ullah; Samad Sepasgozar. 2020. "Big Data and Its Applications in Smart Real Estate and the Disaster Management Life Cycle: A Systematic Analysis." Big Data and Cognitive Computing 4, no. 2: 4.
Rising demand and limited production of electricity are instrumental in spreading the awareness of cautious energy use, leading to the global demand for energy-efficient buildings. This compels the construction industry to smartly design and effectively construct these buildings to ensure energy performance as per design expectations. However, the research tells a different tale: energy-efficient buildings have performance issues. Among several reasons behind the energy performance gap, occupant behavior is critical. The occupant behavior is dynamic and changes over time under formal and informal influences, but the traditional energy simulation programs assume it as static throughout the occupancy. Effective behavioral interventions can lead to optimized energy use. To find out the energy-saving potential based on simulated modified behavior, this study gathers primary building and occupant data from three energy-efficient office buildings in major cities of Pakistan and categorizes the occupants into high, medium, and low energy consumers. Additionally, agent-based modeling simulates the change in occupant behavior under the direct and indirect interventions over a three-year period. Finally, energy savings are quantified to highlight a 25.4% potential over the simulation period. This is a unique attempt at quantifying the potential impact on energy usage due to behavior modification which will help facility managers to plan and execute necessary interventions and software experts to develop effective tools to model the dynamic usage behavior. This will also help policymakers in devising subtle but effective behavior training strategies to reduce energy usage. Such behavioral retrofitting comes at a much lower cost than the physical or technological retrofit options to achieve the same purpose and this study establishes the foundation for it.
Qadeer Ali; Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem; Fahim Ullah; Samad M. E. Sepasgozar. The Performance Gap in Energy-Efficient Office Buildings: How the Occupants Can Help? Energies 2020, 13, 1480 .
AMA StyleQadeer Ali, Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem, Fahim Ullah, Samad M. E. Sepasgozar. The Performance Gap in Energy-Efficient Office Buildings: How the Occupants Can Help? Energies. 2020; 13 (6):1480.
Chicago/Turabian StyleQadeer Ali; Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem; Fahim Ullah; Samad M. E. Sepasgozar. 2020. "The Performance Gap in Energy-Efficient Office Buildings: How the Occupants Can Help?" Energies 13, no. 6: 1480.
Risk is inherent in construction projects and managed through contingency. Dynamic management of contingency escrow accounts during project execution poses decision-making challenges. Project managers use key performance indicators (KPIs) for contingency release decisions. However, their subjective mental models influence risk perception, exacerbating the decision-making dilemma. This research integrates project KPIs with future risk perception to develop a mathematical model for facilitating such decision making. Results suggest timely completion, project cost, stakeholder satisfaction, quality and safety as top KPIs, and the influence of managerial pressure as a significant decision contributor. The proposed model helps project managers in dynamic decision making for cost contingency.
Bilal Ayub; Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem; Fahim Ullah. Contingency Release During Project Execution: The Contractor’s Decision-Making Dilemma. Project Management Journal 2019, 50, 734 -748.
AMA StyleBilal Ayub, Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem, Fahim Ullah. Contingency Release During Project Execution: The Contractor’s Decision-Making Dilemma. Project Management Journal. 2019; 50 (6):734-748.
Chicago/Turabian StyleBilal Ayub; Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem; Fahim Ullah. 2019. "Contingency Release During Project Execution: The Contractor’s Decision-Making Dilemma." Project Management Journal 50, no. 6: 734-748.