Spotlight on Dr Alex Torku

Join us for our new series in which the members of the LCP introduce themselves and their work from a more personal perspective. Dr Alex Torku, our Lecturer in Construction Management, makes the start.

I am a Lecturer in Construction Management at the School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds. I am situated at the Leeds Centre for Projects, where I significantly contribute to student education in the MSc International Construction Management and Engineering and MSc Engineering Project Management programmes. I completed my PhD in Construction Engineering and Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. I hold an MSc in Construction Project Management (with distinction) from Heriot-Watt University, UK and a BSc in Quantity Surveying and Construction Economics (first class honours) from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. I have learned to be keenly aware of the numerous biases under-represented students face in the modern classroom. I firmly believe that thoughtful, student-centred and well-researched teaching can make a real difference in student outcomes.

The global population is ageing (including an ageing construction workforce), and the built environment infrastructure in many cities and communities is approaching its design life. I refer to this unprecedented phenomenon as “double ageing”. Double ageing presents us with challenges and opportunities. To tackle the challenges and harness the benefits of double ageing, I have created a collaborative and engagement research network called ‘Ageing Intervention Development (AID) Lab’. Our core aim is to bring together researchers, community, industry, policymakers, and other partners: create an interdisciplinary space to explore questions, engage in dialogues and develop interventions to inform decision-making outcomes in age-friendly cities, communities, and workplaces towards improving equity, social justice, and inclusivity for ageing persons within the construction industry and the built environment infrastructure.

Our vision (which directly feeds into our core research theme) is to create Ageing Intervention Developments (AID):

• to promote an age-friendly construction industry where older construction workers feel safe, comfortable, and happy while improving productivity.

• to promote an age-friendly built environment (our daily surroundings, such as workplaces, buildings, parks, roads, and pavement) that is inclusive and accessible to promote active ageing.

• inspired by emerging technologies, such as wearable sensors (for human sensing), Artificial Intelligence, robotics, extended reality, and digital twins.

Our research explores theories within environmental psychology (e.g., human-environment interactions), psychophysiology, and social cognition. We use these theories to guide our understanding of how older adults “interact” and “respond” in complex systems. We monitor these interactions and responses through physiological indicators (e.g., heart rate, skin conductivity, brain activity), psychological indicators (e.g., stress), human behaviour (e.g., gait) and self-reflection. We employ person-centred, community-based participatory research, and policy-level approaches to co-produce all aspects of our research project.

In our recent publications, we bridged theory and practice – we used wearable sensors to collect continuous bodily responses (i.e., electroencephalography, photoplethysmography, electrodermal activity, and gait) and location data from older adults to detect environmental features that could impede older adults’ mobility in their neighbourhood. Here are the links to these publications:

• Torku, A., Chan, A.P., Yung, E.H., Seo, J. and Antwi-Afari, M.F., 2022. Wearable sensing and mining of the informativeness of older adults’ physiological, behavioral, and cognitive responses to detect demanding environmental conditions. Environment and Behavior, 54(6), pp.1005-1057. (access here)
• Torku, A., Chan, A.P., Yung, E.H. and Seo, J., 2022. Detecting stressful older adults-environment interactions to improve neighbourhood mobility: A multimodal physiological sensing, machine learning, and risk hotspot analysis-based approach. Building and Environment, 224, p.109533. (access here)
• Torku, A., Chan, A.P., Yung, E.H. and Seo, J., 2021. The influence of urban visuospatial configuration on older adults’ stress: A wearable physiological-perceived stress sensing and data mining based-approach. Building and Environment, 206, p.108298. (access here)

In previous research, we engaged older construction workers in Edinburgh to understand how the construction work environment impacts their quality of life.

• Torku, A., Bayrak, T., Ogunlana, S.O., Chan, A.P.C. and Owusu-Manu, D.G., 2021. Are the ageing workforce satisfied with the construction work environment?. In Collaboration and Integration in Construction, Engineering, Management and Technology: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Construction in the 21st Century, London 2019 (pp. 101-106). Springer International Publishing. (access here)
• Torku, A., Bayrak, T., Ogunlana, S., Chan, A.P.C., Darko, A. and Owusu-Manu, D.G., 2020, September. Impact of construction work environment on quality of life of ageing workforce. In Joint CIB WO99 & TG59 International Web-Conference 2020 (p. 87). (access here)

Join us at AID Lab if you share our vision and want to make real world impact. For further information about these projects and AID Lab, please get in touch with Dr Alex Torku by email to [email protected]