Ardeshir Mahdavi
Ardeshir Mahdavi is an expert in building physics, architectural science, and human ecology.
Education
Ardeshir Mahdavi has a Diplom-Ingenieur degree, a Ph.D., and a Post-Doc degree from TU Wien, Austria.Academic positions
Prior to his current affiliation at TU Graz, Professor Mahdavi was the Director of the Department of Building Physics and Building Ecology and the Chair of Graduate Studies in Building Science and Technology at TU Wien. He acted also as the Chair of the Institute of Architectural Sciences at TU Wien. Before returning to Austria, Professor Mahdavi was a Full Tenured Professor of Building Physics at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA. He has supervised more than 65 Ph.D. students and more than 180 Master of Science students.Research
Mahdavi has conducted scientific research in multiple fields, including building engineering 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:
- An introduction to Building Physics
- Space, sound, music, etc.
- Fundamentals of Building Ecology
- Research methods and design
- An introduction to the philosophy of science