Professor Nicole Metje PhD, Dipl.-Ing, MCInstCES, MASCE, FHEA

• Member of the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors, 2015
• Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, 2015
• Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, 2009
• PhD Civil Engineering, University of Birmingham, 2001
• Dipl.-Ing. Civil Engineering (Bauingenieurwesen), Hannover University, Germany, 1998

In 1998, Nicole qualified with a Dipl. Ing. in Civil Engineering from Hannover University in Germany with the focus on fluid mechanics and tunnelling. She went on to study for a PhD in Sediment Suspension under Water Waves at the University of Birmingham, before joining the School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering as a Research Fellow in 2001. After 6 months, she joined the School of Civil Engineering as a Senior Research Fellow on a three year project to conduct research into optical fibre sensing technologies to determine the deformations of existing tunnels.

On the basis of her experience, Nicole was appointed as the Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow in 2005 to co-ordinate the research activities of four discrete projects, and a network funded research grant entitled Mapping the Underworld (MTU).

In 2007, Nicole was awarded a prestigious Birmingham Research Fellowship, which transferred into the lectureship in geotechnical engineering in 2010. Since 2016, Nicole is a Reader in Infrastructure Monitoring.

Nicole has a large research portfolio including the following projects both past and present:

•  Mapping the Underworld
  
  
• Assessing the Underworld
  
  
• Quantum Technology (QT) Hub in Sensors and Metrology
  
  
•  SIGMA – Study of Industrial Gravity Measurement Applications
  
  
• REVEAL – Building the first Quantum Technology gravity gradiometer commercial prototype
  
  
• GRAM – Assessing the potential of Quantum Technology gravity sensor for the detection of mine workings, soil compaction and earthwork leakage
  
  
• QT – PRI – Assessing the potential of Quantum Technology Sensors for Railway Infrastructure
  
  
• FINDIT - Finding Infrastructure with Non-Destructive Imaging Technologies
  
  
• SSAAMS - Sensor & Satellite Asset Alert and Management System
  
  
• RETRAC - Real Time Traffic Speed Condition Survey
  
  
• Smart Leakage Detection Pipes
  
  
• Balancing the impact of City Infrastructure Engineering on Natural systems using Robots
  
  
• iBuild - Infrastructure Business models, valuation and Innovation for Local Delivery
  
  
• Understanding and improving crop soil interactions to reduce root lodging in wheat and oilseed rape

Nicole is multi-disciplinary teacher with a broad teaching portfolio at undergraduate and postgraduate levels to engineering students.

Current Teaching:

• Introduction to Underground Construction (MSc/MEng, 2011 – to date)
• MEng Individual Research Projects (2008 – to date)
• MSc Research Projects (2012 – to date)

Past Teaching:

• Flooding and Water Resource Management (MSc/MEng, 2015 – 2017)
• Small Group Teaching (1st year, 2011 – 2017)
• Foundation Year Civil Engineering Laboratories (2011 – 2016)
• Groundwater (MSc, 2013-2014)
• Pipe Network Analysis (MSc, 2012 – 2014)
• Guided Study (3rd Year BEng, 2011 – 2014)
• Industrial Research Projects (MSc, 2011 – 2013)
• Introductory Maths & Data Handling (FY, 2010 – 2012)
• River Basin Management (3rd Year BEng/MEng, 2006 – 2012)
• Engineering Studies (FY, 2006 – 2010)
• Fluid Flow, Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer (1st Year, 2005 – 2006)
• Mathematics for Technology (Suite of Technologies Programme, 2003 – 2006)

Currently, Nicole supervises the following research projects:

• Multi-sensor approach: Can Quantum Technology gravity be combined with other (non QT) geophysical instrumentation to set constraints for gravity inversion (PhD, 2017-2023)
• Acoustic signal transmission along a buried pipe (PhD, 2014 – 2020)
• Development of advanced AI- assisted computational routines to infer quantum technology sensors’ data (2019-2022)
• Real-time gravity processing using QT gravity sensors – optimisation of quality control and survey strategies (2019-2024)
• A multi-sensory approach to buried asset detection (2020-2023)
• Wind Engineering risk to forest trees - an experimental and numerical study (2020-2024)

Nicole has supervised several postgraduate research students to completion:

• Loretta von der Tann: Integrated governance of the urban subsurface – a systems-based approach (PhD with UCL, 2016-2020)
• Aryan Hojjati: Sustainability Costing Model of Street Works (PhD, 2016-2020)
• Amelia Rouse: Understanding and improving crop soil interactions to reduce root lodging in wheat and oilseed rape (PhD, 2015-2019)
• Nick Tziavos: Fatigue of grouted connections on monopile offshore wind turbines (PhD, 2015-2018)
• James Pring: Effects of archaeological residues on geotechnical soil properties (PhD, 2010 – 2016)
• Ali Sadeghioon: Communication and data management in the underground utility environment (PhD, 2010 – 2015)
• Daniel Boddice: Changing geophysical contrast between archaeological features and surrounding soil (PhD, 2010 – 2015)
• Robert Walton: Indirect conversion radioisotopic battery for buried asset condition monitoring (PhD, 2010 – 2013)
• Nastaran Shirgiri: Correlation between geotechnical and geophysical properties of soil (2010 – 2013, MPhil)
• Giulio Curioni: Investigating the seasonal variability of electromagnetic soil properties using field monitoring data from Time-Domain Reflectometry probes (PhD, 2009 – 2012)
• Russell Hayes: Development of a sustainability assessment methodology for UK streetworks projects (PhD, 2008 – 2012)
• Anna Kolonko: Investigation into the mechanical performance of pipe grade HDPE with included silicon chips as a basis for future sensors (PhD, 2007 – 2012)
• Andrew Thomas: Measurement of electromagnetic signal velocities in saturated fine-grained soils (PhD, 2005 – 2010)

In general, Nicole is interested in supervising doctoral research students in the following areas:

• Use of geophysical sensors to look through the ground including quantum technology gravity sensors, their use on mobile platforms and combination with other sensing technologies;
• Impacts of different soils on geophysical sensing technologies when locating buried utilities or archaeology;
• Use of underground space – how can we make the underground space resilient and sustainable for the future and identify novel ways of using the space;
• Novel sensing technologies for infrastructure monitoring (pipes, tunnels etc), such as Smart Pipes technology

If you are interested in studying any of these subject areas, please contact Nicole on the contact details above, or for any general doctoral research inquiries, please e-mail civil-research@contacts.bham.ac.uk or call +44 (0)121 414 4160.

Nicole has research interests which encompass the buried infrastructure monitoring in two main streams:

(i) Understanding the ground and (ii) Infrastructure Monitoring.

Work has focussed on the conductivity and permittivity properties of soils (geophysical properties), and relating these to geotechnical soil properties. With a better understanding of the geophysical soil properties, and their long-term changes due to seasonal variations, sensors can be fine-tuned, the most appropriate signal frequency chosen and models of the soil developed (PhD students Thomas, Curioni, Boddice, MPhil student Abdorahimi). This work includes the development of long-term monitoring stations based on time domain reflectometry probes (TDR), both on campus as well as in remote field locations.

This work also includes the link of the fundamental geotechnical, geophysical, and environmental conditions to the detectability of archaeological features such as ditches and post holes to advance the level of advice available on the most appropriate time for aerial prospection (PhD student Pring). The work will lead to changes in the approaches taken by archaeologists, with respect to aerial prospection, as to-date no research has been conducted in the underlying soil properties and conditions providing contrast between the archaeological feature, the surrounding soil matrix, and the resulting crop marks, thereby opening the potential of revealing more of our history.

(ii) Infrastructure Monitoring

Nicole leads research in the development of novel sensors, as well as novel applications for existing sensors. She is utilising a three-pronged approach to further this research: 1) focusing on the design of ultra-low power consuming sensors for real time monitoring for the use in hostile, and difficult to access environments, such as buried infrastructure (PhD students Kolonko, Walton, Sadeghioon, Farai), 2) applying QT gravimeters and gravity gradiometers in the field for the detection of relatively deep buried assets (mine shafts and voids), and the condition of the ground by developing optimum survey strategies, and influencing the design of the instruments (PhD student Roberts, Post-Docs Boddice, Holynski, Goncharenko) 3) developing novel processing techniques to extract the maximum information out of existing sensing technologies (Post-Doc Rebegea).

All Nicole’s research is multidisciplinary, illustrating that she has the necessary skills to lead and work as part of a successful team. This is highlighted in the list of publications which shows she has worked with a large number of individuals across a variety of subject disciplines. She has played a major role in writing the publications, and as such claim high levels of intellectual ownership. Nicole has pursued a research strategy which has enabled her to achieve autonomy without building a silo.

• Member of the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors Utilities & Subsurface Mapping Panel (USMP), 2020-2023
• Advisory Committee member of the Geospatial Commission’s National Underground Asset Register (NUAR), since 2019
• Member of internationally advisory board for Hong Kong’s Poly work on the development of ‘Specifications for non-destructive testing’, since 2019
• Member of UKRI’s Future Leaders Fellowship Core Panel College, since 2019
• Member of the Royal Society’s International Collaboration Awards for Research Professors Panel (2021-2023)
• International member of the Transport Research Board (TRB), ABF70 Utility Committee
• Member of the All Party Parliamentary Water Group, since 2010
• International member of the ASCE Utility standards committee, since 2009
• Member of the Institution of Civil Engineer’s Municipal Expert and Geospatial Engineering Panels
• BSI Steering Committee Member for the development of PAS128
• Member of the Utility Strike Avoidance Group’s Data and Reporting Working Group