One Year After: Speckle & PhD

One year ago, in August 2020, I defended my PhD. It was a torpid day in London - and I was stuck in a top floor London flat. My examiners, Rob Woodbury and Alan Penn, were probably facing similar environmental constraints! In spite of the varied timezones and unfavourable weather, the viva proved to be an extremely interesting and humbling dialogue: while it provided closure to a chapter in my life, opened many other future avenues - which live onwards in Speckle.

?? If you're keen to read my thesis, or are interested in knowing the backstory behind Speckle, I've published it online here.

It was a few hours (and a pint) after the "no corrections" verdict to finally cool off and take a breath (truth be told, it took me a year to fully digest the fact that I'm a doctor now - hence the timing of this post). I can't be grateful enough to the people and institutions that made this possible - my supervisors Sean Hanna, Bob Sheil & Robert Aish at UCL The Bartlett, Luis Fraguada, Giovanni Betti, and the crew at InnoChain & H2020; Falli for the continuous support throughout.

As you may know, Speckle was born and made its first steps during my PhD research. Below are some reflections on the process. Mind you, they describe a "happy path" (the more valuable advice, what not to do, is more difficult to extract - and I'm not ready for that yet).

Space and Context

Having the time, space and context to find the root of problem is a critical luxury that not many get to enjoy. Being a Marie Curie Fellow gave me the perfect balance of independence, responsibility and incentives to deliver "applied research that matters". Mind, it was difficult to strike a balance between "academic" and "applied" work. Nevertheless, I found that these tracks are not mutually exclusive. In AEC, they shouldn't be - if they are, you're probably answering the wrong question. The insights coming from regularly swapping the researcher hat with that of a practitioner are invaluable and, eventually, for Speckle, created a virtuous process in which they were reinforcing each other.

Defining The Problem

Defining the problem is as important as attempting to solve it. This might sound like a platitude, but ignoring the fact that most problems, especially in AEC, are wicked problems can lead to either direct one-shot solutions that have diminishing returns with time, or too general solutions that are difficult to apply and end up having little impact.

Speckle is an instrument that serves both purposes: it helped me both define and answer the problem of digital communication in AEC. Looking back, this is a classic play when it comes to wicked problems: the answer to one simultaneously changes and further defines the problem.

Take Breaks From Solving The Problem

As my research progressed, I had several revelation moments on the way - which will be the subject of future posts. These moments would not have come without, what seemed at the time, endless poring over books, papers and other publications and chasing up references. You have to be a bit obsessive to find enjoyment in this endeavour, I'll grant you that, but the rewards are worth it: take breaks from solving the problem and read.

?? One example: did you know know that the topic of "data" and "communication" in construction has been the subject of a study in the UK that spanned from 1963 to 1966? If you're curious what their conclusion was and how relevant it still is 50 years later, glance over Section 2.4, Design and Communication from my thesis.

Sometimes, you'll find answers to a question in your field from a completely different field. You'll chuckle when you realise that problem X, say software interoperability & data loss, has very little to do with file formats and standards, and much more to do with how we think as humans, and how we operate professionally. It helps you define the problem, and then allows you to choose what which part of it to try and improve.

What's up next?

Well, if you haven't been following, since a year there's a small and punchy company around Speckle where I try to keep the values above alive. Our core mission stays true: provide an open source data platform for the built environment that facilitates human collaboration and meaningful automation. Onwards and upwards!