Contact Dr Yirui Jiang
- Email: Yirui.Jiang@cranfield.ac.uk
Background
Short Bio
Dr Jiang is a Research Fellow in Digital Design Engineering at Cranfield University, boasting over many years of experience in digital transformation. Her research develops digital design engineering methods — integrating AI, IoT, Digital Twins, Quantum, Augmented Reality and Design Thinking — for the design, deployment and life-cycle management of complex engineered systems. She has incorporated digital solutions across diverse sectors, spanning from sanitation to avitation. She works closely with international industry and foundation partners. She is actively involved in public engagement, promoting digital literacy and environmental awareness.
Full Biography
Dr Jiang is a Research Fellow in Digital Design Engineering at the Centre for Digital and Design Engineering, Cranfield University. The research develops digital design engineering methods — integrating AI, IoT, Digital Twins, Quantum, Large Language Models (LLMs), Augmented Reality (AR) and Design Thinking — for the design, deployment and full-lifecycle management of complex engineered digital–physical systems. Her research signature is human-centric digital design engineering: integrating human knowledge, expertise and judgement into digital systems from the earliest design stages through to end-of-life, so that humans remain central to the design, operation and evolution of complex products and infrastructures.
Dr Jiang is deeply committed to global sanitation mission. She sees engineering research as more than intellectual work — she believes it must measurably improve human lives, particularly for the most under-served communities on Earth. The Gates Foundation smart sanitation programme is, for her, an embodiment of that conviction.
PhD supervision
- Natasha Robin — Physics-Informed Intelligence for Data-Scarce Prognostics.
- Lavina Sherly Vijay — Resource Optimisation in Cyber-Physical Systems.
- Aritra Das Ray — Adaptive Human–Digital Interaction with Reinforcement Learning (RL).
- Tejas Sambhaji Jambhale — University–Industry Partnership and Commercialisation in Smart Systems.
Past MSc-by-Research and MSc dissertation students: Jiawen Gao, Rejin Jacob Vadukkoot, Jiaying Li, Weihao Hu and Ruichen Mao, Anita Baffour Awuah, Godfred Boampong
Prospective PhD candidates interested in human-centric digital design engineering, AI-enabled design automation, digital twins, IoT life-cycle design, or trustworthy AI governance in engineered systems are warmly encouraged to make contact.
Teaching
Dr Jiang teaches across various programmes at Cranfield:
- Product Development, Strategy & Innovation (MSc Engineering Management).
- Data Management & Data Storage (MSc Management & Information Systems / MSc Digital and Technology Solutions).
- Design Thinking and Innovation (MSc Sustainability / EMBA).
- Creative Enterprise & Entrepreneurship (MSc Design).
- AI, Information Science & Data Science, Pembroke College, University of Oxford (invited teaching, 2023).
A new MSc module on Human-Centric Digital Design Engineering is under development for delivery.
Intellectual property
- Two granted patents (sole inventor): Graph Dimension Reduction (201910037898.2, granted 2019); Intelligent Recommendation System (2019SR0198252, granted 2019).
- Four UK patent applications in the smart-sanitation domain, filed 9 September 2025 (GB2514892.5; GB2514894.1; GB2514896.6; GB2514897.4). Patent pending.
Editorial and scholarly service
- Invited Editor, Frontiers Special Issue.
- Peer Reviewer for Nature Machine Intelligence, Scientific Reports, and journals across IEEE, ACM and Springer Nature.
- International Workshop / Session Chair (2023–2025) at Academy of Management (2024; 2025); INFORMS (2023, 2025); EurAI / ECAI (2024); IEEE-AIVR (2021).
Professional membership and credentials
- BSI Lead AI in ISO/IEC 42001, 2026.
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA); Associate Fellow (AFHEA); Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCert).
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).
- Visiting Chancellor Scholar in Digital Transformation, University of Oxford (2023).
- Community membership: Royal Society; British Academy; Alan Turing Institute; IEEE; INFORMS; Academy of Management; EurAI; AISB; AAAI.
Research opportunities
Welcome Master's students, PhD students, visiting students, visiting scholars, and collaborators who are interested in conducting research in these topics. Whether you are just beginning your research journey or have extensive academic experience, we aim to make meaningful contributions to academia and society. If you are interested in joining us, please feel free to reach out.
- Digital Design Engineering
- Human-Centric Digital Design Engineering
- Digital Twins and closed-loop digital–physical systems
- Smart Sanitation, Avitation, Water
- Human-in-the-loop AI architectures
- AI-enabled design automation (LLMs, AR, intelligent CAD/CAM)
- Trustworthy AI governance (ISO/IEC 42001)
- Applied contexts: smart system, sustainable manufacturing, digital transformation
- Digitalization; Artificial Intelligence; Internet of Things; Metaverse; Data Assets; Quantum Tech
- Digital Technology Development; Industrial Innovation Ecosystem; Innovation Strategy and Management; Sustainable Development
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Jiang Y, Tran TH, Collins M & Williams L. (2024). Development of Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence for intelligent sanitation systems: a literature review. Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development, 8(12)
- Jiang Y, Tran TH & Williams L. (2023). Machine learning and mixed reality for smart aviation: applications and challenges. Journal of Air Transport Management, 111(August)
- Tran TH, Nguyen TBT & Jiang Y. (2023). A hybrid algorithm for large-scale non-separable nonlinear multicommodity flow problems. Journal of Algorithms and Computational Technology, 17
- Jiang Y, Tran TH & Williams L. (2023). A Surveillance-and-Blockchain-based Tracking System for Mitigation of Baggage Mishandling at Smart Airports. Journal of Airline Operations and Aviation Management, 2(2)
- Jiang Y, Tran TH & Williams L. (2022). Advanced visual slam and image segmentation techniques for augmented reality. International Journal of Virtual and Augmented Reality, 6(1)
- TH T. (2022). "Importance of UV Disinfection Robots for Airports During and After Covid-19: A Short Review". COJ Robotics & Artificial Intelligence, 2(4)
- Jiang Y, Yang R, Zang C, Wei Z, Thompson J, .... (2021). Toward baggage-free airport terminals: a case study of London City Airport. Sustainability, 14(1)
- Ji R, Cao Y, Fan X, Jiang Y, Lei G, .... (2020). Multipath TCP-Based IoT Communication Evaluation: From the Perspective of Multipath Management with Machine Learning. Sensors, 20(22)
- Deng Z, Cao Y, Zhou X, Yi Y, Jiang Y, .... (2020). Toward Efficient Image Recognition in Sensor-Based IoT: A Weight Initialization Optimizing Method for CNN Based on RGB Influence Proportion. Sensors, 20(10)