Ayse Glass

As Interim Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Methods, Dr.-Ing. Ayse Glass leads more than €15M research programs on AI, building technologies, and urban informatics with departments Economy and Digitalization and Digital City Science.  Specialized in building technology and architecture with a focus on urban informatics and acoustics, she works at the intersection of computational design, building technology, and AI-powered methods for urban development.

She has led projects such as “Fahrplanoptimierung Plus” (FPO+) and “Platform Data Fusion Generator – DaFne” at HafenCity University Hamburg, including the development of deep reinforcement learning approaches and synthetic data generation for mobility and smart city applications. Central to her work is the development of Hamburg-Harburg’s digital twin and AI-based mobility predictors, in collaboration with partners including Deutsche Bahn, RPTU, Lübeck University, Breuer, and TUHH. Her research explores citizens’ mobility behavior using multisource urban data, BIM, wireless networks, sensors, simulations, and agentic AI systems to inform human-centered, data-driven design. Her teaching concept is radically “learning by doing”: she turns the city into a living lab through data walks, site visits, hackathons, and intensive workshops where students prototype real solutions with real data, code, and communities. Alongside her academic work, she curates talks, installations, and creative AI exhibitions with the Artificial Intelligence Center Hamburg to open up AI, question its impact, and make complex technologies accessible to everyone.

Her PhD introduced an interactive, algorithmic method for generative design that integrates building physics and acoustic simulation as design drivers, forming the basis for her continuing work on adaptive systems and digital fabrication. Her academic practice is grounded in over a decade of professional experience as project manager, architect, and acoustic engineer on more than 30 international projects, including high-rise buildings, universities, hotels, museums, and cultural landmarks. She was recently selected as part of a young leaders delegation for AI and technology.