Dr Sura Al-Maiyah

Sura’s research interest is in daylight and health, building occupants’ comfort and well-being, sustainability, and building performance. She is the co-author of ‘’Daylight, Design and Place-Making’’ by Routledge (2021) and the author of over 30 journal papers and international refereed conference papers. Sura has led and collaborated on funded research projects including the AHRC-funded project MOVE (£188K) and served as a reviewer for several journals, conferences, and funding bodies. She is a member of the AHRC’s Peer Review College (PRC), a reviewer for the Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA), a member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), the Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2011. She supervised PhD students in the areas of thermal and visual comfort of building occupants, ageing population and inclusive living environments, children’s health and Inclusive playing environments.  

Current research activity:

• 2018/22: Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Science & Technology Development Fund (STDF) of Egypt, Collaboration with Ain Shams University, and the University of Portsmouth (£188K, AH/R007810/1) - Co-I.

Recently completed research projects 

• 2018/20: Monitoring energy and environmental performance of a newly occupied nursing & residential care home - Collaboration with Seddon Construction Ltd and Kingsley Healthcare Group - Project Lead. 
• 2018: Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development Network event – Jordan, Amman (Newton - UKRI AHRC fund).
• 2016/17: Enhancing Visual Perception Using Daylight Digital Modelling: Case Study of the Whistler Room at Mottisfont, Hampshire, Collaboration with the National Trust - CCI Research Accelerator Fund, University of Portsmouth.
• 2014/16: Post Occupancy Evaluation of Daylighting and the Thermal Environment of the New Eldon West - CCI Research Accelerator Fund, University of Portsmouth.
• 2012: An assessment of the visual performance of listed buildings in the Eastern Mediterranean region - Centre for Art, Architecture and Design (CAAD) and Portsmouth School of Architecture, University of Portsmouth.
• 2011: Study on the visual performance of traditional settlements in Cairo: a physical model-based approach - Centre for Art, Architecture and Design (CAAD), University of Portsmouth.
• 2007-2008: Design Strategy for Low Energy Ventilation and Cooling of Health Buildings - Funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Cambridge University-based research project.

Books

• Hisham Elkadi and Sura Al-Maiyah, Daylight, Design and Place-Making, London and New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group,2021. 

Journal Papers & Selected Refereed Conferences

• Hisham Elkadi, Sura Al-Maiyah, Karen Fielder, Inji Kenawy, D. Brett Martinson (2021) Regulations and reality of objects and visitors’ indoor environmental standards in Museums, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 152 (2021) 111653.
• Sura Al-Maiyah and Karen Fielder (2021) The Complexity of Daylighting Design Practice in Museum Environments*, In the first International Conference, Museum Environments: Challenges and Opportunities, Cairo, Egypt, 14-15 December 2021. 
• Parker, R., and Al-Maiyah, S. (2021) Towards an integrated approach to the evaluation of outdoor play settings: Rethinking the position of play value, Children's Geographies.
• Makore, Busisiwe C.N., and Al-Maiyah, Sura (2021) Moving from the Margins: Towards an Inclusive UrbanRepresentation of Older People in Zimbabwe’s Policy Discourse, Societies 11, no. 1: 7.
• Sura Al-Maiyah, Benjamin I Roberts, Richard Fitton, Will Swan (2020) Monitoring Energy and Environmental Performance of the Newly Occupied Aged Care Facility at Partington (Final Project report).
• Abdulkareem, A., Al-Maiyah, S., and Cook, M. (2018) Remodelling façade design for improving daylighting and the thermal environment in Abuja's low-income housing, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,82(3), 2820-2833.
• Al-Maiyah S, Martinson D B and Elkadi, H. (2016) The Maturation of a Low-Impact Building: Post OccupancyEvaluation of Daylighting and the Thermal Environment Over 2 Year, PLEA Conference Cities, Buildings, People: Towards Regenerative Environments, Los Angeles, USA, July 11th–13th 2016.
• Al-Maiyah S. and Elkadi, H. (2015) Turkish D-light: accentuating heritage values with daylight*, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) journal, Engineering History and Heritage, 168 (4), pp. 139-149.
• Almaiyah, S., and Elkadi, H. (2012) Study on the Visual Performance of a Traditional Residential Neighbourhood in Old Cairo, Journal of Urban Technology, 19 (4), pp. 59-86.
• Almaiyah, S., Elkadi, H. and Cook, M. (2011) Study on the visual performance of a vernacular dwelling in Egypt, Built and Natural Environment Research Papers (BNERP), 4, pp 1-148.
• Short A., Cook, M., Cropper, P., and Al-Maiyah, S. (2010), Low energy refurbishment strategy for health buildings of the recent past, Journal of Building Performance Simulation, pp.1–20.
• Short, A. and Al-Maiyah, S. (2009) Design strategy for low energy ventilation and cooling of health buildings, Building Research & Information, 37(3), pp.264-292.
• Al-Maiyah, S. and H. Elkadi (2007) The role of Daylight in Preserving Identities in Heritage Context*, Journal of Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 11(7), pp.1544-1557.
• H. Elkadi and Al-Maiyah, S. (2007) Daylight for Strategic Intervention in Historic Towns: The Case of Edinburgh and Cairo, Journal of Urban Technology, 14 (3), pp.83-102.

Undergraduate

• Integrated Design Project 1 (Architectural Engineering programme)
• Indoor Environment (Architectural Engineering programme)
• Building Science Module  (Architecture programme)
• Advanced technical investigations (Architecture programme)

Postgraduate

• Wellbeing and Indoor Environment (MSc programmes)
• PhD Supervision on topics aligned with my research interests

Professional Affiliations

• Member of AHRC Peer Review College (2022 to present)
• Member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) (2012 to present)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2011 to present).
• Member of the Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) (2005 to present).
• Member of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) (2005 to present).

Awards

• Recipient of the Aurora Leadership Development Programme/Award (2019)
• The University of Salford, School of the Built Environment staff award for performing to an exceptional level of Engagement with industry (2018)
• The University of Salford, Nominated for the Women’s Voice awards (2018) _ Category: Rising Star

Selected External Activities

• Member of the Organizing Committee for the forthcoming Conference, Museum Environments: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15 December 2021, Cairo, Egypt, the End event of the MOVE/AHRC funded project.
• Establishing Member of the ICOMOS-UK Digital Technology Committee (2021)
• Reviewer for the Journal of Historical Geography (2021)
• Reviewer for the Journal of Building Research & Information (2019)
• Reviewer for the Journal of Future Cities and Environment (2018)
• Reviewer for the Journal of Sustainable Cities and Society (2018)
• Reviewer for the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering Sustainability(2017_Present)
• Reviewer for the Passive and Low Energy Architecture 2018 Conference (PLEA): Smart & Healthy Within 2-Degree Limit. 10-12 December 2018, Hong Kong.
• Reviewer for the Second International Conference for Sustainable Design of the Built Environment: Research in Practice (SDBE) at the Crystal, London, UK. 12th -13th September 2018.
• Reviewer for the Journal of Urban Technology (JUT) (2016-Present)
• Reviewer for the Passive and Low Energy Architecture 2017 Conference (PLEA): Design to Thrive. Edinburgh. 3rd -5th July 2017.
• Reviewer for the Passive and Low Energy Architecture 2016 Conference (PLEA): Cities, Buildings, People_Towards Regenerative Environments, organised by Cal Poly Pomona, the University of Southern California and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. July 11th-13th, 2016, Los Angeles.
• Reviewer for the CIBSE Technical Symposium 2016: Integration for whole life building performance. 14th-15th April 2016, Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh.
• Reviewer for the Eighth International Conference of the Arab Society for Computer-Aided Architectural Design(ASCAAD) 2016, SOAS University of London – London.
• Reviewer for the CIBSE Technical Symposium 2015: Simple buildings, better buildings? Delivering performance through engineered solutions. 16th-17th April, University College London.
• Reviewer for the CIBSE Technical Symposium 2014: Moving to a New World of Building SystemsPerformance. 3rd -4th April, Dublin.
• Reviewer for the CIBSE Technical Symposium 2013: Delivering buildings that are truly fit for purpose. 11th-12th April 2013, Liverpool.
• Reviewer for the CIBSE ASHRAE Technical Symposium 2012: Buildings Systems and Services for the 21st Century. April 18th -19th, Imperial College London.
• Grant Application Referee for the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA), Iraq Fellowship Programme, London South Bank University (2010 -Present).
• Book Proposal Referee: Earthscan Publications Ltd, London (2010).
• Keynote speaker, Nordic conference on future hospital buildings – Milliards of investment and as much care for the money as possible. Stockholm, Sweden, 2nd -3rd December 2009 
• Keynote speaker, The Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management (IHEEM) Regional Conference, “Making A Difference”, Northern Ireland, 2008 

Key Collaborators

My research and enterprise activities are conducted with a range of academic and stakeholder partners, including:

• Universities: Salford, Portsmouth, Cambridge, Ulster, Ain Shams (Egypt), and Mimar Sinan Fine Arts (Turkey).
• Stakeholders: Seddon Construction Ltd and Kingsley Healthcare Group. 
• Museums and Heritage organisations: Salford Museum and Art Gallery, Victoria and Albert, and National Trust.