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 Economicy and Digitalization and Digital City Science.  Trained as a building technology engineer and architect 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.

Teaching

2025

Wintersemester 2025/26

• Smart City Sensors and Data
• AI and the City: Unlocking Urban Futures
• Building a Plaform for Urban AI Systems

Sommersemester 2025

• Urban AI and Agentic Information Systems
• Cybersecurity
• Project Management
• Smart City Project
• Architectural Intelligence and Computational Design
• Architectural Acoustics

 

2024

• TU Vienna: Vienna: AI & Smart Cities
• University of Johannesburg: Advanced AI: Co-Design with AI: Architecture & City Simulations
• Simulations, Artificial Intelligence and Cities

 

2023

• TU Vienna: AI, Synthetic Data Generation and Application Use Cases for Smart Cities
• SK-B-002-00ti Skills: The beauty of data
• QS-B-001-00ti Simulations, Artificial Intelligence and Cites
• SK-B-001-00ti Skills: Sounds Like Architecture

 

2022

• Simulations, Artificial Intelligence, and Architecture

 

Master and bachelor thesis supervised:

HafenCity University - Master thesis: Urban Diffusion – From Pixel Noise to an Urban Planning Vision. Ian Smon Vogler – department of Architecture in HCU, co-supervision with Prof. Noennig 13.03.2024.

HafenCity University - Master thesis: Collaborative Design with Artificial Intelligence. Khadijeh Zabihi - in HCU, co-supervision with Prof. Noennig 04.2024

HafenCity University - Bachelor thesis: “Reviving Ramkot Fort in Mirpur, Azad Kashmir” Reimagining Heritage by exploring materials and proposing

Istanbul Technical University - Master thesis: A Comparison on Artificial Intelligence Applica6ons Focused on Urban Quality: Examples of Hamburg and Izmir. Ceyda Ercan co-supervision with Prof. Erem, Istanbul Technical University, Urban Design Program, 26.01.2024.

 

Contributed Academic Projects in HCU

FPOplus – Manager

https://www.hcu-hamburg.de/research/forschungsprojekte/fpoplus

HAWICC – Researcher

https://www.hcu-hamburg.de/research/forschungsprojekte/hawicc-hanseatic-wireless-innovation-competence-center

DAFNE – Lead as DCS member

https://oa.tib.eu/renate/items/af1fe4bf-7459-4327-809b-0f26860fcbf6/full

EDGE – Researcher

https://www.hcu-hamburg.de/research/digital-city-science/forschung-und-projekte/

Publications

AI as a Tool for Untangling Urban Complexities, 29th International Conference on Knowledge-Based and Intelligent Information & Engineering Systems (KES 2025) – September 2025  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2025.09.240 

Intrusion Detection in Smart Buildings Using Energy Anomalies: A Long Short-Term Memory Model Approach. 24th European Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security, 2025 in Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz, https://doi.org/10.34190/eccws.24.1.3753 
Vol. 24 No. 1 (2025): Proceedings of the 24th European Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security

AI, power dynamics, and organizational performativity: Navigating diversity, consensus, and control in IT projects. “ICMS 2025: Regenerative Critical Management Studies” R. Glass, A. Glass. https://www.egos.org/jart/prj3/egos/main.jart?rel=de&reserve-mode=active&content-id=1721760205556&subtheme_id=1701662512311&show_prog=yes 

Towards the data-based [x] minute city: outline of the sumo_15 project.” towards the data-based [x] minute city: outline of the sumo_15 project , J. R. Noennig et al., 2025. https://upcluster.org/doc/icup2025/PROCEEDINGS_ICUP2025.pdf 

Evaluating Tabular Data Generation Techniques on the DaFne Plaform: Insights from a Predictive Maintenance Case Study on Bridges" at 9:30-11:00 9th International Congress on Information and Communication Technology in concurrent with ICT Excellence Awards (ICICT 2024) will be held at London, United Kingdom | February 19 - 22 2024, book.https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-97-3289-0_49 

Innovative Urban Design Simulation: Utilizing Agent-Based Modelling through Reinforcement Learning. In Proceedings of the 2023 Fifth International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Intelligent Systems (CIIS '23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 20–25. https://doi.org/10.1145/3638209.3638213 

DaFne: Data Fusion Generator and Synthetic Data Generation for Cities, Part of the Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies book series (SIST, volume 354), https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3068-5_9 

Synthetic Pedestrian Routes Generation: Exploring Mobility Behavior of Citizens through Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning, Procedia Computer Science 207 (2022) 33ti1–33ti9, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2022.09.395 

An Algorithmic Design Method for Halls and Three Dimensional Active Model Simulation Program, PhD Thesis, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Ins3tute of Science and Technology, April 2020, https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/tezDetay.jsp?id=Njqw4FBHAA27ar_Fi1eZ9Q&no=cAmX0E3MCW2sxFVWDNWFMg 

On the Acoustic Conditions in Dental Clinics: A Grounded Theory Approach, Accepted Summary in Programm HeC, 4ti. Deutsche Jahrestagung für Akus3k, Hannover, 1ti-19 March 2020 (Cancelled).

Simulating Soundscapes Through Machine Learning: A Prototype of Open Space Noise, 12. National Congress on Acoustics, Izmir Institute of Technology, 14-15 September 2017, Proceedings Book.

The Dragging Paradox: Spatiality in Between Modern Concert Halls and Music, International Art Symposium; Art, Reality and Paradox, Mugla Sıtkı Kocman University, 8–9 October 2015, Proceedings Book.

Acoustic Design Criteria of High Rise Buildings, 11. National Congress on Acoustics, Istanbul Technical University, 19-20 October 2015.

Evliyah Celebi Travels To Vienna: An Intercultural Description. III. Interna3onal Research Symposium on the Turkic World, Baku Eurasia University, 25–27 May.    

Interweaving Music and Architecture: From Antique Performance Spaces to the Spatial Design of Contemporary Concert Halls, 10. National Congress on Acoustics, Yildiz Technical University, December 2013.

Interweaving Music and Architecture: From Antique Performance Spaces to the Spatial Design of Contemporary Concert Halls, M.Sc. Thesis, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Ins3tute of Science and Technology, May 2013 https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/tezDetay.jsp?id=b0anWElyqwAmQKkYy4OVaQ&no=Y1CdGMuq8eYw6opW6dp3ug 

Posters

AI for Happiness: Pedestrian Path Generation through Agent-Based Simulations with Deep Reinforcement
Learning, Poster, Digital Total - Computing & Data Science an der Universität Hamburg und in der
Wissenschaftsmetropole Hamburg https://www.conferences.uni-hamburg.de/event/387/contributions/1555/contribution.pdf 

DaFne - Plaform Data Fusion Generator, Poster, Digital Total - Computing & Data Science an der
Universität Hamburg und in der WissenschaOsmetropole Hamburg https://www.conferences.uni-hamburg.de/event/387/contributions/1602/ 

  

Presentations and keynotes, public lessons

Hybrid Digital Twin for Adaptive Train Station Operations: AI-Powered Data Walks, Indoor Navigation, and Scenario Simulations for Integrated Urban Mobility, Digital Twins and Decision Making Track, International Land Use Symposium 2025, Spatial dynamics in an Urban Society, 7 November Dresden Germany

Zukunft der Mobilität: KI-Vorhersagen und smarte Netzwerkinfrastruktur, Data2day, Karlsruhe, 4-5 November.

Human-Centric AI for Innovative Timetable Optimisation in Urban Mobility. Lecture from Dr. Ayse Glass in the format Matchmaking “Research meets Mobility as a Service, UITP Hamburg 17 June 2025
Residential Preferences and Housing Aspirations in Times of Crisis: Changing Patterns, Concepts and Methods, Association of Geographical Societies in Europe Conference – EUEGO Vienna, September 2025. 

Innovative Simulation Systems and Data for AI applications in the Built Environment, HAWICC hot topic seminar, 2025

Urban Informatics: Designing Tomorrow’s Cities with AI and Architectural Innovation. The Art of Prompt Engineering: Enhancing AI Interactions and Capabilities, 15.10.2024

Deutsches Zentrum Mobilität der Zukunft, Podium speaker. Vernetzungskonferrenz – Impulsvorträge und Diskussion: Projekt Fahrplanoptimierung FPOplus https://www.smart-rail-campus.de/?p=5411 

Urban Informatics: Designing Tomorrow’s Cities with AI and Architectural Innovation. The Art of Prompt Engineering: Enhancing AI Interactions and Capabilities, 15.10.2024

AI Splash Deeptech Campus Hamburg. AUFBRUCH.Hamburg Artificial Intelligence Center Hamburg (ARIC) hwps://www.aisplash.de/ 

Generation AI: Ich bin doch nur ein Language Model! Science Slam Hamburg

Future Districts Summit ti Dezember 2023, Fraunhofer IAO, Do(n’t) believe the Hype! KI als Game -Changer für Quartiere von morgen KI, presenter

Architektur und Wohnen, November 2023, Interview about KI and Design, November 2023

AI + Architecture Innovation, 24.11. 2023, Symposium presenter and lecturer, Technische Universität Wien https://ipre.at/ai/ 

AI-Human Interactions in Untangling Urban Complexities, Lisbon, Presented and invited for publication
Generated Cities and Architecture, Prompt Engineering Conference

Tag der Deutschen Einheit, Hamburg 2023, science slam and young future lab, presenter

KI in der smarten und mobile city, ein Impulsvortrag. Digitalpolitischer Morgen an der HafenCity Universität, presenter.

CREAI Workshop | AI & Creativity: Applying AI tools in the creative process, workshop conductor, TU Delft Faculty Industrial Design Engineering Department Design, Organisation and Strategy

Creative AI and the City, Impulse Lecture, Dies Academicus 2023, HafenCity University

KI in der Planung, Kreativwirtschaft und Gesellschaft – Keine Zukunft ohne wagnis, presenter, WES Landschaftsarchitektur Berlin.

KI-Chance oder Hype? Podiumdiscussion and podcast with moderation Niels Boeing.

Life after ChatGPT, AI experience day, Designing Images with AI, 30.03.2023 Betahaus with ARIC. Workshop conductor, presenter.

Generating Pedestrian Routes and Measuring Happiness in Cities, presentation in KES conference, Verona 2022

Investigating Synthetic Pedestrian Data Generation to Improve Mobility Pawerns Recognition of Citizens for Smarter Cities, presentation in Gama Conference 2022.

fAIstival. Hamburg – Panel „Verantwortungsvolle KI“ – facilitator, Universität Hamburg
Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, 2022