Eirini Konstantinou
Electronic mail
- Email: eirinikonstant@gmail.com
BIO
Dr. Eirini Konstantinou is a Marie Curie ADAGIO Fellow at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). She received her PhD in Engineering from the University of Cambridge, UK, in 2018, with a special focus on computer vision and labor productivity, having been awarded with an Industrial Cooperative Awards in Science & Technology (CASE) PhD studentship. After the end of her PhD studies she has been working as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Cambridge (2018-2020) in various research projects, including the development of policies for the construction sector, and the development of machine learning-based digital tools for improving asset maintenance management. During the period August 2020 – February 2023, she has been in a 2-year career break from research in order to undertake maternal duties, following the arrival of her first child. Her academic background also includes a Bachelor (BEng, 2001-2006) followed by a Master of Engineering (MEng, 2006-2007) in Civil Engineering, and a Master of Science (MSc, 2008-2011) in Intelligent Transportation and Construction Management Systems, from the University of Patras, Greece. In addition to her academic achievements, Dr. Konstantinou has a 5-year construction industry experience (2008 – 2013) that made her aware of the severity of work-related hazards.
Project
Aerospace manufacturing is a key European Union (EU) industrial sector, not only because of its own huge economic volume but also because it drives economic growth in many other related sectors, leads global innovation, generates high-skilled jobs, and it is substantial in providing solutions for core societal, climate and energy challenges faced by European societies. But despite all its positive contribution to EU wealth and job-creation, the aerospace manufacturing sector remains a high-risk environment for its workers. The improvement of working conditions is of primary concern for the European Commission. This “Digital twins for occupational health risk assessment of advanced aerospace manufacturing processes” (or DI-RISK) project is strictly aligned with the overall aim of the EU Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Strategic Framework 2021-2027, and in particular with its second crosscutting objective of improving prevention of work-related accidents and illnesses. DI-RISK project will develop a deep learning-based health and safety risk assessment framework that aims to assess those risk factors affecting aerospace engineers or workers, overcoming the discomfort and the lack of accuracy of existing methods. This project will also contribute significantly towards reducing the gender gap in the manufacturing sector, taking into account in all its algorithms the gender differences in appearance by using data consisting of both males and females, even if this industry is a historically male-dominated working environment. By promoting new technologically-enabled methods that ensure a safer working environment, DI-RISK might also increase the interest of women to participate in such working environments.