Digital Twin: Fundamentals and Applications

Digital twin technologies, currently at the forefront of development, play a crucial role in integrated systems, industrial design, manufacturing, data analytics, and decision-making processes. As we move forward, digital twin technologies, along with their enabling technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Internet of Things (IoT), metaverse, and advanced visualization features, will continue to drive digital transformation and innovation across various societal contexts.

This book presents a conceptual framework that examines critical perspectives on digital twins across diverse disciplines. It evaluates the contributions of leading thinkers to the broader discourse about digital twins. The introductory chapter provides an overview of the entire book, summarizing all subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 delves into the fundamentals of digital twins, covering theories, definitions, and enabling technologies. Chapters 3 to 10 explore various application areas, including smart cities, manufacturing, healthcare, infrastructure, and supply chain. Chapter 10 specifically focuses on socio-technical aspects related to the design, development, and implementation of digital twins. It emphasizes the significance of digital twins as a public good and identifies opportunities, gaps, and challenges. The final chapter addresses the current and future need for skills in training, education, and awareness, proposing collaborative approaches for industry and academia.

Dr. Soheil Sabri is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Urban Digital Twin (UDT) Lab at the School of Modeling, Simulation, and Training at the University of Central Florida (UCF), USA. Also, he is an Honorary Senior Fellow at the Center for Spatial Data Infrastructure and Land Administration (CSDILA), Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Australia. He leads the Smart Cities working group of Knights Digital Twin Initiative at the UCF. Soheil holds the titles of Urban Planner and Geospatial Scientist, with a primary focus on advancing the field through his research, practical work, and educational pursuits. His core interests revolve around developing Urban Digital Twins, Multi-dimensional (3D/4D) Planning Support Systems, and analytical tools tailored to empower planners and decision-makers with evidence-based, data-driven insights for future urban development. Over the last two decades, he has been working on designing and developing planning tools for Development Envelope Control, Rule-Based Compliance Assessment, and Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) to facilitate smart and sustainable urban planning and design. Dr. Sabri is a pioneer in education and training for the Digital Engineering and Digital Twin graduate programs. This encompasses Digital Twin Business Analysis, Digital Twin Architecture, and Roadmap development and implementation. His influence extends to various professional organizations, where he plays a significant role in shaping the discourse on digital urban planning. He is the co-chair and Ambassador of the Academia and Research within the Digital Twin Consortium.

Dr. Kostas Alexandridis, GISP has over 20 years of experience in research and academia. Currently serving as a Spatial Complex Systems Scientist at the County of Orange, OC Survey Geospatial Services in Santa Ana, California. His skills and knowledge include spatial data science, advanced geoAI, machine learning, programming, modeling, and simulation for Digital Twins, and GISci in support of the digital transformation work at the County of Orange. He holds a PhD in Natural Resource Policy from Purdue University and serves as a co-chair of the Academia and Research Working Group at the Digital Twin Consortium, collaborating with leading experts and organizations in developing and advancing digital twin technologies and applications. Previously, Dr. Alexandridis served in multiple faculty university and government positions. He is currently serving as an advisory board member for the Big Data Executive Certificate Program at California State University - East Bay, a member of IEEE and the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society, a member of the IUCN Committee on Ecosystem Management, and as a member of numerous other professional organizations. His mission and vision is to contribute to the scientific and social understanding of complex spatial systems and their implications for natural resource management, policy, and decision making.

Prof. Newton Lee is the founding president of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Institute for Education, Research, and Scholarships based in Los Angeles, California, a former Disney and Bell Labs engineer, and a 2021 graduate of the FBI Citizens Academy. Serving as an FBI Ambassador, Lee expounds on social media, campus safety, student mental health, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism as portrayed in the highly acclaimed Total Information Awareness book series published by Springer Nature. The Total Information Awareness trilogy has garnered rave reviews from Newsweek and The Daily Beast, ACM Computing Reviews, AdWeek, and Choice Magazine, among others. Veteran Staff Sergeant Andrew Price of the United States Air Force (USAF) remarked, “I am inspired by the prospect of world peace. I’d fully recommend following the author’s steps, reaching beyond our borders, making friends outside our norm, and helping to foster world peace and a better tomorrow.” Lee earned a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from Virginia Tech as well as an A.S. in Electrical Engineering and an honorary doctorate in Computer Science from Vincennes University. He has been honored with a Michigan Leading Edge Technologies Award, two community development awards from the California Junior Chamber of Commerce, and four volunteer project leadership awards from The Walt Disney Company.