GATE City Digital Twins Team

Sylvia Ilieva is a professor at the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics and Director of GATE Institute at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. Her research interests are in the areas of software platforms, software development processes, data management, and software engineering for AI.

She was a team leader of BSc and MSc Software Engineering programmes creation in compliance with ACM/IEEE recommendations. She was a supervisor of more than 200 MSc theses. She has a good record of successful participation in over 20 European research and education projects.

Dessislava Petrova-Antonova is an associate professor in Software engineering at the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics and a Research leader of the Data Management Research Unit of GATE Institute, Sofia University. She is a coordinator of the GATE pilot project “City Digital Twin,” where a 3D City Model covering an area of Sofia is under development to facilitate simulation, analysis, and visualization of the urban environment and processes. Her research interests include Data management focusing on data interoperability, semantic enrichment, and domain-specific data models.

Dessislava Petrova-Antonova holds a master’s degree in Computer systems and technologies and a doctoral degree in Communication and computer technology (System programming) from the Technical University of Sofia. She is presently head of the MSc program “Technology entrepreneurship and innovations in IT” at the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of Sofia University. She has co-authored more than 80 peer-reviewed academic publications. She has successfully participated in several European and national RTD projects (more than 30).

Angel Spasov is a junior researcher in the “Future Cities” research group at the GATE Institute specialising in the development and application of Machine Learning and Computer Vision algorithms. His work is focused mainly on the Future Cities application theme of GATE Institute.

Angel graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Banking and Business Management from Humboldt University in Berlin and a master’s degree in Information Technologies from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. He has a long experience working as a consultant for a number of world-leading financial institutions in the German-speaking world. In 2017, he returned to Bulgaria as an entrepreneur, co-founder and general manager in two innovative companies. Meanwhile, he focused his time and effort on Artificial Intelligence realizing its potential and importance for the future. This led him to GATE Institute.

Peter Hristov is an experienced researcher in the “Future Cities” research group at the GATE Institute.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering (2014) from the University of Liverpool. His dissertation was granted the annual “Best Student Project” award of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). Peter obtained his doctoral degree in 2018, after defending his thesis, titled “Numerical modelling and uncertainty quantification of biodiesel filters” at the University of Liverpool.

Since 2018 Peter has been working as a post-doctoral research assistant in computational engineering and uncertainty quantification, at the “Institute for Risk and Uncertainty” in the UK, where he develops computational methods applicable to the industrial context. Since 2021 he works at the GATE Institute, where he coordinates a project “Advancing Uncertainty-aware Digital Twins (AUDiT)”.

His research interests span the fields of computational and numerical modelling, uncertainty quantification, computer model-based certification and aerospace design.

Emil Hristov is a junior researcher in the “Future Cities” research group at the GATE Institute since 2022. His primary research interests are in the field of parametric urban planning and geospatial analyses of the urban environment using GIS technologies and tools.

He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Urbanism from UACEG in 2009 and holds two master’s Degrees in Denmark, at Aalborg University in the fields of Urban Planning and Management and Urban Design.

In 2013 he interned at Pomeroy Studio in Singapore, where the focus and overall concept are sustainability, tall buildings, "sky gardens" and public spaces. He worked on several projects related to public spaces, brownfields and waterfront regeneration in close cooperation with Aalborg University and the Aalborg Municipality, Denmark. Since 2018 he has been working as an urban planner at Sofiaplan, a municipal enterprise responsible for the master plan of Sofia city, where he participated in various projects concerning planning, social, transport, housing, and other aspects of the urban environment.

Mariya Pantusheva is an experienced researcher in the “Future Cities” research group at the GATE Institute.

In 2013 she obtained a master’s degree in Structural Engineering from the University of architecture, civil engineering, and geodesy, in Sofia. She is currently working on a doctoral thesis addressing the specific aspects of fluid-structure interaction in industrial applications during an earthquake event.

Mariya has over 7 years of experience in investment design, computer modelling and physics-based simulations incorporating finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics for various industries, including automotive, aerospace and defence, manufacturing, and urban ventilation.

Her main activities as part of the research team of GATE Institute include the utilization of computer simulations of outdoor and indoor urban environments to investigate wind flow and air pollution dispersion, and assess their effects related to urban and occupant’s comfort. For indoor projects additional research area for her is the optimization of the efficiency of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems.