DoctorDaniel van der Walt

Daniel’s research focuses on improving the performance, resilience, and long‑term stewardship of horizontal infrastructure through evidence‑based, data‑driven approaches. He works across infrastructure asset and risk management, pavement engineering, construction procurement, and construction risk, with a strong emphasis on digital technologies, modern sensing, and sector capability development.

Key areas of interest include:

• Infrastructure Asset and Risk Management – developing methods for lifecycle optimisation, renewals planning, and risk-based investment.
        Student question: How do we make better decisions for our infrastructure assets?

• Pavement Engineering and Pavement Network Data – improving the performance and management of New Zealand’s largest infrastructure asset.
        Student question: How do we look after New Zealand’s largest asset?
• IoT and Digital Twins for Infrastructure – exploring how emerging technologies can support smarter, real‑time decision‑making.
       Student question: How can digital technologies help us make better decisions for our infrastructure assets?

• Construction Procurement and Contracting Models – enhancing value, collaboration, and performance in construction and maintenance contracts.
       Student question: How do we maximise value in construction and maintenance contracts?
• Infrastructure Network Data and Analytics – using network‑level data to support informed, transparent, and defensible decisions.
       Student question: How can we better use data to make informed decisions?

• Construction Risk, Health, Safety, and Wellbeing – improving safety outcomes, temporary traffic management, and workforce wellbeing.
       Student question: How are we looking after our construction people, and how can this be improved?

• Construction Productivity, Capability, and Capacity – strengthening the capability and long‑term capacity of the horizontal construction sector.
       Student question: How can we improve the productivity of the horizontal construction sector?