Dr Thomas Kelly

Name: Dr Thomas Kelly

Academic Division: Civil Engineering

Research Group: Construction Engineering – Digital Roads  

Email: twk22@cam.ac.uk

Personal website: https://twak.org 

Research interests 

Tom Kelly is a research scientist and software engineer in subjects around graphics, machine learning, and urban environments. He does things like generative AI, procedural modelling, software engineering, and creating synthetic data 

Strategic themes 

Machine Learning & Synthetic Data 

Graphics & Procedural Modelling 

Urban Reconstruction & Data Fusion

Research Project

The Digital Roads of the Future (DRF) initiative is developing a connected physical and digital road infrastructure system that is sustainable. For more information, see https://drf.eng.cam.ac.uk/research.  
 
Tom leads the Design work package for the project which focuses on collecting, integrating, and implementing the requirements for DT systems. For more information, see https://drf.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/digital-twins 

Biography

Tom is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge, where he has been contributing to the Digital Roads project since June 2024. His expertise in digital and computational methodologies is backed by a prolific career in both academia and industry. 

Before his current role, Dr. Kelly served as a Research Consultant at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) from March 2022 to February 2024. At KAUST's Visual Computing Center, he focused on synthetic data with 3D procedural models, machine learning, and massive architectural segmentation dataset authoring. 

From September 2018 to February 2022, Tom was a Lecturer at the University of Leeds. There, he continued researched computer graphics, secured significant grants, and taught the User Interfaces with C++ module in Leeds and Chengdu. He supervised several PhD students in Leeds and internationally. 

Earlier, he held a Postdoctoral Research position at University College London (UCL) in Niloy's Graphics Lab from September 2016 to August 2018. His research in machine learning, urban modelling, and reconstruction led to multiple publications at Siggraph Asia. 

Tom has video game, startup, and geospatial industry experience. At Esri R&D Zurich, a global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, he brought his extensive expertise in graphics and urban modelling to the CityEngine development team. 

Tom holds a PhD in Procedural Graphics from the University of Glasgow (2008-2012). He also spent a year abroad at the University of California, Santa Cruz, during his MEng in Computer Science at the University of Bristol, which he completed in 2006. Additionally, he undertook a research stint in graphics at Arizona State University in 2009. 

Throughout his career, Tom has combined academic excellence with practical industry experience, contributing significantly to the fields of computer graphics, machine learning, and digital infrastructure.