A new three-year collaboration will bring new expertise to sustainable mobility and urban transitions at MOBILISE.
We are delighted to welcome Prof. Kirsten Heikkinen Dodson from Lipscomb University to the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) for the next three years.
Dodson’s appointment is part of VUB’s new US Research Chair programme, established with the support of the Helios Foundation. The programme brings leading researchers from US universities to Brussels, creating new opportunities for international collaboration on climate, sustainability and wellbeing.
Bringing humanitarian engineering to sustainable urban transitions
Prof. Kirsten Heikkinen Dodson, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Lipscomb University, brings 15 years of experience in humanitarian engineering, primarily with support from the Peugeot Center (link).
Her project at VUB will explore how engineers collaborate with stakeholders in their own communities to address societal challenges such as accessibility, inequality and wellbeing in cities. This emerging field of ‘urban humanitarian engineering’ focuses on designing impactful, responsible and sustainable solutions with and for vulnerable populations in urban environments.
At VUB, Dodson will collaborate with Prof. Imre Keserü and research groups working on sustainable mobility and urban transitions. Her research brings together engineering, social sciences, participatory planning and sustainable urban development — creating strong connections with MOBILISE’s interdisciplinary approach to understanding and shaping the mobility systems of tomorrow.
The collaboration also creates opportunities to explore how mobility and urban development can respond more effectively to the needs of diverse and vulnerable communities, and how research can contribute to more inclusive and sustainable cities.
Part of a broader international research programme
Dodson is one of four internationally renowned researchers from US universities joining VUB for three years through the US Research Chair programme. The other researchers are Prof. Valerie Trouet (University of Arizona), Prof. David O. Prevatt (University of Florida) and Dr Sol Kim (University of Chicago).
They bring complementary expertise in long-term climate variability and tree-ring research, natural hazards and climate-resilient infrastructure, and extreme weather, climate attribution and AI in climate science.
The programme, supported by the Helios Foundation, strengthens VUB’s international research network and its capacity to build collaborations around climate and sustainability. The researchers will be integrated into VUB research groups, with the aim of developing longer-term partnerships, new research projects and joint funding opportunities.
Strengthening MOBILISE’s international connections
For MOBILISE, Dodson’s arrival is an opportunity to further connect sustainable mobility, urban transitions and social inclusion with international research in engineering and sustainable urban development.
Over the coming three years, we look forward to exchanging knowledge and perspectives, developing new research questions and exploring opportunities for collaboration across disciplines and continents.
We warmly welcome Kirsten Heikkinen Dodson to Brussels, to the House of Sustainable Transitions and to MOBILISE, and look forward to the research and collaboration ahead.