Congratulations Dr. Ajaykumar Manivannan

Title page of the PhD thesis by Ajaykumar Manivannan on human vertical mobility in complex urban environments

Congratulations to Ajaykumar (Ajay) Manivannan, who successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis and obtained his doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ottawa. His thesis, “Characterization and Analysis of Human Vertical Mobility in Complex Urban Environments: Interplay with Horizontal Mobility and Implications for High-Density Urban Design”, supervised by Roland Bouffanais, tackles a blind spot of mobility research: as cities grow denser and taller, human movement is still mostly studied in two dimensions. Using barometric and multi-sensor data with machine learning, he developed methods to detect vertical movements, revealed for the first time the spatiotemporal patterns of vertical mobility and their interplay with horizontal mobility, and used network science to show how the layout of an integrated vertical development—Kampung Admiralty in Singapore—shapes the way its users move. Ajay joined the group in Singapore as a research assistant in 2016.

[PhD thesis (PDF)]

Publications with Ajaykumar Manivannan

Journal articles

  • A. Manivannan, W. C. B. Chin, S. Gopalakrishnan, D. Wong, T. Schroepfer & R. Bouffanais, “Effects of the Interplay Between Topology and Function of an Integrated Urban Development on Patterns of User Movement”, Scientific Reports, 14, 7021 (2024). [DOI] [PDF]
  • S. Gopalakrishnan, D. Wong, W. C. B. Chin, A. D. S. Srikanth, A. Manivannan, R. Bouffanais & T. Schroepfer, “Vertical Cities: Emergent Patterns of Movement and Space Use in Dense Vertically Integrated Urban Built Environments”, International Journal on Smart and Sustainable Cities, 1, 23400005 (2023). [DOI] [PDF]
  • A. Manivannan, E. J. Willemse, B. T. Balamurali, W. C. B. Chin, Y. Zhou, B. Tünçer, A. Barrat & R. Bouffanais, “A Framework for the Identification of Human Vertical Displacement Activity Based on Multi-Sensor Data”, IEEE Sensors Journal, 22(8), 8011–8029 (2022). [DOI] [PDF]
  • A. Manivannan, W. C. B. Chin, A. Barrat & R. Bouffanais, “On the Challenges and Potential of Using Barometric Sensors to Track Human Activity”, Sensors, 20, 6786 (2020). [DOI] [PDF]
  • A. Manivannan, W. Q. Yow, R. Bouffanais & A. Barrat, “Are the Different Layers of a Social Network Conveying the Same Information?”, EPJ Data Science, 7, 34 (2018). [DOI] [PDF]

Conference papers

  • S. Gopalakrishnan, C. Hablani, D. Wong, A. D. S. Srikanth, A. Manivannan, R. Bouffanais & T. Schroepfer, “Evaluation of Spatial Performance in Vertically Integrated Developments Using a Network Science-Based Approach”, Proceedings of the International Conference ARCC-EAAE 2022, Miami, FL, pp. 391–398 (2022). [PDF]
  • S. Gopalakrishnan, D. Wong, A. Manivannan, R. Bouffanais & T. Schroepfer, “User-Driven Emergent Patterns of Space Use in Vertically Integrated Urban Environments”, Proceedings of the International Conference ARCC 2021, Tucson, AZ, pp. 215–222 (2021). [PDF]
  • S. Gopalakrishnan, D. Wong, A. Manivannan, R. Bouffanais & T. Schroepfer, “Mapping Emergent Patterns of Movement and Space Use in Vertically Integrated Urban Developments”, International Symposium for Architecture + Urban Design (SimAUD 2021), online, pp. 1–4 (2021). [PDF]
/by

Science and Diplomacy at EPFL (CECAM–MARVEL)

Roland Bouffanais, Atish Dabholkar, Gihan Kamel and Tatsujiro Suzuki

On 28 February 2025, Roland Bouffanais was one of four invited speakers at the Mary Ann Mansigh Conversation “Science and Diplomacy” at EPFL in Lausanne. The series is jointly organized by CECAM and the NCCR MARVEL.

Roland opened the program with the talk “Computational diplomacy: Understanding and analyzing international relations in the digital age”. He showed how artificial intelligence, big data and machine learning can be used to study multilateral governance and decision-making, and to uncover hidden patterns in global diplomatic dynamics. His examples included global health crises and climate diplomacy. He also presented research initiatives of the SiDLab (Science in Diplomacy Lab), a joint effort of the University of Geneva and ETH Zürich.

The other speakers were:

  • Atish Dabholkar (Director, ICTP Trieste): “Uniting the world for and through science”
  • Gihan Kamel (SESAME, Jordan): “SESAME: A beacon of hope in the Middle East, shining through even in times of wars”
  • Tatsujiro Suzuki (RECNA, Nagasaki University): “Role of science (scientists) in policy making”

Sara Bonella (CECAM and MARVEL) introduced the session. The talks were followed by an open discussion with the audience.

[Event page] [Video recording] [Mary Ann Mansigh Conversation Series]

/by

Seminar at Centre Borelli, ENS Paris-Saclay

View over the rooftops of Paris with the Eiffel Tower and La Défense in the distance

Roland Bouffanais gave an invited seminar for the CHArtS team (Complexity, Humanities, Art, Societies) at Centre Borelli, ENS Paris-Saclay, on 14 February 2025, on modeling social contagions through the lens of complexity science.

[Centre Borelli]

/by
,

Paper in The Lancet Planetary Health

First page of the Lancet Planetary Health article on environment-related WHA resolutions

How has the environment been addressed in global health governance? Our analysis of the environment-related resolutions adopted by the World Health Assembly from 1948 to 2023 is published in The Lancet Planetary Health.

The Environment in Global Health Governance: an Analysis of Environment-Related Resolutions Adopted at the World Health Assembly from 1948 to 2023
Evrard M, Rieckhoff A, Shipton L, Jørgensen PS, Falcone JL, Bouffanais R, Chopard B, Levrat N & Wernli D, The Lancet Planetary Health 9, e103 (2025).

[pdf] [doi]

/by

SiDLab Funded by the Fondation de l’Université de Genève

The Fondation de l’Université de Genève (FUNIGE) awards CHF 4.4 million over four years (2025–2028) to the Science in Diplomacy Lab (SiDLab), co-directed by Roland Bouffanais and Didier Wernli and jointly operated with ETH Zürich.

[SiDLab]

/by
,

Book Chapter: Data-Driven Smart Community Design

Routledge publishes Data-Driven Smart Community Design: Strategies for Fostering Inclusive and Resilient Neighbourhoods (ed. K. H. Chong), with our chapter “Predictive Analysis with Virtual Population” (Bouffanais, Malik & Tunçer).

[doi] [web]

/by

SiDLab at COP29 in Baku

Roland Bouffanais with two UNFCCC colleagues and collaborators at COP29 in Baku

Roland Bouffanais took part as an invited scientific observer in the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), Baku, 11–22 November 2024, as part of the University of Geneva delegation, contributing SiDLab’s work on consensus and collective decision-making in climate diplomacy.

Pictured: Roland Bouffanais with two colleagues and collaborators from the UNFCCC at COP29.

[COP29]

/by

Congratulations Julien Philippot

Title page of the Master’s thesis “Enhancing Swarm Efficiency: Exploration-Exploitation Tuning for Fast Target Tracking” by Julien Philippot

Congratulations to Julien Philippot, who successfully defended his Master’s thesis on 27 June 2024 and obtained his Master of Applied Science (MASc) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ottawa. His thesis, “Enhancing Swarm Efficiency: Exploration-Exploitation Tuning for Fast Target Tracking”, supervised by Roland Bouffanais, asks how to design a swarm of robots that can efficiently search for and track targets moving faster than any individual robot. Using simple decentralized rules—repulsion between agents to explore and attraction towards the target to exploit—he showed how the network connectivity, agent memory and the addition of fast agents can be tuned to balance exploration and exploitation and optimize the swarm’s performance.

[Master’s thesis (PDF)]

Publications with Julien Philippot

Journal articles

  • H. L. Kwa, J. Philippot & R. Bouffanais, “Effect of Swarm Density on Collective Tracking Performance”, Swarm Intelligence, 17, 253–281 (2023). [DOI]
  • H. L. Kwa, J. L. Kit, N. Horsevad, J. Philippot, M. Savari & R. Bouffanais, “Adaptivity: A Path Towards General Swarm Intelligence?”, Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 10, 1163185 (2023). [DOI] [PDF]
  • H. L. Kwa, V. Babineau, J. Philippot & R. Bouffanais, “Adapting the Exploration-Exploitation Balance in Heterogeneous Swarms: Tracking Evasive Targets”, Artificial Life, 29, 1–16 (2022). [DOI] [PDF]

Conference papers

  • H. L. Kwa, J. Philippot & R. Bouffanais, “The Impact of Agent Density and Environmental Factors on Target Tracking Swarms”, Proceedings of ALIFE 2023, Sapporo, Japan, pp. 88–96, MIT Press (2023). [DOI] [PDF]
/by
,

Paper in Scientific Reports on Vertical Cities

First page of the Scientific Reports article on vertical cities

How does the interplay between topology and function shape the way people move through an integrated urban development? Our study is published in Scientific Reports.

Effects of the Interplay Between Topology and Function of an Integrated Urban Development on Patterns of User Movement
Manivannan A, Chin WCB, Gopalakrishnan S, Wong D, Schroepfer T & Bouffanais R, Scientific Reports 14, 7021 (2024).

[pdf] [doi]

/by

Roland Bouffanais Joins the University of Geneva

Université de Genève

Roland Bouffanais joins the University of Geneva as Associate Professor and Chair in Computational Diplomacy, with a joint appointment in the Faculty of Science and the Global Studies Institute. The Applied Complexity Group moves with him to Geneva.

/by

Bouffanais’ Research Lab  ·  Applied Complexity Group  ·  Faculty of Science & Global Studies Institute, University of Geneva
Copyright © 2026 Roland Bouffanais | All Rights Reserved