Biography
Dr Olu completed his bachelor's degree in civil engineering at Covenant University, after which he worked at ExxonMobil for a year before embarking on doctoral research in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Robert Gordon University. After completing his doctoral degree, he facilitated teaching and learning in engineering on various degree apprenticeship programmes in further education. He later moved into higher education where he became an assistant course director for one of the largest civil engineering programmes in the West Midlands at Coventry University.
Teaching
Dr Olu has extensive experience in academia, spanning research, quality assurance, and curriculum development for further and higher education. His teaching expertise covers all levels of learning from Level 3 to Level 7, including degree apprenticeships. Currently a Senior Lecturer and Course Director for the Construction Management BSc at London Metropolitan University, his teaching covers the built environment specifically; design, procurement, contracts and sustainability. Prior to working at LondonMet, he taught modules in civil engineering sub-disciplines in other universities.
Research
1. Human-Built Environment Complexity
Dr Olu’s current research redefines the built environment as a complex adaptive system where social behaviour, environmental physics, and infrastructure intersect. By employing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Agent-Based Modelling (ABM), he simulates how individual human interactions within physical spaces create non-linear, emergent outcomes. This multi-scalar approach bridges the gap between engineering and social science, moving beyond static structures to understand dynamic urban challenges.
2. Environmental Photocatalysis
His early research focused on advanced oxidation processes to mitigate environmental pollution, specifically optimizing Titanium Dioxide (TiO₂) photocatalysis. He demonstrated how Controlled Periodic Illumination (CPI) could significantly reduce electron-hole recombination, thereby enhancing pollutant degradation efficiency. Beyond chemical optimization, he developed novel reactor configurations, such as the photocatalytic impeller reactor (PIR) for gas-phase reactions, proving that physical design is as critical as catalyst chemistry in effective environmental remediation.
3. Sustainability & Social Resilience
Dr Olu’s adjacent research integrates social equity with environmental resilience, ensuring urban systems support vulnerable populations. He has researched climate adaptation strategies by indigenous fisherwomen facing heat stress in Mexico as well as addressing systemic barriers for BME women in the construction industry. This dual focus ensures that technical solutions in the built environment are matched by socially sustainable practices that mitigate real-world inequalities.
4. Planned Work
His future research aims to integrate materials science, computational modelling, and social impact into a cohesive framework for Smart and Resilient Urban Systems.
- The "Cognitive" Built Environment: Modelling how "smart" materials (e.g., self-cleaning concrete, cooling pavements) influence human behaviour.
- Social Digital Twins: Advancing Digital Twins beyond mechanical performance to integrate social behaviour
Grants, Funding & Awards
Dr Olu was awarded a £200,000 Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership grant in 2025 with Better Planet (UK) Ltd as the industry partner. The grant involves developing a novel fabric-integrated heat recovery system and aims to validate a patented technology that captures lost thermal energy from building envelopes to enhance ground source heat pump efficiency, reducing reliance on costly boreholes, and accelerating the decarbonisation of the UK's built environment.
PhD Supervision
Dr Olu is currently accepting PhD students for the topic: Emergent behaviours in human-built environment complexity
Publications
M. Tareen, J.R. de Oliveira Leo, D.M. Russell, O. Tokode. Redefining the perception of module evaluation questionnaires (MEQs) in academia. EDULEARN20 Proceedings, 5780-5786.
O. Tokode*, R. Prabhu, L.A. Lawton, P.K.J. Robertson. A photocatalytic impeller reactor for gas phase heterogeneous photocatalysis. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 5 (2017), 3942-3948.
O. Tokode*, R. Prabhu, L.A. Lawton, P.K.J. Robertson. Controlled periodic illumination in semiconductor photocatalysis. Journal of photochemistry and photobiology A: chemistry 319 (2016), 96-106.
O. Tokode*, R. Prabhu, L.A. Lawton, P.K.J. Robertson. UV-LED sources for heterogeneous photocatalysis. Handbook of Environmental Chemistry - Environmental Photochemistry Part III, 35 (2015), 159-179.
O. Tokode, R. Prabhu, L.A. Lawton, P.K.J. Robertson. The effect of pH on the photonic efficiency of the destruction of methyl orange under controlled periodic illumination with UV-LED sources. Chemical Engineering Journal, 246 (2014), 337-342.
O. Tokode, R. Prabhu, L.A. Lawton, P.K.J. Robertson. Mathematical modelling of quantum yield enhancements of methyl orange photooxidation in aqueous TiO2 suspensions under controlled periodic UV LED illumination. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 156 (2014), 398-403.
O. Tokode, R. Prabhu, L.A. Lawton, P.K.J. Robertson. Effect of controlled periodic-based illumination on the photonic efficiency of photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange. Journal of Catalysis, 290 (2012), 138–142.
Under Peer-Review
O. Tokode, A. Hosam. Factors Influencing the Selection of Procurement Methods and Performance of Projects in the Egyptian Construction Industry. Submitted to: Journal of Construction in Developing Countries.
O. Tokode, M. Nazarian, P.J. Linares Flores, M. Ayo-Adejuyigbe, M. Tareen, J.R.O. Leo. Agent-Based Modelling of the Interplay of Hospital Ward Layout, Operational Stress, and Agent Logic. Submitted to: Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management.
O. Tokode, Mohammed Alaqad, M. Ayo-Adejuyigbe. A Fuzzy Agent-Based Model for Resident Satisfaction in Social Housing Retrofit Projects. Submitted to: International Journal of Construction Management.
M. Akinlolu, O. Tokode, V. Letsoko, N. Dimka, R. Shoderu. Who's Building Our Cities? A Bibliometric and Topic Modelling Analysis of the Gender-Ethnicity Dynamics in South Africa and the UK's Built Environment Sector. Submitted to Construction Management and Economics.
