Lucic Alan

I am a PhD candidate in Management Engineering at Politecnico di Milano and Director of Innovation at Rain Technologies. My research focuses on the engineering and operational use of AI-enabled digital twins and cyber-physical systems in semi-controlled, contamination-sensitive indoor environments.

At the core of my work is the challenge of reconstructing the evolving three-dimensional distribution of airborne contaminants from sparse measurements. I investigate how sensing, spatial geometry, physical models and AI can be integrated into an updateable representation of environmental conditions. Particular attention is given to distinguishing measured, inferred and unresolved states, and to understanding how measurement coverage and reconstruction uncertainty affect the information available for operational decisions.

Connecting systems engineering with managerial decision-making, I examine when improved observability can enable targeted monitoring, source investigation and the allocation of intervention resources. The objective is to evaluate both the technical validity of reconstructed states and the operational capabilities they make possible. A complex adaptive systems perspective informs my examination of feedback and interactions between physical processes, digital technologies and organisational practices.

My research design brings together a systematic literature review, case-study research, and the development and staged evaluation of research prototypes, drawing on design science research. The work is grounded in industrial challenges encountered through Rain Technologies, where I lead innovation and applied R&D. Potential applications include pharmaceutical logistics, archival and digitisation facilities, and advanced manufacturing, including battery production.

I also collaborate with the Laboratory for Computational Modelling and Optimisation at the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER). I completed the MBA in Innovation & Business Creation at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and UnternehmerTUM, as well as an academic module focused on Lean Innovation at UC Berkeley.