Planning Visit for Developing New International Collaborations

Northwestern University, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

This planning trip focuses on developing an international collaboration between US researchers and researchers at the new Innovation and Knowledge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (IKC) at the University of Cambridge. Profs. Richard Finno of Northwestern University, Thomas O?Rourke of Cornell University and Andrew Whittle of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with and five PhD students, will travel to the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom to meet with Professor Kenichi Soga and other members of the recently-established IKC. The purpose of this visit is to find mechanisms and strategies for catalyzing an international collaboration regarding development, maintenance and management of underground infrastructure. A unique opportunity exists for US researchers to combine their experience and expertise with those of researchers at the ICK. Such a partnership will leverage the capabilities of both the US and UK sides to broaden the research agenda for infrastructure improvements and catalyze innovations derived from the collaboration of academic experts, who are internationally recognized in underground technology. The research groups in the US and UK have focused on advanced construction, adaptive management, and monitoring of underground infrastructure. They have developed techniques to predict, monitor, and control ground movements during construction, wireless sensor networks to monitor and control urban transportation, energy delivery, and water supply facilities, and geographical information systems (GIS) and network analyses to protect geographically distributed infrastructure systems from the effects of earthquakes and other natural disasters. A unique aspect of the work of the US participants is their long-term involvement with real systems, which are used as full scale laboratories to learn about complex soil-structure interaction and understand the implications of component behavior on system-wide performance. The anticipated collaborative research projects that will result from this planning visit will have outcomes that result in: (1) the development of an integrated approach to safer, more efficient and more economical designs and construction procedures of underground space and infrastructure, (2) significant advances in geotechnical site characterization, construction monitoring and data management, (3) development of novel computational models for underground construction, (4) development of long-term monitoring, maintenance and protection measures for underground structures and underground infrastructure, and 5) improved graduate and undergraduate education. This planning grant will allow the research team to incorporate best practices and recent research advances in the US and UK to develop and promote technologies for the efficient, cost effective and environmentally sound use and maintenance of underground infrastructure to meet the increasing demand for sustainable space and services in urban areas. The research will target technologies to enhance quality of life in congested urban and suburban centers, and incorporate sustainability principles in the development and renewal of underground space. The research concentrates on technologies that integrate "intelligence?into the construction and operation of underground infrastructure. The team will focus on emerging technologies in sensors, wireless transmission of data, power scavenging to energize sensor systems, data management and mining, GIS visualization of infrastructure and spatially variable relations. This award is jointly funded by the Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation and the Office of International Science and Engineering.