The presenters explored how the use of sensors and digital twins can support a structural engineer’s understanding of how their designs perform in real time, how this data can be used to impact future designs and how best to capture and maintain data to support the reuse of structures.
Learn how AKTII install sensors to support their understanding of a new build’s performance while the research team of Maria Pregnolato shared how the University of Bristol developed a framework to integrate finite elements modelling and sensors, to develop a digital twin of the Clifton Suspension Bridge (Bristol).
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Learn how BIM can support the reuse of structures and buildings
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Understand the key features of a digital twin?
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Learn about post-occupancy data analysis
Jon Leach leads AECOM’s Structural Engineering Technical Practice Group in the UK and Europe. He is also AECOM’s Sport and Entertainment sector lead, and his London-based team specialises in stadia and long span roof design. Recent key projects include Hong Kong International Airport Terminal 2 and Third Runway Concourse, the Curragh Racecourse, and major venues for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Dr Maria Pregnolato is a Lecturer at the University of Bristol. Her work focuses on infrastructure resilience, in particular the impact of flooding to road networks and bridges. She holds a Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) fellowship to investigate the impact of extreme flooding on bridges and transport. Beginning her academic career at Newcastle University (UK), Maria developed an integrated flood-transport model to explore the impact of flooding on road networks and urban resilience. In recent years, she has been focusing on hydrodynamic modelling of flooding impact to bridges, including scour risk management and structural health monitoring. Lately, she is working on smart bridges and Digital Twins, exploring the role of sensing and digitalisation within the infrastructural assets.
Steve Faulkner is an Associate Director and Head of BIM at Elliott Wood. He is the Chair of the Institutes BIM Panel and a member of the Affiliates Leadership team at the UK BIM Alliance. With over 30 years of industry experience, Steve is incredibly practical when it comes to BIM and appreciates that BIM is a powerful tool that can drive our industry towards achieving net-zero carbon targets and a circular economy in construction. It is an important catalyst for change in our efforts to understand how to do better things for the planet and encourage the use of sustainable materials and achieve more efficient and effective designs.
Dr Elia Voyagaki is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol. Her principal research interests are earthquake engineering, nonlinear rocking structures, soil-structure interaction, and extra-terrestrial civil engineering. She holds a 5-year Diploma in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University (NTUA), Athens, Greece (2000) and also holds MSc and PhD degrees from the City University of New York (2003) and NTUA (2013), respectively. She has professional experience with OMETE consulting engineers (1999-2005) with a focus in steel design. She is author or co-author of over 40 peer-reviewed publications including 14 articles in international journals. Since 2014, she works for the University of Bristol, in projects funded by Électricité de France (EDF), EPSRC and EU.