EVENT REPORT
18:00 - With Lord Mair as guest speaker, the evening promised to be engaging, entertaining and interesting, and all these promises were thoroughly met: The event kicked off with a short but lively mingling session at 18:00, which saw a total of 41 attendees from a wide variety of backgrounds interchange ideas and business cards while enjoying the drinks and finger buffet on offer.
The venue was located in BuroHappold London's facilities
Attendees mingling shortly before the talk
Throughout the talk, Lord Mair introduced guests to the principles and importance of Smart Civil Infrastructure, showcasing the groundbreaking research that the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction produces at Cambridge University. Numerous case studies featuring the implementation of fibre optic and wireless sensors in Civil Infrastructure were shown, along with the significant advancements that these technologies have brought to structural health monitoring of tunnels, shafts, bridges and buildings. You can learn more about the research activities at CSIC here.
Lord Mair introducing speakers to Smart Infrastructure
The audience listens attentively as Lord Mair introduces a case study where fibre optic sensors were employed during tunnel construction for stress/strain analysis, where the findings suggested that millions could be saved in future operations.
A lively questions round followed the talk, where a large proportion of the audience expressed their views and concerns about the technologies that had just been introduced by Lord Mair. Discussions were held over technical, economic, social and even ethical issues. Despite the large number of questions, the value of fibre optic sensors for strain monitoring and the deployment of wireless sensor networks was made evident throughout the event, and guests most certainly left with new perspectives to discuss with their colleagues.
A PDF copy of the presentation slides will be available shortly.
CUEA would like to thank Lord Mair for this excellent talk.