Here you will find news relevant to the activities of the initiative including webinars, talks, consulting projects, publications, participation in conferences and meetings mostly relevant to resilience of critical infrastructure with emphasis on transport and energy assets and their intra/interdependencies, views on the UNs Sustainable Development Goals and use of digital and emerging technologies in infrastructure resilience- and sustainability-based management
25
Aug 24
New publications integrating AI and ML into critical infrastructure protection
The MetaInfrastructure group is pioneering the integration AI and ML into critical infrastructure protection, creating a foundation for rapid decision-making and enhancing resilience and energy efficiency in built ecosystems.
Prof. Ivan Izonin and Dr. Athanasia Kazantzi are on a winning streak, having recently published a series of impactful articles that advance this field. See below:
1. An approach toward improvement of ensemble method’s accuracy for data classification
read here: https://ijece.iaescore.com/index.php/IJECE/article/view/35701
2. A new method for Reducing Training Time ML-Based Cascade Scheme for Large-Volume Data Analysis
read here: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/15/4762
3. Machine learning for predicting energy efficiency of buildings: A small data approach
read here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050923021853
And perhaps the most interesting one in the journal Engineering with Computers titled:
4. GRNN-based cascade ensemble model for non-destructive damage state identification
read here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00366-024-02048-1
29
May 24
MetaInfrastructure Away Day
On 21.5.2024, in Athens, Greece our research group had the first in-person meeting!
We had a fantastic discussion about the strategy of our group and plans to become even stronger and continue our research success!
14
May 24
Call for papers in Themed Issue
A themed issue titled:
“Eyes from the sky on bridges: standoff observations in rapid bridge and transport network assessments” will be published in the ICE Journal of Bridge Engineering, with Guest Editors from our group:
Nadiia Kopiika, Jelena Ninic, Sotirios Argyroudis, Stergios-Aristoteles Mitoulis
Contributions to this issue are welcomed in the integration of remote sensing data with structural health monitoring systems and data, advanced imaging technologies, and data analytics for real-time bridge assessment and management.
Submit your paper by 1 September 2024; full description of the Themed Issue: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/calls-for-papers/eyes-sky-bridges-stand-observations-rapid-bridge-and-transport-network-assessments
26
Mar 24
BBC interview on the collapse of the Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge
Stergios was featured in a BBC interview discussing the tragic collapse of the steel truss Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge, which plunged into the Patapsco River following a collision with a 289-meter-long cargo ship.
You can find more thoughts on BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0hlzmj8
where Stergios is discussing the condition of bridges in the USA and the need for investment on resilient infrastructure for sustainable development.
14
Feb 24
Three new successful MSCA fellowship applications
The metaInfrastructure group is delighted to share the achievement of three successful Horizon-Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship applications :
Jelena Ninic (University of Birmingham) had two successful applications:
(Hoang-)Giang Bui will be joining us to work on TwinSSI – Digital Twin Modelling for Soil-Structure-Interaction based on CutFEM and BIM technologies.
Hassan Liravi will be joining us with his project META-NOVIB – Digital twin for ground-borne railway-induced NOise and VIBration control with METAmaterials in underground tunnels.
Sotirios Argyroudis (Brunel University London) secured another one:
Stavros Sakellariou will be joining our group with his project FIREWISE on proactive wildfire resilience assessment and management, including the development of vulnerability models based on wildfire’s simulations, multi-objective spatial optimisation modelling for firefighting resources and agent-based tools for evacuation planning.
8
Oct 23
Our contribution to the UNDP-CDRI biennial Report
The UNDP and the Coalition of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure published their Biennial Report on global infrastructure resilience https://cdri.world/gir.
metaInfrastructure contributed with one paper, authored by Dr Stergios Aristoteles Mitoulis and Dr Sotirios Argyroudis, on “Financing for disaster and climate resilient infrastructure for a net-zero economic transition”, available here
This position paper identified the enablers of and barriers to climate resilient and sustainable infrastructure aiming to quantify the trade-offs and synergies between climate resilience and sustainability in the infrastructure development and adaptation. The paper focuses on transport infrastructure adaptation considering climate projections and sets a benchmark case study for the bridge stock in Ukraine, including highway and railway assets.
4
Oct 23
Top 2% researchers in 2022
Three members of the metaInfrastructure group: Dr Stergios Aristoteles Mitoulis, Dr Sotirios Argyroudis, and Dr Ivan Izonin, are listed at the top 2% cited researchers for the year 2022 according to the Stanford/Elsevier ranking list (c-score based)
See the list here: https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/6
2
Aug 23
Dr Sotirios Argyroudis starts a new role as Associate Professor (Reader) at Brunel University London
Sotirios has been recently promoted to Senior Lecturer, while he recently started a new position as a Reader in Infrastructure Engineering at Brunel University London! This double promotion milestone was achieved through cutting-edge projects, publications with top academics, researchers and consultants, and positive impact in the field of infrastructure resilience.
Sotirios is committed to furthering his research endeavours and contributing to the advancement of future infrastructure, together with the infrastructureResilience group.
1
Aug 23
Development of a Massive Open Online Course
Development of a Massive Open Online Course (aka MOOC) on “Sustainability, resilience and digitalisation for critical infrastructure” in the framework of our MSCA ReCharged project.
The MOOC highlights the value of emerging technologies and how digital data can enhance climate resilience and sustainability of infrastructure. Videos will follow soon to explain what is a digital twin, how to develop digital models and digital twins, and why we need them in infrastructure management.
More about our project here: https://msca-recharged.eu
ReCharged MSCA Staff Exchanges
28
Jul 23
New funded research project by HORIZON Europe
5 million EUR funding, 6 years, 17 partners
HORIZON-CL5-2023-D4-01-01: ZEBAI – Innovative methodologies to design Zero-Emission and cost-effective Buildings based on Artificial Intelligence.
Our research project Net-zero buildings leveraged by Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been funded by the European Union’s HORIZON-CL5-2023-D4-01-01. This research funding will be invested over the next 6 years to optimise building designs to make them net-zero and sustainable.
The Department of Civil Engineering, of the University of Birmingham, leads two major demonstrators of the project, i.e. the National Centre for Decarbonisation of Heat (NCDH) and the Energy Accelerator Building (EAB) to advance digital twinning of our campus. Our share is 700k EUR.
Partners
COO: Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
University of Birmingham, UK
Lurtis Rules SL, SP
University of Oxford, UK
Egis Group Ukraine
Lviv Polytechnic National University, Ukraine
Smart Sustainable Social Innovations Single Member P.C., Greece
Deerns, NL
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, SP
Europäisches Institut für Innovation-Technologie, DE
Neo-Eco, FR
Agencia de Vivienda y Rehabilitación de Andalucía, SP
Technische Universiteit Delft, NL
FI-Group, BE
Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, NL
Morph Architecture Estudio, SP
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, UK