International Visit at the SPP 100+ Annual Meeting
From October 21st to 25th October 2024, Professor Michael D. Todd from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), visited TU Dresden. Professor Todd is a leading expert in the field of structural health monitoring (SHM) and serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the renowned SAGE journal Structural Health Monitoring.
During his visit, Professor Todd participated in the three-day SPP 100+ annual meeting, which took place from 21st to 23rd October 2024. He delivered a keynote lecture entitled “The Use of Detection Theory and Bayesian Experimental Design in Ultrasonic Structural Health Monitoring”. His presentation offered invaluable insights on the subject of uncertainty quantification in damage detection and the optimal design of SHM systems. One of the most noteworthy events of the annual meeting was an excursion to the openLAB research bridge in Bautzen, which was constructed as part of the research project IDA-KI. On-site, Professor Todd and the SPP 100+ researchers were afforded the opportunity to observe a live demonstration on the bridge, which included a load test with real-time fiber optic sensor measurements. In addition, individual SPP 100+ subprojects presented preliminary measurement results at the openLAB facility. These activities facilitated an intense exchange of knowledge between the mFUND project IDA-KI, the DFG priority programme SPP 100+, and Professor Todd.
Following the annual meeting, Professor Todd was given a guided tour of the Otto Mohr Laboratory at the Institute of Concrete Structures (IMB) by Professor Steffen Marx. On the following day, a workshop was held with researchers of IMB to explore collaboration possibilities in SPP 100+, with the objective of reinforcing the international networking of the programme. In the evening, Professor Todd delivered a public lecture, entitled “The Art and Science of Decision-Making in Structural Life Cycle Asset Management”.
The lecture was intended for students and research staff at TU Dresden as well as SPP 100+ researchers, and addressed the challenge of managing structural assets beyond their planned lifespan on limited budgets. It proposed an active strategy for the lifecycle management of infrastructure. Professor Todd's research visit concluded on Friday, 25th October 2024, with an exchange meeting held with researchers of IMB. The focus of this workshop was to get to know each other’s research focuses.
The entire SPP 100+ team extends its gratitude for this enlightening exchange and anticipates further scientific collaborations with Professor Todd and the University of California, San Diego.