Collaborating to Advance Infrastructure Sensing
On November 12 – 13, 2024, at the Energy Innovation Center in Pittsburgh, PA, the UPitt Infrastructure Sense Collaboration (UPISC) held its 2024 Annual Workshop. Over 110 registrants participated in the two-day event, with industry leaders from the Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, National Energy Technology Laboratory, private industry, the University of Pittsburgh, and other organizations speaking and leading panels. As the third annual workshop, this year's event was co-organized with the National Academy of Engineering, which brought national leaders from industry, government, and the National Academies to participate.
The event kicked off with Dr. Paul Ohodnicki, RK Mellon Faculty Fellow in Energy at the University of Pittsburgh, and Ruishu Wright, Research Physical Scientist at the National Energy Technology Laboratory, sharing the objectives of the workshop and emphasizing the importance of connecting government, industry, and academia to address new challenges and promote innovation.
Over the two days, panels discussed issues such as changing perspectives of infrastructure sensing on the national, state, and regional level; opportunities and collaboration across the infrastructure sensing community; and quantum sensing and related technologies for infrastructure.
Invited speakers explored topics such as advances in sensing, data, analytics, and digital twins; using AI to inform infrastructure resiliency and reuse strategies; and cybersecurity and infrastructure sensing.
Between sessions and workshops, participants networked, toured the Energy Innovation Center, and viewed industry presentations.
“Advancing infrastructure sensing technology requires productive, intentional collaboration across sectors,” said Ohodnicki Jr. “The annual UPISC workshop did that. It was a clear success. In these two days, we built momentum that will guide us well in 2025, with exciting new plans to be announced soon. I’m grateful to all the people and organizations who made this event possible.”