1

Computational Design Research

Topics of this session focus on knowledge about parametric design. We report about education research investigating professional training approaches to parametric design, documentation of parametric methodologies for collection of institutional knowledge bases or knowledge communities, and issues related to the nature of knowledge contained in parametric designs. 

Volker Mueller (Bentley)

Dr. Rob Woodbury (Simon Fraser Univ)

2

Virtual and Augmented Reality in Infrastructure Engineering

Augmented reality and portable virtual reality are visualization techniques that show good potential for use in infrastructure engineering.  However, they suffer from a major limitation: the capacity to estimate user position and orientation accurately.  In this session, we will describe various potential applications of virtual and augmented reality in infrastructure engineering, discuss the problem of estimating the user location and orientation with precision, and finally describe some of the work undertaken by the Applied Research group on this problem.

Click Here to download a zip file containing Dr. Cote's presentation.  The presentation includes several embedded videos, so unzip all files into a single folder.

Dr. Stephane Cote (Bentley)

3

High Performance Evolutionary Optimization for Sustaining Infrastructure

infrastructure system analysis is the essential task for delivering the informed solution to design and operation of infrastructure assets. This presentation will provide an overview of evolutionary computing technology and scalable high performance computing framework that has been implemented for infrastructure lifecycle decision support such as optimizing water distribution systems, identifying structure damage, evolving geometry design and predicting water consumption for energy-efficient operation.

Click Here to download a zip file containing Dr. Wu's presentation.

Dr. Zheng Wu (Bentley)

4

Dynamic Plot Research Update

Most project workflows today involve human interaction with IT systems. Thus, nteraction with paper documents must be careful coordinated with these systems -- Have necessary approvals been obtained? Has prerequisite work been completed?  Is work documentation rich enough to support work tasks? These are just some of the questions that must be answered to advance project work. Answering these questions is often time consuming, expensive and error prone.  This session will summarize research that could extend Bentley's Dynamic Plot solution to enrich work documentation, reduce errors and cost.

Click Here to download a zip file containing Mark's presentation.  The presentation includes several embedded videos, so be sure to select the "Use Folder Name" option when extracting the files.

Mark Smith (Bentley)

5

Current Practices in Advanced Bridge Management

Considerable discussion has been undertaken on the conditions of highway bridges following the collapse of the I35 Bridge in Minneapolis on August 1, 2007. But there is still much confusion about the safety of existing bridges especially those that have aged beyond their expected design life. In this presentation we will discuss the compelling issues including (a) what current metrics are for defining bridge performance, especially for safety performance, (b) how much uncertainty may prevail in the current approaches to assessing bridge safety; (c) approaches to augment and improve the current practice, (d) special challenges in evaluating the safety of geriatric bridges, (e) recommended system approach to leverage structural identification  for integrating diagnosis and prognosis as well as the IT needs for advancing bridge management and for implementing the approach.

Click Here to download a zip file containing Dr. Aktan's presentation.

Dr. Emin Aktan (Drexel Univ)

6

Getting Smarter with Advanced Metering Infrastructure

The advent of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) in the water industry is providing a variety of information in the hands and the software of water system operators.  There is high value in meter data to provide billing information, assess customer demand for water and help the utility and customer monitor that use.  But AMI has become a conduit for transmitting other information that suggests even more potential benefits.  This presentation will highlight some of the current activities including remote customer valve actuation, acoustic monitoring for water system leaks, backflow detection and tamper monitoring and will look ahead to the value of conveying water quality and pressure monitoring information using the AMI network.

Click Here to download a zip file containing David's presentation.

David Hughes (American Water)

7

Safety Information Modeling for Construction

The construction industry accounts for an injury and illness rate that is nearly five times greater than the all-industry average.  Currently, there are no such data that allows construction managers to objectively consider safety along with traditional cost, quality, and duration metrics when making project-related management decisions. This presentation will describe research sponsored by Bentley that will provide a foundational database and analytical tools for improving preconstruction safety management as safety risk data is applied to scheduling, coordination and decision making.

Click Here to download a zip file containing Dr. Hallowell's presentation.

Dr. Matt Hallowell (University of Colorado)

8

Managing Change in Infrastructure Projects

Many of the problems arising on infrastructure projects emanate are the result lack of appropriate mechanisms to establish and track the dependencies between project elements. This makes it very difficult, and in some cases, impossible to anticipate changes, and to take appropriate measures in response to the changes that occur in the course of a project. This can have potentially debilitating impacts on a project thus impairing the likelihood of successful project outcomes.  Changes are inevitable in infrastructure projects, arising from different sources, for various reasons, at any stage of a project, and any change may have a considerable impact.  This session will provide an overview of Bentley's capability for identifying and managing dependencies and research on how this fits into an overall strategy for change management.

Click Here to download a zip file containing Igal's presentation.  There is additional information on the [[change management]] project page.

Igal Kaptsan (Bentley)