NSF Bridge Workshop
NSF Bridge Condition Monitoring and Prognostication Workshop
November 20-21, 2008
Radisson University Hotel
About the Workshop
As the nation’s infrastructure ages and as the demands on the infrastructure intensify due to increased volumes of traffic and truck loads, while budgets to maintain and replace these systems diminish, it has become increasingly evident that there is an urgent need to be able to accurately assess the health and safety of bridge systems to ensure life safety and to prioritize the allocation of limited resources to retrofit and replace systems.
The objective of the workshop is to provide an interdisciplinary forum for leading researchers in these areas to formulate and advance the next generation research priorities. The outcome of the workshop will be the development of clear priorities which can be used as a resource to inform the associated programs at NSF and broader research community of the challenges to be addressed which might guide the associated cross-disciplinary resources required to support the effort.
This workshop, sponsored by the NSF Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS) within the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) is intended to meet the following objectives:
- To bring together leaders within multiple disciplines to identify the next generation research needs required to advance developments in bridge sensing and prognostication.
- To foster a culture of interdisciplinary approach and to facilitate the development of interdisciplinary research teams in the broader community to address the identified research needs; and to raise awareness among the directorates within NSF of the research areas identified across the disciplines that have a vital role in contributing to the intellectual merit towards this effort.
- To develop a document which will provide a clear list of priorities which can be used as a resource to inform the associated programs at NSF and broader research community of the short and long-term research needs and grand challenges to be addressed which might guide the associated cross-disciplinary resources required to support the effort. The document will identify next generation research directions associated with bridge sensing and prognostication including associated fields of sensors; data acquisition, networking, and communications; data management and interpretation; and decision making, with particular emphasis on the research needs associated with the integration across these major topic areas.
Participants
A total of approximately 20 participants and up to 20 observers from interdisciplinary fields required to address next generation bridge research needs have been invited to participate in the workshop.
Format for the workshop
The workshop will run over the course of two days, and will consist of a series of keynote presentations, followed by three parallel breakout sessions and group reassemblies to discuss the topics generated in the breakout sessions. On the afternoon of the second day, breakout session moderators and scribes will be asked to participate in drafting the final outcomes of the workshop.
Location
The workshop will be held at the Radisson University Hotel (formerly Radisson Metrodome) on the University of Minnesota campus. A block of rooms has been reserved at the hotel and meals will be provided. Details regarding making travel arrangements and hotel reservations are provided on the Accommodations and Travel tab.
