Innovation Committee

Innovation is not a concept but a way of thinking and for that reason, it is a key aspect and holds a pivotal position within the COST Action TU1402. The uniqueness of this network by joining both sides the best experts from academia and the most promising entrepreneurs from industry, sets the perfect bottom line for the next generation of SHM databased solutions.
Three main pillars lay the foundation of innovation process within the COST Action TU1402, where for each one the most relevant activities & events are highlighted:

Think outside of the box (:

Innovation

By stimulating a creative process between people in the COST Action based on recommendations related to activities that are able to promote the sharing of ideas towards the quantification of the value of SHM.

Activities & events recommended:

• STSM towards industry sector:
  • Utilization of the STSM mechanism to promote joint-collaborations in an industrial environment in order to create value inside of companies. Industrial partners of the COST Action TU1402 have been stimulated to ask/formulate a problem that are currently facing for which they could find suitable academic partners able to support them in solving it.
• Call 1: “TU1402 IIDs: Project Workshops”:
  • Exploitation of the TU1402 framework and case studies for the quantification of the value of Structural Health Monitoring for the targeted joint developments of projects with industrial partners, research institutions and authorities. The objective is to strengthen the link academia-industry by means of research project proposals in order to capitalize these 4-years of intensive collaborative work among the TU1402 network beyond its time frame.
• An information value guide for infrastructure design and operation executives
  • A guide for infrastructure design and operation executives has been elaborated with the main objective of supporting owners and concessionaires in the (re)negotiation of the contract terms related to asset management of Civil Engineering structures along the concession period, when evidence is given on the benefit of the utilization of SHM systems. This guide for infrastructure design and operation executives is a high-level document, concise and objective, built on a bottom-up approach and supported on the case studies and guidelines of the COST Action TU1402.

Be brave!

Entrepreneurship

By favouring an effective engagement between researchers and industrial partners. This will enhance the creation of high-qualified jobs for young researchers (e.g. by STSM) and the submission of consortium project proposals, which is definitely the most successful path for the next generation of SHM-based solutions.

Activities & events recommended:

• TU1402 Industry Innovation Days, 18th – 19th April 2018, Lisbon, Portugal:
  • This workshop aimed at a non-expert audience and interested infrastructure authorities and operators, engineers and researchers who want to know more about the quantification of the Value of SHM by having a case studies portfolio presented. Hearing opinion, impressions, views, perspectives from this more generic audience has been essential to strengthen a common language towards the successful utilization of SHM, with clear benefits for all parts involved infrastructure integrity management.
• Call 2: “TU1402 IIDs: Diffusion Events:
  • Dissemination of the COST Action TU1402 Industry Innovation Days activities with the objective to foster and capitalize the TU1402 IID beyond its time frame and own network, mainly by focusing on the industry sector.

Let's change people's mind?

Dissemination

Activities & events recommended:

• Special Session “Why invest in SHM of Civil Engineering infrastructures?” IABSE, 19th – 21st September, Nantes, 2019 & IABSE, 27th – 29th, Guimarães, 2019:
  • These special sessions aimed to show evidence, mainly from an owner/authority perspective, of the benefit of applying SHM systems in Civil Engineering structures supported by the Value of SHM Information theory. The papers presented in these sessions targets a very specific audience - owners/authorities – and focussing on applications of SHM systems on full scale structures. The question: “Is there a benefit or not in using this type of systems supported by the Value of SHM Information theory?” is addressed by the authors.
• Special issue in a top ranked journal
  • Taking advantage from the authors’ commitment and effort in their participation on both special sessions organized at IABSE, Nantes 2018 and IABSE, Guimarães 2019, these are being pushed to a journal publication. A preliminary list of potential contributions is being prepared and authors will be invited formally. Nevertheless, the call is open to everyone willing to take advantage of the visibility that this special issue will have near of stakeholders.
• TU1402 Book by compiling the most relevant and high-impact outcomes
  • A book is being conceptualized based on special journal issues associated to IABSE 2018, IABSE 2019, ICASP13 and IWSHM 2019. Different book concepts are on the table at the moment, depending on the authors’ contribution on the aforementioned special sessions (e.g. industry or student/academics targeted). The objective is to produce a reference work with high potential to be used as an educational tool (either in the academia or industry) by covering from the fundamental mathematics to the real applications.

From a holistic perspective, and since the beginning, the Innovation Committee of the COST Action TU1402 focused on the above mentioned pillars (Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Dissemination), by means of a set of managerial actions to assure the linkage between all, mainly by: (i) driving the process with recommendations by looking to both parts, academia and industry, (ii) monitoring the process by the implementation of the recommendations and (iii) developing a capacity to innovate that it lasts over time, i.e. beyond the COST Action time frame.