CSIC marked its 10th Anniversary with a series of online events. CSIC works with industry and partner organisations to develop and demonstrate approaches to data acquisition and innovative applications of technologies to transform infrastructure and construction. The vision of CSIC – collaborating to transform infrastructure and construction through smarter information – is as relevant today as it was at the Centre’s launch 10 years ago. In the context of the global challenges of carbon zero, waste reduction, energy savings and resilience, achieving this vision is increasingly time critical.
Our 10th Anniversary’s celebrations ran from 3 June to 13 July. These included the publication of the Carbon Reduction Code for the Built Environment Issue 1.0, which took place on 17 June. The Carbon Reduction Code has been developed by the Achieving Net Zero Cross-Industry Working Group convened by CSIC and is a first step to facilitate action towards reducing carbon emissions (CO2eq) related to design, construction, maintenance and operation of built assets. The Code is collaborative and forms part of the Construction Leadership Council’s Co2nstruct Zero initiative and enshrines a commitment to report progress, good or bad, on an annual basis.
Other virtual events featured: Dr Jennifer Schooling, CSIC Director, in conversation with Professor Mark Girolami, academic lead for CSIC, who looked ahead to ‘The future of digitalisation and the built environment’ on 3 June; a series of six short and fast-paced research presentations from CSIC Researchers showcasing a range of projects on 10 June; a research talk by Dr Nicky de Battista and Dr Alun Thomas titled 'Closing the loop: Back analysis of sprayed concrete tunneljunctions' on 23 June, which gave an overview of a 2014 CSIC instrumentation and monitoring project at the Crossrail Liverpool Street Station and described how the data are being used in combination with finite element modelling to gain a better understanding of SCL behaviour at tunnel junctions; a research talk by Dr James Talbot and Mr Tobias Carrigan Donfrancesco titled 'Project VIMTO and its progress towards the derivation of rail roughness spectra from axle-box accelerometers' on 1 July; and an online workshop led by Dr Miguel Bravo-Haro and Dr Nicky de Battista titled ‘Bringing buildings to life – smart infrastructure at the Civil Engineering Building’ on 8 July, inviting participants to virtually visit the home of CSIC, to see how smart infrastructure brings a building to life.
The celebrations concluded with the launch of our 2021 Annual Review and the CSIC Distinguished Lecture by Jim Hall, Professor of Climate and Environmental Risk at the University of Oxford, titled The data revolution in global-scale analysis of climate risks to infrastructure systems.
Dr Schooling said: “I am very proud to mark 10 Years of CSIC with our programme of events that included the publication of our Annual Review and the publication of the Carbon Reduction Code. CSIC has developed a body of research throughout the past decade that has built the case for smart infrastructure solutions to add value to industry and address increasingly urgent challenges, including mitigating the effects of climate change, resilience and resource constraint. I am very grateful to all our partners for their support and look forward to continuing our work together.”
- Recordings of our events are shared on the CSIC YouTube channel – more will be added in the coming weeks.
- For more information on our events, click here.