February 2022: Smart move – the Center for Smart Infrastructure at University of California, Berkeley

In 10 years transforming the future of infrastructure and construction, the impacts of CSIC have reached far and wide. Professor Kenichi Soga, one of the founders of CSIC and currently Donald H. McLaughlin Professor and a Chancellor's Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, sets out the background and ambitions of the new Center for Smart Infrastructure in California.

Infrastructure looms large on the U.S. national agenda, making the launch of the Center for Smart Infrastructure at the University of California, Berkeley timely. Congress and the Biden administration are discussing both a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure framework as well as the president’s $1.5 trillion Build Back Better Act, to fund overdue infrastructure needs across the nation, and address global challenges including climate change and the resilience of physical and natural systems.

In the spirit of CSIC, the Center will be multi-disciplinary across the university to enable development of integrated smart infrastructure solutions. We hope the results of our research will also benefit utilities beyond California and even internationally. All data will be publicly available because the Center will deliver innovation, insights, value and efficiencies for the public good Professor Kenichi Soga, Donald H. McLaughlin Professor University of California, Berkeley

My background as one of the founders of the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) at the University of Cambridge ten years ago has led to the realisation of this new Center. Back then I worked with Professor Lord Robert Mair and Cambridge groups and academics across various engineering disciplines. We collaborated with forward-thinking industry professionals on complex and challenging UK civil engineering projects. We developed innovative monitoring systems using wireless sensors and distributed fibre optics, collecting data to better understand the real performance of an asset or system. CSIC pioneered smart infrastructure solutions.

Coming to UC Berkeley five years ago presented a similar opportunity to transform the future of infrastructure.

There are many natural hazards in the US and an urgent need to make infrastructure resilient. The way a structure is planned, designed, constructed and maintained is similar to the UK, but differs in terms of legislative structure and jurisdictions. There are many players in this space, but on speaking to some of them I noticed a shared ambition to address infrastructure challenges – especially regarding climate change. Catastrophic and cascading failures impact infrastructure – and that impacts people.

Fortunately, as plans for the Center were being made, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), a not-for-profit organisation and the second largest water utility in California, partnered with Berkeley on the Center. With more than 4,200 miles of water lines in their district, the partnership offers EBMUD a strategic opportunity to collaborate with academics in the use of remote sensors, data analytics and artificial intelligence tools, as well as other emerging technologies, to better inform decision-making for all utilities and government agencies.

In the spirit of CSIC, the Center will be multi-disciplinary across the university to enable development of integrated smart infrastructure solutions. We hope the results of our research will also benefit utilities beyond California and even internationally. All data will be publicly available because the Center will deliver innovation, insights, value and efficiencies for the public good. As part of the partnership a new undergraduate course on utility infrastructure operation and management is being developed, shaped by the ways that construction works, addressing real industry challenges through academic research to digitally transform the sector. Students will be able to apply skills to benefit the community and learn from EBMUD as well as academia.

The General Manager of EBMUD, Clifford Chan is, like me, a civil engineering alumnus of UC Berkeley. He understands that the water sector must innovate to confront the impacts of a changing climate. EBMUD provides a service that will always be required – people need water and wastewater services to survive. This means the company has a long-term vision and investment strategy, and improvements made to maintain and extend the life of the infrastructure are a significant win. Continuing to develop innovation and smart maintenance for water pipelines is critical to address the challenges we face today. Using sensors, data analytics and risk analysis will let organisations adopt smart infrastructure solutions and proactive maintenance.

UC Berkeley will combine robotics, data analytics, AI, sustainability, diversity and equity – all relevant to local authorities, industry and utilities. It will offer academic expertise from different disciplines and specialist research centres hosted by the Center for Smart Infrastructure. The Center has already received interest in collaboration from other water utility, energy and transport organisations, including some in other states and abroad. All want to improve their infrastructure and services. We plan to work with additional partners after the Center completes its first year and has demonstrated its viability and the value of a smart approach to infrastructure.

The Center must support itself long term. With this in mind, Berkeley will take over the pipe-testing facilities that were part of the research programme led by now retired Professor Thomas O’Rourke at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, who is also the Chair of the CSIC International Advisory Group. Many U.S. organisations and companies use these facilities, and this testing will now be part of the offering at the Center in California – which makes sense as all new pipelines here need to be rigorously tested for resilience against earthquakes. However, continuing the spirit of CSIC, we will add sensors to pipeline testing and hope this builds industry confidence in a smart infrastructure approach to monitoring and maintenance.

Fieldwork will also be key to the Center – as it has been for CSIC. Former CSIC Investigator, Matt de Jong, now Associate Professor at UC Berkeley, is developing a fibre optic sensing system to monitor wind turbine towers and mooring lines off the California coast, where they float on platforms due to the sharp shelf drop-off that prohibits building them on the seabed. We will be attending the CSIC international multi-disciplinary workshop hosted by Cornell University this summer that will explore funding, financing and emerging technologies in infrastructure.

The Center for Smart Infrastructure is an exciting proposition. It integrates the many research groups at UC Berkeley and brings significant connections to the community it belongs to. It also, I hope, creates a platform to collaborate with CSIC.