2023 Speakers

Prof. Dr. Eleni Chatzi

Robust Monitoring for Engineers Systems

Structural Health Monitoring comprises a hierarchy across levels of increasing complexity aiming to i) detect, ii) localize and iii) quantify damage, and iv) finally offer a prognosis over the system's residual life. When considering higher levels in this hierarchy, including damage assessment and even performance prognosis, purely data-driven methods are found to be lacking. For higher-level SHM tasks, or for furnishing a digital twin of a monitored structure, it is necessary to integrate the knowledge stemming from physics-based representations, relying on the underlying mechanics. This talk discusses implementation of such a hybrid approach to SHM for tackling the aforementioned challenges for robust monitoring of engineered systems. We offer a view to establishing augmented twin representations, capable of representing the structure as-is, anticipating performance under future stressors, and advising on preventive and remedial actions.

Eleni Chatzi is an Associate Professor and Chair of Structural Mechanics and Monitoring at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering of ETH Zurich. Her research interests include the fields of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM), structural dynamics, and intelligent data-driven assessment for engineered systems. She is the current Vice-President of the European Academy of Wind Energy (EAWE). She led the recently completed ERC Starting Grant WINDMIL on the topic of "Smart Monitoring, Inspection and Life-Cycle Assessment of Wind Turbines". Her work in the domain of self-aware infrastructure was recognized with the 2020 Walter L. Huber Research prize, awarded by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the EASD Junior Research Prize in the area of Computational Structural Dynamics.

Prof. Chris Salter

Becoming Aware

Prof. Salter is an accomplished artist and professor with a wealth of experience in immersive arts and media technology from ZHdK Zurich. He is discussing the fascinating topic of how our bodies and senses can transform the environments around us.

Damjan Jovanovic

Games and Worldmaking

Damjan Jovanovic from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles for a lecture around "Games and Worldmaking."

Damjan Jovanovic is an architect, educator, and software designer based in Los Angeles. He currently works as a full-time design faculty at SCI-Arc. His work is situated at the intersection of architectural design, games, and software design. He explores the technical, conceptual, and cultural effects of software in its complete takeover of the image space of architecture.

Dr. Yijian Huang

Automated planning

Yijiang Huang, a Postdoctoral Researcher at ETH Zurich, on the intersection between Architecture, Computing, and Robotics in design and construction. Yijiang's expertise lies in the computational design of construction, where he focuses on developing scalable planning methods to coordinate humans, robots, and resources for sustainable design outcomes.

In this talk, Yijiang will discuss the limitations of current construction processes and the potential of automated planning to revolutionize the industry. He will present his research on automated planning approaches that enable the programming of robot builders and efficient resource allocation. Yijiang will showcase how these approaches enhance design-build flexibility, facilitate robotic assembly of arbitrary design inputs, reduce programming efforts for new robot fabrication processes, and enable design responsiveness to upcycled material inventory.

Prof. Dr. Corentin Fivet

Waste no more: Structural Design with Reused Pieces

Abstract: More and more buildings are being demolished even though their components are generally in excellent physical condition. Urban mining and reusing them for new buildings and transformations represents a circular strategy with unprecedented environmental benefits, reducing global warming potential, waste, and material extraction. While the approach has not yet reached its full industrial potential, it redefines designers’ workflows and calls for new computational methods and construction processes. In this talk, Corentin Fivet presents recent research outputs from the Structural Xploration Lab, EPFL, focusing on new design opportunities for reclaiming obsolete timber, steel, and concrete elements in new load-bearing applications.


Bio: Corentin Fivet is Associate Professor of architecture and structural design at EPFL, Switzerland, heading the Structural Xploration Lab (https://sxl.epfl.ch). Its research mainly focuses on developing computational design methods to ease the reuse of load-bearing elements in buildings. Before joining EPFL, Corentin Fivet worked as a researcher and teacher for two years at MIT, USA. He holds a PhD in engineering sciences from UcLouvain, Belgium. He is the author of numerous scientific publications, is regularly invited to give keynotes in Switzerland and abroad, and has won several awards for his work.

Dr. Rudy Geelen

Learning physics-based reduced-order models from data using nonlinear manifolds

Abstract: The rapidly increasing demand for computer simulations of complex physical, chemical, and other processes places a significant burden on the shoulders of computational scientists and engineers. Despite the remarkable rise of available computer resources and computing technologies, the need for model order reduction to cope with these problems is an ever-present reality. Reduced-order models are imperative in making computationally tractable outer-loop applications that require simulating systems for many scenarios with different parameters and under varying inputs. They require that one numerically solves the differential equations describing the physical system of interest in low-dimensional reduced spaces, in contrast to the original full-order models. However, traditional model reduction techniques often fail to identify a low-dimensional linear subspace for approximating the solution to many physics-based simulations.

In this talk Dr. Rudy Geelen will present a novel method for learning projection-based reduced-order models of physics-based dynamical systems using nonlinear manifolds. First, we learn the manifold by identifying nonlinear structure in the data through a general representation learning problem. The proposed approach is driven by embeddings of low-order polynomial form. The algebraic structure of the system that governs the problem of interest in the reduced space is revealed by means of a projection onto the nonlinear manifold. The matrix operators of the reduced-order model are then approximated, in a least-squares sense, using data-driven operator inference. Numerical experiments on a number of nonlinear problems demonstrate the generalizability of the methodology and the increase in accuracy that can be obtained over standard POD-based methods.


Bio: Rudy Geelen is a postdoctoral researcher working with Karen Willcox at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences. He joined UT Austin as a Peter O'Donnell Postdoctoral Fellow in 2020. Before joining UT Austin, he received a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. He is interested in the broad area of computational science and engineering with a strong focus on computational mechanics, model order reduction and scientific machine learning. As such, his research is interdisciplinary, both with respect to computational-science domains and real-life engineering applications.

Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler and Prof. Dr. Katharina Klemt-Albert

Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler
Title: Collaborative Construction

Abstract: To address the complexities of future (re)construction, the talk introduces concepts of robustness, redundancy, and resilience, all framed within collaborative construction. Emphasizing the need for robotic construction systems that are robust and can withstand uncertainties, redundancy to ensure alternative pathways in case of failures, and resilience to adapt to changing conditions, the presentation advocates for a holistic approach that considers environmental, economic, and societal impacts. On one hand, by fostering a collaborative ecosystem where humans and machines complement each other, this talk aims to discuss challenges and opportunities in human-robot collaboration. It will highlight the role of careful design considerations, task planning, and coordination, to facilitate synergistic cooperation and to ensure that redundant components can seamlessly take over in case of unpredictable situations without causing disruptions. On the other, by integrating suitable material systems with robotic building processes and geometric differentiation, this talk aims to uncover how to balance between system functionality and resource-effectiveness, moving beyond just efficiency. Illustrated through a series of case studies, it will depict how this holistic approach requires advancements in technology and collaborative efforts among architectural and engineering researchers and domain experts, driving collaborative construction toward transformative progress.

Bio: Kathrin Dörfler, an architect, researcher, and educator in computational design and robotic fabrication, holds a master’s degree in architecture from TU Vienna and a PhD from ETH Zurich. Her doctoral thesis, conducted at Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zurich, as part of the NCCR Digital Fabrication, advanced methods for the use of construction robots directly on building sites. In 2019, Kathrin assumed the role of Tenure Track Professor at the School of Engineering and Design at the Technical University of Munich. Here, she leads a research group for Digital Fabrication in the Department of Architecture, exploring the synergy between computational design and robotic fabrication. The group's focus includes collaborative fabrication processes, on-site robotics, and fabrication-aware design for a sustainable future of construction.

Prof. Dr. Katharina Klemt-Albert
Title: Sustainable Digitalization in Infrastructure and Construction – a German Perspective

Abstract: Digital transformation and sustainability are the most important issues in the construction industry. In Europe specifically, carbon policies will rapidly change the industry's agenda over the next decade, requiring urgent action to achieve net-zero targets. Construction, which is responsible for nearly 40 percent of global CO₂ emissions - is on one hand elusive, but on the other offers the greatest potential for innovation. Professor Klemt-Albert is involved in initiatives launched by Germany's federal government to leverage the potential in construction. This concerns both federal-owned building structures and in particular Germany’s extensive road and railway infrastructures. In addition to these insights, she will show current research results in the field of sustainable digitalization and present the new learning factory for construction robotics set up at RWTH Aachen University.

Bio: Prof. Katharina Klemt-Albert is director of the ICoM – the Institute for Construction Management, Digital Engineering and Robotics in Construction at RWTH Aachen University. Projects at ICoM focus on sustainable digitalization and smart automation in architecture, engineering and construction. RWTH Aachen University owns the title to be called German University of Excellence, besides being a founding member of the IDEA League, a strategic alliance of five leading technical universities in Europe. Before joining RWTH Aachen University, Klemt-Albert was chair and professor at Leibniz Universität Hannover since 2016. Her academic career began with studies in civil engineering at Ruhr University in Bochum. In 2001, she earned a doctorate with honours from the Technical University of Darmstadt in cooperation with the Northwestern University, U.S.A. Professor Klemt-Albert has extensive management and industrial experience. She spent 14 years in top management at Deutsche Bahn AG, most recently as managing director of an international engineering company with 1,500 employees. She was responsible for numerous mega projects with a focus on the Gulf region, Asia and South America. She is also the founder of albert.ing GmbH, a specialized provider for digital transformation.