University of Virginia's Dr. Devin K. Harris will present a Distinguished Lecture for the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences on Thursday, September 26, 2024 at 12:30 p.m. at the Watt Center Auditorium.

His seminar title is "Adapting Infrastructure for the Future: Digital Twinning of Our Aging Infrastructure." This seminar will describe ongoing work within the Infrastructure Simulation, Sensing and Evaluation (I-S²EE) Laboratory emphasizing new strategies for assessment with artificial intelligence-informed digital twins. These strategies are built around the concept that digital representations of real systems with a two-way feedback loop provide strategic evaluation techniques to inform decision-making. This seminar will describe ongoing research that explores the development of asset level digital twins of structural systems and highlight how these approaches fit into a larger performance assessment framework of the future. The seminar will also highlight early-stage activities in the classroom that aim to integrate these emerging digital technologies in learning process, demonstrating a synergy between fundamental and education research.

Dr. Harris is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Virginia (UVA). He is also a member of the Link Lab, UVA’s collaborative cyber-physical systems laboratory. He completed his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Florida and his graduate training (M.S. and Ph.D.) at Virginia Tech. His research interests focus on large scale civil infrastructure systems with an emphasis on smart cities. His work has included studies on image-based measurement techniques, crowdsourcing, artificial intelligence, data analytics, condition assessment and structural health monitoring, and the application of innovative materials in civil infrastructure. Most recently his research has focused on technology applications in engineering education and digital twins for civil infrastructure systems.