The group from the University of Cambridge took one of the top prizes at the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Innovation Awards ceremony in central London last night.

A research team from the Division of Civil Engineering took the Information Technology Award for their development of a framework that automatically generates the Digital Twins (DTs) of reinforced concrete bridges, then measures and maps all visible defects on the DTs, helping management of repair work.

The technology uses point cloud data (PCD) to automatically generate a DT of a bridge, then uses high-resolution images registered as textures on the model to detect and map defects. The process standardises maintenance procedures, giving greater accuracy and efficiency.

Dr Ioannis Brilakis, Laing O’Rourke Reader in Construction Engineering and Director of the Construction IT lab at the University of Cambridge highlighted that:

“The first part of a National Digital Twin agenda is the ability to generate geometric virtual copies of all existing structures and enrich them with structured and unstructured data. The outcomes of this research show that it is now possible to do this.”

The judging panel were impressed with the entry, saying:

“In the diverse field of IT entries, this entry’s innovation stood out. It’s early in its lifecycle but is assessed to be promising and during judging became topical. The ability to generate digital twins of concrete structures and highlight defects is impressive. Congratulations for a fine piece of innovation.”

Pictured: Prof David Cardwell FREng, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Strategy and Planning of the University of Cambridge, receives the award on behalf of Dr Ioannis Brilakis and Ms Ruodan Lu