Special Session 6

As the world becomes increasingly connected, digitalization is a key differentiator that can also be used to track the real time health state of critical infrastructures. Using Internet of Things (IoT) data from multiple smart objects/sensors that generate massive volumes of data, digitalization promises flexibility, resilience, efficiency, shorter response times to possible critical structural failures and opens up new opportunities for optimized maintenance plans. The special session welcomes contributions regarding risk reduction for resilience, Innovative assessment procedures of structures, real-time SHM monitoring of infrastructures and Big data processing and IoT.

Elisa Bertolesi, is Lecturer in Structural Engineering at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Brunel University London (UK). Her research activity includes structural monitoring by means of optical sensors, experimental testing and advanced numerical modelling of masonry and steel structures subjected to extreme events. Dr. Bertolesi authored more than 30 JCR-indexed articles. Dr. Bertolesi collaborates with the editorial board of the ASCE - Journal of Composites for Construction and the International Journal of Masonry Research and Innovation. In addition, she works as Managing Editor of the prestigious first-quartile JCR-indexed journal Construction and Building Materials.

Manuel Buitrago, is senior researcher at the Concrete Science and Technology University Institute at Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain). He is an expert in the structural assessment and robustness & progressive collapse of different types of concrete/steel structures during the design, construction and serviceability phase and subjected to accidental and extreme events. His contributions have been especially important in the field of full-scale testing and SHM. He authored 22 JCR-indexed articles.

Jose M. Adam, is Professor at the Universitat Politècnica de València, where he is engaged in teaching in the Civil Engineering School and the Department of Construction Engineering. He is member of the Concrete Science and Technology Institute - ICITECH and co-founder and partner of the spin-off company Calsens. Prof. Adam’s research is devoted to resilient building structures, structural failures, strengthening, retrofitting and structural assessment. He is the author of over 60 papers in high-impact international journals and has participated in several research projects funded through competitive calls for a total of more than 5 million euros. One of his most significant recent achievement is the award of a Leonardo Grant by the BBVA Foundation for innovative ideas by relevant researchers. He is Editor of Construction and Building Materials (Elsevier), Associate Editor of the Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities (ASCE) and collaborates with five international journals as Editorial Board Member. Prof. Adam has been editor-organizer of six international conferences.

Gabriele Milani, is Full Professor at Politecnico di Milano. His research focuses on masonry modeling and safety assessment of historic masonry in seismic area. He works on FEM limit analysis, rubber vulcanization and seismic isolation. He has been awarded with a Telford Premium (2012) by ICE, a Bathe Award (2014) and a most cited author diploma for a paper in Computers and Structures (2006). He has co-authored more than 160 ISI papers. He is Editor-in-Charge of a Journal specialized on masonry (International Journal of Masonry Research and Innovation) and of a journal generalist for Civil Engineering.