Mission: Smart Structure Technologies and the Role of APESS

Advanced sensor technology improves the accuracy of measurements provide more opportunities for more detailed structural evaluation. Their application in the modern world is increasingly widespread. Structures instrumented with sensors can communicate their current condition to a data acquisition system in the form of accelerations, displacements, strains, etc., depending on the sensor type. This information can be used in real-time to control and evaluate structure performance during severe earthquakes or wind loads, or assess the health of a structure after such events. In the long term, sensors can be used to evaluate structure degradation and to plan maintenance or retrofit works. Instrumentation of full-scale structures is a daunting task involving a push for improved technology and understanding in areas of structural dynamics, control systems, circuit technology, wireless technology, and informatics, to name a few. In summary, smart structure technologies offer new opportunities and challenges to the way civil infrastructure systems are monitored, controlled, and maintained.

Conventional civil engineering curricula only expose students to the range of the contributing disciplines to smart structures technology in a limited fashion. The APESS program aims to bridge the gap that divides these disciplines through a student-oriented international summer program. Graduate students and young researchers from Japan, China, Korea, the USA, and European Countries will get together for three weeks of focused activities related to smart structures technology. The curriculum will be oriented to address any gaps in education that are necessary for the advancement of the field.