Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Smart Technologies for Infrastructure

With hundreds of billions of dollars in the federal stimulus program designated for infrastructure, members of a panel discussion at Carnegie Mellon University urged local and national leaders to make our roads, bridges and energy grids "more intelligent." Dr. James Garrett, chair of CMU's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, says new and emerging smart technologies can be harnessed for buildings and transportation systems. Garrett says powering the smart infrastructures are the latest advances in sensors, wireless communications and computing power, tied together by the Internet. Garrett says these sensors are able to help understand the usage of a structure...

"What kinds of loads are crossing a bridge; how is that bridge undergoing stress; is there a situation causing an overstress; or, in the case of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, is the room more humid and at a higher temperature than users are desiring."

Garrett says failing to upgrade, the world may be locked into the old way of building for decades to come.

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