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Activity Funded

Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering

Instituto para a Sustentabilidade e Inovação em Estruturas de Engenharia

Reference
UIDB/04029/2020
Project Start Date
2020-01-01
Project End Date
2024-12-31
Principal Investigator
Funding Program
Concurso de avaliação no âmbito do Programa Plurianual de Financiamento de Unidades de I&D (2017/2018) - Financiamento Base

Abstract

10.2 Summary in English for general dissemination purposes ISISE was created in 2007 involving the Civil Engineering Departments from Universities of Coimbra (UC) and Minho (UM). The objective was to achieve excellence in research and to create a leading cluster in Structural Engineering. The vision of ISISE is to increase the structural and functional performance of Civil Engineering Works and Construction Products, from materials to integral systems with a holistic life cycle approach. The approach includes aspects such as advances in experimental and numerical techniques, product development and technology transfer to the industry, durability and reliability, recycle, reuse, conservation and rehabilitation, condition assessment, and risk assessment. ISISE addresses the societal challenges of security, industry 4.0, blue economy, energy, cultural heritage, cities of the future and the effects of climate change, and provides solutions for those problems. A first goal is the further development of advanced core competences that support the activity of the four research groups: Functional Performance; Historical and Masonry Structures; Structural Composites; Steel and Mixed Construction Technologies. A second goal is the further development of the research groups within a stronger integration in clusters, stemming from the societal challenges identified: FIRE SAFETY, EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING and BLAST& IMPACT; IMS (innovative materials and systems), as MASONRY, TIMBER, STEEL, GEOTECHNICS, CONCRETE and COMPOSITE AND MIXED CONSTRUCTION; ACOUSTICS & ENERGY EFFICIENCY; LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS AND SYSTEMS; SEA INFRASTRUCTURES; WIND TOWERS. The support actions for the strategic plan include: Application for post-doctoral and doctoral grants / contracts, R&D projects, and applied research projects and consulting activities incorporating research and knowledge transfer with private companies; active involvement in MSc and PhD programmes, as well as continuing education; maintain high level dissemination initiatives, including webpage, newsletters, triennial reports, live streaming of experimental tests, organization of international events, participation in international technical and scientific committees, and publication at highest level. Regarding impact, ISISE graduates about 90 MSc and 15 PhD students per year in ample cooperation with industry, in R&D+I projects that are essential for a knowledge based society. ISISE is active in the construction sector, including contractors and companies related to timber and carpentry, building services, metals, architecture and engineering consulting, building materials, environment (energy, water, waste, ports, logistics, etc.) and transportation (roads, railways, mass transportation, etc.). 10.3 Summary in English for evaluation ISISE was created in 2007 involving the Civil Engineering Dep. from Univ. of Coimbra (UC) and Minho (UM). The objective was to achieve excellence in research and to create a leading cluster in Structural Engineering. The vision of ISISE is to increase the structural and functional performance of Civil Engineering Works and Construction Products, from materials to integral systems with a holistic life cycle approach. ISISE addresses the societal challenges of security, industry 4.0, blue economy, energy, cultural heritage, cities of the future and the effects of climate change, and provides solutions for those problems. A first goal is the further development of advanced core competences that support the activity of the four research groups: Functional Performance, Historical and Masonry Structures, Structural Composites, and Steel and Mixed Construction Technologies. These competences are related to: laboratory characterization of materials, structural components and structures; in situ testing and structural health monitoring; sophisticated numerical simulation tools. A second goal is the further development of the research groups within a stronger integration in clusters, stemming from the societal challenges identified: FIRE SAFETY, EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING and BLAST& IMPACT, with direct link to SECURITY, BLUE ECONOMY and EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, aiming at the structural response and efficient solutions that increase resilience and reduce risk. IMS (innovative materials and systems), as MASONRY, TIMBER, STEEL, GEOTECHNICS, CONCRETE and COMPOSITE AND MIXED CONSTRUCTION, provides high specialized vertical knowledge linked to the challenges of INDUSTRY 4.0 and DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION. ACOUSTICS & ENERGY EFFICIENCY, and LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS AND SYSTEMS focus on scientific-based holistic approaches to address the challenges of the CITIES OF THE FUTURE, CULTURAL HERITAGE and EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE. SEA INFRASTRUCTURES address the challenges of the BLUE ECONOMY and CLIMATE CHANGE, and focus on maritime engineering at multiple levels, including the bio-stock. WIND TOWERS is to address the challenges of ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE, with innovative next generation solutions for super-high towers. The support actions for the strategic plan include: I. Application for post-doctoral and doctoral grants, R&D projects, and applied research projects and consulting activities incorporating research and knowledge transfer with private companies. The objective is to hire 25 PhD students and 4 postdocs / year, to ensure financial support for experimental tests, and to maintain and acquire equipment & software. Targets are a ratio of 0.33 postdocs/faculty-member and 0.67 PhDs awarded/faculty-member/year. Programmatic funding for PhD students and PhD members with a contract is requested to address emerging topics of clusters in which higher critical mass is needed, also contributing to further integrate groups (joint responsibilities) and locations (mobility planned). Programmatic funding for equipment is also requested. The scope of the R&D activity of ISISE heavily depends on its experimental capabilities and brand new facilities require additional equipment. In addition, some of the existing equipment in the older labs is outdated and needs replacement. II. Active involvement in MSc and PhD programmes, as well as continuing education. The objective is to attract high quality researchers and to connect with the technical and scientific communities. Besides the current established programmes (2 MSc 5-year Courses in civil engineering, 3 advanced MSc Courses in steel and composite construction, sustainable construction and rehabilitation, and cultural heritage structures, in Portuguese and English, 2 PhD Programmes in civil engineering, and steel and composite structures), 2 new advanced MSc Courses are planned (energy and acoustic efficiency / building information modelling). Besides the past advanced training / continuing education activities (e.g.sustainable buildings, wind towers, asset management or BIM), to be maintained, new courses (earthen construction and e-learning in timber structures) are planned. III. Maintain high level dissemination initiatives, including webpage, newsletters, triennial reports, live streaming of experimental tests, organization of international events, participation in international technical and scientific committees, and publication at highest level. The objective is to ensure efficient dissemination and to promote external collaboration. As examples, a ratio of 3 ISI journal papers/faculty-member/year is to be maintained and leading international events are to be organized, namely 4 int. conferences planned for 2019 (e.g. IABSE conference) and 2 planned for 2020 (e.g. RILEM Spring Meeting), involving more than 1500 participants, and social media effective actions are to be maintained (namely Facebook, YouTube and ResearchGate). Regarding impact, ISISE graduates about 90 MSc and 15 PhD students per year in ample cooperation with industry, in R&D+I projects that are essential for a knowledge based society. ISISE is active in the construction sector, including contractors and companies related to timber and carpentry, building services, metals, architecture and engineering consulting, building materials, environment (energy, water, waste, ports, logistics, etc.) and transportation (roads, railways, mass transportation, etc.). The plan is to use the innovation ecosystem at the host institutions for the protection of intellectual property rights and valorisation of knowledge. ISISE benefits from this ecosystem and has 8 patents in the period 2013-17.

Institutions

Main Institutions

  • Instituto para a Sustentabilidade e Inovação em Estruturas de Engenharia (ISISE)
  • Universidade do Minho (UMinho)

Other Institutions

  • Universidade de Coimbra (UC)

Funding 1.264.900,00 €

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - Portugal

1.264.900,00 €