Dr Jennifer Schooling, Director at the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC), and Dr Pieter Desnerck, Senior Technical Manager at the National Research Facility for Infrastructure Sensing (NRFIS), hosted a delegation visit from the Qatari Department for Infrastructure and Planning (Ministry of Municipality and Environment of the State of Qatar) to the University of Cambridge new Civil Engineering Building on 25 November.
Welcoming the visitors to the new facility, Dr Jennifer Schooling gave an introduction to the work of CSIC and NRFIS, acknowledging the valuable contribution the world-leading research and state-of-the-art facilities will make in driving the emerging digital era of civil engineering.
Nicola Pearson, Head of Change and Knowledge Transfer at the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB), provided a presentation on the work underway by CDBB in developing the National Digital Twin.
The visit concluded with a tour of the new NRFIS facilities, which showcased the 12 world-class, high-tech laboratories designed for a range of civil engineering disciplines including sensor development, structures, geomechanics and construction. These collaborative facilities are open and available to industry and all academic institutions and centres to support delivery of interconnected, integrated, and interdisciplinary research for UK infrastructure.