Prof. Ioannis BRILAKIS of the University of Cambridge delivered the 14th PAIR Distinguished Lecture, titled “Digital Twinning the Built Environment”, on 8 March 2024. The hybrid lecture attracted over 370 participants joining in person and online from more than 40 countries and regions across Australia, Asia, Europe and North America. It was also broadcast live on multiple social media platforms, captivating an online viewing audience of over 13,100.
In his presentation, Prof. Brilakis first gave a brief introduction to digital twins (DT), emphasising the central role of DT in digital transformation. Next, he elaborated on the application of DT in the construction industry and explained how DT is involved in the planning, design, construction, maintenance and operation processes. He introduced research conducted at the University of Cambridge on inexpensive methods for generating object-oriented infrastructure geometry, detecting and mapping visible defects on the digital representations, automatically extracting defect spatial measurements, and modelling sensors and sensor data. Prof. Brilakis also described how these resulting DT are further exploited in design for manufacturing and assembly (DfMA), mixed-reality-enabled mobile inspection, and proactive asset protection from accidental damage. To conclude, Prof. Brilakis underscored the importance of DT, smart materials, data science, and automation and robotics as digital assets for driving sustainability, and outlined the future development directions in these areas.
