Alireza Entezami

From 20/06/2024 to 20/12/2024

Open Ideas

Continuous Monitoring and Detection of Road Damages via Smartphone Sensors and Artificial Intelligence techniques under Big Data

Concordia University

Dr. Alireza Entezami is an Assistant Professor at Politecnico di Milano and a European Horizon NGI Visiting Professor at MITACS, Canada. He holds two PhDs in civil engineering with cum Laude degree. His research focuses on Structural Health Monitoring (SHM), leveraging AI, machine learning, and satellite imagery to assess large-scale structures, particularly bridges. Dr. Entezami leads projects funded by the European Space Agency and European Commission, with over 48 journal papers, 2 monographs, and 7 book chapters. He has completed 410 peer reviews and actively mentors PhD and MSc students, significantly contributing to Structural Health Monitoring and damage detection.

The project aims to develop a novel AI-driven framework to continuously monitor and detect damages in bridges and roads using smartphone sensors, satellite images, and big data analytics. The core challenge is to create cost-effective and scalable solutions that can provide accurate and fast damage detection process, reducing maintenance costs and preventing catastrophic failures in transportation infrastructures.

• Preparation of four draft manuscripts based on hybrid AI models for mitigating latent variability in collected data from bridge structures; those are listed as follows:

1. Independent Hybrid Machine Learning for Mitigating Latent Variability in SAR-Extracted Bridge Displacements for Intelligent Transportation Systems
2. Investigation of smartphone MEMS accelerometers under simulated temperature and humidity changes for long-term SHM programs
3. An Unsupervised Graph Neural Network for Automatic Damage Warning in Intelligent Transportation Systems Using Limited Data from Satellite Remote Sensing
4. Damage Localization in a Damaged Masonry Bridge Using Small Displacement Data from Satellite Remote Sensing for Intelligent Transportation Systems.

• Publication of two papers in leading journals, Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing and Engineering Structures, as follows:

1. Removal of freezing effects from modal frequencies of civil structures for structural health monitoring, published in the Journal of Engineering Structures (Elsevier publications) with DOI: 1016/j.engstruct.2024.118722
2. Early warning of structural damage via manifold learning-aided data clustering and non-parametric probabilistic anomaly detection, published in the journal of Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing (Elsevier publications) with DOI: 1016/j.ymssp.2024.111984

• Submission of three abstracts to major international conferences: SEMC (Cape Town), SPIE (Vancouver), and EVACES (Porto) as follows:

1. The Ninth International Conference on Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Computation (SEMC 2025) will be held in Cape Town, South Africa.
2. SPIE Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation (SPIE 2025) will be held in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
3. 11th International Conference on Experimental Vibration Analysis of Civil Engineering Structures (EVACES 2025) will be held in Porto, Portugal.

During the past 3 months, which is at the midterm, and the following 3 months of the expedition, the project aims to achieve the following achievements in terms of impact:

• Development/advancement of innovative technologies:
  • Developed novel methods combining satellite images and smartphone-based systems with the aid of hybrid AI models and advance machine learning techniques for data analysis and practical SHM.
• Testing technologies:
  • The SAR-extracted bridge displacements and smartphone-based system has been successfully tested under various environmental conditions, demonstrating its applicability for real-world infrastructure monitoring.
• Strengthening research collaboration with the US/Canada:
• • The collaboration with Mitacs in Canada and Canadian researchers has helped enhance the cross-border exchange of knowledge and technologies, opening new avenues for smart infrastructure systems.
• Building solid connections and partnerships in Europe and in the US/Canada:
  • The project has established partnerships with academic institutions and research centers in Canada, ensuring the scalability of the developed solutions.
• Paper submission for further publication – indicate, only EU author(s), or jointly with the host organisation:
  • Two papers already published in the journals of Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing and Engineering Structures by EU author(s) and four manuscripts under preparation jointly with the EU and CA author(s).
• Conference attendance with paper/poster/proceedings:
  • The project has led to submission of three abstracts to major international conferences, promoting the dissemination of the research outcomes.
• Career advancement:
  • This fellowship has supported my position as a leading researcher in the field of SHM and AI-driven infrastructure monitoring systems.
• Sound Scientific Validation – in progress
• Testing technologies on the market in the Canada – in progress
• Strengthening innovation collaboration with Canada – in progress
• Start-up establishment – in progress
• Accelerated contacts/engagements with R&D partners for future collaborations – in progress