The data-centric engineering revolution
Professor Mark Girolami, Chief Scientist, The Alan Turing Institute, Sir Kirby Laing Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Cambridge and Academic Director, Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction, talks to Abigail Tomkins
IS it possible for something to revolutionise an industry (make that many industries) and a profession (make that many professions) that’s always been there? When that something becomes key to every plan and every action, the answer is yes – as is clear from the ‘data revolution’ that engineering, and all of its associated professions, is experiencing.
“Engineering has always been data-centric. If engineers can measure something, they will measure it,” Professor Mark Girolami explains. What is revolutionary is the speed, accuracy and volume of the data that is now available to do that.
A mechanical engineer by background, Mark Girolami spent 10 years in the computing industry before joining academia with spells at the universities of Glasgow, UCL and Imperial before joining Cambridge as the Sir Kirby Laing professor of civil engineering and academic director of the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC).
He combines these roles with that of chief scientist at the UK Government’s Alan Turing Institute. He was a founding executive director of the Turing when it opened in 2015, and led its data-centric engineering programme. When asked if this is the proudest moment of his career, he says “rather than being proud, I’m incredibly excited and optimistic for what I can contribute.”
And contribute he will. Civil engineering needs new ways of thinking. He’s the professor of civil engineering who isn’t a civil engineer. He describes himself as a statistician – a refreshingly familiar term for those still finding their feet in the whirlwind of Big Data. Mark Girolami spoke to Abigail Tomkins about the hows and whys of the data-centric approach.
How does a non-civil engineer end up in civil engineering?
It’s all about the data! I started off as a mechanical engineer and spent 10 years at IBM before leaving to do a PhD in statistical signal processing – that’s what got me interested in the whole area of data and got me working with all the engineering disciplines.
I wouldn’t say that I’m a civil engineer, I work with civil engineers. I also work with aeronautical engineers, chemical engineers, marine engineers, agricultural engineers, process engineers... My focus is as a statistician. I look at how the measurement of physical things – and socio-technical objects such as cities – can improve our ability to design, operate and control them.
What is data-centric engineering?
Data-centric engineering isn’t new. The whole history of engineering has been based on designing experiments, taking observations, gathering measurements, collating data and then extracting empirical physical laws from them to be subsequently used for design purposes. But we are now in an age where our ability to gather and manage data has grown beyond what we could have imagined. The term ‘data-centric engineering’ brings another focus to that.
Certain engineering professions are being completely transformed because of our ability to make measurements and gather data in resolutions and volumes to accuracies that we’ve never had before. Consequently, there’s an urgent need for the engineering professions to gain a much more sophisticated level of the use and exploitation of data – both professionally and in terms of how we deliver education in the engineering sciences.
Where does civil engineering sit on the scale of transformability?
I’ve worked across all engineering disciplines and seen how data has impacted them to greater or lesser degrees. Aerospace engineering has been data-centric almost from the word go. Back in the early 1960s, Rolls Royce started its ‘power-by-the-hour’ business model – it wasn’t going to sell you a gas turbine, it was going to sell you power and make sure that you have that power when you need it, where you need it. That business model was only available because of the ability to get data about the performance of turbines on a minute-by-minute basis.
Civil engineering and all its related fields – structural, geotechnical and surveying – is in the vanguard of experiencing the biggest impact and is one of the most exciting areas as far as the data-centric engineering revolution is concerned. Many people say, ‘oh, civil engineering is so far behind’. Well, that makes it all the more exciting, because there’s so much more ground to cover and so much more possibility.
Are we already seeing an impact in civil engineering?
We’re seeing new businesses emerging in terms of monitoring structures, providing early warning systems and tailoring maintenance schedules. Around a decade ago CSIC started putting networks of sensors on viaducts, bridges and tunnels and that insight is now starting to be felt.
We’re seeing large-scale operators of assets, such as Network Rail, deploying sensors on structural assets to create a digital representation of how they are operating and interacting with each other. We’re seeing sensors on whole networks of structures across whole systems to see the digital fingerprints of cities and measure their heartbeats. This is not science fiction. It’s not even laboratory-based, ivory tower research, this is happening. We’re a long way from business as usual, but this is where things are heading.
Is data the tool that will counter climate change?
We are facing an existential crisis. There is a climate clock ticking and that is really putting a focus on changing behaviours. There’s no doubt that the accelerating changes and dangers that we’re facing because of climate change are the drivers to having datainformed, minute-by-minute analysis and action on our critical infrastructure.
There are legal, contractual and social issues alongside the technical to be considered, but once the safety of humans and the opportunity of business collide, it’s amazing how regulation will get in place to deliver that promise.
Is civil engineering guilty of not acting fast enough?
Before civil engineers start beating themselves up, remember that every sector has cultures. These cultures are developed around the regulations and constraints that people have had to operate within. The important thing is that change happens and sometimes that change gets accelerated.
It’s absolutely clear that in terms of the climate crisis and the timelines we’re hopefully going to be working to that there will be an acceleration. Most of the technologies are available. Pooling those technologies together still needs a lot of fundamental research.
How do you manage the ethical parameters at such an accelerating pace?
Ethical considerations have to match lockstep with the technical. We cannot consider them separately and we certainly cannot consider them as an afterthought or a box that needs to be ticked before we deploy.
That thinking is relatively new. As engineers, we tend to focus on the technical, but the reality is that data gives so much away and the issues are very complex. We need to have these ethical considerations right at the very start.
Once the safety of humans and the opportunity of business collide, it’s amazing how regulation will get in place to deliver that promise.CSIC and the Alan Turing Institute worked with MX3D to design sensor networks for the new pedestrian bridge in Amsterdam. It is the world’s first 3D printed steel operating piece of infrastructure to be used in a civic environment, transporting pedestrians from one side of a canal to another. For us, this could be a living laboratory and an opportunity to look at how the structural properties and materials change over time. It could also be an opportunity to look at how people interact with a structure like this. But then, maybe people don’t want videos of themselves being taken while they cross a bridge. And who would own the data about the people using the bridge? Legal and ethical issues have to be taken into account at the very same stage as technical issues.
Karen Hanghøj, director of British Geological Survey, spoke to CES about her crisis of faith around research. Have you ever wondered if what you do academically has any impact?
I’ve never had that existential crisis, but that’s because it was knocked out of me during my ten years as a professional engineer. I’m not a thoroughbred academic.
My time as a professional engineer calibrated my expectations as to what scientists can actually achieve. Changing the world needs a lot of people and it needs a lot of things to happen. But putting knowledge into the cupboard – no matter how small or insignificant you think it is – is all adding to the corporate body of knowledge. Who knows how useful that will be at some point in the future.
Sir Patrick Vallance commented on your appointment as chief scientist of the Turing Institute. A few years ago, I wouldn’t have a clue who Sir Patrick Vallance was. Do engineers need a crisis to become visible to the public?
Most people had no idea who Chris Whitty or Patrick Vallance were three years ago. Now they’re the rock stars that come into our houses on a daily basis. My mother and father are not scientists or engineers, yet they could hold a conversation with epidemiologists and statisticians now, and it’s taken a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic for that to happen.
We’ve always had enthusiastic, bubbly science communicators, like Brian Cox and Sir David Attenborough, but I can’t think of any great communicators of engineering. We are still missing that charismatic, good, communicator.
Sir Patrick spoke about your appointment coming at a pivotal time for the UK in terms of AI, what did he mean?
If you look at some of the huge agendas that the government is having to deal with – climate change and recovery from the pandemic – these are going to rely upon science and technology. Any pivot for science and technology is going to have a societal and economic impact as well. This really is a critical turning point for us all.
Have you got any advice for people starting out in their career?
Do something that you love. Do something where you don’t watch the clock ticking by. Do something that gets you out of bed in the morning and keeps you out of bed at night. If that’s engineering, great, if it’s cooking, great, just make sure that you really enjoy it.
Professor Mark Girolami, Chief Scientist, The Alan Turing Institute, Sir Kirby Laing Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Cambridge and Academic Director, Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction, was talking to Abigail Tomkins
www.turing.ac.uk @turinginst www-smartinfrastructure.eng.cam.ac.uk @CSIC_IKC