Skip to main content
Jerome Lynch
October 18, 2024
Jerome P. Lynch, Duke University
Elevating the Performance of the Built Environment through Cyberphysical Systems
Time 2:30 pm
Location CBB 104

The increasing number of sensing and information technologies being integrated into our built environment is a driving force of smart cities. Fundamentally, smart city solutions are part of the broader family of cyber-physical systems (CPS) that embed cloud-enabled sensors and actuators in physical systems with cloud-based data analytics used to enhance system performance. The introduction of CPS architectures into the infrastructure domain offers a historic opportunity for the civil engineering profession to serve as the technological leaders of smart cities.  This presentation gives a review of experiences in the design and deployment of CPS architectures into real-world operational infrastructure systems. First, a CPS framework for the asset management of bridges in a highway corridor will be introduced. Computer vision for traffic tracking is combined with bridge monitoring systems to quantitatively assess structural health and performance by linking measurement of traffic loads and bridge responses. Second, extensions of the CPS framework illustrated on bridges are explored to assess the use and benefits of social infrastructure in cities such as parks and public spaces. The talk concludes with an outlook for the future opportunities for the impact of CPS in other smart city applications.

Dr. Jerome Lynch is the Vinik Dean of Engineering and Fitzpatrick Family University Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Duke University. Prior to joining Duke in 2022, he was a tenured faculty member in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan including serving as the Department Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Lynch's research interests are in advancing cyber-physical system (CPS) architectures that combine sensing, computing, and controls to create intelligent infrastructure systems. He is best known for his research portfolio in structural health monitoring. He was the founding Director of the University of Michigan Urban Collaboratory, a cross-campus research institute that facilitates close collaboration with city stakeholders to prototype solutions to community challenges using information technologies and socially engaged design methods. Dr. Lynch’s impact has been recognized by several honors including the 2009 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, 2012 ASCE Leonardo da Vinci Award, and 2014 ASCE Huber Award.  He was also elected Fellow of the ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute in 2021.  Dr. Lynch completed his graduate studies at Stanford University where he received his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and M.S. in Electrical Engineering. Dr. Lynch also received his B.E. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Cooper Union.

About Elizabeth D. Rockwell

Elizabeth D. Rockwell

A fourth generation Houstonian, Mrs. Rockwell was an Executive Director, Private Client Division of CIBC Oppenheimer Corp. She was widely recognized as an expert in retirement, estate, investment, and tax planning. She was an early proponent of the Keogh and IRA plans, for which she has been nationally recognized.

In 1991, she qualified to be a member of the Million Dollar Round Table as well as the Texas Leaders Round Table. Since 1990 she had authored a monthly column for the Houston Chronicle.

Mrs. Rockwell served as President of the UH College of Business Administration Foundation Board, as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board, and was an Executive Professor for the college. She also served as a member of the advisory board of the Health Law and Policy Institute and as a Trustee of the University of Houston System’s Foundation, as well as a member of the UH System’s Planned Giving Council.

Mrs. Rockwell served on the Board of Governors for the Houston Forum, and as a Board member of the American Red Cross, the Greater Houston Women’s Foundation, the University of Houston Alumni Organization, and the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance. She was a member of the River Oaks Business Women’s Exchange Club, the National Tax Sheltered Annuity Association, the Texas Association of College Teachers, and the Houston Association of Life Underwriters.

Among her numerous honors, she has received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Houston, the Distinguished Alumna Award from the Houston Alumni Organization and from the UH College of Business Administration. Throughout the years she has been recognized for her many achievements by the Education Foundation of Harris County, the Houston Community College System’s Television Station Advisory Council, and the Houston Mayor’s READ Commission.

The Houston Alumni Center is home to the Elizabeth D. Rockwell President’s Suite. In September 1997, the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Career Services Center was opened in the UH College of Business Administration. She endowed the Chair for the Dean of the M.D. Anderson Library.

Mrs. Rockwell was listed in the Who’s Who in the South and Southwest; Who’s Who in finance and Industry; Who’s Who of American Women; and Who’s Who in the World.