Capabilities

SMART will utilise its substantive accumulated research expertise in a multi-disciplinary fashion to address the current and future challenges of infrastructure systems and their interdependencies.

Central to the new facility’s capabilities will be a Simulation Centre (SC) similar in concept to the USA’s National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Centre (NISAC) which models and simulates the complex interdependencies of US infrastructure.  The SC will house a range of data sets that can be combined or used in isolation for infrastructure modelling and analysis. These data sets will be mapped spatially and overlaid upon each other to provide a visual representation and quantifiable/statistical assessment for scenario analysis.

The SC will have the capability to model all of the potential engineering, materials, social and economic aspects being explored in the other laboratories within the facility which relate to the restoration, building or reconstruction of individual items of infrastructure, as well as the interconnectivity between infrastructures.  This will allow for virtual design, planning, creation, building, assembly, monitoring and control to teach and research maximum production efficiency, lower cost, improved quality and reduced time to market. 

Surrounding the SC will be a range of purpose-built teaching and research laboratories, each dedicated to particular aspects of infrastructure but all interacting with the SC by:

1. populating it with research-based data and new analytical processes to enhance simulation capabilities
2. using it as a tool for student and professional training
3. using its simulation capabilities for internal research projects
4. using its facilities to perform simulations and analyses for external clients and stakeholders.

The SMART Infrastructure Facility will also use complex systems science to evaluate the consequences of catastrophic events, such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks and oil price shocks etc, on infrastructure transport networks.

This will include the development of optimal alternative transport modes, analysis of limiting factors under different conditions and the importance of system redundancies. Transport network analysis also provides various types of performance measures, such as passenger and vehicle movements, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions.

This holistic approach will deliver deep levels of understanding, providing decision makers with a clear sense of the available trade-offs under a variety of “what-if” scenarios.

It is anticipated that this Facility will rapidly become a teaching and research magnet and a resource for collaborative partners both nationally and internationally.

Some relevant international organisations in this field are;

• Virginia Tech Bioinformatics Institute  
• Idaho National Labs   
• NISAC
• Department of Homeland Security Centres of Excellence
• Argonne National Labs
• Los Alamos National Laboratory