Welcome !
Welcome to the Smart Management of Infrastructure Laboratory (SMILab) at the University of New Mexico (UNM)! Our research group aims to develop the use of next-generation smart sensing technologies and strategies towards safer, cost-effective, resilient and sustainable structures. We are interested in monitoring and assessing structures subjected to dynamic loading and hazards, unusual stress levels, and extreme loading events. Our research topics involve wireless smart sensing, structural health monitoring, cost-effective prioritization of assets, augmented reality, structural modeling and validation, existing structure field monitoring and assessment, and laboratory testing and validation of structural systems under dynamic loading.
News summary and video about Brutus here
Another nice video about our FRA Project here
And you can read here a summary on Human-Infrastructure Interfaces here
Check our latest news on our TRB NAS Rail SAFETY IDEA Project here
NEWS
Summer 2024 Updates
July 22nd: SMILab hosts Dr. Napolitano and Dr. Rainhart from Penn State for a Workshop on Data Science and Engineering
Great discussions on machine learning, data science, engineering, combining students and faculty presentations. We were so glad to have our young faculty in CCEE Dr. Lisa Losada and Dr. Carlos Rivera, and we all enjoyed a tour to our lab to see the great work of the students
July 17th: SMILab outreach, UG work and sensor development
We hosted the Transportation Summer Institute for 8th year in a row, teaching students to design and build sensors. Get ready for our new LEWIS6 generation of sensors!
July 12th: SMILab deploys LEWIS at Tinkertown
Dr. Chong is working hard for sensor deployment at the East Mountains to learn more on wildfire prevention and flooding with LEWIS6, we don’t use a hotspot which is a great contribution from Hayden Lammons! We hope to increase sensor deployments to assist our communities in New Mexico. Stay tuned!
July 12-13th: SMILab presents at ANCRISST, APESS, Universities at Japan
Prof. Suarez and Prof. Moreu presented at ANCRISST research, chaired sessions, and also participated in 2024 APESS giving one lecture on smart structures. Prof. Moreu presented research at the University of Kyoto, the Kyoto Institute of Technology hosted by Prof. Daisuke Iba, and the University of Tokyo hosted by Prof. Tomonori Nagayama. Looking forward to more collaborations from top institutions in similar areas of interest.
June 25th-27th: SMILab Tracks to the Future with ESSS
Great opportunity to attract the future college students from the interested high school students across the country. We hosted six talented students and they decided they want to come to join UNM for engineering, Hope this becomes true in a couple years and you work for SMILab in the future of engineering! Great job Mahsa, Ali, Guillermo, Isaac, Kaveh, Wyatt, Fabiola, Christian Jahsyel, leading the future!
June 18-20th: SMILab represents UNM at AREMA REES Symposium at Salt Lake City, Utah
Mahsa Sanei and Dr. Moreu joined Dr. Roya Nasimi (from CSU East Bay) and discussed the future of research and education in the railroad. Great ideas for the future and a good opportunity to share our research and learns from other programs in the nation.
June 12-13th: SMILab hosts FRA 2nd year Railroader of the Mid-Century Workshop
We hosted the FRA and collaborators discussing inclusive taskforce with new technologies, read more on the following links
June 6th: SMILab welcomes New Summer Interns: Fabiola Reyes, Christian Ortiz, Jahsyel Rojas, Guillermo Toledo, and Isaac May
Very busy summer with new talent: Guillermo Toledo is leading the entire experimental and data processing development of rotarory objects; Christian Rojas rejoins after working with us last summer in the LEWIS project, this year he will be advancing laser monitoring for SHM applications; Fabiola Reyes is programming the control of moving shakers with hybrid monitorins for disaster recovery; Jahsyel Rojas is programming neuromorphic data from propelers; and Isaac May is designing and manufacturing the new LEWIS 6 for wildfires and flooding monitoring events. Great team!
May 28th- 31st: SMILab attends ASCE EMI 2024
We hosted several events, including the first young EMI member social with over 100 young engineers at Chicago. We chaired sessions, and attended Structural Health Monitoring and Control Committee, Education Committee, and caught up with international leaders including Professor Youfeng Du from Langzhou Technical University of Gansu Province, China. Great presentations team!
Spring 2024 Updates
May 15th: SMILab Summer Cookout at TInkertown and East Mountains
Great time exploring sensor deployments at Tinkertown museum and the East Mountains, and learning more from each other to kick off the summer. Prof. Suarez and Dr. Baca and other undergraduate friends joined a great time together to start the summer!
May 14th: Dr. Jiwi Chong joins SMILab as Visiting Scholar for the next 6 months
Dr. Chong recently completed his PhD in Yonsei University in South Korea (2023) (Industrial systems) and will be advancing reinforced learning, AI and computer vision, and human-disasters interfaces. We are very glad to work on papers, research in multidisciplinary areas with Dr. Chong!
May 9th: Ali passes Comprehensive Exam at CCEE PhD program
Ali Khorasani defended and passed the CCEE PhD Comprehensive Exam, great job Ali!
May 8th: SMILab kicks off the summer at Frontier
First picture is at Hodgin Hall, the first UNM building, between CARC and Frontier.
The second picture is having a tasty lunch with some SMILab members.
May 3rd: CE202 Final Class: build your own bridge in equilibrium
We completed a great semester with top students in engineering statics understanding the load path on trusses with the fabrication of in the class of a couple trusses. Thank you TA Mahsa Sanei for a great semester and your help and guidance to undergraduate students. These students are now ready to apply their equations to real structures and systems.
May 2nd: CE521 Final Presentation with Industry, National Labs, and Alumni
Our graduate students work so hard in their final project that we invited Sandia National Laboratories, QPEC and Stantec to see how good they are. We also created a graduate student mentoring lab where each student received career’s perspective on what is to work for the government, private industry, or be an entrepreneur with structural dynamics and structural engineering, which was very beneficial for these talented students. Thank you Albuquerque young leaders in engineering for coming to our class and mentoring our students.
April 18th: Dr Julia Plews from Sandia National Laboratories presents at CCEE Graduate Seminar
We are very fortunate to have strong young leaders in town like Dr. Plews! We enjoyed her presentation at our departments’ graduate seminar, thank you Dr. Pinzon for hosting, and it was great to see Dr. Tom Paez with us in the audience!
April 15th and 17th: CE521 Final Exam at our Beloved Arroyo del Oso Pedestrian Bridge
Hard work from the students under extreme events (30-40 mph wind on the first day and relatively warm on the 2nd day). The students in the class collect eight responses under ambient vibration, forced vibration (Guillermo’s intense, intentional jogging/workout) and impact testing (the Dr. Moreu bomb 
). The students worked very hard in the field and learned about field testing, bridge dynamics, and working as a strong team. Thank you Hayden, Guillermo and Professor Suarez for your help in the final exam for dynamics. Wonderful, beautiful day outside for a final examJ outside. Let’s try to do more like this.
April 10-12: Dr. Moreu serves as the UNM ASCE mentor at San Angelo, Texas
Great opportunity to see the great work of the students in our department and represent a great delegation in the Regional Competition on build strong! Impressive timber structure competition! We also interacted with the leadership of ASCE and San Angelo University, who gave our students a tour to their laboratory. It is a great experience for the students to travel and get inspired to grow and contribute to UNM in new directions and impact.
April 8th: Pizza and research with Doug Campbell at SMILab
SMILab researchers organized a pizza meeting to present Doug Campbell their research and also to listen to his input and career and learn from him! Thank you for visiting our laboratory and looking forward to sharing ideas and collaborations with such an example for all of us!
April 1st: Dr. Debbie Fowler from Sandia National Laboratories lectures at UNM CE521
Dr. Fowler introduced system ID to our graduate students and we enjoyed a very pedagogical presentation of modal properties, coherence, and signal processing. We hope to have Dr. Fowler contributions frequently!
March 30th: Professor Javier Suarez visits SMILab for six months as Visiting Scholar
Javier Suarez is faculty in the University of Granada Spain and is interested in the continuum mechanics and historic preservation of structures. We are very glad for his strong participation in research, education and service with SMILab! Welcome Prof. Suarez!
March 28th: Recruiting weekend at UNM Graduate School
We had visitors from University of Central Florida and Purdue University for two days, we discussed with them our research projects and showed them the great opportunities for multidisciplinary research. If you are interested to apply to SMILab, please contact fmoreu@unm.edu
March 27th: Neuromorphic Modal Analysis and Outdoor Sensing Laboratory
We are advancing the use of advanced sensing with new technologies and stay tuned for more work from Gabriella Gallegos and the team, exciting collaboration with the Mechanical Engineering Department (Dr. Tariq) and Sandia National Laboratory.
March 22nd: Undergraduate research group meeting
SMILab is supporting research for undergraduate students to increase their exposure to new ideas, innovation, and hands on application of their ideas in new projects. We are also interested to see your skills if you are interested to do research with us in any of our projects. Contact us at fmoreu@unm.edu
Elias Mosco, UG in UNM, is back! So glad to have you in the team! We are looking forward to adding you to our New Mexico fire and flooding AR/LEWIS interface project to assist communities to advance their cyber-physical preparation for disasters. Welcome back to SMILab Elias!
March 21st: Hayden Lammons joins SMILab
We are increasing our impact in natural hazards remediation with smart, community-centered technologies that bring equitable, accessible, and real-time solutions to our communities. Hayden is leading the LEWIS fire hazard prevention and response efforts from SMILab with the design of LEWIS6. Welcome to the team Hayden!
March 20th: Structural Dynamics CE521 goes to the Tramway with LEWIS for their semester project
Teaching LEWIS in CE521 Structural Dynamics. With LEWIS at the field. Mike Donovan explains the updated operations at the Tramway at the Sandia Peak Sky Museum. Highest SHM structural dynamics class in the country, and possibly the world J at 10,300 feet
March 9th: Measuring Damage Outdoors while Flying (MDOF) Laboratory
We completed the acquisition of our Office of Naval Research DURIP award and are looking forward to Measuring Damage Outdoors while Flying (MDOF), stay tuned for many exciting updates coming your way!
February 7th: Building your own LEWIS at Structural Dynamics
Teaching LEWIS in CE521 Structural Dynamics. We had Ronan Reza (first year student at Civil engineering) assist and Guille Toledo (exchange student) join our LEWIS leadership for the future of engineering. The Midterm of this class is using their own LEWIS around campus and conducting their structural assessment report with their own data. Most applied SHM structural dynamics class in the country, and possibly the world.
February 2nd: Mobile Underwater Robot for Inspections of Limited and Local Objects (MURILLO)
Gavin and Ronan are testing how to advance MURILLO to new depths. Stay tuned for underwater news.
January 7th: TRB Presentations
Both Marielly Rodriguez Gauthier and Christian Torres Ortiz presented their research at Washington DC at the TRB Annual Conference. Marielly and Christian are recipients of the 2024 TRB Minority Fellowship, way to go! We met with Dr. Yuan, Sandeep, Dr. Nasimi, and Tim and other SMILab alumni!
Fall 2023 Updates
December th 19: Holiday Break SMILab party
Great food and camaraderie! Met with Stantec’s engineer Dr. Yuan, Dr. Baca, and SMILab seniors at Tasty Pot. Great work everyone during 2023!
December 18th: LEWIS Updates for 2024
SMILab is ramping up Low-Cost Efficient Wireless Intelligent Sensors (LEWIS) for all, stay tuned!
December 13th: Odey Yousef Commencement Speaker
Odey was the graduate student speaker this Fall! Well deserved Odey! Lots of people listening to the talk including SMILab in the audience.
December 4th: Laboratory Updates
SMILab's VERE table for computer vision and vibrations is getting ready at the lab!
December 1st: CE424/524 makes it to Modern Steel Construction
Students registered in Civil Engineering 424/524 at the University of New Mexico can be recognized as the civil engineering students learning steel at the highest elevation in the country, and possibly in the world. On October 4th, their homework was to collect structural sections detailing from the Tramway structure by taking the Tramway and learning on steel detailing from the maintenance director and team at the foothills of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The class has been using the Tramway for the last five years and students are challenged to see steel sections and properties using the 16th edition of the American Institute of Steel Construction Manual in the field. You can read more in this link
December 1st: Kaveh passes Comprehensive Exam at ME PhD program
Kaveh Malek’s defended and passed the ME PhD Comprehensive Exam, great job Kaveh!
December 1st: Modern Steel Construction
CE424/524 steel design students presented their final bridge design to seven representatives from New Mexico structural engineering firms and engineering leaders, including DPS, BHI, QPec, LANL, and Hensley Engineering. Industry was very impressed of what they accomplished in one semester at UNM steel design! Some of them found their career perfect job in our classroom. Thank you industry leaders and innovators to support our students
November 28th: Augmented Reality with Zuni Talent
Zuni Pueblo talent visiting us to discuss AR for their state competition, and they won! Great minds changing the future! Ali presents to them AR and we try them in our human-structure interface laboratory.
Here is the link of their competition later in January 2024: AR to combat anxiety at the cafeteria lunch, great idea Zuni!
https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/new-mexico-high-schoolers-present-projects-at-annual-stem-challenge/
November 22nd: Thanksgiving lunch with SMILab at Two Fools Tavern, thank you Wyatt for ordering Irish dishes for all of us!
November 20th: CE424/524 visited Meow Wolf’s leaders and learned about the steel design and construction of this gem in New Mexico! We thank you Isabel Morris for making the time to meeting with us and the Museum is a must see! We of course brought our AISC Steel Manual to the museum.
November 2023
Call for papers for ASCE EMI Conference May 2024, please submit your paper to our mini symposium by December 31st 2023 using this link: https://submissions.emi-pmc2024.org/submit-abstract
Select: “210 Assessing human-infrastructure interactions and their performance”
Looking forward to more advanced research work to be presented in ASCE EMI 2024 at Chicago this year!
October 2023
SMILab hit the road to learn from the NM Science Teachers Association. Dr. Moreu, Janak, Sofia, Morgan and Ronan learn about teaching science with over 30 teachers at Farmington, attended seminars, and conducted a LEWIS class with the best science teachers in the state, which coincided with top dancing skills which were measured with LEWIS. Great day and looking forward to partnering with our educator colleagues in the near future. Thank you Federal Railway Administration for the support of middle school outreach making railroads a career of choice!
October 2023
SMILab hit the road to present NSF Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR) at the NSF HDR Ecosystem Conference. Dr. Moreu presented the great work from SMILab transforming education with teaching the teachers, Augmented Reality, Data learning, and transforming civil engineering education with LEWIS and human-machine-data-environment interfaces!
September 2023
Fall SMILab party
Great food and camaraderie! Great ribs by Ali, dumplings by Dipa, delicious foods from everyone. Welcome to our NTU visitors Ten-Ting and Porcia, new faculty Dr. Madura Patirage and good to see everyone and we even scared away the rain. Looking forward to a great year ahead!
September 2023
Engineering Open House 2023. Great success of SMILab demos coordinated by SMILab senior member Ali Khorasani. Great job SMILab serving SOE and UNM, and attracting high school students and the NM community to study at UNM!
September 2023
Steel design is going strong this semester once again! Sandia Peak visit on a real steel shop, discussions on our UNM signature bridge over University and Central, discussion with ASCE professional members , and many more introductions to a career as structural engineers
September 2023
Better late than never, Eric Robbins’ paper receives the best paper award for Spring 2023, great job!
September 2023
Pizzanar of new members Gavin De Berry, Elias Mosco, and Wyatt Saeger, and new Steel Design students also attended to learn more on what SMILab is up to!
September 2023
Yen-Ting Liu visited SMILab to advance human-structure interfaces research for one week. They collected new data in our new laboratory and are currently writing a new publication using AR, human position and distance, and cracks. Come back visit us again soon Yen-Ting!
September 2023
SMILab wins SHM in Action at IWSHM 2023! Great job from Ali Khorasani and Sandeep Alampalli and well deserved award to the hard work on innovative research. We are looking forward to advancing new frontiers in research and we will be sharing new projects and collaborations with all of you soon! Stay tuned!
September 2023
Frontier research lunch with new ideas for the school year!
Summer 2023 Updates
August 2023
New human-infrastructure interface laboratory at SMILab! Great job Ali and Kaveh working with Vicon, thank you George and the team for setting this up. We are very grateful to the ONR support on Measuring Damage outdoor Flying (MDOF) and the DURIP support, and we are looking forward to advancing human-in-the-loop theories and models with new ideas, stay tuned!
More outcomes of SMILab this summer: both Marielly Rodriguez Gauthier and Christian Torres Ortiz, got their paper accepted at TRBAM 2024! Exciting news and looking forward to their presentation. Marielly and Christian are recipients of the 2024 TRB Minority Fellowship, way to go!
July 20:
Inspiring High School students from across US in new technologies
SMILab teamed up one more time with the Engineering Student Success Center (link here) to host eight students from across the country to introduce them to new technologies that will transform the future of engineering and railroad engineering. This is a nationwide collaboration with Michigan State University, and other five Universities to work with High School Students and introduce them to railroad engineering. We are very glad to work with such a talented group of leaders in education and engineering to impact the future engineering leaders! The picture is introducing students to the new human-machine-structures interfaces laboratory we are building at the Center for Advanced Research and Computing with the support of the Office of Naval Research. Stay tuned for our new laboratory capabilities!
June 7-9:
Great job PhD students representing SMILab in the Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI) Annual Conference. Mahsa, Ali, and Kaveh present SMILab research projects at ASCE EMI. Ali and Mahsa are both serving EMI as chairs of two different committee sessions (Wednesday and Friday, respectively.)
Ali is chairing mini symposium (Wednesday June 7th) “CIVIC Transportation and Resilient Solutions Towards Smart and Connected Communities”
Ali is presenting the paper (Wednesday June 7th) “Human-disaster interfaces enabled by Low-cost Efficient Wireless Intelligent Sensors (LEWIS)”
Mahsa is chairing mini symposium (Friday June 9th) “Assessing Human-Infrastructure Interactions and their Performance.”
Mahsa is presenting the paper (Friday June 9th) “Enhanced Human Interfaces for Rebar Inspection using RGBD-equipped UAV – Field Application”
Kaveh is presenting the paper (Friday June 9th) “Enhancing the Blind-with-Buildings Interaction Using a Digital Controller with Augmented Auditory Feedback”
Great job team and looking forward to more advanced research work to be presented in ASCE EMI 2024 - stay tuned!
June 2023
Eric Robbins, Odey, Mahsa, and the team are working closely to create the new advanced indoor dynamics laboratory where we will test new theories, experiments and sensing with new approaches to sensing, control, and human-in-the-loop. We have new optical tables, shakers, Vicon cameras, and will advance our brand-new research with a brand-new laboratory. Stay tuned!
Summer 2023
New members at SMILab this summer: Marielly Rodriguez Gauthier (senior in mechanical engineer, summer researcher from the University of Puerto Rico) is a robot expert and will continue working with the robot she invited last summer and improve our wireless energy-independent server for sensor networks, welcome back Marielly!; Christian Torres Ortiz, (sophomore Electrical Engineer, summer researcher from the University of Puerto Rico) is a hardware expert and will work on energy efficient sensing in remote wireless sensor networks; William Bridges (junior Physics/ Nuclear Engineer, new student at UNM) is interested in sensing technology, advanced dynamics testing, and laboratory experiments and will assist the new advanced dynamics research and damage detection projects at the laboratory; Ronan Reza (UNM freshman in Civil Engineering) is back as a college students! Ronan worked as a high school student last summer, and will start contributing to Augmented Reality experiments, welcome to college and research Ronan!
Morgan Merrill (sophomore in Civil Engineering), Daniel Gavin (senior in Mathematics and Education), Dalton DeBerry (senior in Computer Science), and Eric Olaguir (senior in Mechanical Engineering), advance their respective projects/papers with full dedication without classes (or few classes), looking forward to great work this summer!
And more news: Elias Mosco (freshman in Computer Science at UNM) has been working with us since February in Augmented Reality and Databases and will advance his own research phase II impressing our PhD team; and Wyatt Seager (entry MS graduate student in structural engineering at UNM) will start working in the Fall 2023 in advanced structural dynamics, shake tables, and actuators in our existing and new advanced dynamics laboratory. Wyatt has a BS in mechanical engineering from UNM and has been working one year at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Welcome to SMILab Wyatt and looking forward to a lot research on earthquakes, vibrations, structures and controls!
May 2023
Odey is advancing MIMO control with a new active damper from Quanser, see the video below and stay tuned for more! Odey is leading MIMO research with Sandia National Labs and advancing both uncertainty quantification, experimental dynamics, and new sensing/control approaches of dynamics.
Spring 2023 Updates
March 10th: Eye-Brutus (I-Brutus) testing with Gavin, Morgan, and Mahsa literally at the center of the Universe
March 9th: Eric Robbins defended and passed the PhD comprehensive exam, great work preparing and best of luck for the rest of the exciting journey!
March 9th: Mahsa is the guest lecturer for CE160 and is presenting structural engineering to the audience for one entire hour, great job teaching Mahsa!
February 28th: Bridges and trusses competition in ABQ with the bridge engineers of the future
February 26: Dewesoft visits UNM as we are building up the UNM LoboDrome with the Office of Naval Research DURIP project. We are eager to flyJ Great job Odey representing SMILab for Dewesoft
February 24th: Shakers used by SMILab, more to come!
MTS Shake Table
| Modal Shop K2007E01 | Modal Shop 2075E | APS 113 ELECTRO-SEIS | Quanser Shake Table II | MTS Shake Table | |
| Table dimensions | -- | -- | 10 in x 10 in | 24 in x 18 in | 36 in x 48 in |
| Max frequency | 9000 Hz | 6500 Hz | 200 Hz | 10 Hz | 100 Hz |
| Max acceleration | 70 g | 75 g | 6 g | 2.5 g | |
| Max force | 7 lbf | 75 lbf | 30 lbf | -- | -- |
| Stroke length | 0.5 in | 1 in | 6.25 in | 5.9 in | 3.15 in |
February 22th: Morgan and Dalton doing progress with DOE (Florida International University & LANL) Time Machine AR project and ONR LIDAR AR underwater - stay tuned
February 17th: The Smart Management of Infrastructure Laboratory (SMILab) (website) are collaborating with National Taiwan University researchers in Spring and Summer 2023. I am a Fulbright Hays Faculty Research Abroad (FRA) Fellow (link video youtube) And we are already having meetings with Prof. Chang’s group to grow collaborations and understanding together. Ali, Mahsa, Kaveh and Lauren arranged a surprise dinner and from their own leadership invited our colleagues and friends from High Water Mark LLC, UNM Hospital, Sandia National Laboratory, NMDOT, and UNM CCEE. My students surprised me further with nice ties that are with me during Fulbright. Many thanks team! looking forward to a great Fulbright Hays FRA experience at NTU!
February 16th: Odey and Eric presented their work at IMAC on MIMO, nonlinear stabilization, and neuromorphic sensing. Great job with five papers from SMILab this year
February 13th: One more LEWIS hot-spot Marielly-robot ready for deployment with NSF CIVIC, great job Ali and Kaveh and team: Daniel, Gavin, Morgan, Dalton and Tim… keep up the post-wildfire flooding sensing and preparation with High Water Mark LLC, NSF, and Ohkay Owingeh
February 10th: We were honored to host a tour to Amy Lucero, UNM alumni and FHWA Associate Administrator for Innovation and Workforce Solutions. Great job Eric, Ali, Odey, Kaveh, and Mahsa showing top research on safety, engineering, and human-factors!
February 1st: Elias is doing great progress with AR with Mahsa as his client. Try to impress Mahsa Elias!
January 25th: we are learning a lot from our partners at High Water Mark LLC, guided by Phoebe Suina, and protection of communities for post-wildfire flooding. Lauren from Ohkay Owingeh will lead the future of teaching smart sensing approaches against fires and flooding.
We had a new workshop to develop value in our Lewis Sensor Networks and stay tuned for future news! Great job Lauren, Tim, Ali, Dalton, and Daniel!
January 20th: the future is bright! Great day at our elementary school partners, with the FRA project in Smart Railroads. 54- 8 year old geniuses fabricated 18 LEWIS1 in 15 minutes, then we took the Railrunner with Robert Gonzales. They met John Pott from Sandia National Labs and Lee Hostler from BNSF. Our colleagues Dr. Noh (Stanford) and Dr. Jung (FAMU-FSU) are now bringing this program to the West and East Coasts. Thank you Monique Stewart, our program manager, for her leadership. Monique traveled from Washington DC to talk to the future railroaders about the importance of diversity in the workforce, and we are looking forward to do our fare share nationwide!
January 7th-11th: Ali, Eric, Tim and Dr. Moreu attended TRB, with six different presentations from SMILab in lectner sessions, committees, and posters. We were glad to meet colleagues from New Mexico, FRA, Tom Meyer UNM alumni, and we also share our research with international colleagues and leaders. Tim and Eric won best poster competition and we are proud of their great work!
Fall 2022 Updates
December 2nd: Mahsa, Ali and Kaveh working hard with augmented wireless sensor network interfaces
November 28: SMILab hosts UNM Workshop on Smart Structures & Structural Health Monitoring for visitors from Sunkyunkwan University's Smart Construction Laboratory https://simsunghan.weebly.com/
November 27th: Arne is helping us out checking our Wireless Sensor Network deployment at the West, high tides monitoring!
November 22: Thanksgiving dinner
October 19: Odey and Dr. Moreu happy to receive a new shaker from APS and is moving it to CARC for staring our new smart dynamics laboratory.
October 7th : Dr. Baca and Dr. Moreu are starting a collaboration with the University of Granada and the program on engineering and medicine spearheaded by Dr. Rus. They gave two seminars and exchanged ideas with the Ultrasonics Lab of the University of Granada https://www.ugr.es/~grus/research.htm stay tuned for future collaborations
October 1: UNM Engineering Open House
September 28th Ali and Jack with another deployment at Ohkay Owingeh for post-wildfire flooding protection with LEWIS Networks
Summer 2022 Updates
July 6th: QPEC, NTU, Dr. Yuan, and Celine (CE 424/524 Fall 2020!)
July 6th we show our LEWIS sensors to our Dean, he is happy with our work!
June 30th : Promotion, welcome, midsummer Dinner with our visitors from National Taiwan University
June 29th : group meeting at Media Lab
June 28th : Great structural dynamics laboratory clean up-day at SMILab
June 23rd : Nonlinear Dynamic and Mechanics Summer School with Sandia National Laboratories, great job SMILab teaching LEWIS to the summer school of Sandia! Great feedback from the PhD students about LEWIS!
June 22nd : The team is testing another sensor network in campus before field deployments
June 10th : FRA Railrunner sensor class in the train! Great job team reaching out to the youth
https://www-krqe-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico/unm-uses-rail-runner-to-teach-students-about-stem/amp/
June 6-8, 8th : World Congress in Control and Structural Health Monitoring at University of Central Florida, great presentations everyone!
June 1-3 ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference at John Hopkins University, great presentations!
May 27th Memorial day party at Bachechi open space with SMILab
May 23rd getting ready for another Ohkay Owingeh Deployment
Dr. Moreu receives the 2022 outstanding junior award from the School of Engineering, handed by Dr. Taha and Dr. Christodoulou. This is the result of the research done by SMILab.
CE598 testing LEWIS for Modal Analysis of our favorite bridge in town, courtesy of Albuquerque Parks and Recreation leaders who provided permission for our final exam in their bridge!
April 28th CE598 uses our large shake table to study transfer functions at the lab.
April 23rd Edmun, Alicianna, and Lauren conduct outreach for the NSF CIVIC project in Farmington High School, great job attracting the youth to science and wildfire preparation with LEWIS!
April 14th CE598 class Tramway frequency homework all students test their LEWIS in the Tram
April 9th: Jefferson middle school outreach with the FRA
April 7th Congratulations Mahsa for passing your qualifying exam!! Best wishes for the next steps in your PhD
April 4th: congratulations Ali for passing your qualifying exam!! Best wishes for the next steps in your PhD
March 24th: field trip with our sensors being charged by the sun from the South as we drive North
March 15th Visit to Alcatraz Island to test LEWIS sensor deployments, stay tuned
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March 10th Dr. Mascarenas explores what is really inside AR
March 1st, 1st midterm in advanced dynamics using LEWIS to measure the frequencies of UNM campus in the outdoors
SMILab Conference at Pecos, near Santa Fe
February 18th Sensor deployment at Halfmoon bay to test NSF HDR data science sillaby for engineering using data collected with your own LEWIS5
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EDAC deployment Feb 16th: testing our outdoor location just before the snowstorm at EDAC with our cybersecurity experts cadets at the roof!
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February 1st BRUTUS is tested with the help of NMDOT near White Rock, successful collaboration for field implementation exploration and learning
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Sensor Deployment test at Halfmoon Bay! We want to see if we can measure tides with our sonar sensor.
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January 2022 We have a LEWIS incubator at our favourite secret location, and enjoy deployments that follow at Ohkay Owingeh
Jan 8th TRB dinner and presentations with colleagues from University of Nebraska-Lincoln!
Fall 2021 Updates
December 21st NMDOT: bridge testing for Augmented Reality near Socorro with our NMDOT colleagues, great insights and direction for future research efforts
December 17th Christmas sweaters lunch with team members (including Dr. Macias!)
December 15th testing AR crack finder in the University of Kansas with collaborators Dr. Jian Li and Rushil, we survived a huge tornado that night J
December 10th Entry PhD dinner for leadership discussion and planning
December 8th Brutus, LEWIS goes to Cochiti with Cybersecurity testing outdoors in collaboration with NSF RAPID
December 1st Fire training photo
The team testing NSF RAPID boat with SMILab sensors prior to the Cochiti Lake, cybersecurity, Brutus, LEWIS all combined in water environments!
Nov 6th Gladious is tested at UNM Johnson pool with Joshua, Jack and Mahsa, very promising!
Beautiful Fall lunch break near the duck pond with seniors from SMILab
November 5th 2021: SMILab inspect the soon to be opened Media Lab!
November 2nd Joshua Murillo and Mahsa Sanei present to over 200 students at Menaul their research on sensors, augmented reality, structures and cybersecurity. Menaul President Gilbert also arranged a mentoring meeting with top seniors from Menaul. Great conversations.
October 12th ONR Cybersecurity LEWIS class
September 26th SMILab presents at San Diego their research, great time to share knowledge with international leaders in Machine Learning and Structural Health Monitoring!
September 14, 2021: A sensor created by Joshua Murillo through the RockOn Program and NMSGC was launched on a High Altitude Student Platform (HASP). His sensor reached an altitude upwards of 120,000 feet! On the left is the picture of the sensor Joshua built as a part of this program and on the right is a picture of the HASP flight.
Sept 5th Investigating Albuquerque potential locations for flooding, monitoring, and scouting nice pedestrian bridges by the foothills with Solomon and Joshua
September 2nd 2021 ONR Cybersecurity program recruiting with Dr. Moreu and Joshua, thank you Captain Gonzales (Marines) and Captain Sarap (Navy) for introducing us to your sharpest cadets and midshipmen!
August 28th Golf outing with great results from our team!
August 16th The team tap testing with Brutus near Tijeras with Dr. Stormont’s team. Great rocks
August 12th senior dinner to start the school year strong!
August 6th nice end-of-summer meal with colleagues at Frontier Restaurant
This Fall 2021 three new graduate students start their program with us: Jennifer Restrepo, MS student in CCEE working in a project with Sandia National Laboratory on Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) sensing and control; Joshua Murillo, Masters in National and Global Security, developing new generation of LEWIS cyber secured sensors, leader of our ROTC program in Cybersecurity with ONR; and Mahsa Sanei, PhD student in CCEE, who is studying new wearable sensing technologies for humans and USDOT research in UAV, LIDAR and 3D datasets for digital twins. Welcome to SMILab Jennifer, Joshua and Mahsa!
SMILab has two new undergraduate students this Fall 2021: Jack Hanson just started his BS in CS, and will continue working with SMILab after 2 years leading our AR, robots, and sensors. Proud of your academic decision Jack! Dalton Deberry, working on his CS, is starting his research at SMILab focused in wireless smart sensor networks for our National Science Foundation project. Looking forward to working with both CS students!
Summer 2021 Updates
Dr. Moreu was featured in Albuquerque The Magazine for an interview on SMILab's ROTC cadets and our work in the areas of cybersecurity and infrastructure maintenance. You can read the full interview at this link https://issuu.com/genalacross/docs/albuquerque_the_magazine_march_2021/108
July 20th
Elijah Wyckoff received the Outstanding Scholar award for his work on Augmented Reality for real-time telepresence and control of robotics. Elijah spent the summer on a new interface for controlling and visualizing a robotic arm in AR for satellite operation. Congratulations Elijah, and special thanks to Marlan and Jack who helped with the project!
June 25th
A SMILab sensor by Eric Robbins with RockOn and NMSGC hit space this morning! Check out the launch by clicking here
“One of the great attributes of the NASA suborbital flight vehicles is the ability to support educational flight activities,” said Giovanni Rosanova, chief of the NASA Sounding Rockets Program Office at Wallops. “Despite the challenges that dealing with COVID 19 presented, everyone came together to make this launch happen this year after having to postpone the project in 2020.”
More information also here
June 12th 2021
Jennifer Restrepo won third place nationwide for the Solar Splash, congratulations Jennifer!
June 7th 2021
Eric Robbins sensor has been selected to be launched to space on June 24th as part of the RockOn 2021. Eric Robbins is supported by the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, and his sensor will reach 76 miles into space. Looking forward to that extraterrestrial data analysis Eric!
June 4th 2021
SMILab hits the road with OILS to advance Augmented Reality with the Railroads. Thank you CN Railways, Sandro Scola and Martita Mullen, for hosting a great deal of learning and investment in the railroad workforce of the future. Looking forward to more innovation and transformation together in the railroads!
June 1st 2021
Alex Kaltenbach joined SMILab as a new research fellow this summer. Alex will lead the cybersecurity encryption of LEWIS, and we are looking forward to develop new approaches for safer monitoring of critical infrastructure and communities.
Nehan Tarefder (La Cueva High School) and Aldo Morelli (Bosque High School) are joining us as research interns this summer. Welcome to the group!
May 28th 2021
We are visiting the bridge more frequently for monitoring with our New Aerial System for Intelligent Measurement Integration (NASIMI). Thank you City of Albuquerque, Police of Albuquerque, and Albuquerque Parks and Recreation! We are testing with Dr. Matthew Fricke and John Erickson from CS and we are getting lots of great data! Check out one nice video here
May 27th 2021
Jennifer Restrepo has been selected as a TRB Minority Fellow and will present her research at Washington DC on low-cost sensors for sustainable transportation – congrats Jennifer!
May 23rd 2021
Elijah Wyckoff has started the summer scholar program with The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Scholars Program. The selected interns gain valuable hands-on experiences working with full-time AFRL scientists and engineers on cutting-edge research and technology and are able to contribute to unique, research-based projects. Graduate interns are able to collaborate with AFRL on current research and incorporate the research into their graduate work. More information here https://afrlscholars.usra.edu/
May 17th 2021
Jay Baillargeon joined SMILab as PhD student, welcome Jay! Looking forward to working in exciting research areas!
Spring Semester 2021 Updates
May 15th 2021
Elijah Wyckoff has won a Graduate Research Fellowship from the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium (Fall 2021-Spring 2022.) Congratulations Elijah!
May 15th 2021
SMILab Graduates:
Eric Robbins successfully defended his MS Thesis! Eric will continue for his PhD with SMILab in the exciting area of nonlinear dynamics.
James Woodall successfully defended his MS Thesis! James will continue for his PhD with SMILab in the exciting area of experimental structural dynamics and vibrations.
Xinxing Yuan successfully passed her comprehensive exam. Congratulations Xinxing, and best of luck in the rest of your PhD journey!
Marlon Aguero completed his MS in ECE and graduated from UNM with two masters, congratulations Marlon!
Jennifer Restrepo graduated with her BSc in ME! Jennifer will continue for her MS with SMILab pursuing her research interests in transportation infrastructure, vibrations, and sustainable solutions for communities.
Midshipman Joshua Murillo graduated with his BSc in National and Global Security! Joshua will continue for his MSc with SMILab pursuing his career interests in cybersecurity, low-cost sensors, and new technologies for a safer society.
May 5th 2021
Dr. Moreu won the 2021 CCEE Stamm Award for Outstanding Research! This award recognizes the top research conducted from SMILab’s team, congratulations everyone!
Stamm was an Albuquerque native and received a bachelor’s degree from the Department of Civil Engineering in 1942. In 1946, he was hired by the construction contracting firm of O.G. Bradbury, just after he had completed a tour of duty as an engineering officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II. His active duty service included training at the U.S. Naval Academy in naval architecture. He retired from the U.S. Naval Reserve with the rank of commander. In 1958, the firm changed its name to Bradbury & Stamm Construction Co. Inc. (dropping the “&” in 1997), with Stamm as its vice president. In 1974, Stamm became president, chairman of the board and chief operating officer of the company. He retired in 1999 as chairman emeritus. Today, Bradbury Stamm is the largest general contractor in New Mexico, with nearly $120 million in New Mexico contract gross billings in 2013, according to the “Albuquerque Business First” list of general contractors.
May 5th 2021
SMILab develops new low-cost strain sensor, great job Eric Robbins, Nicolas Cobo, Jorshua Diaz! Thanks New Mexico Consortium, New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, Albuquerque Rocket Society, CARC, and LEWIS!
February 17th 2021
National Science Foundation funds LEWIS to work together with Ohkay Owingeh towards sensor-informed Objective Resilience to Disasters
This project is funded by Civic Innovation Challenge, which is a partnership with NSF, the Vehicle Technology Office in Department of Energy, and the Science and Technology Director of the Department of Homeland Security. The project, titled “Low-Cost Efficient Wireless Intelligent Sensors (LEWIS) for Greater Preparedness and Resilience to Post-Wildfire Flooding in Native American Communities,” is a short-term project that began last month and will conclude by the start of the summer with one new LEWIS sensor prototype co-developed and co-designed together with the Native American partners at Ohkay Owingeh. If successful, we would like to obtain longer-term funding and expand the program with our Native American partners deploying dozens (or hundreds) of LEWIS, enabling Native Americans to design and own their own wireless sensor networks. We are partnering with experts on flooding, disasters, resilience, data and education. You can read more here. We will be keeping you posted as we listen to Ohkay Owingeh’s leaders in sensors and implementation, we met them last week and they already support LEWIS! Stay tuned for more on LEWIS.
Call for Papers to Special Issue "Structural Sensing and Sustainable Infrastructure Maintenance", Journal of Sustainability
Special Issue Editor: Dr. Moreu
Information: Read more about this Special Issue here.
The top priority of this Special Issue is to provide the community with information on past success in structural sensing and infrastructure maintenance with new laboratory and experiment evidence that can contribute to the community of SHM, structural sensors, and structural management.
Deadline:
This special issue is now open for submission. Deadline May 21st 2021.
Call for Student Papers to 2021 EMI Structural Health Monitoring and Control Committee Student Paper Competition
Student Paper Competition Chair: Dr. Moreu
Information: Read more about this student paper competition here.
The ASCE EMI-Structural Health Monitoring and Control (SHMC) Committee is pleased to announce the Annual Student Paper Competition in the areas of structural health monitoring, system identification, smart materials and structures, and structural control. Sponsored by EMI Structural Health Monitoring and Control (SHMC) Committee.
Deadlines:
February 15, 2021 – Express interest in participating by emailing Prof. Moreu at fmoreu@unm.edu (see details above.)
March 15, 2021 – Email your 4-page full paper due (see #4 and #5 under “Requirements”) to Prof. Moreu at fmoreu@unm.edu (see details above.)
End of Fall Semester 2020
All of us wish you a Great and Happy Holidays!
We will all do 2021 a great year together! It was almost a year ago from the picture below, walking to our Christmas SMILab lunch. We will do many more in 2021.
This semester we have been doing lots of progress in SMILab, and we wanted to share many great updates from our group:
First, congratulations to Angela Montoya and Roya Nasimi for successfully passing their respective comprehensive PhD exams and moving forward with their PhDs. Angela and Roya, great job!
Marlon Aguero graduated with his MS in Civil Engineering and will continue graduate studies pursuing a Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UNM, congratulations Marlon!
Jason Aldaz is graduating with a Masters and Odey Yousef with a Bachelors, both in Civil Engineering. Jason continues his career as engineer in Albuquerque, and Odey will become a graduate student in SMILab. Congrats and welcome to graduate school Odey! Maimuna accepted a fulltime job as engineer in California, and will continue the rest of her PhD part time in SMILab, congratulations on your career Maimuna!
Last November 11th we were lucky to host and invite Bill Henry, who gave a great talk on ethics to the Civil Engineering Department and all of us. Bill reminded us the importance to prevent and fight against corruption in engineering. All of us learned from a very important topic and superb speaker, which comes by no surprise as Bill has served as leader in engineering in many organizations, including as former ASCE president (2005-2006.) Bill thank you for your commitment to the profession and UNM, and looking forward to you visiting SMILab in person in a not so distant future.
Finally, we recently hosted our 2020 wrap up ONR meeting with Dr. Michael Simpson and are getting ready for a new cybersecurity year 2: stay tuned! If you are an undergraduate student in UNM and you are interested to study and program cybersecurity in our cybersecurity program, be sure to contact fmoreu@unm.edu. We are still hiring more 2021 Undergraduates!
Dr. Xu is getting ready for a Holographically start on 2021. More News coming up…
October 21 2020
Tom Paez
UNM Engineering School 2020
Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering Distinguished Alumnus
School of Engineering
Dr. Paez, SMILab affiliate and mentor was celebrated by his friends and colleagues on October 21st, in an event with the dean of the School of Engineering, the chair of the CCEE department, and other members of the Community. Many friends and colleagues joined the event and supported this unique recognition from UNM, what a party! Great organization from SOE leaders. Attendees shared great stories about Dr. Paez career in education, research, teaching, and nationwide projects in national laboratories. We are very lucky and grateful to have Dr. Paez as a mentor of SMILab’s students, and are looking forward to celebrate with him soon. We will continue asking you on MIMO, random vibrations, shocks, dynamics, and experimental techniques. Well deserved honor and phenomenal friends you have! Dr. Baca prepared a tribute slide that we wanted to share summarizing the legendary reputation of Dr. Paez within friends and colleagues.
Congratulations Dr. Paez!
August 15 2020
Two researchers completed their days at SMILab this summer: Xiang Xu successfully run safely numerous experiments with many types of trains crossing railroad bridges in the laboratory, great work! Xiang will complete his Master’s Thesis in structural engineering in Yangzhou University, China; Shuang Yang will continue his PhD Thesis in Computer Science in UNM, and he contributed exploring AR connections with sensors. We thank them for their hard work in SMILab, and wish them all the best in completing their degrees! We were able to give a surprise Zoom farewell to Xiang, wish him safe trip, and we hope to stay in touch!
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July 20th 2020
Angela Montoya has been accepted into Sandia National Laboratories’ Critical Skills Part-Time Program. The Critical Skills programs at Sandia are designed for both recruitment and retention of talented individuals with skills in technical areas needed to support Sandia’s national security mission. This specific program for which Angela was accepted provides her paid hours to complete her doctoral program while still working at Sandia. The program is very competitive, and she is excited to start this fall.
July 9th 2020
SMILab researchers hosted the first ever SMIWeb workshop directed at researchers, students, and professionals from industry interested in learning about new technologies with practical implementation in the area of smart structures technologies. Senior researchers presented their unique projects and contributions to the engineering field. The emphasis was to increase awareness about future directions in smart structures that can be of interest in the next decade.
June 15th 2020
Eric Robbins started his summer internship with Sandia National Laboratories. The Nonlinear Mechanics and Dynamics (NOMAD) Research Institute brings together graduate students and early career researchers to work in small teams on computational and experimental projects germane to nonlinear mechanics and dynamics. The title of his project is “Nonlinear Normal Mode Force Appropriation Techniques to Investigate Wing-Pylon Assembly.” Click here for more information https://www.sandia.gov/careers/students_postdocs/internships/institutes/nomad.html
May 27th 2020
Congratulations Roya Nasimi for 2nd place in the Annual ASCE/EMI SHMC student paper competition. Roya’s paper was titled “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) Equipped with Lasers, Cameras, and Algorithms Measuring Bridges Condition under Trains.” Co-authors of the paper were Dr. Moreu, Nicolas Cobo, and Jorshua Diaz, great job team!
Link to ASCE EMI
May 19th 2020
Maimuna Hossain and Elijah Wyckoff have started their summer scholar program with The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Scholars Program. The selected interns gain valuable hands-on experiences working with full-time AFRL scientists and engineers on cutting-edge research and technology and are able to contribute to unique, research-based projects. Graduate interns are able to collaborate with AFRL on current research and incorporate the research into their graduate work. More information here https://afrlscholars.usra.edu/
May 18th 2020
Kickoff meeting with the Office of Naval Research (ONR) project entitled “Engaging University of New Mexico ROTC Cadets in Cybersecurity Research”. This project develops a capable and trained workforce with the skills to defend against emergent cyber and electronic warfare threats. We collaborate with Dr. Sorrentino at Mechanical Engineering. We are thrilled to work in this very important topic with Casey Elizondo, Joshua Murillo, Kaleb Kendall, Odey Yousef, Dominic Thomson, Jack Hanson. Marlan Ball leads the team as cybersecurity instructor and we are developing new generation of Low-cost Efficient Wireless Intelligent Sensors (LEWIS), with the new LEWIS5 ready for field implementation. You can read more about LEWIS here https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymssp.2018.01.034
May 15th 2020
Congratulations to our SMILab Graduates this May:
Maimuna Hossain: MS Mechanical Engineering May 2020 UNM, Maimuna continues with SMILab pursuing a PhD in Mechanical Engineering working on MIMO and experimental dynamics for complex systems.
Elijah Wyckoff: BS Mechanical Engineering May 2020 ASU, Elijah continues with SMILab pursuing a MS in Mechanical Engineering working on human-structures interfaces with AR and vibrations.
Somie Chavez: BS Civil Engineering May 2020 UNM, Somie is now working for LANL as a structural engineer, best wishes for your engineering career Somie!
Ben Narushof: BS Civil Engineering May 2020 UNM, Ben is now working as a civil engineer in Horrocks Engineering, best wishes for your engineering career Ben!
November 20, 2019
Check our latest news on our TRB NAS Rail SAFETY IDEA Project here
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November 11, 2019
Dilendra Maharjan defended his MS thesis on November 11th and already had a full time job as structural engineer! Great job Dilendra and best wishes for your career!
October 2, 2019
Multiscale Sensing and Monitoring for Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Civil Infrastructure presentation by Jian Li: Associate Professor Department of Civil, Environment and Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas
Source: Multiscale Sensing and Monitoring for Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Civil Infrastructure
August 23, 2019
TRB IDEA RAIL SAFETY 2018-2020, stage I experiment: SMILab researchers Roya Nasimi, James Woodall, Nicolas Yepes, Dr Zhang and Dr Moreu conducted various experiments for The National Academy Science. For the implementation of this new TRB IDEA RAIL SAFETY project, the research team focused on creating a new wireless laser that they added to the untethered UAS, and programming a total displacement algorithm using both laser and computer vision. Wonderful site for serious UAS-laser research. Looking forward to improving rail safety with NAS, TRB, and the railroads partnering in this effort.
August 2019
SMILab Summer 2019 Researchers Farewell
Many researchers completed their days at SMILab this summer: best of luck Rafa Cardona (graduated with MS in structural engineering from UCLM, Ciudad Real, Spain); Jorshua Diaz (will graduate in 2020 with BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Ana G. Mendez University at Gurabo, Puerto Rico); Nicolas Yepes (will complete his PhD in 2020 in Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus); Elijah Wyckoff (will complete his BS in 2020 in Mechanical Engineering at Arizona State University); Morgan Tubb (will complete his BS in 2020 in Mechanical Engineering at University of Dallas); and Can Zhu (graduated with MS in structural engineering from Yangzhou University, China.) We will miss them and all their hard work, and wish them well in their new careers and completing their degrees!
June 28th, 2019
Bridge monitoring with LEWIS and experts in dance engineering
SMILab researchers installed nine LEWIS sensors in the duck pond bridge and conducted a bridge monitoring campaign to quantify dance quality in Collaboration with the School of Engineering, Unite Program, the Summer Transportation Institute, and Structures as Sensors Group from the Carnegie Mellon University. The conducted various experiments with and without music measuring coordination using sensors. The goal of their research is to use non-invasive sensors to quantify human activities, with the ultimate aim of sensing human decisions. Looking forward to more multidisciplinary, collaborative research with high school students around the state!
September 29, 2018
Albuquerque, University of New Mexico
The UNM Engineering Open House introduced high school students and perspective students to the engineering school at UNM.
September 28, 2018
Albuquerque, University of New Mexico
Professor Charles Farrar (Chuck) of Los Alamos presented as keynote speaker at American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) conference at UNM. Dr. Moreu is the NM Lead Representative for the ASCE program. SMI Lab Students presented posters in competition for scholarships.
January 2018
Albuquerque, University of New Mexico
Professor Sungmoon Jung from the Joint College of Engineering by Florida A&M University and Florida State University is visiting UNM this month to discuss research, collaborations, and ideas for a safer infrastructure. Professor Sungmoon Jung is an associate professor at a joint college of engineering by Florida A&M University and Florida State University, department of civil and environmental engineering. Before joining the college, he worked for Caterpillar (2006-08) after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2004). His research interests include wind engineering, wind energy, and vehicle safety. He is visiting SMILab in a sabbatical leave at the department of civil engineering. Welcome professor Jung! He will give a seminar at the EERI student chapter on Friday January 26th from 4 to 5pm, open to everyone interested! Come and learn about “Mitigation of Wind and Impact Effects on Structures.”
Saturday November 11th , 2017
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Albuquerque, NM
Supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and New Mexico Space Grant Consortium (NMSGC) and as part of “Structural Performance Monitoring Using Wireless Sensors (WSW) for Cost-Efficient Management and Development of Commercial Space Vehicles”, SMILab builds wireless smart sensors to monitor rocket launch activities in collaboration with the Albuquerque Rocket Society (ARS). A great team effort taken to heaven! Thanks ARS for your strong support!
Friday November 3rd , 2017
Albuquerque Foothills, NM
Tramway general manager George Boyden gave SMILab and CE410 structural engineering design students a lecture on the design and construction of the Tramway, and led a dedicated tour of the control room; finally students measured the vibrations on the ride to the top of the mountain using sensors. Thank you Mr. Boyden for an elevated structural engineering class at 10,300 ft altitude for UNM engineering students!
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November 2nd , 2017
Albuquerque, NM
Dr. Moreu and Ronny Moreano visited UNM alumni Professor Mojgan Madandar at the Southwestern Indian Polytechnique Institute (SIPI). They introduced the students on smart sensing technologies and structural engineering, and encouraged them to apply to UNM Engineering. It was a great interaction and we thank Professor Madandar and SIPI for this great opportunity!
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October 27, 2017
Dr. Mascarenas discusses with SMILab and UNM his research![IMG_4978[1]](http://web.archive.org/web/20221005201205im_/http://smilab.unm.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IMG_49781-300x225.jpg)
about artificial personality using a
Jungian based framework he programmed. Thanks Dr. Mechler
and the OIA/IDI Colloquium for hosting this successful event.
Monday October 23rd, 2017
Albuquerque, NM
CNM students with Professor Natalie Marie Villwock-Witte attended one seminar from SMILab on smart structures at UNM, and received exposure to UNM’s structural engineering laboratory and engineering studies. In the picture, visiting scholar Ronny Moreano explains the data collecting and processing at Centennial Engineering Center. It was a great interaction between CNM and UNM. Thanks Professor Vilwock-Witte and CNM for the opportunity!
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Friday October 20th, 2017
Albuquerque, NM
Dr. Scott Ouellette from LANL visited our laboratory, met with students and faculty, and gave a very interesting seminar on energy harvesting systems for autonomously powered sensor networks. In the picture with Dr. Moreu and Michael Shugh at the seminar.
October 17th, 2017
Albuquerque, NM
Ronny Moreano, visiting scholar from ESPE (College of the Ecuadorian Army) will be working with SMILab for nine weeks on total displacements measurements during extreme events such as earthquakes, tornados, or train crossing events. Welcome, Ronny!
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October 7 ,2017
SMILab welcomes inquiring students and families to the Engineering Open House with HoloLens technology and shake table demos.
October 4, 2017
Omaha, Nebraska
Fernando Moreu, SMILab director presents as keynote speaker at the Bridging Big Data (BBD) 2017 Workshop, supported by NSF BD Spokes: PLANNING: MIDWEST: Big Data Innovations for Bridge Health
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October 3, 2017
UNM students learn how to design and analyze railroad timber bridges in the structural design class at UNM. Their project was to build a timber trestle that they designed.
September 29, 2017
Jack Noren from Shore Western visits SMILab for the large shake table installation and introduces earthquake engineering testing and design concepts to the architecture and landscape graduate students of Professor Mark Stone. Great questions from a great class! ![IMG_4645[1]](http://web.archive.org/web/20221005201205im_/http://smilab.unm.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IMG_46451-300x225.jpg)
September 22, 2017
Dr. Takehiko Asai, from the University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba (Japan), visited SMILab for three days and presented the seminar “Potential Applications of Tuned Inertial Mass Electromagnetic Transducers”, at the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Student Chapter (President Drew Hirdman, SMILab member)![IMG_4591[1]](http://web.archive.org/web/20221005201205im_/http://smilab.unm.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IMG_45911-300x225.jpg)
September 21, 2017
Bridge Engineer Kathy Crowell from the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) teaching bridge engineering to UNM engineers at CE410 structural engineering design and visits SMILab ![IMG_4559[1]](http://web.archive.org/web/20221005201205im_/http://smilab.unm.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IMG_45591-300x225.jpg)
September 20, 2017
Dr. Ali Ozdagli, post-doc fellow at SMILab, presented his research to UNM graduate students at the graduate seminar class from Dr. John Stormont. Dr. Ali gave advice to graduate students about how to find a job after school. ![IMG_4540[1]](http://web.archive.org/web/20221005201205im_/http://smilab.unm.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IMG_45401-300x225.jpg)
September 20, 2017: Salt Lake City, UT
New Mexico Tech Dr. Don Ryu (SMILab collaborator) and Dr. Bideng Liu at the Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems (SMASIS). Dr. Liu chaired one session and presented one paper on reference-free displacement sensors. Great place and company for a research meeting! ![IMG_3600[1]](http://web.archive.org/web/20221005201205im_/http://smilab.unm.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IMG_36001-300x226.jpg)
September 19, 2017: Indianapolis, IN
SMILab members presented two papers at AREMA 2017. In this picture, SMILab reunion: Dr. Moreu, Dr. Ali, and Jose Gomez (SMILab MS 2017, now working for Heuristic Actions, Inc. at Las Vegas, NV). Great feedback from the railway engineering community to both papers! ![IMG_4532[1]](http://web.archive.org/web/20221005201205im_/http://smilab.unm.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IMG_45321-300x225.jpg)
September 13, 2017: Palo Alto, California
LANL’s Dr. David Mascarenas (SMILab collaborator) and Dr. Moreu presented one paper on augmented reality, one poster on confined sensing underground, and competed for “SHM in Action” at the International Workshop for Structural Health Monitoring (IWSHM) at Stanford, CA. Great feedback from the IWSHM participants. ![IMG_6049[1]](http://web.archive.org/web/20221005201205im_/http://smilab.unm.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IMG_60491-300x225.jpg)
September 5, 2017
Augmenting Realities with Menaul School’s two hundred students! Great pool of future engineers!! ![IMG_4457[1]](http://web.archive.org/web/20221005201205im_/http://smilab.unm.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IMG_44571-300x225.jpg)
September 1, 2017: Santa Fe, NM
Teaching structural engineering outside the classroom: Loretto Chapel Miraculous Staircase and wood engineering (with Richard Lindsey); Biocultura and masonry engineering (with UNM Professor Andrea Polli); NM bridges design (with NMDOT bridge engineer Kathy Crowell)![IMG_4437[1]](http://web.archive.org/web/20221005201205im_/http://smilab.unm.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IMG_44371-300x225.jpg)
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August 25, 2017
Measuring reference-free displacements with a laser carried by Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). Transportation Research Board (TRB) SAFETY IDEA Project (National Academy of Science)
August 22, 2017
Patrick Hughes (PhD student with Professor Gilberto Mosqueda at UCSD) presented “Pounding of Base-Isolated Buildings to Bumper-Protected Moat Walls” with the EERI Chapter (president Drew Harding, SMILab member) ![IMG_4396[1] (1)](http://web.archive.org/web/20221005201205im_/http://smilab.unm.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IMG_43961-1-300x225.jpg)
February 11, 2017
Shreya Vemuganti wins 2nd place in UNM STEM research symposium (Flyer)
January 29, 2017
Dr. Fernando Moreu and Piyush Garg presented three papers from SMILab at XXXV IMAC conference held in Los Angeles.
January 27, 2017
Tom Paez visits Department of Civil Engineering and SMILab.
January 26, 2017
SMILab member Jose Alberto Gomez is going to defend his Master's Thesis on February 16, 2017 in room CENT 3031 at 11 AM. He has been offered a civil engineering position in 'Heuristic Actions'.
January 25, 2017
Charles Farrar visits Department of Civil Engineering and SMILab. Also presents in seminar and structural dynamics class.
January 24, 2017
Dr. Fernando Moreu and Dr. Mahmoud Reda Taha have been awarded National Academy of Science grant to fund research for railroad bridge safety. Click link below.
http://news.unm.edu/news/national-academy-of-sciences-grant-will-fund-research-for-railroad-bridge-safety
January 10, 2017
SMILab member, Shreya Vemuganti, presents her research at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. Photo with Jo Allen.
September-December, 2016
This fall semester, SMILab graduate student member Piyush Garg is a visiting researcher at the Harbin Institute ofTechnology in Harbin, China. He is working for Professor Li Hui at the Center of Structural Monitoring. Piyush’s research is on guided wave detection system on wireless sensors. In the picture, Piyush Garg meeting with Professor Hai Biao from Northeast Forestry University.
Summer, 2016
For SIMLab high school summer camp presentation by Manny, click here.
November 1, 2016
SMILab member, Shreya Vemuganti passed the Ph.D. qualifying exam.
September 22, 2016
Students of UNM CE 410, instructed by SMILab director, Dr. Fernando Moreu, learn "How-to" Design Structures Under the Bridge. Click here for more in formation and pictures.
September 28 - 30, 2016
SMILab director, Dr. Fernando Moreu, to deliver a presentation on Application of Low-Cost Sensors for Estimation of Reference-Free Displacements Under Dynamic Loading for Railroad Bridges Safety in the Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems hosted by The ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers). Click here for abstract.
August 28 - 30, 2016
SMILab director and members attended the AREMA 2016 Annual Conference and Exposition in Orlando, Florida. SMILab member Shreya Vemuganti presented a poster in the poster session sponsored by Canadian National and won the second place. (Left) Rebekah Wingate, John Leary, David Moses, Joseph Hosanna from Bowman, Barrett & Associates, SMILab direcctor, Fernando Moreu and SMILab member Shreya V.
July 29, 2016
The NO
MAD institute has concluded with the participants presenting a poster about the research conducted in Sandia National Laboratories. Seen in the picture from left: Anela Bajric - PhD student from Denmark Technological University, Shreya Vemuganti - PhD student and SMILab member, Dr. Liu Bideng - Assistant Professor, Institute of Disaster Prevention, China, Dr. Matthew Brake - Component Science and Mechanics, Sandia National Laboratories.
July 26, 2016
High school mentees presented their work towards the end of the SMILab summer camp. They received certificates of merit from the director, Dr. Fernando Moreu.
July 5, 2016
Shreya Vemuganti has been awarded the doctoral conference program award by the office of graduate studies of UNM for her presentation at the 2016 International Cross-tie and Fastening System Symposium.
June 20 - July 29, 2016
SMILab members Dr. Ali and Shreya to participate in the Non Linear Dynamics and Mechanics (NOMAD) institute at Sandia National Laboratory this Summer. One of the mentors will be Dr. Fernando Moreu.
May 19, 2016
SMIlab summer camp: SMILab to mentor high school students in different engineering related projects this summer.
April 28, 2016
Civil engineering graduate students introduce the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Student Chapter at UNM under the supervision of Dr. Fernando Moreu. The kickoff meeting was a successful one with Dr. Yongchao Yang, from Los Alamos National Laboratory, delivering the guest lecture. SMILab members Dr. Ali Ozdagli, Shreya Vemuganti and Jose Alberto Gomez are among the EERI founders.
April 28, 2016
Smilab director, Dr. Fernando Moreu presented at the New Mexico 2016 ASCE meeting at Socorro.
April 25, 2016
Members of SMILab and students of Advanced Dynamics (CE 598) took an educational field trip visit to BNSF, one of the largest railroads in North America in Belen, NM. The purpose of this trip is to get familiar with railroad operations, railroad infrastructure, and to relate the type of instrumentation that railroads use to maintain and expand operations from an “industry” perspective.
April 15, 20
16
SMILab director, Dr. Fernando Moreu to present at Kansas University on the topic "Structural Health Monitoring Using Wireless Smart Sensors (WSSs): Performance Assessment and Decision Tools Applications"
June 14-16, 2016
SMILab member and PhD student, Shreya Vemuganti is going to present at the 2016 International Crosstie and Fastening System Symposium at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign on June 14-16, 2016. Her research paper is titled 'Survey about Abrasion of Concrete Ties against Railway Ballast'. She has also been granted CE grant for travel. The abstract can be found here.
March 25, 2016
Structural
Health Monitoring Using Wireless Smart Sensors (WSSs) - SMILab director, Dr. Fernando Moreu presented in Mechanical Department, UNM. This presentation includes results about reference-free measurement of displacements and future opportunities for automatic structural health assessment and prognosis. This research demonstrates the potential of WSS technology to assist with critical infrastructure inspection and management practice
March 23 to April 20, 2016
'Shake It Up in Engineering' Wednesday Bonanza ! 
SMILab invites undergraduate students participated in a STEM class to learn about simple civil engineering experiments and share them by creating your own website. The class was conducted 5 Wednesdays from March 23 to April 20, 2016. Students participating learnt about essential tools such as WinSCP, PHP and WordPress and applied this knowledge practically in developing their own website. Video of this class can be found here.
March 15 - 17, 2016 
SMILab director, Dr. Moreu, has been selected the New Mexico Section lead representative for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Legislative Fly-In Program in Washington, DC (March 15-17). Every spring, ASCE holds its Legislative Fly-In Program in Washington, DC, an intensive two-day program that provides participants with an inside look at the political process. In 2015, ASCE members visited nearly 250 members of Congress to share the civil engineering perspective on transportation funding and re-authorization as well as funding for water resources programs. Visit UNM web page for more information. Picture 1 with Michelle Lujan, picture 2 - From left to right: Tom Smith, ASCE Executive Director; Lambis Papelis, NMSU Professor; Fernando Moreu, UNM Professor; Mark Woodson, ASCE President. Picture during the 2016 Asce fly in at Washington, D.C. , March 15
March 2, 2016
Rebecca Wingate presents at UNM about Replacing a railway bridge: From inspection to construction. She also participated in a discussion on Women in Engineering (left picture) with graduate and undergraduate students hosted by civil engineering women faculty, Dr. Susan Bogus and Dr. Vanessa Valentine. More Information about Rebecca Wingate. She met with SMILab along with the chair of the department, Dr. Mahmoud Reda Taha
February 26, 2016
SMILab presented a poster (left picture) on Smart Management and Infrastructure at The NMCRDC Unmanned Aerial Systems and Remote Sensing Workshop. Also, the director of SMILab, Dr. Moreu, delivered a presentation about smart and remote sensing technologies.
