Course Leader: Filippo Giammaria Praticò
Home Institution: University Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria, Italy
With respect to the courses previously presented, this year course will build on the discussion of new frontiers, new projects, and issues emerged in 2020 and 2021, including the projects LIFE E-VIA and LIFE SNEAK where the lecturer is involved.
Intelligent transportation systems, ITS, impact safety, traffic management, diagnostics, environment, users, and people assistance. Smart roads, intelligent transportation systems, electric and driverless vehicles have become an outstanding area of potentials for industry, research, scientific projects, and career opportunities. At the same time, the pandemic has stressed the potential of pollution to affect people response to virus threat.
Overall, smarter infrastructures, self-monitored environmental systems, better managed transportation assets, electric vehicles, and driverless vehicles could allow having a safer, more efficient, more sustainable world. Importantly, this fascinating course focuses also on how smart cities, transportation infrastructures, and mobility can be crucial in detecting, controlling, and managing virus pandemic. As for the previous years, interesting job and research perspectives could emerge and be developed.
The course goals and outcomes are to: A. Stimulate an interest on virus pandemic, particulate matter, and pollution potential relationships. B. Stimulate a corresponding interest on smart cities in the context of COVID-19, construction issues and environmental impact of transportation infrastructures and new vehicles within the context of transportation/pavement performance more broadly. C. Develop an understanding of how sensor-based monitoring, energy harvesting, material properties and design (e.g., aggregate source and consensus properties, gradation analysis, bitumen percentage and quality), construction (e.g., HMA production, hauling, and placement operations) impact functional properties and people health. D. Expose students to some of the diverse innovative thoughts in the field of pavement functional properties, energy harvesting, sensor-based monitoring, electric cars, and driverless vehicles. E. Encourage the interrogation of experimental data and models through the assignment of often conflicting narratives (e.g., balancing monitoring costs and monitoring positive effects). F. Advance student oral, written, and critical thinking skills and expertise by engaging in informed and up-to-date discussions of course reading materials.
This is a multi-level course aiming at allowing students with diverse background both simple and complex concepts and abilities.
With respect to the courses previously presented, this year course will build on the discussion of new frontiers and new projects emerged in 2020/21, namely about PM-pollution-people health relationships. Smart cities, pavement-tire interaction, electric vehicles, smart cities, and other emerging pollution-related issues will be part of the course too.
Preliminary concepts will be as follows.
UNIT I. Intelligent mobility, intelligent transportation systems, smart roads, smart cities. Transportation infrastructures (from design to management, using diverse tools, including BIM).
UNIT II. Transportation and health. Particulate matter, biological entities, RNA, DNA, viruses, and bacteria, recent literature about covid-19 pandemic, pollution, and other relevant factors. Meteorological effects. Tests to assess transportation-related effects (pavement and mobility).
UNIT III. Analysis and decision-making techniques and tools (Cost–benefit analysis, multi-criteria analysis/ ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité, analytic hierarchy process technique, fuzzy techniques, etc.). Environmental impacts (noise, pollution). Environmental impact assessment (European approach, EIA versus strategic environmental assessment; scoping, Life cycle cost analysis, etc.).
UNIT IV. Sensors, ICT, vehicles, infrastructures, and functions. Continuous monitoring of transportation infrastructures (sensors, type, data gathered, pros and cons). Energy harvesting from transportation infrastructures (types, pros and cons, potential). Electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles impact. Information and Communications Technologies applied to infrastructure assets.
The following chain of instructional method is scheduled:
Brainstorming;
Direct Teaching;
Lectures with discussion;
Case Studies;
Group projects;
Multimedia;
Worksheets and Surveys;
(Guest Speakers)
Summative and formative feedback.
The majority of concepts and methods are discussed and clarified during the lessons with limited homework tasks.
Required readings are suggested during the course. No specific software is required.
The following readings only provide an idea of the “big picture” “behind” the course lessons.
UNIT I.
UNIT II.
UNIT III.
UNIT IV.
Bevacqua, M.T., Isernia, T., Praticò, F.G., Zumbo, S., A method for bottom-up cracks healing via selective and deep microwave heating, (2021) Automation in Construction, 121, art. no. 103426.
During the course: daily summative and formative feedback, following group projects and lectures.
Towards the end of the course: 1) Explicit information about grading procedures, based on UDC directives, is provided. 2) Explicit information about overall expectations and specific assignments is provided. 3) A report is usually required (3.1: General part, brief summary of the course. 3.2: Short essay on a specific topic, selected by professor and student). 4) A number of topics is previously selected (areas of main interest). 5) The examination is going to address: topics among the ones selected; discussion of the report.
Explicit information about assignments and grading procedures will clarify expectations and allay student anxiety, while supporting students in pacing their studies, gauging their progress, and achieving learning outcomes.