Infrastructure asset management is rapidly becoming a critical part of the decision-making process for transportation agencies. CAIT is active in the development and implementation of decision support tools for better utilization of resources throughout the life cycle of infrastructure facilities, providing significant benefits for agencies and facility users. In addressing technical challenges in the data management and systems operation characteristics of most decision support tools, the Center has created a dedicated information management group (IMG).
Program Activities (Research, Education, and Technology Transfer)
IMG is a team of interdisciplinary faculty,
undergraduate and graduate students,
professional application programmers, and
program managers. The team’s main focus
is on projects which deal with the transformation
of field and observational data to
useful information which can be used by
engineers, planners, and high-level management
in different transportation agencies.
IMG efforts include: data validation and
process verification, automation methodology
and technology for data acquisition,
data mining and analysis, predictive modeling,
development of cost/benefit analysis
tools, and system optimization.
Resources
■ Human Resources 2 Faculty Members,
1 Program Coordinator, 1 Full-time
Staff <50% on IMG, and 4 Graduate/Undergraduate
Student Research Assistants.
Other non-Center faculty also includes Dr.
Harold Sacrowitz and Dr. Regina Liu from
the Department of Statistics.
■ Infrastructure The Information
Management Group has a dedicated space
of approximately 1000 sq ft in the new
CAIT building with more than $150,000 in
software received from industry partners
for infrastructure project management,
bidding, and cost control.
Regional and National Contributions
The Center has identified asset management of multimodal transportation systems as a critical area for development. Better utilization of resources throughout the life cycle of infrastructure facilities can provide significant benefits for agencies and facility users. The Center is already involved in enhancement of NJDOT’s pavement management system and is working with FHWA (Turner Fairbanks) on development of advanced GPR condition monitoring systems for bridge management systems. Another focus area of the asset management activity is the development of information management systems and decision support tools for large infrastructure projects through deployment of advanced data management systems. In this area, the IMG has performed extensive research that provides usable solutions that have been implemented on both regional and national levels. Moreover, Center faculty researcher Dr. Trefor Williams has recently published a book titled Information Technology for Construction Managers, Architects and Engineers. In it Dr. Williams discusses his research on methodologies for exchanging information and collaboration for infrastructure projects including web-based and wireless systems that can be easily implemented by infrastructure agencies.
Prof. Mohsen Jafari
IMG Program Director
Prof. Trefor Williams
Asset Management Systems
