Food security is a growing social and economic challenge that knows no political boundaries. Even in the United States, an astonishing 18 million households were labeled ‘food insecure’ in 2011 because they lacked the means at some point during the year…
Smarter Driving Key to Sustainable Transportation Planning
In the popular mind, smarter, greener, and more sustainable transportation is generally equated with mega-projects like high speed rail, light rail, long…
Achieving Model-Based Design for the Smart Grid
Smart Meters and SCADA Contribute a Big Data Perspective Smart meters and intelligent electronic devices provide granular data about the state of the…
Sewer Heat Recovery Provides Low-Cost Recycled Energy
In every urban area, heat that humans have generated to shower, wash clothes, cook, and so on flows underground — in the sewers, making them very warm. Today, sewers represent the largest source of heat leakage in buildings. Even toilet water, which is at…
A Tidal Shift in Water Network Management
Water consumption worldwide is on the steepest of hockey stick curves—since 1950, annual consumption has tripled, and in 2006 passed 4,300 km3… that’s about 30% of the available supply of renewable water. Water consumption is expanding considerably faster…
Roadway Sensors Provide Real-Time and Historic Data
Robert Bray is a senior software architect at Autodesk, Inc., a computer aided design firm that readers may have heard about. He recently sat down with Informed Infrastructure to discuss his view of sensored roadways, and the uses of the information they develop.…
Toward Intelligent Infrastructure
We are living in a world with a rapidly growing population and an urbanization rate that is increasing year over year. According to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), people living in urban areas will increase from 50% worldwide in…
Sensor Sensibility: Sensors Transform the Information Ecosystem
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Sensor Sensibility. This column will focus on a number of topics related to sensors ranging from sensor platforms to sensor data, standards to architectures. Sensors are transforming the information ecosystem, providing an…
Transgranular Perspiration is Not Sandy Sweat: New Discoveries in Ceramic Tiles at smartgeometry 2012
Since the early 2000s, the smartgeometry conferences have been held in venues as august and varied as San Francisco, London, Barcelona, and Copenhagen. At first glance, Troy, New York—this year's location—seems a little out of place in that lineup, but…
