During the third and final iteration of the “Critical Infrastructure & Digitalization (CID)” lecture series, which took place from April 18th to July 28th, a total of 23 students from PoliMi and TUB actively engaged in the program. This last iteration was part of a comprehensive series of weekly online lectures thoughtfully organized to explore various facets of the digital and technological transformation of different urban critical infrastructure sectors, such as water, energy and mobility.
Throughout this extensive series the students had the privilege of gaining invaluable knowledge and insights from a dynamic blend of senior and junior researchers hailing from different faculties of TU Berlin, as well as guest speakers from the ide3a partner university PoliMi and esteemed international institutions such as TU Delft, Exnation and MIT to name a few. These experts – among which was Ashlynn Stilwell from the University of Illinois – presented cutting-edge research projects, shared lessons learned, illuminated ongoing challenges, and visionary perspectives. The primary goal of this intensive course was to equip students with the ability to critically analyze and discuss pressing technical problems and innovative solutions related to critical urban infrastructure systems. Additionally, students were empowered to envision and outline future developments and challenges in this evolving landscape.
Moreover, participants developed the capacity to identify and elucidate the synergies that exist between various infrastructural components. They also gained competence in understanding the basics of simulations and scenario analysis within these domains.
To successfully complete this course, students undertook weekly quizzes, ensuring their grasp of the subject matter. Additionally, they were tasked with creating a video reflecting on one or more topics they found most relatable within the CID course. From among these submissions, we would like to highlight the two most interesting videos, offering an opportunity to showcase the students’ remarkable insights and contributions to this dynamic field.
Giulia D’Aleo – A student from PoliMi with expertise in user experience design and service design, Giulia’s unique perspective focused on the citizen’s viewpoint. She gained a fresh and insightful perspective on the intricate processes related to water management systems and energy grid networks. This newfound understanding allowed her to envision the city as an organized resource management system.
Hasti Makdhoum, studying energy engineering at PoliMi, displayed exceptional creativity and an illustrative prowess in explaining the complexities of digitalization within the energy sector, particularly focusing on the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Energy Management Systems (EMS). Her approach involved simplifying intricate technical concepts into easily understandable and visually engaging explanations, making them accessible to a broader audience.
One of the highlights of the conference was the presentation of ConnectiCity which is a serious game on urban water networks and interconnected infrastructure. Despite the game still being under development by a research group of the ide3a team the game already shows a promising potential regarding its teaching purposes receiving not only positive but also insightful feedback from the participants of the conference to tune the further development of the game. The goal is to release ConnectiCity as an open-source game allowing students to get a grasp about the relation between urban water networks and urban mobility while also allowing the students as well as teaching personnel to customize the settings of the game.