Forecast Engineering

The course content at a glance

In our two week intensive course »Forecast Engineering«, you will focus on the proficient handling of complex engineering tasks, using modern tools and finding their scientific positioning in existing interdisciplinary projects. A comprehensive grasp of special topics in civil engineering as well as the development of solutions by using modern methods and tools are some of the core aims of this course.

Investigating current developments & creating a digital twin

You will explore the current developments in structural engineering, aiming to create a realistic digital simulation (digital twin) in which the real behaviour of structure can be mirrored. The planning of these creations is based on static, but increasingly also on dynamic calculations – especially in the case of extreme loads. In addition to the traditional force-based approaches, the experience and observations on the deformation behaviour of individual components and the overall structure under different conditions allows for the introduction of new design and evaluation criteria.

Visualisation, modelling, reaction estimation, analysis, simulation methods & more

During the two weeks, the transfer of real existing buildings into different basic structural models will be discussed, comparing their robustness with respect to increasing abstractness and reduced dimensionality. In addition, the estimation of reaction properties under dynamic load and certain interaction effects will be addressed. You are going to and improve skills for visualising structural systems and validating the created models. You will learn how to use state-of-the-art design, analysis, and simulation methods as well as innovative technologies such as VR visualisation tools.

International expertise & on-site visits

We want to provide you with insights into current research projects and international development trends. Therefore, we have invited international experts from partner universities and recognised research institutions to share their knowledge with you during impulse lectures.
For an interesting glimpse into the engineering work on-site, the course furthermore includes excursions to building sites and/or leading companies.

The special character of this summer course is in the combination of basic disciplines of structural engineering with applied research projects in the areas of steel and reinforced concrete structures, earthquake engineering as well as informatics in civil engineering and their combination with mathematical methods or modern visualization tools. The broad spectrum of civil/structural engineering in the field of virtualization, visualization, simulation and validation is emphasized here.

The modular structure of the course allows to link projects into subtasks and to present complex relationships in subproblems. The topics of the projects include:

• Methods of non-destructive testing, tomography, signal processing and interpretation;
• Automated condition assessment by aerial image interpretation with in-depth learning;
• Use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in civil engineering;
• Numerical analyses of the stability of load-bearing structures;
• Assessment of the load-bearing behaviour of reinforced concrete frames with masonry infill under exceptional horizontal loads;
• Use of polymer-modified concretes for innovative refurbishment solutions.

The focus here is on structures under extreme conditions, which are increasingly coming to the fore due to current events and climatic consequences and to anticipate the future requirements.

The current state of the art in the above-mentioned topics will be presented in the lectures and supplemented by individual guest lectures of international experts. Special topics on the individual subject areas will be developed together with the participants within the framework of group project. Moreover, complex and technically challenging engineering questions will be answered through interdisciplinary cooperation among the participating members