Dr. Su Taylor, with Queen’s University Belfast and Director of Sengenia Ltd., recently praised Micron Optics’ optical sensing equipment after an installation at the Thompson’s dry dock gates from where the Titanic was launched in 1912.

“As someone with an already keen interest in anything related to the Titanic and its story, I was very excited to be able to be part of this stage of the preservation of its history. I was also delighted to have the opportunity to highlight yet further the advantages that there are to using fibre sensors over conventional strain sensing techniques. We opted for the os3155 sensors with built in temperature compensation as we knew that temperature fluctuations would be an issue for our results. Through the use of an sm125-500 unit and the ENLIGHT software, we have been able to demonstrate just how easy it is to be able to ‘plug and play’ the Micron Optics sensors and electronics,” commented Dr. Taylor.

This application is especially timely since this year commemorates the 100th anniversary of the launch and subsequent sinking of the vessel. Stay tuned for more updates by following the Micron Optics sensing blog.

Professor Tripp Shenton, Chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Delaware, is a visionary when it comes to life-long monitoring of important civil structures. The Indian River Bridge that parallels Delware’s Atlantic beaches is an example of his vision being realized.

A new video details how strain, temperature, displacement, acceleration and other critical sensors became an integral part of this 2km long structure – and why Micron Optics’ fiber optic sensor technology was selected as means to deliver the needed measurements.

The University of Delaware, DelDOT, and Micron Optics’ integrators Cleveland Electric Labs and Chandler Monitoring Systems were among the key players that made the installation a success. If you’re considering SHM options for a civil structure project, or have an interest in fiber Bragg grating sensors for another application, this video is well worth a look.

Indian River Bridge on YouTube

6/26/2012 ETA – updated link to latest version of video

If you are responsible for the care and safety of large, complex structures, you should know about the International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure. ISHMII is a non-profit organization of leading structural health monitoring institutions and individuals with a global representation of members from the applied and theoretical arenas. The Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring, case studies, conferences and workshops, articles, and access to a community of SHM experts are all enabled through ISHMII membership, which is available at both individual and corporate rates.

I particularly enjoy the monthly Membership Notes publication that highlights important trends and accomplishments in SHM. Twice a year, ISHMII publishes an e-magazine, The Monitor, with technical articles solicited from members around the world, who are experts with immense hands-on experience in CSHM. Farhad Ansari, Professor and Head of the Department of Civil and Materials Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is ISHMII’s president. He makes a case for membership this way: “The International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure is in the forefront of influential professional societies. Members are helping to assure that civil structural health monitoring will be one of the fast growing engineering disciplines of the 21st century. We come together to share our knowledge and build or maintain structures that are enduring, safe and economical.”

Find out more at www.ishmii.org or contact Nancy Cohen at NancyC@ishmii.org to receive Membership Notes and The Monitor or to learn more about membership.

Micron Optics, Inc., the leading provider of innovative equipment for fiber optic sensing, today announces the major new release of Micron Optics’ ENLIGHT Sensing Analysis Software version 1.5. ENLIGHT software combines the traditional features of conventional sensor software with the specific needs of the optical sensor system to create a single software tool for the optical sensor system integrator. This new version enhances existing features and adds new functionality, principally in the areas of data management, archiving, analysis, and access for users of Micron Optics optical sensing interrogators and sensors. Many of these new functions are organized in the new Archive tab and are built upon the strong foundation that users have been accustomed to with previous versions of ENLIGHT.

To find out more or for a free download, to Micron Optics sensing software page.