Meet our Scientific Advisory Board: Alex Wright
Alex Wright is Director of Technology at XAIS-PTS developing their road assessment measurement technologies.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
– I´m a former TRL’s Chief Technologist, focusing on road asset management, and area in which I have been working for over 25 years. I am a Physicist, and my first work in this area was in the development of automated systems to assess road condition using images, using very high cost dedicated image capture systems . This is a field that has moved on a long way, such that road authorities are now routinely using mobile phones to achieve the same outcomes. My work spans across many areas of asset management, covering local and national roads and Low/Middle Income Countries. My work also supports technical and strategic progress in the automation of construction.
What insights did you take away from the last meeting with the board?
– InfraMaint shows the challenges that exist, and that are common across the road and water industries. The project highlights the need to share our skills and experience, and the benefits this can bring. Whilst the project is exploring and addressing technical challenges, our discussions have also shown that asset management decisions, and the outcomes of them, span a wide range of stakeholders. Their engagement in the process will help to both improve decision making and achieve “buy-in”.
What are the main infrastructure challenges in your area, and in your country? And what do you see as the way forward?
– As for most areas of asset management, a key challenge is achieving more with less. We have an ageing infrastructure base, less money with which to maintain it, and challenges sustaining a base of engineers with the skills and experience to understand and provide the maintenance needs. Technology is providing solutions through wider sources of data, and decision support tools that can make better use of data. AI is offering great potential to support human asset management, but in highways there is still some way to go for this to become proficient.
Meet the other members of our Scientific Advisory Board here