About Epsimon Ltd
Epsimon Ltd was founded in 2016 by researchers from the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) at the University of Cambridge to provide specialist consultancy services related to instrumentation and monitoring applications for civil infrastructure. Epsimon is an industry partner of CSIC with which it closely collaborates to constantly develop and apply cutting edge sensing technology for civil infrastructure monitoring.
DIRECTORS
Dr Cedric Kechavarzi
FHAE
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Cedric Kechavarzi is a soil physicist and instrumentation specialist. He has a wealth of practical experience with fibre optic sensing systems and has led the deployment of such systems on a wide range of infrastructure and construction projects. He has contributed significantly to the uptake of fibre optic sensing in the civil engineering industry through the development of specifications, performance standards and methodologies to ensure consistency in operational functionality and system longevity.
His continued interest in fibre optic sensors is to further increase their performance while working with Epsimon’s partners to drive down the cost of ownership and make fibre the de-facto choice for infrastructure sensing. He is lead author of the book: Distributed fibre optic strain sensing for monitoring civil infrastructure - A Practical Guide, published by ICE publishing.
Cedric has an MSc in Soil and Water Engineering from Cranfield University and a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Cambridge, funded under a Marie Curie Fellowship.
Dr Nicky de Battista
.A&CE, MASCE, GMICE
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Nicky de Battista is a licenced architect and civil engineer with several years of experience in structural design and construction. In 2009, he specialised in structural health monitoring and since then has been involved in a diverse range of infrastructure monitoring projects, both in his capacity as a researcher as well as a specialist consultant.
Nicky has designed, installed and operated monitoring systems in a number of high profile projects, including test pile foundations for the Shell Centre in London, sprayed concrete tunnel lining at Crossrail's Liverpool Street Station, and an axial shortening monitoring system for the 50-storey Principal Tower in London.
Nicky has an MSc in structural engineering and a PhD in structural health monitoring from the University of Sheffield, UK. In 2014 he joined the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) at the University of Cambridge, where he has been carrying out applied research in state of the art monitoring technologies, with particular emphasis on fibre optic sensing technology.
Professor Lord Robert Mair
CBE, FRS, FICE, FREng
Professor Lord Mair is an Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of Research at Cambridge University, where until recently he was Head of Civil Engineering. He was President of the Institution of Civil Engineers 2017-18 and is currently Chairman of the Science Advisory Council of the Department for Transport. Prior to his appointment to a Chair at Cambridge in 1998, he worked in industry for 27 years.
In 1983 he founded the Geotechnical Consulting Group, an international consulting company based in London. Professor Lord Mair has advised on numerous major engineering projects world-wide and is an international research leader in geotechnical engineering.
His principal research interests lie in the development of innovative engineering solutions for the design and construction of underground space in complex ground conditions, particularly in urban environments. He is also focused on developing new technologies for streamlining new construction and for condition assessment and monitoring of ageing infrastructure, with a particular focus on the application of fibre optic sensing technology and wireless sensor networks.
He leads a major research group at Cambridge, and is Principal Investigator for the Centre on Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC), funded by EPSRC, Innovate UK and industry.
Professor Lord Mair was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1992 and of the Royal Society in 2007. He was appointed an independent cross-bencher in the House of Lords in 2015 and is a member of the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology.
ASSOCIATE CONSULTANTS
Dr Miguel Bravo-Haro
Miguel Bravo-Haro is a Civil Engineer with expertise in performance-based earthquake engineering (PBEE) and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). He has investigated the inelastic response of steel structures subjected to seismic loading and he has contributed to the understanding of the effects of earthquake duration on simple and complex structural systems. Additionally, he has developed low-cost sensors based on open hardware for the monitoring of vibrations and accelerations on buildings. He is passionate about coding and data visualisation, and he is a statistics aficionado.
He is currently a Research Associate in infrastructure monitoring and modelling at the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC), where he works combining data analysis, software development, and data visualisation for real-time SHM. Before his appointment at the University of Cambridge, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Imperial College London.
Miguel obtained his diploma in civil engineering, as well as his MSc in Earthquake Engineering from the University of Chile. Before completing his PhD at Imperial College London on the seismic inelastic response of steel structures, he worked as a consultant structural engineer in Chile.
Dr Xiaomin Xu
Xiaomin Xu’s research field includes innovative infrastructure monitoring and performance analysis, novel sensing technologies for earthworks and computational geomechanics through multi-scale numerical modelling.
He has extensive experience and in fibre optic sensing for geotechnical applications and has led several projects on performance monitoring of bored concrete piles and tubular steel piles under test or during operation as well as sheet piles and D-walls during excavations. He is currently a Research Associate at the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC).
Xiaomin Xu received his PhD degree from the Department of Geotechnical Engineering, Zhejiang University, China in 2012. He has been a Chartered Geotechnical Engineer in China since 2010.
Dr Haris Alexakis
Haris Alexakis has interest and expertise in smart and resilient infrastructure, combining multi-sensing information, structural analysis and advanced statistical modelling. He has developed a remote, self-sustaining, structural health monitoring (SHM) system with acoustic emission sensors, fibre optic strain and temperature sensors and high-sensitivity accelerometers for detecting deterioration in ageing railway bridges.
Haris has over a decade of experience as a consultant structural engineer, leading the restoration and seismic reinforcement of several historic structures. He is a Lecturer in Civil Engineering at Aston University and a Visiting Academic Fellow at the University of Cambridge. Before his current appointment, he was a Research Associate in infrastructure monitoring and modelling at the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) and adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida, USA.
Haris holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Civil and Structural Engineering, a Master’s degree in Seismic Design of Structures, and was awarded a PhD in Limit State Analysis and Earthquake Resistance of Masonry Structures from the University of Patras, Greece.
Dr Nikolaos Tziavos
MIET
Nikolaos Tziavos is a mechanical engineer with expertise in large scale structural testing and monitoring by means of acoustic emission. He specialises in offshore wind structures and structural connections and has participated in several research and consulting projects, including the evaluation of in-situ installation methods for offshore foundations in the North Sea.
Nikolaos has also worked as a lead researcher in underwater acoustics for offshore surveying applications at the University of Bath, UK. In 2019 he joined the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the application of acoustic emission and fibre optic sensing for new and ageing infrastructure.
Nikolaos holds an MSc in Renewable Energy systems from the University of Surrey, UK and a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Birmingham, UK.
Vladimir Vilde
Vladimir Vilde is a Researcher at the Laing O'Rourke Centre at Cambridge University. His research interests lie in novel solutions for infrastructure monitoring using digital twin and computer vision techniques. His focus is on robust data processing algorithms for improved information and visualization, such as point cloud and image analysis for automatic 3D reconstruction.
He completed a Msc in Physics at the University of Namur (Belgium) where he worked on a low-cost optical system for the monitoring of precious manuscripts and then went on to do a PhD at the University College London in material science for art conservation. During his doctoral research, he developed more accessible imaging methodologies for the monitoring of painting collections managed by English Heritage, as well as working on more comprehensive monitoring and data analysis of environmental conditions in historical houses.
INDUSTRIAL & ACADEMIC PARTNERS
Epsimon collaborates with a number of trusted industrial and academic partners to deliver a complete instrumentation, monitoring and consultancy service that addresses the client’s needs.
Epsimon has strong and long established ties with the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) at the University of Cambridge, which benefits from unrivalled fibre optic sensing expertise and testing facilities.
Epsimon collaborates closely with and the Geotechnical Consulting Group LLP (GCG), widely recognised as one of the world's leading independent geotechnical consultants, which provides innovative geotechnical solutions for demanding engineering problems using state of the art research and developments in the understanding of soils and rock.
Epsimon partners with R L Geotechnical Ltd., a well established and respected provider of specialist manufacturing and installation services in instrumentation and monitoring in the UK.
Epsimon partners with Fibrenex, an experienced network cabling company with highly skilled telecom engineers and expertise in the installation and maintenance of fibre optic cabling systems.