nima Virtual Conference 2023 / Speakers / Dr Jennifer Schooling OBE
Dr Jennifer Schooling OBE
Director of the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and
Construction (CSIC), University of Cambridge
Jennifer is Director of the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC), at the University of Cambridge. CSIC is an Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC) with the specific aim to transform infrastructure and construction through smarter information.
She works with colleagues in industry and academia to demonstrate how better data and information from a range of sensing systems can be used to improve our understanding of infrastructure, leading to better design, construction, and asset management practices, and to improve our understanding of how our infrastructure serves our communities.
This has included projects in structural health monitoring, whole-life value-based asset management and development of digital twins to support decision making. She has contributed to a range of industry guidance, policy documents and wider industry publications to raise awareness of the need for digitalisation.
Jennifer was founding Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Smart Infrastructure and Construction Proceedings journal (ICE). She has served on BSI and ISO committees developing standards for digitalisation in the built environment and is a member of the UK Infrastructure Client Group’s Digital Transformation Task group (DTTG). Jennifer was lead author for the Carbon Reduction Code for the Built Environment. In 2019 Jennifer was awarded the OBE and the ICE President’s Medal for services to engineering and digital construction.
Prior to joining the Centre Jennifer worked for Arup, the global engineering consultancy, for six years. There she led the firm’s Research Business, delivering research strategy development to aid clients in targeting their investments to improve their productivity and competitiveness. During her work managing complex interdisciplinary research projects for clients, she developed a strong understanding of the demands placed on our infrastructure and the challenges of extending the design life of existing assets – of which more is being demanded all the time.
Jennifer was also Arup’s Research Relationships Manager for the UK, working with staff and academic partners to develop strong collaborative relationships and managing the firm’s research investments.
Before joining Arup, Jennifer spent seven years working for Edwards Vacuum (then BOC Edwards) as a manager for New Product Introductions, leading a cross-disciplinary team to design and bring into production high speed turbo-molecular pumps for the semiconductor and scientific industries across the world.
Jennifer has a PhD in Materials Science from the University of Cambridge.
