Dr. Francis Aldrine A. Uy, Dean of the School of Civil, Environmental, and Geological Engineering (CEGE) of Mapúa University, was recognized in the 2021 National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) for the successful commercialization of the Universal Structural Health Evaluation and Recording System (USHER), a ground-breaking technology that detects vulnerability of structures versus earthquakes.
Dr. Uy received the Gregorio Y. Zara Medal last November 22, an annual award given to one innovator whose technology has been successfully commercialized.
USHER is an economical and hassle-free Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) System founded by Dr. Uy and was launched for commercialization in 2019. It determines the structural integrity of buildings and other infrastructure, aimed at saving many people’s lives in an event of a big earthquake.
The technology has the ability to regularly monitor structure or building integrity remotely through its 24/7 web portal. After it identifies the strength of an earthquake, it has the capability to send warning signals to concerned government agencies and building officials. USHER also allows building owners and developers to cost-effectively comply with the set guidelines and implementing rules on earthquake recording instrumentation for buildings.
USHER began as an idea of Dr. Uy, who was exposed to civil systems at University of California, Berkeley, during the time when instrumentation of buildings became the talk of the town in the civil engineering communities. He realized that structural health monitoring is not an option but a necessity. Dr. Uy brought the project proposal for USHER to Department of Science and Technology (DOST), which was later approved and granted funding. It then expanded through various collaborations with institutions like the DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Department of Public Works and Highways, and Mapúa’s very own School of Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Engineering, forming an all-Filipino team of topnotch engineers and experts.
Since its development, USHER has gained several local and international recognitions for its promising features and contributions to ushering a safer and more resilient world.