Dr. Xiong (Bill) Yu knows that his civil engineering students have their work cut out for them — enormous tracts of aging infrastructure in our area, such as bridges and pipes, will soon need to be repaired or replaced. We will not only need engineers to fix these issues, but safer and more accurate ways of diagnosing them: many current fieldwork methods are tedious, dangerous, and subjective. Dr. Yu believes that in the not-too-distant future, a blend of burgeoning technologies — machine learning, AI, smart connected systems, and extended reality — will make quicker, more reliable, and safer assessments, and wanted to create a platform to help his students prepare. 

In the app developed during his fellowship (HoloBridge Inspector, or HoBI), users can call up a 3D model of real or simulated infrastructure (e.g., a bridge.) The model can be scaled and moved as needed and then students mark it up highlighting areas of structural concern using holographic tools.