We maximize the safe life of buildings and bridges based on data.
Our Services
Optimal maintenance planning through continuous monitoring
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We help structural engineers and maintenance planners get most out of existing structures, without compromising safety by:
Translating monitoring data to key structural metrics.
Calibrating engineering models based on data.
Continuous monitoring the structural integrity.
Data-driven projections for predictive maintenance planning.
Early warning alarms and rapid assessment after disasters
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Today more than ever, natural disasters compromise the safety of buildings and bridges. In the aftermath of earthquakes or floods, it can take years until proper inspections are done to ensure that the standing buildings are structurally sound and the users are safe.
We provide early warning alarms in case of earthquakes and rapid damage assessment in the aftermath of natural or human-caused disasters to minimize casualties and downtimes, when every second counts.
Enable the vibration design and control for challenging structures
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Modern architecture and novel sustainable materials such as timber challenge engineers to design filigrane structures that are prone to vibrations. Structural vibrations are difficult to predict and can cause significant problems in everyday operation, if not properly treated. We support engineers in reducing risks related to vibrations by:
designing and executing vibration test on real structures
supporting the development and calibration of models that predict vibrations.
quantifying and documenting the compliance with modern vibration standards.
Our Process
1. Monitoring Concept
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Based on your objectives, we design the optimal monitoring solution
Instrumentation type
Sensor placement
Measurement campaign
Key Monitoring metrics
2. Deployment
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We deploy the solution to your asset
Temporary installations and dynamic measurements
Permanent instrumentations for long-term monitoring applications
3. Assessment
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We provide you
Online monitoring of structural integrity.
Predictive maintenance tools
Engineering model calibration.
Portfolio monitoring platform.
Regular data-evaluation reports.
Safe data storage and management
Alarms in case of emergency.
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Based on our data, you can optimize maintenance decisions to maximize safety and serviceability and to minimize costs.
Meanwhile, we will keep monitoring your structure and make sure that things go according to plan!
4. Decisions
Our Recent Projects
Project Status: Ongoing
Maximize safe life of a 2 km bridge through continuous monitoring
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Visual inspections exposed cracks on the surface of the slab
Unknown effect cracks on stiffness.
Unable to decide whether the tunnel is in danger or not
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Permanent vibration monitoring of critical segments of the slab.
Engineer model calibration to estimate actual stiffness.
Continuous monitoring of stiffness degradation.
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Maximize safe life of the asset.
Minimize risk of unexpected downtimes / collapses
Project Status: Completed
Data-based seismic evaluation of a 60 years old residential building
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Seismic evaluation needed
Drawing not available
Operation cannot be suspended
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1-day measurements, during operation
Data driven calibration of engineering model.
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Reliable data-based seismic evaluation.
Retrofit measures optimization
Project Status: Completed
Reliable vibration design of a suspended staircase
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Unconventional suspended staircase
Construction in existing building
Over 2000 visitors per day
No formal framework to design a priori the vibration levels.
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1-day measurements, during construction.
Data driven calibration of engineering model.
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Realization of a transparent “flying” staircase, that does not vibrate excessively.
Are you ready to partner up for a pilot project?
Let us know about your current challenges and we will give you an overview of our solutions. A small but important step to build a strong partnership!
About us
The Entrepreneur
Dr. Panagiotis Martakis
Panagiotis is leading irmos and successfully brought it from research to market in less than one year. He has significant experience in structural evaluation of existing infrastructure which he acquired on the field as a structural engineer. He holds a PhD in AI for Structural Health Monitoring and a MSc in Structural and Geotechnical engineering from ETH Zurich.
The Innovator
Dr. Cyprien Hoelzl
Cyprien has developed and validated low-cost monitoring devices and highly efficient algorithms for monitoring railway infrastructure. He has over 4 years of corporate experience in the strategic railway asset management, condition based monitoring and infrastructure maintenance planning at SBB. He holds a PhD in Intelligent Monitoring Systems and a MSc in Structural and Geotechnical engineering from ETH Zurich.
The Engineer
Dr. Yves Reuland
Yves is a Structural Evaluation expert. He has led over 30 monitoring campaigns as a senior scientist at ETH and EPFL, counts over 40 cutting edge publications in this domain and is actively engaged in the development of monitoring guidelines in Switzerland. He holds a PhD in Structural Evaluation of existing buildings and a MSc in Structural engineering from EPFL Lausanne.
The Developer
Dr. Christos Lataniotis
Christos is a senior data scientist and full stack developer. He led the development of multiple SaaS products, including structural health monitoring applications, counting over 4000 active users worldwide. He holds a PhD in Data science and a MSc in Robotics from ETH Zurich.
Prof. Dr. Eleni Chatzi
Structural Health Monitoring expert
ETH Zurich
Prof. Dr. Anastasios Sextos
Earthquake engineering expert
University of Bristol, UK
Bruno Spicher
Infrastructure Risk-Management & Insurance expert
Risk Agent GmbH (Owner)
Pol Budmiger
Innosuisse startup coach
EWP (Executive Board), geo7 (Executive Board)
Dr. Clotaire Michel
Infrastructure Risk expert
Risk & Safety AG
Our mission is to bridge the gap between research and practice for more resilient, safe and sustainable infrastructure.
The problem
Over 50% of buildings and bridges in Europe have exceeded their design life span. Replacing all the obsolete infrastructures would be financially unbearable and environmentally disastrous as almost 40% of the global CO2 emissions are attributed to the construction industry.
We need a way to know which ‘expired’ infrastructure is structurally sound and which needs to be retrofitted. Medical doctors need to measure the vital signals of a patient to formulate a firm diagnosis. Similarly, maintenance planners need internal information of the structural condition, to provide reliable assessments and cost-efficient maintenance solutions. Hence, we need reliable tools to monitor the structural condition to maximise the safe life of infrastructure and determine necessary renovations.
Today, monitoring relies on visual inspections that are subjective, time consuming and inconclusive as they only evaluate the visible and accessible parts of structures.
This often leads to one of these problematic outcomes:
We do not properly retrofit buildings and bridges that are at risk, which can lead to the dire consequences seen in Genoa in 2018.
We replace buildings and bridges that are structurally sound and could stand much longer despite reaching their “expiration date”. It is financially costly and has a negative environmental impact.
Our solution: reliable monitoring of the structural condition of building and bridges
Building on 10 years of research at the Chair of Structural Mechanics and Monitoring at ETH and the PhD research of Dr. Panagiotis Martakis, we develop a solution that enables monitoring the global structural integrity, independent from the construction material and without prior knowledge about the type and location of damage. We measure vibrations with a limited number of low-cost sensors that we developed and that are attached to the monitored structure. Powered by cutting-edge AI tools, our intelligent monitoring platform translates vibrations of buildings and bridges due to wind or traffic into structural condition metrics. These metrics enable maintenance planners to better assess the structure and define the most efficient renovation measures.
Owners of large infrastructure portfolios benefit from our solution through maximising the operational life of their assets and reducing downtimes. Furthermore, we will minimize the environmental footprint of structures and improve their safety and resilience for society.
Work with us
You may find the currently open positions below.
What our Clients and Partners say about us
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