President’s New Year Message

Dear Members, Colleagues and Friends:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The beginning of every year brings with it renewal—an opportunity to build on past progress, reaffirm our commitments, and look ahead with purpose and optimism. The year 2026 will be remembered as the definitive new beginning for our community, marked by the transition from the highly successful ISHMII to the even more impactful Society for Civil Structural Health Monitoring (SCSHM). As we enter this next chapter, we will continue to build on the excellence of our membership—researchers, practitioners, and innovators who understand that structural health monitoring is not merely a collection of technologies, but a mindset that embraces sensing, data-driven decision-making, intelligent systems, and continuous learning. At the same time, we will further elevate the role of SHM in the stewardship of existing infrastructure while leveraging it to enable better design, construction, and performance of new systems.

The year ahead offers significant opportunities to work collaboratively with our global community to:

• Advance innovative SHM science and practice by harnessing artificial intelligence, digital twins, advanced sensing, and data analytics to transform how we understand and manage structural behavior;
• Strengthen global connections, particularly in regions facing the greatest infrastructure risks and opportunities;
• Champion real-world impact by embedding SHM as an integral component of design, construction, maintenance, and emergency response;
• Influence the profession toward recognizing SHM not only as a tool for scientific inspection, but as a driver for improved design philosophies and standards;
• Support the next generation of SHM professionals through expanded education, training, mentorship, and leadership pathways; and
• Amplify the visibility and influence of our work, reinforcing that safer infrastructure is not only an engineering imperative, but a societal necessity.

Already, there are a number of exciting activities in which your engagement is invited. The 10th International Workshop on Civil Structural Health Monitoring (CSHM 10) will be held in Berlin, Germany, from June 9–11, 2026, with a focused theme on Physics-Informed Structural Health Monitoring. Building on the highly successful webinar series of 2025, we will continue to deliver outstanding webinars that highlight cutting-edge research, practical applications, and emerging challenges. We invite you to contact us with ideas and requests for these webinars, ensuring that we not only highlight excellence but also provide opportunities for learning and discussing the state-of-the-art.

I invite each of you to actively engage with your society—share your insights, showcase your innovations, mentor students and young professionals, participate in conferences, symposia, and working groups, and help SCSHM lead the way toward a smarter, safer, and more resilient world. I encourage each of you to spread the word about our mission, and your excellence, engaging across the profession and inviting others to join in our goals through membership in SCSHM. Together, we will ensure that structural health monitoring remains at the heart of a global effort to safeguard the systems that connect, protect, and empower society.

With best wishes for the New Year,

Vistasp M. Karbhari
President, Society for Civil Structural Health Monitoring (SCSHM)