Chen’s robotic bridge inspection system earns ASCE’s 2025 Pankow Award
Posted by Kimber Crull
Dr. Genda Chen stands beside a Rolla, Missouri, bridge.An unmanned aerial vehicle, an example of his BIRDS inventio,n hovers in the sky. Photo by Blaine Falkena/Missouri S&T.
Dr. Genda Chen has developed a robotic system to make bridge inspections faster, more comprehensive and safer. Chen’s invention, called the Bridge Inspection Robot Deployment System, or BIRDS, was awarded the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2025 Charles Pankow Award for Innovation. Chen is S&T’s Robert W. Abbett Distinguished Chair in Civil Engineering and director of the Center for Intelligent Infrastructure and the INSPIRE University Transportation Center.
Posted by Kimber Crull
