Public Summary Mahsa Barghi Mehmandari

I am honored to submit my Engineering Doctorate thesis titled “Design of an SBE assembler for bridge-lock combinations”, for consideration for the KIVI Engineering Doctorate Award. 

This project was carried out in collaboration between Eindhoven University of Technology and Rijkswaterstaat. We developed a Synthesis-Based Engineering (SBE) assembler capable of automatically generating required automata-based models to generate supervisory controllers for bridge-lock combinations.

A key contribution of this work lies in addressing a crucial gap in the Landelijke Bruggen en Sluizen standaard (LBS), the national bridge-lock standard. The existing LBS defines only a limited and incomplete set of behaviors for bridge-lock combinations. During this project, we took the initiative to define, formalize, and validate new requirements for these combined infrastructural objects. These newly defined requirements have been verified in collaboration with RWS engineers and can serve as a foundation for updating the LBS to include bridge-lock combination behaviors. This not only extends the technical outcomes of the project but also ensures its long-term impact on the standardization and maintainability of Dutch infrastructure.

The novelty of this work lies in its automation and modular integration. By combining existing assemblers for bridges and locks into a coordinated, extensible framework, the project significantly reduces engineering effort, enhances standardization, and enables future scalability to more complex configurations. The outcomes have been validated through simulations, user acceptance testing with RWS engineers, and successful application to various configuration cases and two real-world study cases, including Sluis Sint Andries and HoutribSluizen.

Beyond its technical innovation, this work embodies the mission of KIVI by bridging academic rigor and practical engineering impact. It delivers a concrete, operational tool relevant to national infrastructure projects, demonstrating the value of structured engineering design in large-scale, safety-critical systems.

I believe this thesis represents the essence of the Engineering Doctorate: applying advanced engineering principles to real-world challenges with measurable industrial and societal impact. I would be honored if the committee considers this contribution worthy of recognition through the KIVI Engineering Doctorate Award.