On 15 October 2021, Miriam Dodt received the Victor Rizkallah Foundation 2021 Award for her outstanding Master''s thesis entitled "Computational Aspects in likelihood-free Bayesian Updating with non-parametric inputs".
Determining model parameters on the basis of measurement data plays a decisive role in a large number of engineering applications, as it enables damage to a bridge, for example, to be detected at an early stage or high-quality risk analyses of existing buildings to be carried out. Based on Bayes'' theorem, a variety of different methods have been developed in the past, which are categorised under the term Bayesian Model Updating. Many of the methods are also able to select from various scenarios the one that best reflects the measurement data.
Among other things, this offers the possibility to detect contamination of the drinking water supply at an early stage and to determine the point and intensity of entry so that appropriate measures can be taken in good time.
Various methods of Bayesian model updating based on the Transitional Markov Chain Monte Carlo method by Ching and Chen (2007) or on methods of reliability calculation by Straub and Papaioannou (2015) with and without surrogate modelling were compared in the master''s thesis. The individual advantages and disadvantages of the methods were determined, as well as their areas of application and limitations, in order to provide an overview of the different methods that did not exist before and to create a basis for future calculation methods. Miriam Dodt developed the necessary correlations, implemented the different methods for three different applications and evaluated the results for numerous framework conditions.
The foundation, established in 1994, goes back to the initiative of university professor Dr.-Ing. Victor Rizkallah, who taught at Leibniz Universität Hannover from 1978 to 2001. The prize is awarded to young scientists at Leibniz Universität Hannover for special and practical scientific achievements in the fields of engineering, natural sciences and economics, mathematics and computer science, as well as in the fields of philosophy, history and social sciences (more information here).
