People
David Kosnik, Ph.D., P.E.
Senior Engineer
Focus
- Structural Engineering + Evaluation
Biography
Dr. Kosnik draws from his dual background in civil and computer engineering to develop innovative performance monitoring, evaluation, and risk management solutions for in-service infrastructure, machinery, and related systems. His experience includes field work and analysis on bridges, buildings, and other civil infrastructure, construction and demolition sites, and industrial and specialty structures. In addition, Dr. Kosnik is recognized internationally for applications of acoustic emission technology to diagnosis and evaluation of structures and mechanical systems.
Dr. Kosnik’s monitoring and data analysis strategies, along with custom software development, support critical management decisions and risk mitigation efforts through quantitative evaluation of system behavior and damage progression under variable loads and environmental conditions, including beyond-design-basis events. He has written peer-reviewed articles on structural health monitoring, acoustic emission testing, and computing in civil engineering, and regularly presents at national and international conferences. Dr. Kosnik is an FAA-certified commercial sUAS (“drone”) pilot and a PADI Advanced Open-Water Diver.
Education
Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, Northwestern University, 2012
M.S. in Civil Engineering, Northwestern University, 2009
B.S. in Computer Engineering, Northwestern University, 2003
Affiliations
- Fellow, Acoustic Emission Working Group
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- Transportation Research Board
Awards
- Joseph Kaiser Achievement Award, Acoustic Emission Working Group, 2019
- Fellow Award, Acoustic Emission Working Group, 2018
- Grassroots Conservation Leadership Award, Chicago Wilderness Habitat Project 2012
- Best Presentation by a Young Researcher, Int’l Conf. on Weigh-in-Motion, 2012
- STAR Leadership Award, Northwestern Univ. McCormick School of Engineering, 2010
- Student Paper Award, Acoustic Emission Working Group, 2008
- Student of the Year Award, US DOT University Transportation Centers program (received as an undergraduate; award typically given to graduate students), 2000
Featured Publications
Journal Articles
Kosnik, D. and Dowding, C. 2014. “Autonomous Monitoring of Dynamic Response of In-Service Structures for Decision Support.” Journal of Structural Engineering, 10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0001044 , D4014003.
Kosnik, D., Zhang, W., and Durango-Cohen, P. 2014. ”Application of Statistical Process Control for Structural Health Monitoring of a Historic Building.” Journal of Infrastructure Systems, 20(1), 05013002. April 25.
Conference Proceeding Papers
Kosnik, D. 2012. “A combined weigh-in-motion and structural health monitoring system on a Wisconsin-Michigan border bridge,”. in Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Weigh-in-Motion. Wiley-ISTE.
Kosnik, D., Hopwood, T., Corr, D. 2010. “Acoustic emission monitoring for assessment of steel bridge details,” in Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 30B. American Institute of Physics, Melville, New York.
Research Reports and White Papers
Kosnik, D., Ng, S. 2010. White Paper: Tiltmeter-Based Bridge Scour Monitoring. Infrastructure Technology Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. 10 pp.
Kosnik, D., Marron, D., Kotowsky, M., Corr, D., Prine, D. 2009. Noise localization via acoustic emission monitoring on a rolling leaf bascule bridge. Infrastructure Technology Institute technical report. Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. 19 pp.
Presentations
Kosnik, D. 2012. “Toward a state of good repair with remote structural health monitoring of a Chicago Transit Authority elevated train bridge,” at Transportation Research Board 91st annual meeting, session 736. Washington, DC. January 25.
Kosnik, D., Kotwosky, M. 2012. “Practical Communication, Control, and Data Archiving for Bridge Structural Health Monitoring,” at Transportation Research Board 91st annual meeting, Practical Aspects of Structural Health Monitoring of Transportation Structures workshop. Washington, DC. January 25.