KAUST team's ultra-low-power sensor system extends battery life from days to years, winning first place at the 12th European Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring (EWSHM 2026).

Keeping wireless sensors running for years without frequent battery replacements remains a key challenge for large-scale structural health monitoring (SHM) of bridges, aircraft, pipelines and other critical infrastructure.

A multidisciplinary team from KAUST’s Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (CEMSE) Division and Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division has developed an ultra-low-power wireless sensing system that addresses this challenge. The work was awarded at the 12th European Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring (EWSHM 2026) Students & Young Professionals Challenge.

Their solution was to create an ultra-low-power wireless sensing system that redesigned how sensor nodes operate when idle. Rather than adding new energy sources or sensors, the team cut standby power consumption by a factor of 40. That single change extended projected battery life from less than three days to more than two years on a single battery — an estimated 270-fold increase in operating lifetime. The improvement makes long-term monitoring of critical infrastructure far more practical.

The innovative interdivisional solution was awarded at the Students & Young Professionals Challenge at the 12th European Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring (EWSHM 2026). Organized biennially, the EWSHM is Europe’s leading conference on SHM. The 12th EWSHM took place in Toulouse, France, from July 7 to 10, 2026.

"What made our presentation stand out was the depth of the evidence behind it,” Khalifa said. “We did not present a concept; we presented a component-by-component energy characterization of the platform. Because our characterization went deeper than any existing profile of the ALTO platform, our technology is already informing future hardware revisions. That credibility with the jury carried us to first place."

Khalifa is an electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. candidate in the Information Science Lab under Professor Tareq Al-Naffouri. He focuses on energy-efficient Internet of Things (IoT) systems for large-scale, off-grid monitoring.

Hami Seno and Mahmoud are postdoctoral fellows in Professor Gilles Lubineau's Mechanics of Composites for Energy and Mobility (MCEM) Laboratory, where their research spans digitizing composite structures for structural integrity monitoring and developing flexible, wireless sensing technologies.

For the winning project, Khalifa led the IoT architecture, firmware and power optimization, while Hami Seno and Mahmoud led the structural health monitoring system and mechanical design.

"This competition sits exactly at the heart of my Ph.D.,” Khalifa said. “Seeing several ideas I have been developing for years win first place at Europe’s premier SHM conference is strong validation that [my] research direction matters far beyond the lab."  

Read more at CEMSE news.