Weigh2x Tech

The Institute for Urban Resilience (i-UR) is a newly established innovation institution dedicated to advancing scientific research and technology development that address urban resilience challenges, with a focus on water and transportation infrastructures and systems. The technical members of i-UR bring decades of deep expertise in both research and practice. The i-UR's core capacity lies in developing cutting-edge sensing technologies, precision instruments, and AI-powered data-driven solutions to tackle complex challenges in urban water and transportation systems. Its mission emphasizes identifying vulnerabilities and hazard impacts, strengthening adaptive capacity, and implementing transformative system approaches and technologies through collaborations with governments, communities, and the private sector.

The founding leadership team for initializing the i-UR includes Jeff Yang, Ph.D., P.E., former Senior Physical Scientist and Acting Associate R&D Division Director at the U.S. EPA; Heng Wei, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, Professor of Intelligent Transportation Systems and Engineering at the University of Cincinnati (UC); Regan Murray, Ph.D., former R&D Division Director at the U.S. EPA;   Jing (Amy) Tong, M.S., former Industry Solution Executive at Siebel and Oracle; and Ding Liu, senior scientist and product development expert in sensing precision instruments and data processing. The i-UR is building partnerships with government agencies, industry leaders, and academic institutions worldwide to transform urban landscapes into safer, more sustainable, and more resilient environments for future generations.

Supported by UC and i-UR under the leadership of Dr. Heng Wei, the Weigh2X research team is composed of internationally recognized scholars and experts from UC, the former EPA R&D division, and the industrial sector. The team brings strong expertise in precision instrumentation, strain-based mechanics, sensing signal processing, and data fusion analytics for advancing smart water and transportation management. This unique collaboration integrates theoretical knowledge, product commercialization, and practical applications. Building on patented innovations that embed edge computing and IoT capabilities into precision instruments, the team is developing integrated solutions spanning research, consulting, engineering, and implementation.

While the initial focus was on supporting heavy-duty industries such as construction machinery, mining operations, and waste management, the scope of our team work has expanded to transportation freight and mobility systems – particularly addressing longstanding challenges such as the lack of large-scale roadway health monitoring coverage and chronic infrastructure disrepair, while further advancing intelligent infrastructure and environmental technologies. Current efforts focus on smart truck-mounted mobile sensing systems with specialized capabilities such as real-time cargo weight measurement, pavement damage and road flooding detection, truck safety risk forecasting under varying load conditions, and safety vulnerability assessment for sharp curves, wet roads, and bridges.