Tracking Treasures: Engineering Innovation for Mobile Artworks (AJ 2026-2027)

Year theme

In the academic year 2026–2027, the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at Ghent University presents a new edition of its Excellence Programme Innovation for Society, centered around a unique and socially relevant theme: how engineering can support the care and protection of cultural heritage in motion.

This year’s program explores three interconnected challenges faced by museums and heritage institutions: tracking the movement of artworks, monitoring their environmental conditions during transport and storage, and annotating damage and reporting on their condition.

1. Tracking Artworks in Motion: Smart Logistics for Cultural Heritage
   Museums, archives, and cultural institutions constantly move objects between photography studios, conservation labs, storage areas, and exhibition spaces. Artworks also travel nationally and internationally for exhibitions, loans, and research. Yet, tracking their exact location at any given time remains a major challenge. Most institutions still rely on manual data entry in spreadsheets or databases — a process that is time-consuming, error-prone, and poorly integrated into daily workflows.
      
   Commercial tracking systems are often too expensive, not tailored to the complexity of heritage institutions, or require invasive tagging methods that are unsuitable for fragile objects. There is a clear need for affordable, non-invasive, and context-sensitive tracking solutions that can be seamlessly integrated into existing workflows. Students will explore how engineering — from IoT and sensor networks to data systems and user interfaces — can help build smarter, more resilient logistics for cultural heritage.
2. Monitoring Environmental Conditions: Engineering for Preservation
   Beyond location tracking, the environmental conditions that artworks experience during transport and storage are equally critical. Fluctuations in temperature, humidity, light, and vibration can cause irreversible damage to sensitive materials such as paintings, paper, or textiles. In some cases, poor storage conditions can even pose safety risks — for example, nitrate-based photographic negatives are highly flammable and can spontaneously combust.
      
   This part of the program challenges students to develop smart monitoring systems that can detect and respond to environmental risks in real time. Solutions must be accurate, energy-efficient, and minimally invasive, while also being usable in environments with limited connectivity or infrastructure. Students will consider both the technical and organizational aspects of implementation, working closely with professionals from the field.
3. Damage annotation and condition reporting
   In addition to tracking and monitoring, damage annotation and condition reporting is also a critical aspect of cultural heritage care. This includes automating parts of the condition reporting processes before and after transport, as well as détectant and comparing changes such as crack patterns or lacunas. These efforts can be enhanced through collaboration with different cultural institutions and by integrating different damage identification technologies.

Societal Relevance
This year’s theme aligns with several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It contributes to SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) by promoting the development of smart, affordable technologies tailored to heritage institutions. It supports SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) through efforts to safeguard cultural heritage, and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) by enabling better conservation practices that reduce waste and damage. By engaging engineering students in interdisciplinary collaboration, the program empowers them to design innovative solutions that protect cultural heritage and promote sustainability.

Collaboration and Real-World Impact
Students will work in interdisciplinary teams and collaborate with professionals from leading institutions such as the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA), the Fashion Museum (MoMu), and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (RMFAB). Through workshops, field visits, and prototyping, they will gain hands-on experience and contribute to real-world solutions that bridge technology, culture, and society.

Coordinators

Department of Telecommunications and Information Processing (EA07): prof. Aleksandra Pizurica & prof. Nicolas Nadisic (content coordinators year theme)

Department of Electronics and Information Systems (EA06) prof. Dieter De Witte (EA06) & prof. Pieter Colpaert (EA06) (supporting coordinators)

Department of Information Technology (INTEC - EA05): prof. Femke De Backere & prof. Femke Ongenae (general coordinators of the course)