APRIL 5, 2023 — The deterioration of transportation infrastructure has become a growing issue for the nation, so a UTSA professor is researching transformative technologies that provide feasible solutions.
Samer Dessouky, a professor in UTSA’s Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, is part of a team that has been awarded a five-year contract totaling $10 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The funding will enable the team to create and support a Transportation Infrastructure Precast Innovation Center (TRANS-IPIC) that will improve the durability and extend the life of transportation infrastructure such as bridges, tunnels, railroads, pavements and ports. Five universities including UTSA will make up the consortium.
Emerging technologies to address infrastructure issues such as robotics and automated manufacturing face challenges including high costs. It is also difficult to incorporate delicate technologies into construction sites using conventional techniques where concrete is poured on-site.
The researchers will focus on the use of precast concrete, which is casted in a reusable mold and cured in a controlled environment and transported to a construction site and maneuvered into place.
This approach provides a controlled environment for engineers to incorporate new technologies that can quickly and significantly impact the durability and service life of infrastructure.
“Outcomes from this center will lead to advancing the field of building information modeling (BIM), automated manufacturing and repair of precast elements using new technologies like unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) drones and additive manufacturing (3D printing) of forms and concrete,” Dessouky said.
The researchers at the Transportation Infrastructure Precast Innovation Center, led by Bassem Andrawes at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, also aim to develop precast concrete that can conduct self-assessments using smart materials and remote sensing.
The new center will focus on the following three key research topic areas: (1) application of new materials and technologies, (2) construction methodologies and management, and (3) condition monitoring and remote sensing. The research that TRANS-IPIC conducts will play a significant role in supporting U.S. DOT Strategic Plan goals including Transformation, Climate & Sustainability, and Safety.
The group will also recommend long-term solutions by replacing existing infrastructure with more durable components that are built in a controlled environment and more efficiently to reduce cost, carbon emissions and increase quality and productivity.
As a Tier One research university and a Hispanic Serving Institution, UTSA is committed to tackling society’s grand challenges through world-class education and research programs. As an urban serving university, it is driving San Antonio’s knowledge economy, living out the notion that great universities need great cities and great cities need great universities.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
The San Antonio Military Health and Universities Research Forum (SURF) attracts presenters from around the nation to showcase the work of students, trainees, faculty and staff. The mission of the SURF conference is to “advance research collaborations among academic, military, and industry partners to improve health outcomes and readiness.”
TBDThe NHERI Summer Institute is a free event for early-career faculty, NHERI Graduate Student Council, K-12 educators from the San Antonio area, engineers, and researchers to learn more about the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) community.
La Villita Room (DBB 1.116,) Durango Building, Main CampusConnect with peer mentors and fellow first-gen and transfer students, and learn how you can join UTSA's First-Gen programs for the Fall 2023 semester.
Mentoring Hub (MS 2.02.02,) Multidisciplinary Studies Building, Main CampusBuilding the Dual Language Leader Symposium will provide a safe space for current and aspiring leaders to learn best practices, theories, policies, and systems that support a dual language bilingual education.
UTSA Southwest Campus, 300 Augusta St.Streaming of Spray the Word that will conclude with a discussion with San Antonio's Poet Laureate, Andrea "Vocab" Sanderson.
Aula Canaria (BVB 1.328,) Buena Vista Street Building, Downtown CampusCelebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at our very own street fair - Calle UTSA. We will have activities, performances, food, music, and pinatas to break open! All free to UTSA students, faculty, and staff.
Student Union Paseo, Main CampusThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
