MSU College of Engineering Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty members Nizar Lajnef and Bill Jin have received funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) for the establishment of an Advanced Bridge Technology Clearinghouse.
The estimated total funding is $10 million for five years. The US DOT will award $5 million and the National Center for Infrastructure (NCIT) is expected to provide matching funds.
The Advanced Bridge Technology Clearinghouse will serve as a platform for advancing innovative transportation infrastructure techniques and materials for bridge technology.
Both Lajnef, a professor, and Jin, an assistant professor, have extensive experience researching ways to make better bridges.
In 2016, Lajnef scaled Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge to test sensor technology. It was part of a demonstration project with Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Southern California for the Federal Highway Administration.
Jin is the principal investigator of the Resilient, Intelligent, Sustainable & Energy efficient (RISE) Infrastructure Materials Lab at MSU.
The lab develops construction materials for next generation infrastructure that withstands deterioration related to extreme loading, environmental conditions and multi-hazards.
Written by Eric Lacy, lacyeric@msu.edu. See more at the Engineering Media and Public Relations page.