MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. – Promising research into monitoring structural soundness of buildings and bridges has earned Babak Moaveni, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering in the Tufts School of Engineering, an early career award from the National Science Foundation.
With the $400,000 grant, Moaveni's goal is to develop new and improved structural health monitoring (SHM) methods for assessing and estimating the remaining useful life of public structures
Expanding and improving SHM is considered a priority, given the overall condition and performance of the nation's roads, bridges, water systems and other vital structures. A 2009 "report card" by the American Society of Civil Engineers described the United States' infrastructure as failing. The ASCE estimated that it would cost $2.2 trillion for repair and revitalization of the infrastructure.
Information obtained from SHM allows governments to make funding decisions related to maintenance and rehabilitation of infrastructure.
The grant will also support outreach to K-12 students through a LEGO-based educational program.
About Tufts School of Engineering
Located on Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus, the School of Engineering offers a rigorous engineering education in a unique environment that blends the intellectual and technological resources of a world-class research university with the strengths of a top-ranked liberal arts college. Close partnerships with Tufts' excellent undergraduate, graduate and professional schools, coupled with a long tradition of collaboration, provide a strong platform for interdisciplinary education and scholarship. The School of Engineering's mission is to educate engineers committed to the innovative and ethical application of science and technology in addressing the most pressing societal needs, to develop and nurture twenty-first century leadership qualities in its students, faculty, and alumni, and to create and disseminate transformational new knowledge and technologies that further the well-being and sustainability of society in such cross-cutting areas as human health, environmental sustainability, alternative energy, and the human-technology interface.