On Tuesday, October 13, and concurrent with the 89th Annual Transportation Short Course, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Materials and Pavements and Construction, Geotechnical and Structures Divisions hosted an open house of four transportation research laboratories. Facilities participating in the open house included TTI’s McNew Lab, High-Bay Structural and Materials Testing Lab, the Sensors Lab, and the Advanced Characterization of Infrastructure Materials (ACIM) Lab.
The McNew Lab helps researchers provide solutions to transportation problems using pavement materials such as aggregates, soils and bases, asphalt cements and emulsions, bituminous and concrete mixtures, and recycled materials. The High Bay and Sensors Labs enable full-scale tests on structural systems using different types of loads that simulate real-world conditions. The ACIM Lab focuses on material microstructure and image analysis to help understand damage mechanisms and develop solutions for infrastructure materials.
More than 50 visitors from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) freely toured the facilities and interacted with TTI researchers and student employees, who showcased the breadth and depth of TTI’s capabilities.
Roberto Rodriguez, engineering assistant with TxDOT’s Beaumont District, complimented his TTI hosts and their capabilities. “Your friendliness, patience, and knowledge were something I was expecting from Texas A&M and I was not disappointed. Seeing all the work that goes on as well as the dedication from both you and your staff make it evident that TTI will continue to push forward in developing new and better techniques to solve issues we see today.”
For more information about each of the TTI facilities, please contact the following individuals:
McNew Lab
Dave Newcomb, Ph.D., P.E.Division Head and Senior Research Engineer
Materials and Pavements
ph. (979) 458-2301 · cell (979) 676-0471
d-newcomb@tamu.edu
High-Bay Structural & Materials Testing Lab
Peter Keating, Ph.D., P.E.Associate Professor
Director, C.E. High-Bay Structural & Materials Testing Laboratory
ph. (979) 845-9969
keating@civil.tamu.edu
Sensors Lab
Stefan Hurlebaus, Ph.D.Research Engineer
ph. (979) 845-9570
shurlebaus@civil.tamu.edu
Advanced Characterization of Infrastructure Materials Lab
Dallas Little, Ph.D., P.E.Snead Chair Professor and Regents Professor
Associate Director, International Center for Aggregate Research
ph. (979) 845-9847
d-little@tamu.edu
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