SPAR Lab inauguration Oct. 31

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On October 30, 2014

A ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the System and Process Assessment Research (SPAR) Laboratory will held at 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31, in the Butler-Carlton Civil Engineering Hall atrium. All faculty and staff are invited to attend, tours will follow the event and light refreshments will be served.

The SPAR Lab is the result of interdisciplinary collaborations among civil engineering, electrical engineering, materials science and engineering, computer science, and chemistry faculty over the past 10 years and is led Dr. Genda Chen, the Robert W. Abbett Distinguished Chair in Civil Engineering at Missouri S&T. The SPAR Lab is capable of exploring both scientifically intriguing and pragmatically challenging solutions to aging infrastructure problems in the U.S. and supporting conceptualization, development, experimentation and implementation of key measurement technologies. The SPAR Lab takes a problem-driven, technology-based approach and pioneers the “lab-on-sensor” design concept of sensors to address assessment and maintenance issues faced today. It features the following specialized equipment:

  • A distributed optical fiber sensing system (up to 15.5 miles long) that was first made commercially available in 2011 and is currently one of a few dozen units in the world
  • A complete process of optical fiber sensor innovation, fabrication, calibration, analysis and application
  • A fully integrated loading and sensing calibration system
  • Multiple measurement devices (acoustic, electromagnetic, magnetic, magneto-inductive, optical, photonic, radar, etc.) for a complete assessment of structural behaviors, including cracking, yielding, buckling, fatigue, corrosion and scour. They are particularly applicable in bridges, roads, pipelines, offshore platforms and other large-scale civil infrastructure.

The SPAR Lab will be made available to students and faculty upon request.

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On October 30, 2014. Posted in Announcements