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Researchers Awarded for Construction Studies08-08-18 | Education

Researchers Awarded for Construction Studies
Western Michigan University's Construction Research

Western Michigan University's Georgeau Construction Research Center recently awarded continuation grants to principal investigators at WMU researching construction industry technology and innovations.

The following three professors, and their subsequent research projects, have been awarded:

Dr. Upul Attanayake, associate professor of civil and construction engineering, and Dr. William Liou, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, received $50,000 to further Attanayake's recent evaluation of roof systems and materials for improving structural resilience in damaging winds, such as tornados and hurricanes. This research has identified the need to develop numerical simulation expertise to assess the performance of roofing and structural systems. The continuation project includes designing a mobile outdoor experiment facility to evaluate sensors and validate numerical simulation models.

Dr. William Liou has built a predictive tool to simulate incidents of fire and smoke events and predict the location and likely growth of fire and smoke in smart buildings. The second phase of his research involves developing two datasets for predicting fire spread in smart buildings and then using those datasets to design an artificial intelligence-based algorithm for big data analytics for fire safety in these buildings.

Dr. Xiaoyun Shao, associate professor of civil and construction engineering, has been studying an innovative application of construction adhesives to enhance the resilience of wood-frame buildings. With her latest grant, Shao will investigate additional novel approaches to dramatically enhance the resilience of wood-frame buildings using construction adhesives to improve strength and stiffness. Damage to those structures from earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural hazards leads to tremendous economic loss and emotional distress in North America, where wood-frame construction is predominantly used.

This article can be read in full HERE.

Article Credit: Western Michigan University