Upcoming Webinar
Upcoming Webinar
The Transportation Infrastructure Precast Innovation Center (TRANS-IPIC) is proud to host Research Highlights Webinars each month to showcase the exciting research conducted by teams from five universities as we seek to address the U.S.'s transportation infrastructure durability challenges by focusing on Precast Concrete (PC)-related technologies.
Register for TRANS-IPIC next Research Highlights Webinar below!
Friday, 07/25/2025
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (CST)
Topic 1:
Cooling Precast Rigid Pavement using Organic PCM for potential Urban Heat Island Mitigation
Abstract
The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect refers to higher temperatures in urban areas due to human development. Precast concrete pavement with improved mix designs is an emerging technology for addressing UHI. The study investigates the use of precast concrete pavement to create cooler rigid pavement using various cooling mechanisms, by modifying the thermal properties of pavement materials.
Project PI
Samer Dessouky
Dr. Samer Dessouky is a professor and assistant director of the school of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Management at University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). He has more than 20 years of research experience in transportation sustainability, pavement materials and traffic safety. Dr. Dessouky has led and participated in state and federal sponsored research projects. He has more than 120 technical publications in top journals. He is a Fellow of the ASCE and ITE and was an active member of the TRB AMS20 committee. Dr. Dessouky is a professional engineer in Ohio and Texas.
Topic 2:
Evaluating Concrete Bridges for Shear using Machine Learning
Abstract
Bridge owners face difficult decisions on whether a bridge should be posted, repaired or replaced when prestressed concrete members develop shear cracks during service. This presentation will introduce a data driven method and a web-based tool that relate crack widths measured during inspections to applied load and stiffness of concrete bridge members to prioritize repair decisions.
Project PI
Pinar Okumus
Dr. Okumus is an associate professor at the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at University at Buffalo. Her research focuses on infrastructure resiliency and longevity. She works on reinforced and prestressed concrete structures that can be rapidly built, repaired, replaced, and reoccupied after extreme loading or environmental deterioration over their life cycle.