Behrokh Khoshnevis
The council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science has elected six USC faculty members to the rank of AAAS fellow for 2020.
Selected by the council each year, AAAS members whose “efforts on behalf of the advancement of science, or its applications, are scientifically or socially distinguished” are elected to become AAAS fellows through a judicious process.
AAAS fellows are comprised of scientists, engineers and innovators who have been honored for their achievements across various fields, including research, technology, industry and government, teaching, excellence in communication and interpreting science to the public. The newly elected AAAS fellows will be honored at the Fellows Forum in conjunction with the AAAS annual meeting in February, which will be held virtually.
Behrokh Khoshnevis
As the Louise L. Dunn Endowed Professorship in Engineering and Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Astronautics, and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, USC Viterbi’s Behrokh “Berok” Khoshnevis focuses on the advancement of construction scale 3D-printing technology, which he conceived, developed and demonstrated at USC for over two decades. The technology, called contour crafting, has pioneered a revolution in the field of construction, he said. It uses cementitious materials for 3D printing of full-scale buildings and infrastructure elements.
Over his career, he has invented three major 3D-printing technologies. The other two are selective inhibition sintering (SIS), which allows for the fabrication of objects with a variety of polymers and metals at a lower cost than competing technologies, and selective separation shaping (SSS) for the fabrication of objects with metals that have a high melting point as well as fabrication of ceramic objects. SIS has been licensed to Hewlett-Packard, while SSS was conceived in the course of a NASA-funded project for the construction of planetary landing pads.
“In particular, the most recent technology — contour crafting — can help build custom-designed structures much faster and at a lower cost than current methods. This includes helping support dignified and affordable housing for low-income populations and comfortable and livable emergency shelters for long-term use,” Khoshnevis said. He added that the technology will reduce harmful waste and emissions while also helping eliminate accidents and injuries in an extremely hazardous field. It can also help support construction in space.
Looking forward, Khoshnevis is keen to pursue an idea he calls “telefacturing,” which is remote manufacturing through telerobotics, virtual reality and haptics instruments and with extensive use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, Internet of Things and high-speed/high-band 5G networks.
“The approach will protect the workers in epidemic conditions, such as COVID-19, as well as from occupational hazards and accidents,” he said.
Read the full article including all the USC Viterbi 2020 AAAS fellows at USC News.
Published on December 1st, 2020
Last updated on December 1st, 2020
