The NASEM committee will aim to enhance the nation’s water resource infrastructure
Bora Gencturk, professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the USC Structures and Materials Research Laboratory (SMRL), is widely recognized for his research on the durability and extreme event resilience of reinforced concrete structures with an emphasis on the application of high-performance materials. As such, he has been appointed to a US Congress-mandated NASEM committee that will study the potential of innovative materials to address critical challenges facing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in navigation and flood risk management.
Professor Bora Gencturk
The committee will aim to enhance the nation’s water resource infrastructure. Key focus areas include improving cost-effectiveness, reliability and resilience against extreme environmental conditions. The committee will explore how innovative materials, such as composites and high-performance concrete, can support these goals.
Gencturk’s research at USC aligns closely with the committee’s objectives. He specifically studies the degradation of cementitious materials due to environmental aging and investigates the application of high-performance materials such as engineered cementitious composites and concretes. He combines his cementitious material degradation studies with structural-scale tests to investigate the impacts of material performance on the response of structures under extreme events.
Regarding his appointment, Gencturk stated, “I am honored to be selected as a member of the NASEM Committee on Furthering the Development and Use of Innovative Materials in Water Resources Infrastructure. The work of this committee will accelerate the transition of advances in material sciences into practical applications, thereby improving the safety and long-term performance of our water resources infrastructure. I hope to contribute to the committee’s work by providing input on high-performance cement-based materials — the focus of my research over the last 15 years.”
This study is expected to have far-reaching implications for the future of water resources infrastructure in the United States. The committee’s recommendations will inform USACE strategies for developing and deploying promising materials in new and existing infrastructure.
Published on August 18th, 2024
Last updated on August 22nd, 2024
