Core Faculty
Jeffery R. Roesler
3D printed concrete (3DPC) materials and technologies have great potential for applications in building and transportation infrastructure construction to increase productivity, produce new efficient geometries, improve resilience, and reduce overall costs. 3DPC is a rapidly developing construction method with varying mortar mixtures, equipment, and practices without the necessary theoretical models and testing for key concrete rheology and material chemistries that enable development of 3DPC mixtures that are pumpable, extrudable, and buildable with any 3D printing equipment and process. Additionally, new reinforcement types and strategies are needed to meet safety and codes requirements while still accommodating its higher productive toolpathing. Current research efforts by Professor Roesler are focus on fundamental mixture constituents, proportioning, and admixtures of 3DPC that achieve rheological and hardened properties required for printability and is equipment and process neutral. Prof. Roesler is closely collaborating with a leading 3D printing contractor who’s able to test lab developed 3DPC mixtures in a full-scale gantry-style printer. Additionally, Dr. Roesler is collaborating with Professor Lopez-Pamies to test, characterize, and model nucleation and fracture of 3DPC materials to extract fundamental strength and fracture properties, which allows prediction of the structural capacity of common 3DPC structural geometries.
Website: https://cee.illinois.edu/directory/profile/jroesler
John S. Popovics
John Popovics’ general primary research interests are non-destructive evaluation, imaging, and sensing to assess the condition of infrastructure materials and structures; and understanding and monitoring infrastructure material degradation mechanisms. Regarding CMSI-specific work objectives, he is involved in infrastructure automation and advanced materials for infrastructure activities. He is working on developing innovation through infrastructure inspection systems using contactless scanning technologies (e.g., linear and non-linear ultrasound, infra-red thermography, pulsed microwave) enabled by robotic (e.g., air, water or land-based) platforms to collect large volumes of data efficiently and at spatially relevant scales. He is also interested in enhancing digital twin technology using regular updating by incorporating powerful new data interpretation protocols (e.g., Physics-Informed Neural Networks or PINNs) that extract model-relevant parameters (e.g., elastic constants) at desired spatial scale even with spatial sparse data sets, and furthermore by incorporating PINN prediction data in Reduced Order Modeling (ROM) structural models to provide computationally efficient structural condition models. He is actively involved in developing technology innovations for monitoring and characterizing additive manufactured (3-D printed) infrastructure components, particularly those composed of cement-based composite materials.
Oscar Lopez-Pamies
Prof. Lopez-Pamies is interested in the mechanics and physics of advanced materials with a particular emphasis on the development of theories to describe, explain, and predict their macroscopic behavior and failure directly in terms of their microscopic behavior. A specific area of interest that is at the heart of the mission of the Center for Manufacturing Smart Infrastructure is the mathematical modeling of the mechanics of deformation and fracture of 3D printed concrete, with the ultimate objective of guiding the optimal design of this emerging class of materials for use in the next generation of civil infrastructures.
Nishant Garg
Prof. Garg is an expert in the characterization and chemistry of construction materials. His work with traditional and emerging cements is aligned with novel binder formulations required for advanced manufacturing technologies including 3D printing and additive manufacturing of concrete infrastructure. His expertise in innovative experimental methods such as Raman imaging and computer vision will contribute to the automation and real-time quality control needed during manufacturing of smart infrastructure. Finally, he brings his breadth of experience gained by working with a variety of funding agencies including NSF, DOE, IDOT, and ARPA-E.
Website: https://cee.illinois.edu/directory/profile/nishantg
Shelly Zhang
Prof. Shelly Zhang’s research focuses on the design, optimization, simulation, and fabrication of multifunctional, sustainable, and intelligent engineering materials and structures. Her work integrates multi-physics topology optimization and advanced manufacturing techniques, such as additive manufacturing and 3D/4D printing, to develop next-generation materials and systems that are robust, adaptive, and sustainable, with applications across diverse spatial and functional scales—from the microstructure of materials to large-scale civil structures. Her research aims to bridge the gap between design optimization and practical fabrication, incorporating constraints in design framework to ensure precision, performance, and scalability for complex applications.
Prof. Zhang’s research includes programmable active materials with adaptive behaviors, enabling the creation of structures and robots that respond intelligently to environmental changes. Her work also advances the design of tough, damage-resilient materials and lightweight, multi-scale lattice metamaterials that enhance structural performance while reducing material usage. These systems leverage advanced manufacturing techniques to produce intricate designs, such as lightweight, multi-scale lattice metamaterials, soft active robotics, and damage-resilient structures. By harnessing the capabilities of additive manufacturing, she ensures that the designs not only achieve superior performance but are also scalable and economically viable for real-world applications.
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