Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
21ST CENTURY Research Program Begins On Future Construction MIT has announced the creation of a new interdisciplinary research effort--the MIT Innovative Structures Program--focused on science-based technologies needed to build an entirely new generation of structures for the 21st century. The structures involved range from innovative housing and highly durable infrastructure facilities such as highways and bridges to super-tall buildings, mega-span bridges and extraterrestrial bases and habitats. "The central research focus over the next decades will be to find solutions to the complex and demanding problems facing the construction industry," said Professor Jerome Connor, head of the Department of Civil Engineering's Constructed Facilities Division, sponsor of the initiative. "The program will pursue research on the design of highly innovative structures," said Dr. Connor, who is a professor of civil engineering. "These are structures that use better and more durable materials and yet are cost-effective, improve productivity by being more amenable to automated construction, and mitigate environmental hazards during construction and while in service," he said. "Advances in structural materials hold the greatest potential for producing better housing, more durable infrastructure, taller buildings, longer bridges, and structures that can perform better in hostile environments," he added. In January the new program organized an international research workshop on "Innovative Structures: Materials, Design and Construction for the 21st Century," at MIT. More than 100 speakers and guests, representing the largest companies and most influential leaders in the materials, design consulting and construction industries from the United States, Japan and Switzerland, attended the two-day workshop. The workshop, sponsored by the Shimizu Corporation, one of the largest construction companies in Japan, defined the state-of-the-art and identified future areas of research related to innovations in structural materials, design concepts and construction technology. Speaking to the participants, MIT's President, Dr. Charles M. Vest, gave "special thanks to the Shimizu Corporation for sponsoring this workshop, which brings together practitioners and professors in what we hope to be a new kind of partnership. . . A partnership that will draw together research in many academic disciplines and on the talents and points of view of varied segments of the design and construction industry." President Vest added, "As you know, with the Innovative Structures Program, we at MIT are working on the development and application of science-based technologies that will be necessary for building in the 21st century. This can only be done if we can work with, and learn from, those leaders in the industry who work in the every-day world of engineering practice--those who wrestle with. . . problems related to materials, design, and construction." President Vest recalled that MIT's charter, received in 1861, has a mandate to aid "the advancement, development and practical application of science in connection with arts, agriculture, manufactures, and commerce."