Earlier this month, the Geotechnical and Unbound Materials Innovation Lab and the Advanced Infrastructure Materials and Manufacturing Lab at the CIR were visited by ERDC’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL). The visitors included the Branch Chief of the Geotechnical Division, Mr. Chris Price, Dr. Lucas Walshire (Geotechnical Engineer), Dr. Joe G. Tom (Research Civil Engineer), and Samantha Lucker (Research Geologist).

Research underway at the CIR, located at the Texas A&M-RELLIS campus, encompasses all aspects of infrastructure, from concrete and asphalt to plastics and polymer additives. Dr. Puppala’s research group specializes in geomechanics and geotechnical aspects such as pavement and materials stabilization for infrastructure support and unsaturated and expansive soils characterization, and is part of the CIR’s Geotechnical and Unbound Materials Innovation Lab.

The GSL is dedicated to creating innovative solutions to support the nation’s security, defense, public safety, and infrastructure. This ranges from running the world’s most powerful centrifuge dedicated to engineering and scientific research to creating asphalt that quickly repairs remote airfields to developing rapidly deployable protection systems that shield buildings from damage.

As part of their visit, the GSL team was invited to present a TEES Tech Talk, along with touring several geotechnical laboratories with the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Center for Infrastructure Renewal (CIR). These included Dr. Marcelo Sanchez and Dr. Jean-Louis Briaud’s labs.

Dr. Puppala thanked the ERDC GSL team for their visit and possible future collaborations between TEES and ERDC.