An interdisciplinary team of OU researchers recently won a Major Research Instrumentation award from the National Science Foundation and received a $589,262 grant. This project is jointly funded by the NSF’s Major Research Instrumentation Program, Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, and Engineering for Civil Infrastructure Program in the division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation.
The CMMI division supports the integration of research and education and funds potentially transformative research projects. The CMMI works to advance the future of manufacturing, the design of innovative materials and building technologies, infrastructure resilience and sustainability and systems for decision-making robotics and controls.
The research team includes Professors of Architecture Andrés Cavieres as co-principal investigator and Dan Butko as senior personnel. Joining Cavieres and Butko is Principal Investigator P. Scott Harvey, Co-Principal Investigators Yingtao Liu, Shreya Vemuganti and Jeffrey Volz, and Senior Personnel Amy Cerato, Royce Floyd and Jonathan Hils.
This grant will enable the team to acquire a real-time hybrid simulation testing system for cyber-physical research that replicates realistic loading conditions. This new technology will support the development of resilient infrastructure by improving researchers’ understanding of the complex behavior of building materials and structural components when affected by natural hazards.
According to Harvey, “The new instrument will transform the way the multidisciplinary MRI team conducts research, and the structural materials and components validated using the instrument will help to mitigate economic, property and human losses caused by natural hazards, improving the well-being of individuals in society.”
Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to recognize Petya Stefanoff, who is pursuing her doctorate in the Planning, Design & Construction (PDC) program, has been appointed the new role of Director of Community Development for the City of Shawnee, Oklahoma. She joined the city in 2024.
Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design and director of the Institute for Quality Communities, has received national recognition for her book Model Schools in the Model City. The book has been named a finalist for the 2026 the PROSE Awards.
Gibbs College of Architecture Regional + City Planning Professor of Practice Vanessa Morrison and Associate Professor of Architecture Deborah Richards’ Open Design Collective received top honors at the inaugural BlackSpace Urbanist Collective Studio KIN Pitch Night Competition, held last month in Brooklyn, New York City.
