Laboratory for Active Materials and Smart Structures

The research focus of LAMSS is on developing innovative sensor and enabling technologies for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) and structural health monitoring (SHM) of aerospace, mechanical, infrastructure, and civil structures. LAMSS conducts research in the multidisciplinary fields of piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS), fiber Bragg grating sensors (FBG), scanning laser Doppler vibrometry (SLDV), smart adaptive and multi-functional materials, emerging nano-sensors, energy harvesting, and mechatronics. The research strength of LAMSS covers the fundamentals of active sensor interaction with engineering structures, analytical and numerical modeling of structural sensing and sensor data fusion and processing methods. The long-term vision is to achieve the integration of mechanical, electronics, and information technology into smart active “skins” and “coating” that will provide on-demand bulletins of structural health and predicted future performance. Combining comprehensive research in active sensor, SHM, and NDE, LAMSS teams up with government and industrial partners to provide state-of-the-art solutions that will meet the requirement of military and civilian applications.