{"id":20395,"date":"2026-03-11T07:38:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T11:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/?p=20395"},"modified":"2026-03-11T08:11:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T12:11:29","slug":"concrete-sensor-manufacturer-wavelogix-receives-500k-grant-from-national-science-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/Q1\/concrete-sensor-manufacturer-wavelogix-receives-500k-grant-from-national-science-foundation","title":{"rendered":"Concrete sensor manufacturer Wavelogix receives $500K grant from National Science Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. \u2014 Wavelogix<\/a>, a manufacturer of novel, patented concrete strength sensors invented at Purdue University\u2019s College of Engineering<\/a>, has received a $500,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase IIB grant from the National Science Foundation\u2019s (NSF) Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grant builds upon an SBIR Phase II grant awarded in 2024<\/a>. The Phase IIB project is scheduled to end in December 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luna Lu<\/a>, Wavelogix\u2019s founder, invented the Rebel concrete strength sensing system. The technology enables faster, data-driven decisions through real-time concrete strength monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith this continued support from the NSF Phase IIB funding, we will refine and scale the Rebel concrete strength sensing system for broader industry adoption,\u201d she said. \u201cThis funding is a critical step toward transforming how the construction industry monitors and validates concrete performance, moving from reactive testing to proactive, real-time intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lu is vice president of Purdue University\u2019s Office of Industry Partnerships<\/a> and the Indiana ACPA Professor in Concrete Paving and Materials Science in the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Rebel concrete strength sensor from Wavelogix communicates to engineers via a smartphone app exactly when pavement is strong enough to handle heavy traffic. (Wavelogix photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Wavelogix CEO Joe Turek said, \u201cThis investment from the NSF enables us to focus on the engineering and manufacturing improvements that will make the Rebel system ready for widespread commercial deployment. We\u2019re at an inflection point where the technology can start delivering real value at scale for the construction industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lu disclosed the sensor system to the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization<\/a>, which applied for the patent to protect the intellectual property and licensed it to Wavelogix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Wavelogix<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wavelogix<\/a> is a Purdue University spinout that has developed a proprietary Internet of Things sensing and data analytics platform for infrastructure quality testing. Its award-winning sensing technology provides real-time measurements of in-place concrete strength, allowing construction engineers to make accurate, data-driven decisions about materials selection, scheduling, budgets and resource allocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization<\/a> operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university\u2019s academic activities through commercializing, licensing and protecting Purdue intellectual property. In fiscal year 2025, the office reported 161 deals executed with 269 technologies licensed, 479 invention disclosures received, and 267 U.S. and international patents received. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Contact otcip@prf.org<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Purdue University<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 106,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 57,000 at our main campus locations in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue\u2019s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap \u2014 including its integrated, comprehensive Indianapolis urban expansion; the Mitch Daniels School of Business; Purdue Computes; and the One Health initiative \u2014 at https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/president\/strategic-initiatives<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n Media contacts:<\/strong> Steve Martin, sgmartin@prf.org<\/a>, and Suzanne Florek, suzanne.f@wavelogix.tech<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. \u2014 Wavelogix, a manufacturer of novel, patented concrete strength sensors invented at Purdue University\u2019s College of Engineering, has received a $500,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase IIB grant from the National Science Foundation\u2019s (NSF) Directorate for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":20393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"department":[],"source":[29],"purdue_today_topic":[],"coauthors":[44],"class_list":["post-20395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-excellence","source-purdue-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20395"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20400,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20395\/revisions\/20400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20395"},{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=20395"},{"taxonomy":"source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/source?post=20395"},{"taxonomy":"purdue_today_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/purdue_today_topic?post=20395"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=20395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}