{"id":9973,"date":"2024-10-02T09:12:30","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T13:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/?p=9973"},"modified":"2024-10-03T14:16:28","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T18:16:28","slug":"concrete-sensor-manufacturer-wavelogix-receives-1m-grant-from-national-science-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/Q4\/concrete-sensor-manufacturer-wavelogix-receives-1m-grant-from-national-science-foundation","title":{"rendered":"Concrete sensor manufacturer Wavelogix receives $1M 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 $999,910 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant from the National Science Foundation\u2019s Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships<\/a> (TIP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grant covers a two-year project scheduled to end Aug. 31, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luna Lu<\/a>, Purdue\u2019s Reilly Professor in the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering and 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

\u201cBuilt on the success of a Phase I SBIR project, this TIP-funded project will develop a complete solution for scaling up production,\u201d Lu said. \u201cA systematic hardware production and quality control procedure will be established, and key parameters for a reproducible production line will be determined.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concurrently, Wavelogix is developing a scalable cloud back end capable of serving tens of thousands of data loggers while ensuring data security and low latency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe machine learning algorithm is being refined to provide fast and accurate strength inferences,\u201d Lu said. \u201cA full-scale production and stress testing of the sensor system in real-life conditions are also being conducted to evaluate the robustness and user experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A
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

Lu said the Wavelogix REBEL concrete strength sensors have the potential to transform the construction industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShort term, this technology will allow accelerated project timelines and eliminate costly quality control errors,\u201d she said. \u201cLong term, it will leverage the power of big data to enable data-driven decision-making and optimization of concrete mix design, which will drastically reduce carbon footprint, eliminate wastes and lead to more durable concrete infrastructures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lu is already thinking about how future breakthroughs will impact the company\u2019s technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy leveraging AI and big data analysis of the vast amount of structural health data collected, the project paves the way for the development of AI-powered solutions for predictive maintenance and improved construction practices,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022 Wavelogix received a $255,996 Phase I SBIR grant<\/a> from the National Science Foundation to develop its technology. The company received a $3 million investment from Rhapsody Venture Partners<\/a> in June.<\/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

Wavelogix milestones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wavelogix\u2019s sensor system has garnered national industry recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials\u2019 Committee on Materials and Pavements approved it as a new national standard<\/a> for estimating when newly poured concrete is mature enough to withstand heavy loads such as those from trucks and other vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April, Wavelogix received a 2024 Edison Awards<\/a> gold honor for critical human infrastructure. The sensor was also on Time\u2019s Best Inventions of 2023<\/a> list, and Fast Company magazine named this invention one of its Next Big Things in Tech for 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American Society of Civil Engineers\u2019 2021 Report Card for America\u2019s Infrastructure<\/a> selected the technology as one of its \u201cGamechangers\u201d for the year.<\/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 the 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 2024, the office reported 145 deals finalized with 224 technologies signed, 466 invention disclosures received, and 290 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 institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue\u2019s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap \u2014 including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, 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","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 $999,910 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant from the National Science Foundation\u2019s Directorate for Technology,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":9933,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[],"department":[],"source":[35],"purdue_today_topic":[],"coauthors":[44],"class_list":["post-9973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prf","source-purdue-research-foundation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9973","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=9973"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10023,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9973\/revisions\/10023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9973"},{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=9973"},{"taxonomy":"source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/source?post=9973"},{"taxonomy":"purdue_today_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/purdue_today_topic?post=9973"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}