CASTLEMAN

Research Labs

CEE offers state-of-the-art research laboratory facilities focusing on cutting-edge technology based on sound theoretical concepts and practical, real-world applications. The laboratory infrastructure varies greatly based on research area; however, new technologies, theoretical foundation and practical applications to 21st century problems is a cornerstone to the focus of our research areas. Graduate students and faculty work closely together in CEE’s lab settings, often collaborating with researchers in other UConn academic departments, as well as outside institutions, small businesses and industries. Advanced undergraduate students often work in research labs on a variety of projects in collaboration with faculty and graduate students.

Environmental Engineering

Our Environmental Engineering Laboratory Facilities include: Hydraulics Lab, Environmental Physics Lab, Geophysics Lab, Contaminant Fate Lab, BioEnergy Production Lab and Water Quality Lab. The geo-group performs multidisciplinary research in the areas of geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering, as well as on geophysics and geomaterials. Our Laboratory Facilities include: Geoenvironmental Lab and Advanced Geotechnical Lab.

Environmental Monitoring Lab

The Environmental Monitoring Laboratory is located in room 114 of the F.L. Castleman building. The lab facilities are complete with a 4.5 m long hydraulics flume used in conjunction with a 12,000 gallon water storage tank, flow weir, Venturi apparatus, and an acoustic Doppler velocity sensor (ADV) and a rotometer. The hydraulics flume may be used for stream channel flow or engineered channels studies, as well as investigating flow through a simulated piping network.

Contacts:
Dr. Ross Bagtzoglou
Dr. Wei Zhang

Geoenvironmental Lab

The Geoenvironmental Laboratory is located in room 105 of the F.L. Castleman building. We have 500 ft2 all to ourselves, plus a 1,000 ft2space that houses all major equipment shared by the ENVE faculty. The GEO lab has everything you need to play: fume hood, DI water supply, oven, multi-meters for pH, Eh, DO, bromide and sulfide measurements, spectrophotometer, micronizing mill, rotary agitator, multi-channel column setup, hot plates, chemicals, etc.

Contact:
Dr. Maria Chrysochoou

Environmental Soil Physics Lab

The Environmental Soil Physics Laboratory is located in room 101 of the F.L. Castleman building.  The Environmental Soil Physics Lab is a soils testing lab with capabilities of testing a wide variety of soil samples with an array of triaxial testing equipment, resonant column testing, and ultrasonic testing module.

Contact:
Dr. Maria Chrysochoou

Structural Engineering and Applied Mechanics

The faculty has expertise in both structural engineering, involving the design of buildings, bridges and other structures, and applied mechanics, which forms the basis of all structural analysis and design. Our Laboratory Facilities include: Concrete Lab, Materials Testing, Advanced Hazards Lab, Structural Testing Lab, Fiber Optics Lab.

Structures Laboratory

A woman works inside the structures laboratoryLocated in room 115 of the Francis L. Castleman Building, the structures laboratory is a high bay laboratory equipped with an in-house crane and strong floor. The structures lab houses a variety of testing equipment including large-scale SATEC loading machines, MTS actuator for static loading tests, Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar, Shore-western’s shake table and actuators for hybrid simulation and vibration tests. Also various lab-scale experimental test-beds have been developed. These include a steel girder bridge, a Pratt truss bridge, two traffic poles, and a traffic signal regulator for validation of basic and advanced theory and technology.

Concrete Laboratory

A person working inside the Advanced Cementitious Materials & Composites (ACMC) LaboratoryThe Advanced Cementitious Materials & Composites (ACMC) Laboratory is located in the rooms 106, 108, and 110 of the Castleman building.  The laboratory allows for specimen casting, preparation & curing, chemical and physical material component analysis and fresh properties characterization. In addition to standardized static testing in compression, tension and bending, the ACMC research group has focused its research efforts on high strain rate and impact testing. A high speed data acquisition system, including a high speed camera, enables the investigation of material phenomena under high speed conditions. Advanced high resolution microscopy is performed at the Institute of Material Science at UConn.

Smart Structures and Applied Mechanics Laboratory

Laptop and other equipment inside the fiber optics sensor labThe Smart Structures and Applied Mechanics Lab is located in room 111 in the Castleman Building. The laboratory is dedicated to support research on the development of sensors for monitoring of civil and transportation infrastructures. It has a host of specialized instrumentation and equipment for fiber optic sensor research, including an optical table, pulse inverter, pulse generator, high speed photo detector, digital sampling oscilloscope, assortment of lenses, fiber posts and cleaver, and a dedicated data collection system including personal computer with Labview software.

 

Contact:
Dr. Ramesh Malla

Transportation Systems Lab

The Transportation Systems Laboratory is located in room 210 of the Francis L. Castleman building. The lab is currently used for teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, senior design collaborative space, research activities and partnering with academic and industry partners.  The laboratory houses several collaborative workstations, high-performance computational resources, wireless projection capability in both 210 and 210A, plotting capabilities and hi-tech classroom resources.