Reviewed by Mila PereraSep 14 2022
The National Science Foundation has awarded WaveLogix, a nascent technology company, a six-month, $255,996 SBIR Phase I grant to further its technology. WaveLogix is commercializing an Internet of Things sensing system for infrastructure monitoring.
Luna Lu is founder and chief science officer of WaveLogix. Lu also is the ACPA Professor at the Lyles School of Civil Engineering with a courtesy appointment in materials engineering, and founding director of the Center for Intelligent Infrastructure at Purdue University. Image Credit: Purdue University photo/John Underwood
Breaking numerous field-cured concrete samples is the industry standard for measuring concrete strength, but the company’s Rebel brand of sensors outperforms it. Destructive concrete strength testing has several downsides, such as inaccurate results, problems with quality assurance, user variability, material waste, and high costs.
Without the need for harmful concrete testing or the creation of a maturity curve, the Rebel sensor system directly evaluates the strength of concrete that is already in situ. The sensors are also unaffected by the concrete mix design, allowing for mix changes during a project.
WaveLogix was founded by Luna Lu, who also serves as its chief science officer. According to Lu, the NSF grant will hasten WaveLogix’s time to market.
The funding will help the company accelerate the product development phase, particularly the IoT platform for data processing and sharing.
Luna Lu, Founder and Chief Science Officer, WaveLogix
WaveLogix will carry out rebel sensor system beta testing in 2023.
Lu added, “After the beta testing, we start the manufacturing of sensors, with the focused initial market on roads, bridges, and other major infrastructure projects.”
Moreover, Lu holds a courtesy appointment in materials engineering and serves as the ACPA Professor at the Lyles School of Civil Engineering. She is also the founding director of the Center for Intelligent Infrastructure at Purdue University. Lu disclosed her invention to the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization, and WaveLogix is now commercializing it.
American Society of Civil Engineers awarded the Rebel brand of concrete strength sensors a 2021 GameChanger. The American Society of Civil Engineers awarded the scientific paper the 2022 Alfred Noble Prize as well.