A Webinar: Metamaterials Break the Constraints of Traditional Civil Infrastructure

Civil infrastructure has long relied on traditional materials like concrete and steel, whose performance is largely fixed by composition. Mechanical metamaterials offer a new approach—engineering internal geometry to create structures that are lighter, stronger, and more resilient.

This webinar will explore how metamaterials can improve vibration control, seismic performance, and structural efficiency across buildings, transportation systems, and other infrastructure. It will also highlight emerging possibilities such as built-in sensing, energy harvesting, and AI-driven design that could transform the future of civil infrastructure.

Speaker:

Dr. Amir H. Alavi is an Associate Professor and B.P. America Faculty Fellow in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. His research focuses on novel engineered material systems, including mechanical metamaterials and nanogenerator composites, with an emphasis on additive manufacturing, computational modeling, and multifunctional design across nano to macro scales. Dr. Alavi is also Editor-in-Chief of npj Metamaterials, a Nature Portfolio journal. His work has earned major recognitions including the NSF CAREER Award, the NIH Trailblazer Award, and the ASME Rising Star of Mechanical Engineering Award. His work has been highlighted in local and national news outlets, including the Post-Gazette, NBC, ABC, CBS-affiliated television stations, and The New York Times. He received his PhD in Civil Engineering from Michigan State University.

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