InTrans / Jul 20, 2015
Three engineers with InTrans affiliations were issued patents in 2014
Three researchers affiliated with Iowa State University’s Institute for Transportation (InTrans) were among the 30 ISU faculty who earned United States patents for ISU in 2014, according to a report recently released by the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association.
Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (CCEE) faculty David White, Chris Williams, and Sri Sritharan helped ISU rank 70th in the world last year among universities granted U.S. utility patents.
White’s patent, titled Polymer Mortar Composite Pipe Material and Manufacturing Method, is for a pipe material that has several beneficial properties over conventional concrete and clay pipes. In addition, the material consists of recycled plastic and waste filler materials. White is the Richard L. Handy Professor in CCEE and a geotechnical engineer at InTrans.
Williams’ patent, Asphalt Materials Containing Bio-Oil and Methods for Production Thereof, relates to the use of bio-oil in asphalt materials including road pavement and roof shingles. He is the Gerald and Audrey Olson Professor in Civil Engineering and is a materials engineer at InTrans.
Sritharan’s patent is titled Wind Turbine Tower System. It is for new design concepts for tall wind turbine towers that use high-strength and ultra-high performance concretes and modular construction. Sritharan is a professor of CCEE, the holder of the Wilson Engineering Professorship, and is an affiliate of InTrans.