Usman Khan
Matthew Perras
Liam Butler
The CD3 facility project is shepherded by Liam Butler, Matthew Perras and Usman Khan from the Civil Engineering department through funding support from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation's (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) and will look at how climate conditions such as chilling snow, rain, intense humidity and heat can negatively influence the behaviour of infrastructure materials used in systems such as roads, bridges and tunnels.
The CD3 facility, located at York's Keele Campus, will allow for outdoor testing and monitoring of natural and infrastructure materials to evaluate their performance under realistic conditions, using advanced sensing and data analysis techniques. Using existing indoor lab facilities and artificial intelligence (AI) methods, data collected from outdoor experiments will be used to interpret the effects of climatic conditions on the tested materials and develop models to predict their future performance over a variety of time scales and climate change scenarios.
Experiments performed at this facility will also establish critical information about the behaviour and long-term performance of emerging infrastructure materials, allowing for proactive measures to be taken when developing the next generation of infrastructure.
It will also provide local and global industry partners with an innovative space to test infrastructure materials, while advancing the reach and reputation of the facility and School - collaboratively driving solutions to some of the most pressing infrastructure-related challenges in Canada and around the world. Furthermore, student training and recruitment at Lassonde will allow for experiential learning opportunities that promote skill-building and inclusion.
"There are very few facilities like this in the world," says Butler. "We want to leverage Lassonde's state-of-the-art High Bay Lab for testing structural materials but also have the capability for testing in an outdoor setting. This way we can understand how our infrastructure materials behave in realistic conditions and therefore, develop methods for improving their design."
Those interested in learning more about the CD3 Facility at York University or to explore future testing and research collaborations are encouraged to get in touch with Butler (liam.butler@lassonde.yorku.ca), Perras (mperras@yorku.ca) or Khan (usman.khan@lassonde.yorku.ca).
This story was originally featured in YFile, York University's community newsletter.
