Title:

Applications of Microwave Nondestructive Testing to Materials Characterization

Speaker:

Dr. Kristen M. Donnell

Affiliation:

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,Missouri University of Science and Technology

When:

Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 11:00:00 AM   Add to Calendar

Where:

Sustainable Education Building, Room 122

Host:

Kimberly Kurtis
kimberly.kurtis@ce.gatech.edu
404-385-0825

Abstract

Health monitoring of infrastructure (cement-based, composite structures, etc.) is an important ongoing issue in many environments. As such, materials characterization methods are becoming increasingly important for these applications. Microwave nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques have shown success as a materials characterization tool for structural health monitoring. This talk presents the history of microwave NDT as applied to materials characterization of cement-based materials. Topics of discussion include the ability of microwaves to determine physical properties of mortar/concrete, characterize chloride content and water permeation, and detect the presence of alkali-silica reaction (ASR) gel in cement-based materials.

Biography

Kristen M. Donnell received her B.S.E.E. degree in May 2001 from Colorado State University, her M.S.E.E degree in December 2003 from the University of Missouri-Rolla, and her Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) in December 2010. Her Ph.D. research was conducted at the Applied Microwave Nondestructive Testing Laboratory (amntl). She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Missouri S&T, and a member of the research team at the amntl. Her current research interests include modulated antennas/scatterers, materials characterization, embedding sensing, and terahertz technology. Dr. Donnell is a Senior Member of IEEE, and is also involved with the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society, where she served as an appointed member of the AdCom from 2007-2011. She is currently serving her first term as an at-large AdCom member. She served as the Chapter Chair Liaison from 2010-2012, and currently holds the positions of Vice President of the Membership Committee, and Distinguished Lecturer Program Chair. Prior to starting her Ph.D., she was employed by Raytheon Company in Tewksbury, MA, where she worked in both Systems and Electrical Engineering.