The Upcoming Revolution in Construction

Speaker:Behrokh Khoshnevis
Epstein Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering
University of Southern CaliforniaThe nature of construction has remained intensely manual throughout recorded history. Unlike in manufacturing, the growth of automation in construction has been slow. A promising new automation approach is Contour Crafting (CC). Invented by Behrokh Khoshnevis, Contour Crafting is a mega-scale fabrication process aiming at automated construction of whole structures as well as subcomponents. The potential of CC became evident from investigations and experiments with materials and geometries. Using this process, a single house or a colony of houses may be constructed automatically in a single run with all plumbing and electrical utilities imbedded in each house; yet each could be a different design. The implication is especially profound for emergency shelter construction and low income housing. NASA is exploring possible application of CC in building on other planets. This new mode of construction will be one of the very few feasible approaches for building on planets such as Moon and Mars, which are being targeted for human colonization before the end of the century. CC has received international attention and may soon revolutionize the construction industry. For more information please visit http://www.ContourCrafting.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bio: Behrokh Khoshnevis is a professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering and is the Director of the Center for Rapid Automated Fabrication Technologies (CRAFT) and the Director of Manufacturing Engineering Program. He is active in CAD/CAM, robotics, and mechatronics related research and development projects that include the development of two novel Solid Free Form (Rapid Prototyping) processes called Contour Crafting and SIS, a technology for automated construction of housing structures, development of mechatronics systems for biomedical applications (e.g., restorative dentistry, rehabilitation engineering, and tactile sensing devices), autonomous mobile and modular robots for assembly applications on earth and in space, and automated equipment for oil (petroleum) and gas industries. He has several major inventions which have been either commercialized or are in the commercialization process. He has also been closely involved in several product development processes. His educational activity at USC includes the teaching of a graduate course on Invention and Technology Development and he routinely conducts lectures and seminars on the subject of invention. He is a senior member of the Society for Computer Simulation and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and is a Fellow member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers. Dr. Khoshnevis' inventions have received extensive worldwide publicity in acclaimed media such as New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Business Week, Der Spiegel, New Scientist, The Age and national and international television and radio networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, Discovery channels of US, Canada, Germany and BBC World

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 203

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes