The Sychterz (SICK-tesh) Modular Adaptive Resilient Transformable Infrastructure lab combines structural engineering with architecture, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering to study large-scale controllable structures. We build and investigate these structural systems that can undergo large and small shape changes to address the challenges of our ever-evolving environment.
As a land-grant institution, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a responsibility to acknowledge the historical context in which it exists. We are currently on the lands of the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Peankashaw, Wea, Miami, Mascoutin, Odawa, Sauk, Mesquaki, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Chickasaw Nations. It is necessary for us to acknowledge these Native Nations and for us to work with them as we move forward as an institution with Native peoples at the core of our efforts.
News
March 17, 2025 – Ann presents a keynote at SPIE Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation 2025 in Vancouver, Canada.
February 28, 2025 – Congrats to Elizabeth for winning her attendance to the NASCC Steel Conference 2025 in Louisville, Kentucky
February 6, 2025 – Congrats to Angshuman for his successful PhD thesis exam!
December 12, 2024 – Congrats to Angshuman on his article in the Journal Structures “Comparison of computational and experimental dynamic behavior of a meter-scale deployable origami pill bug structure”.
September 20, 2024 – Arka Prabhata Reksowardojo will join SMARTI lab as a postdoc in Winter 2025 with his proposal “Semi-active and active control of vibrations via shape morphing” Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) 547150077.
August 15, 2024 – Zhixing Wang joins SMARTI lab for his PhD, welcome!
August 3, 2024 – Congrats to Elizabeth Capretta for winning the American Institute for Steel Construction (AISC) – Associated Steel Erectors (ASE) of Chicago scholarship!
July 15, 2024 – Ann gives talk for IntCDC Constructive Conversations at the Univesity of Stuttgart, Germany.
July 10-18, 2024 – Ann facilitates ASCE Remtoe ExCEEd Teaching Workshop as an Assistant Mentor.
July 2, 2024 – Congrats to David Forster and Sagnik Paul on their article in Journal of Applied Mechanics “Structural Assessment of Architected Material Using the Redundancy Matrix and Experimental Testing”.
June 6, 2024 – Ann receives the Structural Engineering Association of Illinois (SEAOI) Outstanding Young Engineer Award 2024.
June 4, 2024 – Ann gives talk at the European Community for Computational Methods in Applied Sciences (ECCOMAS) in Lisbon.
June 3, 2024 – August 12, 2024 – Ann Sychterz receives the Visiting Professorship by IntCDC at the University of Stuttgart, Germany for research collaborations with fellow experts in adaptive structures.
May 29, 2024 – Ann Sychterz, Sagnik Paul, Angshuman Baruah, and Elizabeth Capretta present SMARTI lab research at the ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute conference (EMI/PMC) in Chicago, Illinois.
March 28, 2024 – Congrats to Sagnik on his article in Journal of Engineering Mechanics “Multilayered Rondomized Architected Material under Tensile Loading for a Tensegrity Structure”.
March 21, 2024 – Congrats to SEGSO past-president Angshuman Baruah for winning ASCE SEI Student Chapter of the year. Award was presented at SEIcon 2024 in San Antonio, TX.
March 8, 2024 – Ann Sychterz, P.Eng receives her Professional Engineering license from Ontario.
March 1, 2024 – Congrats to Sagnik Paul for winning the Chester P. Siess Award Award for conference travel to an outstanding graduate student in CEE.
May 31, 2023 – Ann is promoted from associate member (A.M.ASCE) to member (M.ASCE).
May 22, 2023 – Ann gives talk at US Army Corps of Engineers ERDC Vicksburg MS “Adaptive and deployable lightweight infrastructure”.
May 15, 2023 – SMARTI lab welcomes visiting PhD researcher, David Forster from the University of Stuttgart for the summer!
May 13, 2023 – Congratulations on your graduation from CEE masters, Kaylee Tucker and Juan Torres. We’ll miss you and look forward to the great things you’ll do!
May 5, 2023 – SMARTI lab attends (Ann moderates and Angshuman presents) at the ASCE Structures Congress 2023 in New Orleans, LA.
March 27, 2023 – Heather Gathman and Kaylee Tucker interviewed by University of Waterloo Women in Engineering
February 23, 2023 – Center for Infrastructure Resilience in Cities as Livable Environments (CIRCLE) wins continuation of funding, Ann Sychterz as co-PI in Thrust Integration.
February 21, 2023 – Congratulations to Angshuman Baruah for winning the Chester P. Siess Award for conference travel to an outstanding graduate student in CEE
February 17, 2023 – Ann gives talk at University of Texas at Austin “Adaptive and deployable lightweight infrastructure”.
February 13, 2023 – Congratulations to Angshuman Baruah for winning the Jacob Karol Fellowship.
February 6, 2023 – Ann Sychterz is selected as an Assistant Mentor for the ASCE ExCEEd Teaching Workshop at Colorado State, Fort Collins for summer 2023.
February 3, 2023 – Congrats to Heather Gathman on her first-author paper from her master’s research “Design of a full-scale aluminum plate tensegrity structure” in the Journal of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures
January 23, 2023 – Ann Sychterz wins ASCE SEI Futures Fund Young Professional Tier 1 Scholarship to Structures Congress May 3-6 in New Orleans.
November 4, 2022 – Ann gives talk at Tufts University “Adaptive and deployable lightweight infrastructure”.
October 20, 2022 – Ann Sychterz wins funding from Illinois Department of Transportation with Lesley Sneed and Charlie Catlett “Monitoring Bridge Health and Optimizing Inspections”.
October 11, 2022 – Ann gives talk at University of Stuttgart “Adaptive building and geotechnical infrastructure systems”.
July 16, 2022 – Ann completes the American Society of Civil Engineers ExCEEd Teaching Workshop at West Point, NY.
July 12, 2022 – Ann gives talk at SOM “Adaptive and deployable lightweight infrastructure”.
July 6, 2022 – Ann presents at the 5th International Conference on Structures & Architecture in Aalborg, Denmark.
June 2, 2022 – Congrats Kaylee on winning conference fellowship for 1) Pave the Way Scholarship for the Women Architects Festival and 2) gradSWE Illinois for the we22 conference!
May 31, 2022 – SMARTI lab attends ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute conference 2022 in Baltimore, MD good luck Anshuman and Sagnik!
May 25, 2022 – SMARTI lab attends Canadian Society for Civil Engineers annual conference 2022 in Whistler, BC good luck Heather and Kaylee!
May 3, 2022 – Angshuman has been elected president of the UIUC Structural Engineering Graduate Student Organization. Congrats!
May 1, 2022 – Ann wins NSF Engineering Civil Infrastructure #2207296 “Collaborative Research: Analyzing Deployable Torque-Activated Structural Mechanisms for Enhanced Tension Capacity of Geosystems” as lead-PI with Joe Tom (UIUC) and Ryan Beemer (UMassD)
April 28, 2022 – Ann gives talk at Johns Hopkins University “Adaptive and deployable lightweight infrastructure”.
April 14, 2022 – Ann gives talk at University of Waterloo “Path-planning for large-scale shape-changing civil structures”
March 11, 2022 – Congratulations to Angshuman Baruah on his first PhD-lead article “Assessment and Comparison of Cable-Actuation of Pill Bug Inspired Adaptive Origami Structure Using Computer Vision and Dynamic Relaxation”
November 3, 2021 – Ann, Isabella, Joe, and Ryan have journal paper published in Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering “Nonlinear soil-structure behavior of a deployable and compliant anchor system”
August 30, 2021 – Ann (lead-PI) wins Discovery Partners Institute grant with Dr. Hajj, Dr. Sneed, and Dr. Shaffer.
August 25 – SMARTI lab attends the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) Symposium 2020/2021 with papers by Heather, Angshuman, and Sagnik
August 20 – SMARTI lab welcomes new MS students Kaylee Tucker, Matt Grendzinski, and Juan Torres!
August 4, 2021 – Ann wins the Gies College of Business ORMIR faculty fellow award
July 1, 2021 – Ann (co-PI) wins Illinois Center of Transportation grant with Dr. Baser and Dr. Tom to study Measurement While Drilling (MWD)
June 8, 2021 – Ann (lead-PI) wins the Academy of Excellence for Engineering Education Strategic Instructional Innovations Program (SIIP) with Dr. Uihlein, Dr. Henschen, and Dr. Garg
May 26, 2021 – Ann presents work at EMI/PMC 2021 conference on pill bug-shaped origami structures
May 26-29, 2021 – SMARTI lab attends Canadian Society for Civil Engineers virtual annual conference 2021 in full force, good luck Heather, Angshuman, and Sagnik!
April 27, 2021 – Ann gets interviewed as external reviewer for Wired magazine [see article here]
April 25, 2021 – SMARTI lab’s first accepted journal paper “Active Control for Adaptive Origami Structures Undergoing Damage” in Engineering Structures by Sychterz and Baruah [see article here]
March 29, 2021 – Ann gives talk at ENAC EPFL, Switzerland
March 12, 2021 – Ann gives talk at Beckman Institute Autonomous Materials Systems Group
March 10, 2021 – Ann gives talk at Construction Materials Seminar
March 4, 2021 – Ann gives talk at Illinois Transportation and Highway Engineering Conference
February 19, 2021 – Ann gives talk at UIUC Structures Conference
February 12, 2021 – Ann awarded Levenick Sustainable Teaching Fellow
February 12, 2021 – Ann gives talk at Carnegie Mellon University Advanced Infrastructure Systems group
January 1, 2021 – Angshuman continues with SMARTI lab for his PhD
October 29, 2020 – Ann Sychterz named Beckman Institute Faculty Affiliate
September 2, 2020 – SMARTI lab’s new Stratasys Object 500 Connex3 multi-material 3D polymer printer is up and running
August 15, 2020 – Heather Gathman joins SMARTI lab for her masters, welcome
August 15, 2020 – Sagnik Paul joints SMARTI lab for his PhD, welcome
August 1, 2020 – Angshuman Baruah joins SMARTI lab as a master’s RA, welcome
July 27, 2020 – Ann Sychterz and Nishant Garg to work on an aluminum tensegrity bike canopy SEE Campus as a Living Lab
July 14, 2020 – Ann Sychterz named NCSA Faculty Fellow