Dr. Habib Dagher Testifies before Senator Collins’ Committee on Transportation Infrastructure

On Thursday, May 13, Dr. Habib Dagher testified before the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee during a hearing on ways to increase the resiliency of our transportation infrastructure.

At the invitation of U.S. Senator Susan Collins, the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, the hearing featured the testimony of Dr. Habib Dagher, the Executive Director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine.

New building techniques and materials hold great promise for extending the life of critical public works and make them more durable and sustainable.  Dr. Dagher discussed the cutting-edge research he leads at UMaine, which has led to the development of low-cost, high-performance structural composites for construction.  UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center has 260 personnel and is housed in a 100,000 square foot laboratory, making it the largest university-based research center in Maine.  Among other achievements, the Composites Center developed technology to build the longest composite materials highway bridge in the United States, which is located in Maine and was completed in cooperation with Maine’s Department of Transportation.