By Kelly Schiro

 
The future where people can monitor the structural status of bridges, buildings and roads is coming to life through a collaborative research effort between professors at Iowa State and the University of Perugia in Italy. Using nanotechnology, the students and faculty working on the project are developing materials that sense the stresses, strains, deformations or displacements of structures.

These structures include buildings, bridges, roads and even airplane wings. University of Perugia's assistant professor, Filippo Ubertini, said, "The next step is full-scale application."

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