SIGMa
Sustainable Infrastructure, Geotechnics and Materials Lab
​
small indentations, global impact
WELCOME TO
THE YAZDANI SIGMa LAB
The Yazdani Sustainable Infrastructure, Geotechnics and Materials (Yazdani SIGMa) Laboratory is a research and innovation group directed by Dr. Hessam Yazdani within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Missouri, Columbia.
Our inter- and transdisciplinary research at SIGMa is dedicated to enhancing the sustainability and resilience of civil and marine infrastructure through 1) developing high-performance and multifunctional materials, 2) addressing geotechnical aspects of infrastructure such as renewable energy sources, 3) incorporating reliability and optimization into the design of interacting geotechnical and structural systems and 4) improving the durability of civil and marine infrastructure systems.
​
The lab's culture in a nutshell:
Elevate the team by being competitive only with yourself.
Constantly reinvent yourself.
Give and embrace honest and constructive feedback.
Machine learning-assisted optimization of coarse-grained models for polymers
We developed an approach combining machine learning, metaheuristic optimization, and atomistic simulations to derive a coarse-grained force field (CGFF) for polymers. We demonstrated our approach by developing a CGFF for PVC.
NEWS
July 10, 2023
Our paper "Review and Perspectives of End-of-Life Tires Applications for Fuel and Products" was published in the Q1 journal Energy and Fuels.
​
February 16, 2023
Our paper "Soil amended with Algal Biochar Reduces Mobility of deicing salt contaminants in the environment: An atomistic insight" was published in the Q1 journal Chemosphere.
​
January 4, 2023
Our paper "Damage-based optimal control of steel moment-resisting frames equipped with tuned mass dampers" was published in the Q1 Journal of Vibration and Control.
​
November 1, 2022
Dr. Hamid Ghasemi made history as the first PhD graduate of the SIGMa lab and the first graduate of the Howard University Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD Program by successfully defending his doctoral dissertation titled "Developing Probabilistic Predictive Models for Mechanical Properties of Polymer-Nanotube Composites Using Image-informed Multiscale Modeling and Machine Learning: Application to Geosynthetic Structures." As of his defense, this diligent, honest, and decent gentleman had published 12 peer-reviewed journals, of which eight reflect various research projects he carried out in SIGMa. Over his HU years, he mentored several UG students and published three journal papers with three of them. Dr. Ghasemi also presented at various international conferences and workshops, including the 2018 Technology, Systems and Ships conference of the American Society of Naval Engineers, where he won the poster competition. He is the recipient of several other awards, travel grants, and scholarships, including the Just-Julian scholarship from Howard University in 2019 and the Award of Excellence for outstanding research and achievement in the study of concrete materials and methods from the American Concrete Institute (ACI) in 2020. Recently, Dr. Ghasemi joined the technology and development team of Micron Technology, where he is involved in developing the next generation of memories.
​
July 1, 2022
Our invited paper "Plastics and sustainability in the same breath: Machine learning-assisted optimization of coarse-grained models for polyvinyl chloride as a common polymer in the built environment" was accepted for publication in the journal Resources, Conservation & Recycling.
​
March 2, 2022
Our invited paper "Biocementation of soils of different surface chemistries via enzyme induced carbonate precipitation (EICP): an integrated laboratory and molecular dynamics study" was accepted for publication in the journal Biophysical Chemistry.
​
January 11, 2022
Our paper "Toward Carbon-Negative and Emission-Curbing Roads to Drive Environmental Health" was accepted for publication in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.
​
January 3, 2022
Our paper "Optimum design of a sliding mode control for seismic mitigation of structures equipped with active tuned mass dampers" was accepted for publication in the journal Structural Engineering and Mechanics.
​
August 26, 2021
Dr. Yazdani received an award from the NVIDIA Academic Hardware Grant Program to advance computational and AI-assisted research at SIGMa.
​
May 16, 2021
Our paper "Interactions of SARS-CoV-2 with Inanimate Surfaces in Built and Transportation Environments" was accepted for publication in the journal Sustainable Cities and Society.
​
May 13, 2021
Dr. Yazdani receives an NSF CAREER Award to understand the deformation mechanics and failure mechanisms of polymer nanocomposites and develop novel high-performance composites for infrastructure, aerospace, biomedical, and ... applications. We thank NSF-CMMI-MOMS for the support.
​
April 16, 2021
Our paper "Silver-polyamidoamine/graphene oxide thin film nanofiltration membrane with improved antifouling and antibacterial properties for water purification and desalination" was accepted for publication in the journal Desalination.
September 11, 2020
Our paper "Mechanical properties of C3N nanotubes" was accepted for publication in the journal Diamond and Related Materials. Congrats, Hamid, Brandon, and Jade.
​
September 1, 2020
An HU team led by Dr. Yazdani received a $570k grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP). The team represents a diverse set of disciplines including Civil and Environmental Engineering (co-PIs: Drs. Claudia Marin-Artieda and Jeseth Delgado Vela), Mechanical Engineering (Dr. Mohsen Mosleh), Physics (Dr. Prabhakar Misra), and Radiology and Biochemistry (Dr. Paul Wang). The award will allow for purchasing state-of-the-art equipment comprising a laser scanning confocal microscope, a scanning electron microscope, a thermal conductivity meter, and a tensile testing machine to support research and education in advanced materials, water treatment and environmental chemistry, orthotics and prosthetics, and traumatic brain injury. We thank AFOSR Program Manager Dr. Ali Sayir for his support.
​
March 9, 2020
Our paper "Mechanical properties of defective cyanoethynyl (2D polyaniline – C3N): A comparative molecular dynamics study versus graphene and hexagonal boron nitride" was accepted for publication in the journal Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems and Nanostructures. Congrats, Hamid and Jade.
May 20-30, 2019
Dr. Yazdani and Hamid attended the workshop “Computational mathematics for model reduction and predictive modelling in molecular and complex systems” organized by the Centre Interfacultaire Bernoulli (CIB) and the Centre Européen de Calcul Atomique et Moléculaire (CECAM) at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. Dr. Yazdani gave his invited talk on developing probabilistic integrated computational materials engineering models for polymer nanocomposites using image-based multiscale modeling and machine learning, and Hamid presented his work on developing failure criteria for nanomaterials using atomistic simulations and machine learning.
​
April 23, 2019
Dr. Yazdani received the 2019 "Faculty of the Year" Award of the ASCE HU Chapter.
​
April 11 and 12, 2019
Hamid, Sigmund, Emilda and Christopher presented their research (four different presentations/posters) at the Howard University 2019 Research Symposium. Well done, SIGMa's energy conduits.
​
April 9, 2019
Christopher was admitted to the 2019 Joint Application for Summer Internship Programs of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Congrats, Chris.
​
April 7, 2019
Dr. Yazdani was invited to deliver a talk on the multiscale modeling and simulation of materials at the 2019 Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference in Pasadena, CA.
​
March 26 to April 2, 2019
Hamid attended the "Big data and uncertainty quantification: statistical inference and information-theoretic techniques applied to computational chemistry" workshop at the École Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.
​
February 19, 2019
Hamid won travel grants to attend the workshops "Computational mathematics for model reduction and predictive modelling in molecular and complex systems" and "Big data and uncertainty quantification: statistical inference and information-theoretic techniques applied to computational chemistry" at the École Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, in March and May 2019. Congrats, Hamid.
February 11, 2019
Our paper "Estimating inelastic seismic response of reinforced concrete frame structures using a wavelet support vector machine and an artificial neural network" was accepted for publication in the journal Neural Computing and Applications.
November 15, 2018
Hamid presented his research with Dr. Marin titled "Validated Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis of Wire Rope Isolators under Dynamic Excitations" at the ASME's International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) in Pittsburgh, PA.
November 11-13, 2018
Dr. Yazdani and Hamid attended the USC MAGICS workshop in Germantown, MD. The workshop covered topics spanning nonequilibrium and quantum molecular dynamics to the application of machine learning in materials science.
October 28, 2018
Our paper "Mechanical properties of carbon nanotube-filled polyethylene composites: a molecular dynamics simulation study" was accepted for publication in the journal Polymer Composites.
August 2018
Hamid's abstract titled "Validated Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis of Wire Rope Isolators under Dynamic Excitations" was accepted for a student poster competition at the ASME's International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) in Pittsburgh, PA. The work is an element of Dr. Marin's NSF CAREER award. Congrats to both.
June 20, 2018
Ph.D. student Hamid Ghasemi won the first place in the 2018 student poster competition of the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) for his research titled “Atomistic insight into anti-corrosion role of graphene as a coating in metals: a molecular dynamics simulation approach”. Congratulations, Hamid.
June 13, 2018
Our paper "Seismic energy dissipation-based optimum design of tuned mass dampers" was accepted for publication in the journal Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization.
May 31, 2018
Our paper "Laboratory tests on the engineering properties of sensor-enabled geobelts (SEGB) by Cui et al., geotextiles and geomembranes 46 (2018) 66–76.” was accepted for publication in the journal Geotextiles and Geomembranes.
May 11, 2018
Ph.D. student Hamid Ghasemi received the 2018-2019 Just-Julian Graduate Research Assistantship Award. Congrats, Hamid.
August 22, 2017
Hamid Ghasemi joined SIGMa as its first Ph.D. student. Welcome aboard, Hamid.
June 14, 2017
Our paper "Accelerated multi-gravitational search algorithm for size optimization of truss structures" was accepted for publication in the journal Swarm and Evolutionary Computation.
June 20, 2017
Our paper "Probabilistic performance-based optimum seismic design of RC structures considering soil-structure interaction effects" was accepted for publication in the ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part A: Civil Engineering.
April 26, 2017
Our paper "Mechanical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes: a comprehensive molecular dynamics study" was accepted for publication in the journal Materials Research Express.
April 19, 2017
Dr. Yazdani received the 2017 "Best Teacher Award" and the 2017 "Best Mentor Award" of the ASCE Howard University Student Chapter.
November 27, 2016
Our paper "Sensor-enabled geogrids for stabilization and performance monitoring of earth structures: the state of development" was accepted for publication in International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering.