UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center

[4] The center has gained national and international recognition for major research and development projects such as the VolturnUS 1:8, the first grid-connected floating offshore wind turbine in the US and the first in the world made out of concrete and composite materials, the inflatable composite arch bridges "Bridge-in-a-Backpack" technology now approved in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Code, the first Modular Ballistic Protection System (MBPS) approved by the US Army to protect troops in tents from blast and ballistic threats, development of coated wood technology for blast and hurricane resistant wood buildings, and the longest carbon-fiber composite vessel built for the US Navy.

Maine Aqua Ventus, I, GP, LLC, is pursuing a 12 MW demonstration project off the coast of Monhegan Island, ME, using the VolturnUS floating platform technology.

[9] DeepCLiDAR is an advanced metocean buoy outfitted with LIDAR, created with funding from the US Department of Energy and the Maine Technology Institute.

DeepCLiDAR can be used in remote marine environments to provide high quality, low-cost offshore wind resource data, metocean monitoring, and ecological characterization capabilities.

MBPS provides ballistic protection for personnel and equipment in expeditionary base camps where mobility and rapid deployment requirements prevent the immediate use of heavyweight systems like sandbags and concrete barriers.

In partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers ERDC, the UMaine Composites Center developed blast-resistant structures with coated wood framing members, panels and subassemblies.

In addition to superior blast resistance, benefits of these structures include: cost-efficiencies, ease of assembly, environmental durability, rapid deployment, high strength to weight ratios, and protection from moisture absorption, termites, ants and biodegradation.

In 2012, the organization formally underwent a name change as approved by the University of Maine System Board of Trustees to the Advanced Structures and Composites Center.

[15] On October 13, 2015, Dr. Habib Dagher, founding Director of the University of Maine's Advanced Structures and Composites Center, was recognized as a "2015 White House Transportation Champion of Change.

American Society of Civil Engineers Pankow Award for Innovation, presented to the Advanced Structures and Composites Center for its development of Bridge-in-a-Backpack, March 31, 2011.

The organization's logo as of 2012
Alfond W2 Ocean Engineering Lab
The Alfond W 2 Ocean Engineering Lab at the UMaine Composites Center is a unique facility equipped with a high-performance rotating wind machine over a wave basin . The facility can simulate 1000+ year return period wind and wave conditions, representing some of the worst storms possible anywhere on earth at 1:50 scale. [ 1 ]
Photo of Dr. Habib Dagher
Habib Joseph Dagher is the founding executive director of the UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center.
The UMaine-developed, patent-pending, VolturnUS floating concrete hull technology can support wind turbines in water depths of 45 meters or more, and has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of offshore wind.
The Perkins Bridge in Belfast, ME was installed in 2010 by Advanced Infrastructure Technologies. This composite arch bridge has a 48.0’ span made up of 16 composite arches.