Hello. Our group at Univ. of Texas at San Antonio has come up with a prototype to harvest mechanical energy from roadways and convert it into electric power using Piezoelectric transducers. I think this will be a great approach for State DOT to make use of current assets for revenue making. Using this technology under pavement can provide power for sensors and low-watt LED for lighting. Also, with minimum use of right of way it could be an alternative technology to solar panels along roadway as commonly used in Europe. I am curious if this would be of an interest to State DOT or FHWA especially as we enter the V2V and V2I arena? Any thoughts?
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Samer Dessouky Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE
Associate Professor
University of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio TX
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