OU Construction Science Assistant Professor Somik Ghosh and his colleague at Oklahoma State, Jonghoon Kim, were recently awarded a $25,000 Southern Plains Transportation Center/US Department of Transportation grant to support a study titled, “Measuring Benefits of Horizontal Directional Drilling compared to Open-Cut using a Real-Time Wireless Smart Sensor.” Ghosh summarizes the study:
Sprawling urbanization requires the installation of an expansive network of underground pipelines that transport the gas, water, wastewater, power, and communication. With the increasing population and their demand, the need to install new pipes and upkeep the existing infrastructure are of top priority. The process of installing/maintenance of these pipelines can be disruptive to the local traffic along with other undesirable impacts such as airborne emissions from the construction equipment used, safety of the workers, safety of the drivers, and low productivity. Engineers are faced with the options of using traditional open-cut procedure or utilizing trenchless technology method known as Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) that is environmentally sensitive, safe for the workers, less disruptive for the local traffic, and provides improved productivity. The objectives of the proposed project are to measure, analyze, and quantify the benefits of HDD over open-cut procedure.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture congratulates Thinh "Henry" Duong, a master's student in the Division of Interior Design, for earning first place in the 2026 Robert Bruce Thompson Annual Student Light Fixture Design Competition.
Gibbs College of Architecture Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) Director and Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design (PLAD) faculty member Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., recently published a new book, Collective Yearning: Black Women Artists from the Zimmerli Art Museum.
In May, students from the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture's Architecture, Environmental Design, and Interior Design programs participated in an intensive five-day Studio in Residence at Taliesin West, the iconic winter home and desert laboratory of Frank Lloyd Wright.
