US Patent Issued to The Florida International University Board of Trustees on May 20 for "Connection of precast concrete panels and walls using near surface mounted bars" (Florida Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,305,381, issued on May 20, was assigned to The Florida International University Board of Trustees (Miami).

"Connection of precast concrete panels and walls using near surface mounted bars" was invented by Armin Barzegar Mehrabi (Miami), Isabella Zapata Vivas (Miami) and Seyed Saman Khedmatgozar Dolati (Miami).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Systems and methods for connection between precast concrete elements are provided. Near-surface mounting bars (NSMBs) can be used to connect panel elements (e.g., decks and/or slabs), concrete walls, retaining walls, and/or abutments. A straight or butt connection can be used for panel and wall elements...