A team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a way to use 3-D printers to create objects capable of expanding dramatically that could someday be used in applications ranging from space missions to biomedical devices.

For a researcher who studies the ways society’s infrastructure systems are interconnected and interdependent, the Interstate 85 collapse this spring in Atlanta had a silver lining. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Assistant Professor Iris Tien told Atlanta public radio station WABE that shutting down one of the city’s main thoroughfares presented a rare opportunity — despite the disruption to businesses and the extra travel time for residents.

Marc and Kate Sanborn are no strangers to building things. They built a marriage together. They built their Army careers to Majors together. And now they’re building upon their graduate degrees at Georgia Tech.

A leading standards-setting transportation organization has named a project by Georgia Tech and Georgia Department of Transportation researchers one of the year’s most valuable. The work developed a new steel to reinforce concrete bridge piles in marine environments that withstands corrosion and lasts well beyond the expected 100-year lifespan of the structures.