Geomedia Research & Development (GRD) is a Texas partnership formed several years ago to commercialize technology developed at the University of Texas at El Paso ( UTEP ). The partners, collaborating civil engineers and geophysicists, developed non-destructive testing technology for use on roads and others structures. Early and continuing sponsors and customers have been the Texas Department of Transportation ( TxDOT ) and the US Army Corps of Engineers. TxDOT presented GRD a Most Innovative New Technology award in 1999,and the US Army Corps of Engineers funded GRD with SBIR Phase I and Phase II grants. Recently, TxDOT, which already owns several units, has agreed to purchase several additional units. The US Army Corps of Engineers is currently funding a two-year project for final product development. The Corps of Engineers is also working with GRD to develop a modified version of our product for airborne and other military field operations. The main hurdle to getting a commercial enterprise underway has been developing a market for the products. Through the collaboration between Dr. Soheil Nazarian, a GRD partner and professor of Civil Engineering at UTEP, the US Army Corps of Engineers, TxDOT and others, the transportation industry has begun to recognize the value of the Seismic Property Analyzer (SPA) technology. This is resulting in a paradigm shift from older, less quantitative methods to gauge the quality of structures to using the seismic moduli measured by the SPA technology. This shift has been occuring over the last decade. GRD has been working with our supporters to influence roadway testing procedures throughout the US and elsewhere.
