News
News
News
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has awarded the 2017 Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize to Associate Professor Amit Bhasin. He is recognized for “creative and rigorous work on the mechanics and physio-chemical behavior of asphalt materials.”
The following awards were presented at the 15th annual Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Spring Banquet on April 20, 2017, at the Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium Touchdown Club.
John A. Focht Academic Excellence Award
Qiwen Zhang
Presented to a Civil Engineering student who started as a freshman at UT-Austin, has the highest GPA in the class and is completing their degree in four years.
Werner E. Dornberger Academic Excellence Award
My Kim Vu
Presented to an Architectural Engineering student who started as a freshman at UT-Austin, has the highest GPA in the class and is completing their degree in four years.
CE Leadership Award
Natalie Weston
Presented to a Civil Engineering student who demonstrates outstanding leadership in campus and community activities.
ARE Leadership Award
Bruno Chiquini
Presented to an Architectural Engineering student who demonstrates outstanding leadership in campus and community activities.
Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award
Heedong Goh
Presented to a teaching assistant who has shown exemplary dedication and motivation in their teaching.
Department Teaching Award
Stephen Boyles
Presented to a faculty member who has excelled in teaching and has demonstrated exceptional motivation of students in the classroom.
Ervin S. Perry Student Appreciation Award
Kasey Faust
Presented to a faculty member who best meets the ideals of an excellent teacher and a good friend.
Staff Excellence Awards
Leslie McCroddan and Cori Turner
Presented to staff members who have distinguished themselves and contributed significantly to the CAEE department’s teaching, advising, mentoring and/or research efforts.
View photos of the banquet.
One of the nation’s elite engineering departments.
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) announced today that Sergio Manuel Alcocer, Deb A. Niemeier and Randall W. Poston, alumni of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, have been elected to the prestigious academy.
Election to the academy is among the highest professional distinctions bestowed upon an engineer. Membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research and practice, including pioneering new and developing fields of technology and making major advancements in the engineering field and profession. In all, 84 new members and 22 foreign members joined the NAE in 2017.
“Election to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering is the highest honor that can be achieved by an engineer,” said Department Chair Richard Corsi. “We are all so very proud of Sergio, Deb and Randall for receiving this great honor. Each is an exceptional engineer and person, and while we honor their successes, I also want to thank them for shining a bright light on our CAEE community.”
About the three new members representing the department:
Sergio Manuel Alcocer (Ph.D. CE 1991) - For improvements to the seismic safety of buildings in developing countries through improved design standards and government policies.
Alcocer is a research professor in the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the former undersecretary for North America in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico. He was recognized for improvements to the seismic safety of buildings in developing countries through improved design standards and government policies. In 2001, Alcocer received the National University Distinction for Young Academics in the area of Technological Innovation and Industrial Design. In 2014, he received the Award of Distinction from The Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration, and in 2015, he was named a Distinguished Engineering Graduate of the Cockrell School of Engineering. He received a B.S. in civil engineering from UNAM and a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the Cockrell School.
Deb A. Niemeier (B.S. CE 1982) - For developing groundbreaking tools to characterize the impact of transportation emissions on air quality and environmental justice.
Niemeier is a professor at the University of California, Davis. She was recognized for developing groundbreaking tools to characterize the impact of transportation emissions on air quality and environmental justice. In 2015, she became the first-ever civil engineer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship, and in 2014, she was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She received the Aldo Leopold Leadership Award in 2006 and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 1997. Niemeier received a B.S. in civil engineering from the Cockrell School, an M.S. in civil engineering from the University of Maine and a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Washington.
Randall W. Poston (B.S. CE 1978; MSE CE 1980; Ph.D. CE 1984) - For the development of diagnostic and repair technologies for concrete structures and leadership in concrete building code development.
Poston is the senior principal at Pivot Engineers. He was recognized for the development of diagnostic and repair technologies for concrete structures and for leadership in concrete building code development. He received the American Concrete Institute’s (ACI) Henry C. Turner Medal in 2006, the ACI Henry L. Kennedy Award in 2014 and the ACI Delmar L. Bloem Distinguished Service Award in 2015, and in 2014, he was named a Distinguished Engineering Graduate of the Cockrell School. In 2002, Poston’s Marina del Rey Seawall Rehabilitation Project was named the International Concrete Repair Institute’s Project of the Year. He received a B.S. in civil engineering and an MSE and Ph.D. in structural engineering, all from the Cockrell School.
The Senate has confirmed Rex W. Tillerson, an alumnus of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, as the 69th U.S. Secretary of State. In this cabinet position, Tillerson will serve as the top foreign policy advisor to President Trump and the leader of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Foreign Service.
Tillerson was previously CEO and chairman of ExxonMobil Corp. He earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from UT Austin in 1975 and joined Exxon Co., U.S.A. as a production engineer that same year. He spent his entire professional career with ExxonMobil.
“For decades, Rex has been an outstanding leader, a loyal friend of the university and a source of inspiration for our community,” said Sharon L. Wood, dean of the Cockrell School. “I congratulate him on his confirmation and wish him much success as our new Secretary of State.”
Tillerson serves as a member of the Cockrell School’s Engineering Advisory Board, the UT Development Board and the UT System Chancellor’s Council. He was named a Distinguished Engineering Graduate of the Cockrell School in 2006 and a UT Austin Distinguished Alumnus in 2007. In 2013, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
Transportation engineering graduate student Venktesh Pandey recently received the Milton Pikarsky Memorial Award from the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) for his thesis on dynamic pricing models.
The Milton Pikarsky Memorial Award is a national award given annually for the best Ph.D. dissertation and M.S. thesis in the field of science and technology in transportation studies. Winners in the M.S. thesis category receive a $1500 honorarium.
Pandey’s award-winning thesis “Optimal Dynamic Pricing for Managed Lanes with Multiple Entrances and Exits” explores better pricing strategies for high-occupancy/toll (HOT) lanes, which are increasingly being considered as a means to relieve congestion by providing a reliable travel time alternative to travelers.
In his thesis, Pandey made important steps to making dynamic pricing models for HOT lanes more realistic, which will help their effectiveness as an alternative to congested highways.
Now a Ph.D. candidate supervised by Assistant Professor Stephen Boyles, Pandey is a graduate research assistant at the Center for Transportation Research.
“His thesis is aimed at better pricing strategies for dynamic toll lanes like the ones recently opened on Austin’s Mopac Expressway,” Boyles said. “Finding the right pricing strategy is difficult, and past research has had to make some severe assumptions like the facility only having one entrance and exit point or having perfect knowledge of driver behavior.”
Pandey’s research has made important steps to making these models more realistic, which can help dynamic toll lanes be as effective as possible.
The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) has selected Assistant Professor Patricia Clayton to receive the Early Career Faculty Award.
The award recognizes individuals who demonstrate promise in the areas of structural steel research, teaching and other contributions to the structural steel industry.
The AISC is a not-for-profit technical institute and trade association established in 1921 to serve the structural steel design community and construction industry in the U.S.
Clayton’s research focuses on improving steel structures' seismic performance during earthquakes. This includes studies on the retrofit of existing structures that do not meet today’s seismic standards and the development of structural systems to have limited damage.
She will receive the award at NASCC: The Steel Conference in San Antonio, Texas in March 2017.
Professor Chandra Bhat recently received the academic Lifetime Achievement in Transportation Research and Education Award from the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC).
This award is given to individuals who have had a long history of significant and outstanding contributions to university transportation education and research resulting in a lasting contribution to transportation.
CUTC was established in 1979 by major transportation research centers and institutes in the U.S. and provides a forum for Universities and Centers to interact collectively with government and industry. The council's annual awards competition recognizes individuals who have been nominated by educators from across the country who have emerged as some of the best and brightest minds in the transportation industry.
Bhat is the Director of the Center for Transportation and teaches courses in transportation systems analysis and transportation planning. He is recognized nationally and internationally as a leading expert in the area of travel demand modeling and travel behavior analysis. His computer modeling of human behavior has fundamentally changed the ability to build realistic models of behavior in a broad number of disciplines.
Bhat received the award at the CUTC Banquet in Washington DC on Jan. 7, 2017.
Assistant Professor Raissa Ferron has been selected to receive the American Concrete Institute’s Young Member Award for Professional Achievement. She is recognized for contributions to education of students in concrete materials, mentoring of students and young professionals, service on ACI technical committees and commitment to increasing diversity.
Established by ACI's Board of Directors in 1997, the award recognizes the contributions of the institute’s younger members for their professional achievement.
Ferron’s primary research interests are rheology and processing of concentrated suspensions, characterization of fresh concrete micro/nano-structure, self-consolidating concrete, and affordable sustainable housing materials for developing countries.
She will receive her award during the ACI Spring 2017 Concrete Convention and Exposition in Detroit, Michigan, March 26-30.
Professor Emeritus Ned H. Burns passed away on
November 5, 2016, in Austin. An outstanding teacher, administrator and structural engineering researcher, he served The University of Texas at Austin for nearly 40 years.
Ned graduated as valedictorian from Texas High School in Texarkana, Texas and earned a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 1954.
After two years in the U.S. Army, Ned completed a master’s degree at UT Austin in 1958 and a PhD in civil engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1962.
Ned returned to The University of Texas at Austin as an Assistant Professor in 1962, became a professor in 1972 and was named Zarrow Centennial Professor in 1983. He served Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for Engineering for four years and Director of Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory for three years. Throughout the years, he also received numerous awards for exceptional teaching and advising at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
At the end of each semester, he would share his philosophy of engineering and life with students: "The truly great man is he who plants shade trees that he will never sit under."
An expert in the area of prestressed concrete, Ned was the first to test the concept of banded tendons that is now standard industry practice for the construction of slabs. He was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2000 “for contributions to development and education in prestressed concrete including unbounded tendon building slabs and high-performance concrete bridges.”
Along with T.Y. Lin, Ned co-authored the textbook, "Design of Prestressed Concrete”, a source book in the industry for the analysis and design of prestressed structures for many decades. He was awarded the ACI Joe W. Kelly Award in recognition of his contribution to education and received the PCI Distinguished Professor Award in 2000. He is a fellow of the ACI, PCI and PTI and ASCE and was named Engineer of the Year by the Travis Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers in 2000. Ned retired in 2001.
“Ned was a wonderful colleague,” said Department Chair Richard Corsi. “He was both incredibly bright and a gentleman in the very truest sense of the word. He will be missed.”
Ned and his wife Martha were married for 61 years and have three children. He was dedicated to his family and church and also enjoyed woodworking and furniture building. He loved to travel with Martha and enjoyed many trips to Peru, Brazil, Europe, China, Thailand, Japan, Hawaii and many other places in North America.
