Oral Buyukozturk, Ph.D., F.ASCE, a George Macomber Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Laboratory for Infrastructure Science and Sustainability at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has been named a Fellow by the ASCE Board of Direction.
Buyukozturk joined the MIT faculty in 1976 following two years at United Engineers and Constructors in safety analysis and design of nuclear containment structures, and four years with Marc Analysis and Research Corporation, a Brown University affiliate, in computational engineering analysis and development. His research interests are infrastructure mechanics, materials and sustainability integrating areas of multiscale concrete mechanics for durable and sustainable structures, and innovative sensing and data analytics toward the development of intelligent structures and resilient cities. His work in these areas has led to groundbreaking developments and innovations in multiscale modeling of cementitious materials with additives; use of locally available waste materials for durable and sustainable concrete materials and construction; novel computer vision techniques for structural sensing with motion magnification; system identification, damage detection and structural health monitoring; and novel seismic design approaches.
His earlier work at MIT includes fundamental research and development in thermomechanical analysis of coal gasification vessels, as well as a pioneering contribution in the evolution of segmental prestressed concrete bridge design and construction technology. He has conducted seminal research in interface fracture mechanics, innovative experimentation for interface assessment in multimaterial systems, and fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) composites for structural rehabilitation. His early work also includes pioneering developments in concrete constitutive relations, and finite element analysis of complex structures with nonlinearities and progressive cracking. Computational concrete material models he developed are still in use today by major commercial general-purpose finite element programs.
Buyukozturk’s research represents an integrated effort toward infrastructure sustainability and resiliency through a bottom-up approach contributing to establishment of a new paradigm in infrastructure engineering. He has published more than 360 technical papers in refereed journals, edited books and conference proceedings, made more than 210 invited and keynote presentations around the world, and served in different capacities in over 30 technical committees of professional societies and establishments.
His contributions to ASCE and civil engineering include his longtime leadership in research and education as an active member of numerous ASCE/EM committees in different capacities doing pioneering work, contributing to ASCE committee reports and books, and publishing cutting-edge journal articles.
His work has been recognized through multiple prestigious honors and awards, including the George W. Housner Structural Control and Monitoring Medal from ASCE, the Distinguished Service and Leadership Award from the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at MIT, the Golden Mirko Roš Medal of the Swiss Federal Research Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology. He is a Fellow (nonresident) of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s national academy of science and letters, of the American Concrete Institute (ACI). He has been honored with various best-paper awards and recognitions from his students.
Buyukozturk received his Ph.D. in structural engineering from Cornell University in 1970.
