ASCE members elected to Fellow status have made celebrated contributions and developed creative solutions that have enhanced lives. Just 3 percent of Society members hold this prestigious honor. The most recent members elevated to Fellow are: • Barry Band Jr., P.E., S.E., F.ASCE • Jason T. DeJong, Ph.D., F.ASCE • Shawnna L. Erter, P.E., D.GE, F.ASCE • T. G. Sitharam, Ph.D., F.ASCE Interested in
The coronavirus pandemic has halted normal life across the United States. Remarkably though, the school year has not stopped; it’s adapted. Even as social distancing has effectively barred side-by-side classroom instruction, educators and students at universities across the country have moved the classroom online. The logistics of adjustment At the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, the provost decided March 11 – relatively early
There will be more votes to count and boxes to check in the coming year, but the move toward allowing student members to vote in ASCE elections has begun. The Board of Direction, at its quarterly meeting March 14-15 in Washington, D.C. (with some directors attending virtually because of the coronavirus), voted to approve a recommendation that the Governing Documents Committee prepare an amendment to the
ASCE has honored Satish Nagarajaiah, Ph.D., F.ASCE, with the 2020 Nathan M. Newmark Medal for the development of nonlinear dynamic analysis techniques for base-isolated structures, development of adaptive stiffness systems, negative stiffness systems and smart tuned mass dampers, as well as for sparse structural system identification techniques and laser-based noncontact strain sensing using nanomaterials. Nagarajaiah’s pioneering work leading to the solution of the highly nonlinear,
In these unprecedented times brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, the streets may seem a bit quieter and businesses may be closed. However, things are far from calm. Media outlets are constantly updating us on the latest developments. Government leaders and health officials are persistently meeting to determine what to do next. There are so many things happening simultaneously. And while we are all in
ASCE Life Member John LaPlante, the first transportation commissioner of Chicago and a past T.Y. Lin manager, has died at 80 from complications of the COVID-19 coronavirus. LaPlante, P.E., F.ASCE, served the city for 30 years in a variety of transportation engineering positions. During his tenure, LaPlante was known for a redesign that straightened Lake Shore Drive’s treacherous “Z curve” and as a proponent of
Robert E. “Bob” Boyer, a noted pavement engineer and consultant who promoted Superpave mix design, has died. He was 80. Boyer, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, a retired Air Force colonel, consulted with a vast number of industry clients over his career. Over a 15-year tenure with the Asphalt Institute in Panama City, Florida, he delivered no fewer than 300 presentations on performance-graded asphalt binders and the Superpave
Emory Leland Kemp, a pioneer of industrial archaeology, engineering professor and founder of the Institute for the History of Technology and Industrial Archaeology at West Virginia University, has died at 88. Over a well-rounded career, the Distinguished Member was also fascinated by the history of technology. Kemp lectured and published widely, with a special focus on the properties of concrete and methods to analyze historic
Frances “Frankie” Barnett, the first woman to be licensed in Illinois as a structural engineer, has died at 97. A Life Member of ASCE, Barnett was one of two female engineering graduates in 1944 at the University of Colorado. From there, she began her career with Boeing in Seattle, as well as get married. Having settled in Chicago after the war, in 1950 Barnett became
Murray I. Mantell, a visionary, professor and scholarship donor with the University of Miami for decades, has died at 102 years old. Mantell, a Life Member of ASCE, was the university’s professor emeritus of civil engineering, having taught there for 57 years. He was known as a citizen activist, environmentalist and promoter of firm values to his young students. He believed there was always a
