ASCE has honored Mario Di Paola, Ph.D., A.M.ASCE, as the 2021 winner of the Masanobu Shinozuka Medal for important and numerous contributions to stochastic systems dynamics with emphasis on analytical methods and emerging concepts, and multifaceted applications to civil engineering and other diverse themes, with superb pedagogical leadership and devotion.
Di Paola is an extremely productive researcher with a sharp mind and a very good view at technical and mathematical details while at the same time being fully capable of perceiving the ”big picture.” His publication record of more than 200 contributions in books, journal papers, and international conference proceedings is not only impressively large, but also shows that he is interested and successfully active in many fields of stochastic structural mechanics and engineering going far beyond classical civil engineering issues.
He is also an enthusiastic teacher and the advisor of about 20 Ph.D. students. His academic achievements have resulted in IASSAR’s (International Association for Structural Safety and Reliability) Research Prize in the area of stochastic dynamics. He is actively promoting IASSAR’s aims by his membership on the Executive Board, which is responsible for the successful development of the long-running series of ICOSSAR conferences.
Throughout his academic career, Di Paola has never neglected the importance of practical work. His contributions to structural design range from bridges to tunnels, from new construction to retrofit, and from hotels to infrastructure plants. It is the entirety of all these aspects that makes him a scientist and engineer who contributes substantially to the further theoretical development of the field of safety and reliability while at the same time keeping focus on the practical applicability and usefulness for the civil engineering community. His work has and will have future impact.
The Masanobu Shinozuka Medal was instituted on October 8, 2013, to honor Masanobu Shinozuka, Ph.D., P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, NAE, a pioneer in stochastic systems study and its applications to civil engineering, primarily through mechanical and aerospace engineering.
