News & Features
Nominate Outstanding Young Alumna/Alumnus for Recognition
Anyone can nominate alumni for the Outstanding Young Alumnus/Alumna Award.
Chandra Bhat – ASCE Transportation Engineering Award
March 17, 2015
Professor Chandra Bhat has been selected by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) to receive the 2015 Frank M. Masters Transportation Engineering Award for his "pioneering contributions to transportation systems analysis, his international leadership in bridging the gap between the research and practice of transportation planning, and his dedicated efforts to produce a new generation of high quality transportation professionals.”
The committee particularly noted innovations that have contributed to outstanding transportation planning. The award includes a medal and cash prize to be presented during the ASCE’s Annual Convention next fall.
Michael Engelhardt - AICS Lifetime Achievement Award
March 17, 2015
Professor Michael Engelhardt is a recipient of the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Lifetime Achievement Award that will be presented at the spring 2015 NASCC Steel Conference.
AISC's Lifetime Achievement Award honors individuals who have made a difference in the structural steel industry's success and recognizes their outstanding service over a sustained period of years to AISC and the structural steel design/construction/academic community.
Engelhardt is the DeWitt C. Greer Centennial Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, where he's served on the faculty since 1989 and has excelled at both teaching and research. His teaching philosophy, for which he's received numerous awards, is to "present information in a manner that allows students to see simplicity and clarity in seemingly complex subjects." His ability to accomplish this comes from a deep understanding of the subject and results in a valuable learning experience for his students.
Also a talented and world-recognized researcher, his research interests are in the areas of seismic-resistant design of steel structures, steel and composite bridges, and structural fire engineering.
His contributions to AISC have been invaluable; he has generously shared his teaching talents with the institute as an excellent continuing education provider, serving frequently as a lecturer for AISC seminars, short courses and NASCC sessions. In addition, he serves as a member of the AISC Committee on Specifications, the AISC Seismic Specification Committee, and the AISC Connection Prequalification Review Panel.
He received AISC's prestigious T.R. Higgins Award in 1999 for his outstanding research in Reduced Beam Section Moment Connections, and in 2008 he earned an AISC Special Achievement Award for his pioneering contributions to the development of Eccentric Braced Frames.
Fernanda Leite - ENR Top 20 Under 40
Jan. 12, 2015
Assistant Professor Fernanda Leite is recognized by Engineering News-Record (ENR) Texas & Louisiana as one of the 2015 Top 20 Under 40 winners. The winners were determined to be the best-of-the-best young construction professionals by an independent panel of judges.
Entries from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas were considered. Leite is the only winner from academia.