While restaurants, gyms, schools and other buildings are closed indefinitely to prevent the spread of COVID-19, water left sitting in pipes could change in quality. It's possible that water left sitting for long periods of time could contain excessive amounts of heavy metals and pathogens concentrated in pipes nationwide, say researchers who have begun a field study on the impact of a pandemic shutdown on buildings.

Congratulations to CE alum Don Meinheit (BSCE '66), recipient of the American Concrete Institute's Alfred E. Lindau Award for his outstanding contributions to reinforced concrete design practice.

CE master's student Justin Mahlberg has been named a recipient of the 2020-2021 Edward J. Cox Memorial Transportation Scholarship Award. The award is presented annually by the Indiana Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.

With the recent announcement of Purdue University switching to online classes, I want to address you all directly regarding how we at the Lyles School of Civil Engineering will be approaching the situation.

CE master's student Sarah Adsit has been named a recipient of the 2020-2021 Edward J. Cox Memorial Transportation Scholarship Award. The award is presented annually by the Indiana Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.

A Purdue University professor's research is helping shape how bridges are inspected across the nation. Robert Connor, the Jack and Kay Hockema Professor in Civil Engineering, collaborated on research for the report "Proposed Guideline for Reliability-Based Bridge Inspection Practices" under the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP).

The annual Purdue College of Engineering Faculty Excellence Awards honor faculty who have been selected by their peers as the most outstanding in fields such as research, engagement, mentoring, and teaching. Four Lyles School professors have received awards for 2020 – Darcy Bullock, Lyles Family Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Joint Transportation Research Program; Jon Fricker, Professor of Civil Engineering; Ayman Habib, Thomas A. Page Professor of Civil Engineering, Co-Director of the Civil Engineering Center for Applications of UAS for a Sustainable Environment (CE-CAUSE), and Associate Director of the Joint Transportation Research Program; and Inez Hua, Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental and Ecological Engineering.

Three Lyles School of Civil Engineering faculty – Darcy Bullock, Lyles Family Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Joint Transportation Research Program; Rao Govindaraju, Bowen Engineering Head of Civil Engineering and Christopher B. and Susan S. Burke Professor of Civil Engineering; and Ayman Habib, Thomas A. Page Professor of Civil Engineering, Co-Director of the Civil Engineering Center for Applications of UAS for a Sustainable Environment (CE-CAUSE), and Associate Director of the Joint Transportation Research Program – have been inducted into the Purdue Innovators Hall of Fame.

A leader in John Deere innovation will give the keynote address during the 106th annual Purdue Road School. This year's road school – designed for federal, state and local agency, industry, consulting, and academic colleagues – begins Monday (March 9) afternoon and will continue until Wednesday afternoon (March 11) with meetings and sessions at Purdue University Memorial Union and Stewart Center.

The Steel Bridge Task Force of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI); the National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA); and the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) T-14 Technical Committee for Structural Steel Design have named Robert J. Connor, the Jack and Kay Hockema Professor in Civil Engineering and Director of CAI and S-BRITE at Purdue University's Lyles School of Engineering, as the recipient of the 2020 Richard S. Fountain Award.

Is the water in your home actually safe, given that water utility companies in the U.S. aren't required by law to monitor the water that specifically enters a building at its service line? A study has found that the water quality of a home can differ in each room and change between seasons, challenging the assumption that the water in a public water system is the same as the water that passes through a building's plumbing at any time of the year.

Area high school students will test their bridge design capabilities at Purdue University's annual Bridge Bust Competition on Friday (Feb. 21). The 41st annual Bridge Bust will feature 147 teams composed of 270 students from 19 schools in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. It is hosted by Purdue's American Society of Civil Engineers.

On the 5th annual International Day of Women and Girls in Science, CE alum Shelley Finnigan (BSCE '05, MSCE '06) reflects on her path to a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) career, hopeful that her story will serve to inspire young women around the globe.

PhD student Miguel Montoya has been selected as one of four students nationwide to receive the Association of Modified Asphalt Producers (AMAP) Dr. David R. Jones IV scholarships for 2020.

Congratulations to PhD candidate Mohamed Yamany and his advisor Professor Dulcy Abraham. They have been awarded the best poster presentation from the 2020 Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee on Pavement Management Systems.

Brian D. Harlow (BSCE 1978), Vice President, Head of NAFTA Manufacturing, Global Head, Powertrain Manufacturing Engineering at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (retired), and Alex D. Oak (BSCE 1968), CEO & Chairman of Cripe, have been named recipients of the 2020 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award by the College of Engineering.

CE alumni Ron Klemencic, PE, SE (BSCE '85) and Dr. Essam Sharaf (BSCE '75, MSCE '80, PhD '84) have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.

Darcy Bullock, Lyles Family Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Joint Transportation Research Program, says a recently-announced partnership between Purdue and Germany-based Magment Concrete Wireless Power aims to address future electric vehicle charging needs. The partners will be working on several electric transportation pilots, including the development of wireless charging technology for electric scooters.

Robert Frosch, Senior Associate Dean of Engineering for Facilities & Operations and Professor of Civil Engineering, has been awarded the American Concrete Institute's Joe W. Kelly Award In recognition of his outstanding contributions to engineering education, insightful research to improve the performance of structural concrete systems, and dedicated service to ACI.

Dr. Randall Poston, Sr. Principal at Pivot Engineers, a structural engineering consulting firm in Austin, Texas, held two seminars this March as a member of the inaugural class of Neil Armstrong Distinguished Visiting Fellows.