PhD student Marina López-Arias has received the Spanish National Award for the Best Civil Engineering Master Thesis in the best quality category, presented by the Spanish Professional Engineers Association of Civil Engineers.

Marina came to Purdue in February 2021 as a visiting scholar with the College of Engineering's research scholarship program TraVERSE (Trans-Atlantic Visiting Engineer Research Scholarship Experience) and has since returned as a PhD student with a Frederick N. Andrews Fellowship working with the Velay Research Group at the Lyles School of Civil Engineering. Over the last year she has received two awards for her Master's Thesis. Marina graduated with a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Civil Engineering at the University of A Coruña.