Troy Roder (BSCE '89) has been promoted to the position of Chairman & CEO of Foster Wheeler Energy Ltd., the company's largest subsidiary in its Global Engineering & Construction Group.

Congratulations to Professor Emeritus C. Douglas Sutton, recipient of the 2009 Medal of Honor from the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute. The Medal of Honor, PCI's Highest award, recognizes a member's outstanding service to the institute or contributions to the industry over a long period of time.

Former student Karol Kowalski received the award of the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure for his PhD dissertation titled "The Influence of Mixture Composition on the Noise and Frictional Characteristics of Flexible Pavements" which he completed at the Superpave Center in 2007.

Congratulations to Prof. Jan Olek for his appointment as a member of the Technical Activity Committee (TAC) of the American Concrete Institute. The TAC is responsible for overseeing all aspects of technical activities of the ACI, including activities of all technical committees and all publications.

Purdue Professors Steven Johnson (CE) and Michael Smolen (Center for the Environment) recently traveled to Alaska to establish a Native run program to monitor the seasonal and annual processes involved with beach modification along Hooper Bay.

A new bridge with a deck made of fiber-reinforced polymer composite material is being constructed in Tippecanoe County. The project is part of a federal initiative that encourages the use of materials that speed construction and reduce the life-cycle cost of bridges, and has been tested extensively at the Bowen Laboratory.

Dr. Hongxi Yin, an architect and mechanical engineer with profound knowledge in architectural history & advanced building technology, will share his green building experience on December 1, 2009 from 6:30-8:00pm in ARMS B071. The seminar will focus on the Green Associate and LEED AP exams, and recruiting 5-10 summer interns to work on LEED projects in China.

Three generations of one family share perspectives on Purdue civil engineering.

Prof. Thanos Tzempelikos is the Chair of the 1st International High Performance Buildings Conference at Purdue. The conference will take place on July 12-15, 2010 together with two other major conferences, organized by Ray W. Herrick Laboratories.

Congratulations to Prof. Kumares Sinha, recipient of the Transportation Research Board's 2009 Roy W. Crum Award. This award recognizes outstanding achievement in transportation research and research management and is the highest honor bestowed by the TRB.

The 2010 National Student Steel Bridge Competition will be hosted here at Purdue! More information is available at the website.

Congratulations to Prof. Satish Ukkusuri for advising his most recent Ph.D. student to being honored with the INFORMS Transportation Science & Logistics Best Dissertation Award for 2009.

Prof. Amit Varma is leading a team of researchers working with Westinghouse Electric Co. to ensure that a new design for nuclear power plants will stand up to strong earthquakes.

"Geospatial Technology for Earth Observation," an in-depth and broad collection of recent progress in Earth observation, serves as a valuable training source for researchers, developers & practitioners of geospatial science.

"Economic Jumpstart: Investments in Transportation"

Congratulations to Prof. Julio Ramirez on the new NSF grant to establish Purdue as the headquarters for the NEES (Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation) program. Dr. Ramirez will serve as Director of the Center. Professors Mete Sozen, Mike Kreger, Santiago Pujol and Ayhan Irfanoglu are also involved with the new NEES Center.

Two Purdue graduate students have developed sampling kits and educational materials for three Native Alaskan villages as part of an interdisciplinary partnership between Purdue faculty and the Alaska Native Youth Institute. Leila Nyberg (CE/ESE) and Laurel Royer (Agronomy) became involved with the project in February 2008.

Congratulations to Kendra Schenk, recipient of the $7,500 Kennedy/Jenks Consultants Scholarship.

CE student Sara Greer has spent the summer (and will spend the following two summers) taking part in an international co-op program in Kuwait City.