Mete A. Sözen, Karl H. Kettelhut Distinguished Professor, Emeritus of Civil Engineering, Purdue University died unexpectedly on April 5, 2018, just a few weeks before what would have been his 88th birthday. Mete was in London, England, with his wife Joan visiting their daughter Ayshe and two grandsons when he fell peacefully to sleep. For all of us who knew Mete, this marked the end of an era. Few people have guided and nurtured a field the way Mete led earthquake and structural engineering related to reinforced concrete systems over a period spanning six decades. He had a profound effect on many people and will long be remembered fondly by those who came into contact with him during his career. A celebration of Dr. Sözen's career in teaching will take place on October 11th as the last seminar in The Art of Teaching | Engineering Art series. Dr. Polat Gülkan will deliver the seminar, to which all family, alumni, friends and colleagues are invited to attend and share memories of Dr. Sözen.

President Mitch Daniels on Monday (April 9) surprised Larry Nies, professor of civil engineering and environmental and ecological engineering, with a One Brick Higher Award to thank him for his heroic work in helping save the life of a colleague earlier this year.

Purdue University's Lyles School of Civil Engineering will recognize six passionate, influential and visionary graduates during the 25th annual Civil Engineering Alumni Achievement Awards banquet on April 12, 2018.

Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Ron Klemencic (BSCE '85), Chairman & CEO of Magnusson Klemencic Associates and Director of the Charles Pankow Foundation, has received the 2018 Award of Excellence from Engineering News-Record.

Ph.D. student Alana Lund has been selected as one of just 100 women across the nation to receive the prestigious P.E.O. Scholar Award for the 2018-2019 academic year. The P.E.O. Scholar Award recognizes scholarly excellence and academic achievement, coupled with aggressive career goals.

Current Civil Engineering PhD student Miguel A. Montoya was selected by the Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists (AAPT) to receive the 2018 AAPT scholarship. The scholarship is funded by the association with the purpose of increasing the number of scientists and engineers available for careers in the general area of asphalt binder and mixture technologies.

Civil Engineering student Harshit Kapoor and Multidisciplinary Engineering student Terry Babb earned awards in the 2017-18 Purdue University Student Soybean Innovation Competition.

Dong Yoon Song, a Ph.D. candidate in Civil Engineering, received the 2018 ITS Michigan Scholar Award from the Intelligent Transportation Society of Michigan for the best student poster at the 2018 Global Symposium on Connected and Automated Transportation and Infrastructure, held in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

CE doctoral student Seyed Ali Ghahari has been appointed as a member to the Standing Committee on Tunnels and Underground Structures (AFF60) of Transportation Research Board (TRB) of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

Aleksandra Radlińska (PhD '08), assistant professor of civil engineering at Penn State, has been elected a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) in recognition of her contributions to ACI.

The 104th Purdue Road School Transportation Conference and Expo was the largest Road School on record at 3,010 attendees. This year's event included 191 technical sessions involving 375 speakers and moderators. The program had 175 Professional Development Hours (PDHs) available, including 4 hours of Indiana Statutes and Ethics for Professional Engineers.

Purdue University Trustee Scholar Trevor Moore was selected as a 2018-19 Institute of Transportation Engineers Indiana Section Edward J. Cox Memorial Transportation Scholarship Awardee. He received this ITE award at the Purdue Road School Banquet held on Wednesday, March 7th.

PhD student Lisa Losada was selected as a 2018-19 Institute of Transportation Engineers Indiana Section Edward J. Cox Memorial Transportation Scholarship Awardee at the graduate level. She received this ITE award at the Purdue Road School Banquet held on March 7th.

CE undergrad Cassandra (Cassie) McKee was selected as a 2018-19 Institute of Transportation Engineers Indiana Section Edward J. Cox Memorial Transportation Scholarship Awardee. She received this ITE award at the Purdue Road School Banquet held on Wednesday, March 7th.

Congratulations to Dr. Benjamin Colucci (MSCE '80, PhD '84) for receiving the FHWA-USDOT Administrator's Public Service Award. This award recognizes outstanding leadership and accomplishments in advancing transportation education, research, and workforce development and strong partnership with the Federal Highway Administration.

Kyubyung Kang, a member in Dr. Makarand Hastak's research team in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, has been named as recipient of the Fall 2017 Outstanding Graduate Student Award. This top honor recognizes one CE graduate student for outstanding service to the Purdue University and to the community, service character, organizational involvements, as well as technical and academic achievements through research, teaching, scientific publications and technical awards.

Congratulations to CE undergrad Whitney Weidenbenner, named 2018 recipient of the Chi Epsilon John Focht, Sr. scholarship for her academic achievements and campus involvement outside of the classroom.

William F. Brumund (BSCE '64, MSCE '65, PhD'69), former president and global CEO of Golder Associates, has been honored by ASCE as the 2018 Outstanding Projects And Leaders (OPAL) award-winner in management. The ASCE OPAL awards honor outstanding civil engineering leaders for their lifetime accomplishments. This year’s OPAL winners will be honored at the 2018 OPAL Gala, March 15, in Arlington, VA.

Purdue University researchers studying whether concrete is made stronger by infusing it with microscopic-sized nanocrystals from wood are moving from the laboratory to the real world with a bridge that will be built in California this spring. The researchers have been working with cellulose nanocrystals, byproducts generated by the paper, bioenergy, agriculture and pulp industries, to find the best mixture to strengthen concrete, the most common man-made material in the world.

Zhichao Lai received his B.S. in Civil Engineering in 2009 from Tongji University. He started his graduate work at Purdue in the same year, and completed his Ph.D. in 2014 working with Prof. Varma in the area of steel-concrete composite members. In 2017, Dr. Lai was recruited by the Government of China and Fuzhou University as the top young researcher in the field of structural engineering.