On January 20th, 2017 a top tension chord of the Delaware River Turnpike Bridge was discovered to be completely fractured. On the morning of the 21st, Dr. Robert J. Connor, Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the S-BRITE Center was called by engineering consultants working for the PA and NJ Turnpikes to assist in the failure investigation and to help develop immediate inspection and long-term retrofit strategies.

Stacy Bartoletti (BSCE '91), Chairman & CEO of Degenkolb Engineers, and Doreen Mitchell (BSCE '81), Vice President of Facility Asset Management at the Walt Disney World Company, have been named recipients of the 2017 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award by the College of Engineering.

Dr. Patricia D. Galloway, PE, FCIArb, FCCA (BSCE '78) has been appointed to the Board of Directors of Granite Construction. With her addition to the board, she is a member of the Audit/Compliance and Executive Committees.

A new automated system detects cracks in the steel components of nuclear power plants and has been shown to be more accurate than other automated systems.

Purdue University will lead research to determine why some communities recover from natural disasters more quickly than others, an effort aimed at addressing the nation's critical need for more resilient infrastructure and to enhance preparedness.

Low-flow building water systems designed to conserve water pose potential health hazards because they may cause an increase in disease-causing organisms and harmful chemicals. A new EPA-funded project led by Purdue University strives to help solve the problem.

Since its founding in 1887, Purdue University’s School of Civil Engineering has been dedicated to the advancement of society – through not only research and implementation, but cultural progressiveness as well. One of the School’s first significant cultural achievements came in 1894 with the graduation of David Robert Lewis – Purdue's first black graduate.

Inez Hua, Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental and Ecological Engineering, is a recipient of the 2016-17 Learning Community Real-World Experience Award given by the Learning Communities program.

Worldwide YouTube phenomenon The Slow Mo Guys (Gavin Free and Dan Gruchy) recently visited Purdue University and stopped at the Bowen Lab to snap a steel rod and explode a deck of cards with a hydraulic press.

Anne Bigane Wilson (BSCEM '79, MSCE '81) has been honored by ASCE with the 2017 Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) award for excellence and professionalism in overseeing significant construction projects.

Amit Varma, Professor of Civil Engineering, has been selected to receive the 2017 Special Achievement Award from the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). This award provides special recognition to individuals who demonstrated particular achievements in structural steel education.

On 9 December 2016, civil engineering students represented Purdue in the 10th International Bridge Contest. The team consisted of undergraduate students Daixi Yang, Sijia Wang, Ziyu Liu, Cheng Qian, Scott Houldieson (not pictured), and graduate students Aishwarya Puranam and William Pollalis. Support for the team was provided by Prof. Santiago Pujol and his post-doc, Lucas Laughery.

Bechtel Group, Inc. Vice Chairman Bill Dudley (BSCE '74) has been named the recipient of the prestigious LNG "Executive of the Year" award at the 17th CWC World LNG Summit in Barcelona, Spain. Mr. Dudley earned the award for making "an outstanding contribution to the development and future of the LNG industry in the past year" according to the CWC Group, which organized the three-day event drawing more than 500 LNG leaders from around the world.

Over the past year there has been a strong interest in using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for transportation research. JTRP and Advanced Aviation Analytics Institute for Research (A3IR CORE) have developed a partnership where A3IR CORE was awarded a Certificate of Operating Authority (COA) for operating in Class D airspace adjacent to the Purdue Airport.

On December 2nd, JTRP hosted FHWA Indiana Division Administrator Mayela Sosa and her colleagues, Jermaine Hannon, Keith Hoernschemeyer, Jose Ortiz, and Karen Stippich. Highlights of the visit included tours of the Bowen Laboratory, CAI/S-BRITE Center, and Hampton Hall with displayed posters and demonstrations by JTRP researchers.

Rich Domonkos, Kathy Heath, and Jenny Ricksy were recognized as finalists for the 2016 College of Engineering Staff Awards of Excellence at the annual staff awards banquet held at the Shively Club on December 2nd. Jenny Ricksy was named the recipient of the Professional Achievement Award.

CE and EEE Professor Chad Jafvert is part of a Purdue-affiliated startup that has developed a low-cost, low-maintenance slow sand water filter technology to better provide clean and safe drinking water to schools and communities in developing countries around the world.

New research has shown that honeycomb "cellular" materials made of a shape-memory polymer might be programmed for specific purposes, from shock-absorbing football helmets to biomedical implants.

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) awarded the 2016 Innovation Award for the Peer-to-Peer Adaptive Signal Control System in Moab, Utah. Purdue's Lucy Richardson, Chris Day, and Professor Darcy Bullock worked with UDOT colleagues Mark Taylor and Matthew Luker to evaluate this system.

Congratulations to Ron Klemencic (BSCE '85), Chairman and CEO of Magnusson Klemencic Associates and Charles Pankow Foundation Board Member, for receiving the Fazlur R. Khan Lifetime Achievement Medal from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).