Dr. Jian Wang, who completed his Ph.D. at Purdue University under the supervision of Dr. Srinivas Peeta in December 2018, has received the 2019 COTA Best Dissertation Award from the Chinese Overseas Transportation Association (COTA).

Future long-term habitats on the Moon or Mars will have to be resilient against many hazards, including radiation, sandstorms, quakes, and meteorites. Prof. Shirley Dyke is the director of the Resilient Extra Terrestrial Habitats Institute (RETHi), a NASA-funded institute researching how to make these habitats resilient, self-monitoring, and serviceable autonomously. She discusses these challenges in the latest issue of Civil Engineering magazine.

Dr. Rick Deschamps, Vice President of Engineering at Nicholson Construction Company, will deliver the 18th Leonards Lecture, "Application of Unconventional Geotechnical Solutions," on April 17th. The PGS Workshop, with a theme of "Unconventional Geotechnics," will be held in conjunction with the lecture.

A team of Purdue and INDOT colleagues was recognized with an exceptional paper award by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) committee on Traffic Signal Systems.

Shirley J. Dyke, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Civil Engineering, and Julio A. Ramirez, Karl H. Kettelhut Professor in Civil Engineering and NHERI-NCO Center Director, were invited to give keynote lectures at the 2019 Advances in Steel Structures Conference, held in Cairo, Egypt on December 17-19. 2019.

Rao "G.S." Govindaraju, Bowen Engineering Head of Civil Engineering and Christopher B. and Susan S. Burke Professor of Civil Engineering, has been recognized by the American Institute of Hydrology with the AIH Founders Award.

The Lyles School of Civil Engineering would like to congratulate the following faculty for their outstanding dedication to teaching Boilermaker Engineers! These exemplary faculty received teaching evaluation scores of 4.7 or higher in classes with enrollments of 10 or more, and 50% or higher response rates, based on student evaluations from courses taught in Engineering in fall 2019.

Recent PhD graduate Sikai Chen has been selected to receive the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) Milton Pikarsky Award, a national level prize. This prestigious award recognizes one outstanding PhD dissertation in transportation science and technology.

Grad student Bortiorkor Alabi has been awarded the 2019-2020 Greater Indianapolis Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) Chapter Helene M. Overly Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship recognizes an outstanding graduate female in the transportation industry and academia.

CE undergrad Amanda Lefebvre was selected for the 2019 Exceptional Leadership Award at the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) National Conference in Pittsburgh last month. This award recognizes those individuals that truly show a commitment to their chapters, Program Communities, and the mission of EWB-USA.

From Tanzania to the Netherlands, Purdue doctoral student Jessica Eisma is addressing challenges of water resource management fundamental to everyday life and long-term sustainability for populations worldwide.

PhD student Theodora Konstantinou has received the Charley V. Wootan Memorial Award from the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC). The award is given annually for the best Doctoral dissertation and Master's thesis in the field of policy and planning in transportation studies. This national student award recognizes her outstanding Master's thesis, "Market Adoption and Impact of Electric Roadways on Criteria Pollutants and Greenhouse Gas Emissions."

Purdue University will host the 15th International Workshop on Advanced Smart Materials and Smart Structures Technology in West Lafayette, IN, USA from July 17-19th, 2020. ANCRiSST 2020 aims to explore the application and integration of smart materials and structures technologies into our everyday world. We invite researchers to share their progress toward these common objectives and to facilitate a strong community on this important and timely theme. Topics and interests include, for instance, dynamics, structural control, real-time hybrid simulation, metamaterials, robotics for inspection, computer vision, etc — really, all applications of smart structures and materials. Abstract submission will open around February 1, 2020.

Purdue University will host the 13th Asia-Pacific-Euro Summer School on Smart Structures Technology in West Lafayette, IN from July 12th-August 1, 2020. The 2020 APESS program is intended for graduate students and post-doctoral researchers in civil and mechanical engineering, and related disciplines.

Professor Jie Shan has been selected by the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) to receive the Fairchild Photogrammetric Award – presented by ASPRS through the ASPRS Foundation, with the support of Lockheed Martin. The purpose of the Award is to stimulate the development of the art of aerial photogrammetry in the United States.

A new Center for Intelligent Infrastructure (CII) at Purdue University is bringing together researchers of various fields to develop technology that a bridge, building, road or other infrastructure could use to communicate directly with humans and respond to disasters, preventing collapse.

Susan M. Khalifah, P.E., S.E. was recognized as a 2019 finalist for the Staff Award for Professional Achievement at the 18th annual College of Engineering Staff Awards of Excellence banquet held at the Shively Club at Ross Ade Stadium on December 6th.

What do bones and 3D-printed buildings have in common? They both have columns and beams on the inside that determine how long they last. Now, the discovery of how a "beam" in human bone material handles a lifetime's worth of wear and tear could translate to the development of 3D-printed lightweight materials that last long enough for more practical use in buildings, aircraft and other structures.

CE alum Geoff Dauksas, P.E., S.E, LEED AP (BSCE '03, MSCE '05) has been named to the 2020 class of ENR Midwest Top Young Professionals, one of 20 rising design and construction stars to be honored by the publication for their contributions to the industry and their communities.

The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) will honor Amit Varma, Karl H. Kettelhut Professor in Civil Engineering and Director of Bowen Laboratory, and CE alumnus Ron Klemencic, PE, SE (BSCE '85) with the Special Achievement Award at the 2020 NASCC: The Steel Conference (April 22-24 in Atlanta).