Dr. Anahita Modiriasari received the 2018 Dr. Neville G.W. Cook Ph.D. Dissertation Award for the best Ph.D. thesis in rock mechanics and rock engineering. The award is given by ARMA, the American Rock Mechanics Association. A plaque, with the award, was presented to Dr. Modiriasari at the awards banquet during the 52nd U.S. Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Conference in Seattle. Her thesis, titled "“Geophysical Signatures of Fracture Mechanisms” was co-directed by Dr. Antonio Bobet and Dr. Laura Pyrak-Nolte. Her research has shown that damage inside rock at the micro-scale can be detected using active seismic monitoring and changes in transmission and reflection wave amplitudes and the presence of converted waves can be effectively used to determine the type and location of the damage.

Dr. Modiriasari completed her Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mining Exploration Engineering at Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2010. She continued her graduate studies at Amirkabir University of Technology and earned her Master degree in Mining Engineering with specialization in Rock Mechanics in 2012. In January 2013, she moved to the United States to pursue the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the area of Geotechnical Engineering. After receiving her Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering in December 2017, she joined the new program of Resilient Extraterrestrial Habitat Engineering (RETH) as a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University. Her current research interests include rock and fracture mechanics, applied geophysics, and underground construction.