Randall Poston

Neil Armstrong Distinguished Visiting Professor (2019-2022)

At the time of his appointment, Randall Poston was the founding senior principal of Pivot Engineers, a structural engineering consulting firm in Austin, TX, where he now serves as senior consultant. An internationally recognized expert in structural engineering and member of the National Academy of Engineering, Poston has established himself as one of the preeminent structural consultants in the United States. Poston has authored and delivered hundreds of papers and presentations related to the structural engineering industry, championed the repair of existing structures for more than 35 years, and dedicated his career to advancing the state of structural engineering knowledge.

As past chair of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Committee 318 Structural Building Code (2008-2014), he oversaw a monumental effort to completely reorganize the concrete code, the first undertaking of its kind in the history of ACI. Engineering News-Record (ENR) named him a "Top 25 Newsmaker" of 2014 for his code reorganization leadership, and ACI bestowed him with the Henry L. Kennedy Award for this work. Poston was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2017 and became the 96th president of the American Concrete Institute at the conclusion of the ACI Convention in Quebec City in 2019.

Poston earned a Ph. in Structural Engineering in 1984, a Master of Science in structural engineering in 1980, and a bachelor of science in civil engineering in 1978, all from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2014, Dr Poston was selected as a distinguished engineering graduate of the University of Texas at Austin Cockrell School of Engineering. This followed being elected to the Academy of Distinguished Graduates at the University of Texas at Austin Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering in 2008.

Poston worked with faculty members of the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering in research focused on structural engineering.

Dr. Poston's Impact

  • “From Poston, students learned how to look at work from a practical perspective in terms of their place in the world, rather than simple calculations on paper. Looking back on his visit, we frequently refer to the situations that he shared in his seminars as motivating case studies for research questions to drive our investigations.

    -Shirley Dyke, the Donald A. and Patricia A. Coates Professor of Innovation in Mechanical Engineering

  • “The ability for me to offer up ideas to faculty and have them test concepts rapidly was a real plus in growing research ideas and helped me realize the potential in practice.”

    -Randall Poston

  • “(The students and faculty) helped me understand some of the new directions in technology and the possibilities of cutting-edge technology implementation into practice. It is always fun to discuss with students their interests and understand the possibilities for a new generation of engineers.”

    -Randall Poston

Lectures

Failure of Long-span Cable-Supported Timber Pedestrian Bridges

October 20, 2020

Seminars

News

Pivot Receives The Excellence in Concrete Construction Award

Pivot Engineers is pleased to announce that our engineers have been awarded the Excellence in Concrete Construction in Repair and Restoration award from the American Concrete Institute for our work on The Austonian slab edge repairs.

 

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2020 Project of the Year - The Austonian: Slab Edge Repairs

The building is comprised of reinforced concrete structural elements and unbonded, post-tensioned (PT) concrete slabs. The majority of the slab edges in a typical floor are covered with aluminum cladding, while the remaining slab edges are exposed to the elements. The building has approximately 1.75 linear miles (2.8 km) of exposed slab edges distributed over the entire height of the structure.

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