Ten faculty and staff members of Iowa State University’s (ISU) Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (CCEE) received university and college recognition at this year’s university-wide Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony and College of Engineering Convocation. The department also celebrated recent faculty awards at its 34th Annual Civil Engineering Fall Banquet.
At the College of Engineering’s Convocation ceremony, three CCEE professors were recognized for receiving named faculty positions. Professor and Director of the Institute for Transportation (InTrans) Shauna Hallmark was awarded the Paulsen Professorship in Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering. Her research has focused on two areas: traffic safety and transportation air quality. In the past, she has been awarded the Commissioner’s Special Award for Traffic Safety for outstanding service to the cause of reducing injuries and loss of life in traffic crashes in Iowa. Hallmark is the first professor to receive the Paulsen Professorship. She has served as the director of InTrans since 2012.
Jeramy Ashlock was another recipient of a named faculty position. Currently, Ashlock has performed research in dynamics of soils and foundations, deep foundations, computational mechanics, non-destructive surface wave testing of soils and pavements and granular road stabilization. He has also been awarded the National Science Foundation CAREER Award. Ashlock, associate professor and newly-named recipient of the Richard L. Handy Professorship, said he has had multiple occasions to collaborate with Dr. Handy on research to automate the Borehole Shear Test (BST) Device over the past several years and is honored to receive this professorship.
“I would like to thank Dr. Handy and his wife Kathy, as well as my colleagues in the CCEE Department for this recognition,” Ashlock said. “I foresee using the professorship to continue supporting both undergraduate and graduate students on research seed projects, including new advancements related to Dr. Handy’s inventions, such as the BST and Ko Stepped Blade devices.”
Professor Sri Sritharan received both the Wilkinson Chair in the College of Engineering and the D.R. Boylan Eminent Faculty Award for Research. Sritharan currently conducts research that explores earthquake-resistant designs of structures, wind energy and wind engineering, precast concrete structural systems and ultra-high performance concrete and its uses. In 2015, he earned two patents for his research on wind turbine tower systems. Sritharan has plans for his newest professorship.
“It is humbling and a distinct honor to be recognized with a chair professorship from engineering,” Sritharan said. “I intend to use this investment as seed funding toward new fundamental research and commercialize technologies that my group has already developed at Iowa State University.”
Also at convocation, CCEE Professor Chris Williams (along with university faculty member Robert Brown) was recognized for receiving a patent for research on bio-oil formulation as an asphalt substitute. Senior Lecturer Larry Cormicle was awarded a Superior Engineering Advisor Award, and Senior Lecturer Beth Hartmann was awarded a Superior Engineering Teaching Award. Associate Professor Simon Laflamme earned an Early Career Engineering Faculty Research Award.
Three members of ISU’s CCEE faculty and staff were recognized at the university-wide Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony. Robert Steffes, program manager for InTrans, was recognized as the recipient of the Regents Award for Staff Excellence. Associate Scientist Douglas Wood received the Professional and Scientific Excellence Award. InTrans Assistant Scientist Sunghwan Kim received the Professional and Scientific Outstanding New Professional Award.
To top out the month, the department held its 34th Annual Civil Engineering Fall Banquet on Sept. 15 at the Iowa State Center Scheman Building. Associate Professors David Jeong and Peter Savolainen were both recognized for outstanding faculty achievement. Savolainen was awarded the Charles W. Schaefer Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research and Service. Jeong was awarded the Joseph C. and Elizabeth A. Anderlik Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. The night included keynote speaker Larry Good, president and owner of PI Midwest (business management consultants). It also included recognition of student scholarship recipients and presentations from several civil engineering student organizations.
The 2016 College of Engineering Convocation took place on Sept. 8. in the Alliant Energy Lee Liu Auditorium in Howe Hall. The program involved a presentation from Sarah Rajala, James L. and Katherine S. Melsa Dean of Engineering, which included a financial update, a review of the year’s achievements, and a report of recently-released enrollment records. The University Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony was held Sept. 26 in the Great Hall of ISU’s Memorial Union.
