Three New Faculty Join the AE Department for Fall 2014

Somayeh Asadi, assistant professor of architectural engineering. Her work focuses on energy efficient building design, self-healing concrete, integration of advanced-sustainable materials and nanomaterials in construction, life cycle assessment and construction safety. Asadi holds a bachelor's degree in construction management from Semnan University, Iran; a master's in industrial management from Shiraz University, Iran; and her master's and doctoral degrees in engineering science from Louisiana State University.

Donghyun Rim, assistant professor of architectural engineering. His work centers on measurement and computational fluid dynamics modeling of airflow and pollutant dynamics within buildings, heating, ventilation and air conditioning system design for high performance buildings and occupancy sensing, and energy efficient ventilation. Rim received his bachelor's degree in civil and environmental engineering from Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea, and his doctorate in environmental engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Aly Said, associate professor of architectural engineering. His work focuses on seismic behavior and design of reinforced concrete (RC) structures, use of composite materials (FRP) in rehabilitation of RC structures, finite element modeling of RC structures, use of FRP as reinforcement, knowledge-based systems applications in civil engineering, structural behavior of self-consolidating concrete, nano-particles use in concrete materials and materials recycling in concrete. Said received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Ain Shams University, Egypt; a master of applied sciences degree in structural engineering from the Université de Moncton, Canada; a master of engineering degree in structural engineering from McMaster University, Canada; and doctoral degree in structural engineering from The University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Ernest E. Howard Award
Emeritus Professor Louis Geschwindner, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE was the recipient of the 2014 Ernest E. Howard Award sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). The Award recognizes a member of the Society who has made a definite contribution to the advancement of structural engineering through research, planning, design or construction. Dr. Geschwindner was a faculty member at Penn State for more than 40 years, teaching a full range of structural analysis and design courses. He has published books on structural analysis and structural steel design and is active in writing and presenting continuing education programs for the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). As vice president of AISC, he helped develop the standard specification for steel buildings, ANSI/AISC 360, and the companion Manual of Steel Construction, as well as all technical activities of the Institute including expansion of its research and continuing education programs.

The award was presented to Dr. Geschwindner at the Structures Congress 2014 in Boston, MA on Apr. 3, 2014. Pictured above LR are: Satish Nagarajaiah,Technical Activities Division Executive Committee of ASCE, Louis Geschwindner, and Don Dusenberry, President of the SEI of ASCE Board of Governors.