Congratulations to Aradhana Agarwal for depositing her Ph.D. dissertation, Seismic Design and Performance of Multitiered Ordinary Concentrically Braced Frames! Best wishes to Aradhana in her post-Illinois pursuits, which already have begun as Associate II in the Washington, D.C. office of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates!
Category Archives: News
AISC Educator Workshop
Early-career instructors of steel structures are encouraged to apply for the AISC workshop “Teaching Steel Design: Fundamentals of Behavior in a System Context.” This interactive event, held July 15-17 in Chicago, will provide information on course planning, AISC resources, textbooks, techniques for teaching behavior, maximizing student engagement, and teaching stability concepts.
https://www.aisc.org/education/university-programs/engineering-educator-workshop
New Approach Slab Paper
Congratulations to Gaoyu Liu for publication of a new paper from his Ph.D. research on integral abutment bridge approach slabs!
Liu, G., LaFave, J. and Fahnestock, L. “Parametric Assessment of Integral Abutment Bridge Approach Slab Structural Behavior When Subjected to Live Load and Thermal Effects,” Journal of Bridge Engineering, ASCE, 2025, 30 (6): 04025032.
Fisher Scholarship
James Fisher is is a graduate of CEE at Illinois (MS 1965, PhD 1968) who had a long and impactful career in structural engineering, with particular focus on steel structures. The Steel Joist Institute has created a scholarship to honor Dr. Fisher, and students (BS or MS) with interest in steel structures are encouraged to apply.
Shi Presents at NHERI Computational Symposium
Congratulations to Shitao Shi for presenting a lightning talk, “Innovative Research Workflow for Seismic Design Provisions Development,” at the NHERI Computational Symposium! This talk highlighted a computational framework that Shitao has developed to support his Ph.D. research on seismic stability, which is partially funded by the American Institute of Steel Construction and the National Science Foundation.
Shitao Shi at the NHERI Computational Symposium.
Agarwal Defends Dissertation
Congratulations to Aradhana Agarwal for defending her Ph.D. dissertation! Aradhana’s doctoral research, Seismic Design and Performance of Multitiered Ordinary Concentrically Braced Frames, was supervised by Larry Fahnestock and partially funded by the American Institute of Steel Construction.
Aradhana Agarwal with doctoral committee (Frank Lombardo, Larry Fahnestock and Jim LaFave; Ahmed Elbanna not pictured) after defense.
AISC Scholarships
New Paper on MT-OCBF
A new paper that documents a portion of Aradhana Agarwal’s Ph.D. research is now published in the ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering. Congratulations Aradhana!
Agarwal, A. and Fahnestock, L. “Seismic Collapse Performance of Multitiered Ordinary Concentrically-Braced Frames,” Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, 2025, 151 (3): 04025008. https://doi.org/10.1061/JSENDH.STENG-13635
Shi Passes Prelim
Congratulations to Shitao Shi on passing the Ph.D. preliminary exam! Shitao’s research on seismic stability design and assessment of buildings is partially funded by the American Institute of Steel Construction and the National Science Foundation.
Shitao Shi presents Ph.D. research proposal.
2025 Illinois Structural Engineering Conference
Registration is now open for the 2025 Illinois Structural Engineering Conference, which will be held Thursday, April 17, 2025 at the I Hotel and Illinois Conference Center in Champaign, IL.
https://structures.cee.illinois.edu/2025-illinois-structural-engineering-conference