Welcome to the online home of the Fahnestock Research Group within CEE at Illinois. Led by Prof. Larry Fahnestock, and collaborating with colleagues at Illinois and other universities, the group conducts research broadly related to behavior, design and performance of large-scale structural systems. We employ laboratory and field testing in conjunction with analytical and numerical models to illuminate critical aspects of behavior that inform advances in system configurations and design methods, ultimately leading to superior performance that contributes to infrastructure resiliency and sustainability. Research topics span across buildings and bridges, moderate and high seismic design, low and high ductility response, service and extreme load conditions. Current projects are sponsored by the National Science Foundation, American Institute of Steel Construction and Illinois Center for Transportation. This site provides a brief overview of the group activities, so please inquire for more details about anything posted here.
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
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
Miller Receives Award for Excellence
For the second time (first was in 2022), Marissa Miller, CEE Office Manager, received the CEE Staff Award for Excellence. Marissa joined CEE in spring of 2018, and since that time, she has provided outstanding support to the Structures Group. Congratulations Marissa!