Congratulations to Gaoyu Liu for defending and depositing his Ph.D. dissertation! Gaoyu’s doctoral research, “Structural Behavior of Integral Abutment Bridge Approach Slabs,” was co-advised by Jim LaFave and Larry Fahnestock as part of a project funded by the Illinois Tollway. Best wishes to Gaoyu in his post-Illinois pursuits, which already have begun as a Software Development Engineer at Amazon in Seattle!

Prof. Fahnestock and students in CEE462, Steel Structures II, toured the under-construction University of Illinois Foundation Philanthropy Center and learned about the fast-track design/build delivery that will bring this 60,000 sq. ft. facility online by the end of 2023. Thanks to the project team members from Perkins Eastman and Berglund Construction who made this visit possible!