Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

Endowment Supports Innovation

By Terry Wipf, Pitt-Des Moines Professor in Civil Engineering

Since becoming the Pitt-Des Moines (PDM) Professor in Civil Engineering in 2002, I have tried to be a good ambassador for the William Jackson family and continue some of PDM's values of entrepreneurship, innovation, and hard work.

As a faculty member, I think an effective way to enhance education is by providing students with both fundamental and applied research project opportunities.  Many of these research projects involve working with industry to solve unique problems with innovative approaches. Among other benefits, working directly with industry and others developing new technology gives students invaluable connections with future employers and insight into future job opportunities.

The students, some at least partially funded as a result of the professorship, see first-hand the cutting-edge results of these studies and applications. For example, some of our students are working on steel bridge projects related to structural health monitoring. We use numerous sensors, including fiber optic sensors, and associated technology to obtain structural performance data.

These are interesting projects that are moving our bridge engineering program forward in the use of remote sensing and state-of-the-art sensor technology and directly contribute to the way bridges will be engineered in the future. 

The professorship often allows our students and research team to expand research beyond the original scope of projects—to take chances and explore additional ideas. I believe when we approach problems in this manner, we are truly fostering among students the risk-taking, entrepreneurial spirit of PDM.

I have also used the funding to support my travel and travel by our students to technical conferences. In my role with the Bridge Engineering Center (BEC) at ISU (which contributes significantly to the education and research component of the CCEE Department), I use the funding to support activities of the students and staff associated with that program so that it can continue to provide educational opportunities for our students.   

The professorship has made an impact on my professional life and on the lives of many students. The investment has improved the quality of education programs within the CCEE Department at Iowa State University and has provided enhanced experiences to the engineers of tomorrow.