Research Focus Area: Structural Engineering

Our faculty and graduate students work at Town Engineering Building facilities and with the Bridge Engineering Center at Iowa State’s research park. These activities encourage multidisciplinary and high-impact research, such as seismic engineering, structural health monitoring, bridge engineering and risk-based management. Recently, structural engineering faculty have been working on the nationally acclaimed Iowa State University Wind Energy Initiative.

Research Faculty

Alice Alipour Associate Professor	Resilience quantification methods for infrastructure systems under extreme events Multi-hazard design and assessment criteria for structures Post-disaster functionality of complex networks
In Ho Cho Associate Professor	Big data-oriented engineering and science High performance computing/parallel computing algorithms Earthquake engineering
Simon Laflamme Associate Professor	Structural control Structural health monitoring Smart structures and intelligent systems engineering
Brent Phares Research Associate Professor	Field testing of bridges Forensic engineering/failure investigation Nondestructive evaluation
Behrouz Shafei Associate Professor	Vulnerability assessment of structures under mechanical and environmental stressors Nano-scale investigation of cement-based materials Evaluation of uncertainties involved in aging mechanisms
Jiehua ‘Jay’ Shen Associate Professor	Performance-based seismic design of steel structures Model-based simulations Inelastic behavior of steel structures
David Sanders Greenwood Department Chair and Professor	Bridge engineering Seismic design Behavior of structures (concrete)
Sri Sritharan Interim Assistant Dean for Strategic Initiatives, Wilkinson Professor of Interdisciplinary Engineering	Seismic design Earthquake-resistant design of structures Precast concrete structural systems