Surendra Shah Elected to Chinese Academy of Engineering

Surendra Shah, Walter P. Murphy Professor Civil and Environmental Engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University, was recently elected to the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Established in 1994, the academy is composed of elected members who have made significant contributions in the fields of engineering and technological sciences. Its missions are to initiate and conduct strategic studies, provide consultancy services, promote the development of engineering and technological sciences in China, and devote itself to the benefit and welfare of the society. Shah was elected with five other foreign members.

Shah's research involves connecting microscopic behavior to structural response of concrete in order to help develop tougher, greener, and more durable materials. He has developed innovative nondestructive tools to detect fracture, including electronic laser specle interferometry and digital image correlation. He has done pioneering research in fiber reinforced concrete, high performance concrete, and fracture mechanics of quasi-brittle materials. Current research projects include: hybrid fiber reinforced cement based composites, interaction between microcracking and transport properties, monitoring in-situ properties of concrete at early age using ultrasonic method, computational model for fatigue fracture, utilization of waste material, early age cracking of high performance concrete, functionally graded coatings for reinforcing bars to improve their corrosion resistance, self compacting concrete, and extruded composites.