Civil Engineering PhD Student Received GEM Fellowship

Jovanca Smith, PhD Student in Structural Engineering and Infrastructure Materials, was awarded the prestigious GEM Fellowship.  The GEM Consortium is dedicated to enhance the value of the nation’s human capital by increasing the participation of underrepresented groups as the master’s and doctoral levels in engineering and science.  The fellowship is designed to focus on promoting opportunities for individuals to enter the industry at the graduate level in areas such as research and development, product development, and other high level technical careers.  The focus of Jovanca’s research is to understand the mechanics of cementitious materials using numerical modeling techniques.  More specifically, she stimulates and investigates the behavior of ultra-high performance fiber-reinforced concrete under dynamic loads as well as the micromechanics of matrix-fiber interaction.  Professor Gianluca Cusatis is Jovanca's faculty advisor.