25th SEM Research Symposium held virtually

The Structural Engineering and Mechanics (SEM) group held their 25^th research symposium on Feb. 26^th, 2021. With social distancing restrictions still in place, the event was held virtually, and offered graduate, and a few undergraduate, students an opportunity to share their research. Highlights from this year included a keynote lecture by a world-renowned leader in Topology Optimization,  Professor Ole Sigmund from the Technical University of Denmark.  Sigmund’s seminar was entitled Multi-scale Topology Optimization. You can read more about it in the symposium program, as well as descriptions of the research presentations by 24 students.

The students presented their research in various technical sessions including: (i) modeling; (ii) durability, degradation, and repair; (iii) simulation and analysis; (iv) experimental.  Their were a number of awards given with the “Best Overall Presentation” granted by popular vote to:  Francisco Jativa, advised by Dr. Moe Pour-Ghaz, for his talk entitled “CO2 intermixing as a method to sequester carbon and increase durability of cement-based materials.”

“The SEM symposium is an annual opportunity for me to observe and understand relevant issues other students are tackling in the diverse field of structural mechanics. Learning from their work in the analysis of the (often complicated) loading and failure conditions in large structures allows me to envision new applications and research directions for my own topic of self-healing composite materials. The sheer number of participants and research areas encompassed by the symposium is always an excellent reminder that the world is a lot bigger than my individual scientific contribution.” PhD student Alexander Snyder, advised by Dr. Jason Patrick