Qiao Receives National CE Award

Qiao Receives National Civil Engineering Award

Pizhong Qiao, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, has received the Outstanding Technical Contribution award from the Aerospace Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

Qiao is only the second recipient of the award, which was established in 1999. He will be presented with the award at the ASCE’s Earth & Space division conference in Long Beach, California next spring.

The award recognizes a member's distinguished achievements in aerospace engineering that also impact other areas of civil engineering. Qiao was cited for his contributions in the area of fracture mechanics of layered structures. In particular, he was recognized for the development of a theory that increases understanding of the behavior of two materials at their interface in beam structures.  He and his former graduate student, Jialai Wang, improved work that had been done by Harvard researchers in the 1980’s, making the work more applicable for civil engineers. Qiao also did work to help researchers better understand the effects of shear force on a beam. Qiao’s work improves mechanics models, in some cases by as much as 10 percent, that look at the failures of beam structures, helping to assure their safety.

Qiao, who came to WSU from the University of Akron in 2006, was also recognized for his prolific publication record. He has published three book chapters and more than 75 papers in refereed journals. He has also applied for three patents. He was recently named a Fellow of the ASCE and has received numerous awards, including the Outstanding Research of the year in the College of Engineering at the University of Akron. Five of his former students have become university professors in the U.S.