Nevada Medal

Bridge engineering is an evolving and vibrant field within civil engineering. Academic institutions worldwide are researching innovative and groundbreaking ideas and concepts. The Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Nevada, Reno, as a leader in pioneering bridge engineering research, wishes to recognize outstanding graduate student contributions to state-of-the-art bridge engineering through the Nevada Medal for Distinguished Student Paper in Bridge Engineering.

2019 winner

Congratulations to David Duck, the 2019 winner of the Nevada Medal.

Format and submission

Submissions for the 2020 competition are due by February 17, 2020.

Submission information

The paper must be the original work of the author and must describe research in bridge engineering. The subject may include any aspect of bridge engineering including but not limited to disciplines such as structures, geotechnical, materials, assessment, etc.
The paper must be written by the student alone. No co-authors shall be allowed. However, the faculty advisor must be acknowledged (See Item 4).
The deadline for receiving the paper at the University of Nevada, Reno is February 17, 2020. The name of the award recipient will be announced in the following May.
The papers must be typewritten in English and be single-spaced with a 12-point font. Standard US letter size or A4 sheets must be used. All margins shall be 25 mm. Use bold headings and center them. Left justify all the text. All papers must include a title, author’s information (name, institution, mailing and e-mail address), a 100-word abstract, introduction, description of the research, results, conclusions, acknowledgements, and references. Acknowledge the academic advisor(s) under whose supervision the work was done. The authors have the option of grouping the tables and figures at the end of the paper or spreading them throughout the paper. Graphs and photos need to be of high quality with legible lettering. All references must be cited. The total number of pages, including tables and figures, is limited to ten. Papers that do not meet these requirements will be disqualified.
Send the entry paper as an attached PDF file to elnaze@unr.edu

For more information, contact Prof. Esmaeilzadeh Seylabi at elnaze@unr.edu.

Award

The recipient will receive $1,500 cash, a gold medal, and a plaque. The certificate will show the title of the award as well as the name of the winner. Information about the award and the winner will be publicized in internationally distributed newsletters, the University of Nevada, Reno website, and the College of Engineering Alumni Newsletter.

Requirements

Original papers are sought that describe research conducted by current doctoral or master's degree students in civil engineering addressing innovative approaches or concepts applied to bridge engineering with potentially important impact in bridge design. The papers need to be full length and describe a completed study with final conclusions. The papers must be authored by the student and be written in English. The winning paper or any of its parts may be used in conjunction with publicity for this medal. Copyrights shall remain with the author.

Funding

The funding for the award and the associated costs for this competition are provided through an endowment established by Simon Wong Engineering, San Diego, California. Mr. Wong is an alumnus of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he completed a BSCE (‘79) and an MSCE (‘84) degree specializing in structural engineering. The endowment funded the award from 1999 to 2014. Starting in 2015, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department resources have been used for the award.

Publicity

Student papers from Ph.D. and M.S. students are solicited via the chairs of all accredited civil engineering programs in the United States, faculty who are active in bridge engineering research in the US and other countries, and members of international bridge engineering organizations. The award recipient will be also announced on the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering home page as well as in internationally distributed sources.

Selection

The evaluation of the papers is conducted by the members of the Advisory and Evaluators Board, with a minimum of three reviews for each paper. The membership of the board committee is composed of bridge engineering researchers and designers worldwide. The entries are judged based on the originality of the research, potential impact on bridge engineering design and construction, and clarity of presentation.

Coordinator

Professor M. Saiid Saiidi, University of Nevada, Reno

Evaluators

Nagi Aboshadi, Professional Engineering Center, Brea, CA
Farhad Ansari, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL
Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, University of California, Berkeley
Atorod Azizi, Florida International University, Miami, FL
Andrjez Brandt, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
JoAnne Browning, University of San Antonio, TX
Ian Buckle, University of Nevada, Reno, NV
G. Michele Calvi, University of di Pava, Italy
Robb Chai, University of California, Davis, CA
Zhi-yuan Cheng, Figg International, Tallahassee, FL
Juan Correal, University of Los Andes, Bogota, Columbia
Carlos Cruz, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Ihab Darwish, Alfred Benesch & Company, E. Lansing, MI
Arya Ebrahimpour, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID
Mo Ehsani, Quake Wrap Inc, Tucson, AZ
Mohammed El Gawady, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri
Matej Fischinger, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Mike Forde, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Dan Frangopol, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
Cathy French, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
George Ghusn, Blakely/Johnson/Ghusn, Inc., Reno, NV
Zach Haber, Genex Systems, McLean, VA
Monique Head, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD
Tatjana Isakovic, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Ahmad Itani, University of Nevada, Reno, NV
Yang Jiang, HNTB, Seattle, WA
Nathan Johnson, Keinfelder, San Diego, CA
Andreas Kappos, University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Kazuhiko Kawashima, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
Sashi Kunnath, University of California, Davis, CA
Kevin Mackie, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
E. Manos Maragakis, University of Nevada, Reno, NV
Amir Mirmiran, Florida International University, Miami, FL
Sarira Motaref, University of Connecticut, Storr, CT
Tony Naaman, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Antonio Nanni, University of Miami, FL
Hani Nassif, Rutgers University, Brunswick, NJ
Andy Nowak, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NB
Jamie Padgett, Rice University, Houston, TX
Azadeh Parvin, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
Gokhan Pekcan, University of Nevada, Reno, NV
Brent Phares, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Claudia Pulido, Kiewit Construction, Denver, CO
Keri Ryan, University of Nevada, Reno, NV David Sanders University of Nevada, Reno, NV
Frieder Seible, Monash University, Frankston, VIC, Australia
Raj Siddharthan, University of Nevada, Reno, NV
Pedro Silva, George Washington University, Washington, DC
Nadim Wehbe, N. Dakota State University, Brooking, SD
Eric Williamson, University of Texas, Austin, TX
Arash Zaghi, University of Connecticut, Storr, CT
Yang Zhang, HNTB, Seattle, WA