"Kyle Stanish, a doctoral student in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Toronto, Canada, is the recipient of the 2002 Nevada Medal for Distinguished Graduate Student Paper in Bridge Engineering," Professor M. Saiidi of the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Nevada, Reno announced recently.

Stanish is working under the direction of Professors Doug Hooton and Michael Thomas of the University of Toronto. His paper was selected among the 2002 entries, several of which were judged to be of high technical merit and meeting or exceeding the quality of journal articles. Evaluators were from a group of internationally recognized authorities in bridge research and design. The award includes a plaque, an engraved 14-K gold pin, and a $1,000 check. The funding for the award is provided through an endowment established by Simon Wong Engineering of San Diego, California. Mr. Wong, the founder and the president of the firm, completed a BSCE ('79) and an MSCE ('84) degree in civil engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno.

The title of Stanish's paper was "Migration of Chloride Ions on Concrete." The systematic, sound, and logical approach taken in the paper to address this important topic that can have a pronounced effect on durability of concrete bridges are some of the features of the article that were noted by the reviewers.

"The design and construction of durable, safe and aesthetically pleasing bridges is a topic that has captured the imagination of not just civil engineers, but the public at large," said Stanish. "It is often through its bridges that a city is known, for example the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, or the Confederation Bridge in Prince Edward Island. I am glad to be able to contribute some part to improving the construction of these monuments."

Stanish plans to continue his work with the ultimate goal of encouraging the production of durable and economical structures.