Two structural engineering faculty members honored by the American Institute of Steel Construction

By Peter Murphy

Bruneau received the Special Achievement Award for “his groundbreaking work in developing and promoting Speed Core, a concrete-filled composite plate shear wall system that is revolutionizing the speed at which steel-framed buildings are constructed,” according to AISC.

Bruneau received the Lifetime Achievement Award from AISC earlier this year, and he received the T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award, recognizing his outstanding contributions to engineering literature on fabricated structural steel.

Elhami Khorasani earned the Early Career Faculty Award in recognition of her “demonstrated promise in the area of structural steel research.” Her research focuses on the impact fire and elevated temperatures have on steel structures.

Over the past several years, Elhami Khorasani has made advancements in the field of fire engineering. Earlier this year, she worked with structural engineering firms to develop performance-based structural fire engineering design case studies in accordance with American Society of Civil Engineers’ standards. Elhami Khorasani is currently using the Department’s high temperature furnace to simulate bridge and tunnel fires, and other structural element testing.

“The Department is fortunate to have two faculty members recognized for their accomplishments by AISC,” says Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Department chair Joseph Atkinson, “Michel has built a legacy and continues to garner achievements, while Negar has made significant impacts at this point in her career.”

Ramla Qureshi, PhD candidate and founder and CEO of Women Engineers Pakistan worked with Bruneau to earn her MS, and is currently working with Elhami Khorasani.

“Prof. Bruneau set the expectation for what research would be like from the get-go. He explained that this would not be a straight-forward process, and that I would have to be ready to let the research lead” Qureshi says, “he was very accommodating, and never let the research process intimidate me. He will still find time to answer my questions today.”

Elhami-Khorasani and Qureshi began working together in 2016, and the relationship has been beneficial in several different ways, according to Qureshi.

“Professor Khorasani is not afraid to ask difficult questions. And if there is a research problem neither of us can figure out, she will work with others to get the answer,” Qureshi says, “she has helped me beyond research as well. We have discussed my career plans, she has helped me figure out when to apply to jobs. She really wants her students to succeed.”

While the AISC awards recognize the faculty members’ research achievements, both of them are world-class mentors, according to Qureshi. “I was struck by how helpful they both were,” she says, “each of them is amazing at what they do.”