Outstanding Journal Paper Award for 2019

Dr. Chris Ramseyer (Fig. 1) is currently a professor in the School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science (CEES) at the University of Oklahoma (OU) and is the facilities director of the Donald G. Fears Structural Engineering Laboratory. He has received many awards including the OU Vice President for Research Award for Improving Quality of Life and Communities, the CEES George W. Tauxe Outstanding Professor Award twice, the OU College of Engineering Alumni Teaching Award, the People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Award from the EPA, and eight awards for design from both local and national entities.

Dr. Ramseyer’s research interests span both structural engineering and concrete materials. His materials research includes both portland and calcium sulfoaluminate cements, intended for longer-lasting construction, rehabilitation. and repair of pavements and bridges. His structural research interests include rehabilitation and repair of pavement and bridges and lateral load resistance of structures to high wind events. Dr. Ramseyer has been involved in 42 research projects, serving as principal investigator on 31, sponsored by national and state agencies and private industry. He has personal credit for more than $2 million dollars in research and over $2.1 million dollars in donations to support research. He has participated in the development of more than 70 published research papers in technical journals and conference proceedings, four chapters or sections of refereed documents, and one book. He has made eight presentations at international conferences, 55 presentations at national conferences, and 98 invited presentations concerning his research.

Dr. Ramseyer is a licensed professional engineer in California, Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming, and North Carolina. He was the lead structural engineer for the award-winning SkyDance Bridge in Oklahoma City and is the only structural engineer that participated in both the National Science Foundation (NSF) RAPID residential evaluation and ASCE/SEI school/commercial structure evaluation after the May 20, 2013, tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. Dr. Ramseyer led the development of the enhanced building code for tornadoes adopted by the City of Moore, Oklahoma, and developed the residential tornado provisions of the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission statewide adoption of the 2015 International Residential Code, which are the first residential building codes to address tornadoes. He is a fellow of the American Concrete Institute (ACI), a voting member of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), and a board member and secretary for the Oklahoma State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.

Dr. Lisa Holliday (Fig. 2) received her B.S. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Oklahoma specializing in structures during her B.S. and further specializing in earthquake engineering during her Ph.D. She started her career in the design of pre-engineered metal buildings and later worked in design of all types of building construction including, but not limited to, structural steel, cast-in-place concrete, precast concrete, concrete tilt-up, CMU block, and even experimented in earthen building construction techniques such as adobe and compressed earth blocks.

Dr. Holliday is a FEMA Certified Structural Specialist I, trained to work on a postdisaster urban search-and-rescue team and served as a member of Oklahoma Task Force One. She has been a member of several pre- and postdisaster survey teams and worked in that capacity in the US and internationally. She was a member of the National Science Foundation survey team that surveyed the damage created by the May 2013 tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. After this work she helped the City of Moore update its residential building code to ensure homes would withstand an EF2 tornado. Dr. Holliday gained tenure at the University of Oklahoma in the Division of Construction Science in the College of Architecture.

Mr. Samuel Sherry (Fig. 3) received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 2014 and 2016, respectively. His M.S. research focused on the large-scale testing of partial joint penetration (PJP) welds used on seismic force–resisting systems. Specifically, the research team examined the use of PJP welds as the demand critical welds used to connect moment frames to end-plate connections. During his M.S. he also worked as a structural designer at the low-rise metal building manufacturer BC Steel Buildings. He is currently a Via Fellow and doctoral candidate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. His doctoral research topic is the use of carbon fiber–reinforced polymers to retrofit and repair structural steel. He has investigated this topic through large-scale laboratory and in situ testing of flexural and shear retrofits on heavily corroded steel beams.

Other nominees for the 2019 Outstanding Journal Paper Award receiving votes from the Editorial Board were