The Steel Bridge Task Force, comprised of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA), and the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) T-14 Technical Committee for Structural Steel Design, announced it has selected Ryan J. Sherman, PhD, PE, assistant professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, as the recipient of the 2023 Robert J. Dexter Memorial Award Lecture. Sherman will present a lecture on his research findings at the next meeting of the Steel Bridge Task Force on September 21, 2023 in Denver.
Instituted by the Steel Bridge Task Force in 2005 in memory of the late University of Minnesota Associate Professor Robert J. Dexter, an internationally recognized expert on steel fracture and fatigue in bridges, the program provides an opportunity for early career structural engineers to present their research to the Steel Bridge Task Force and to participate in its semiannual three-day meeting.
Sherman is involved in several research projects that are advancing the steel bridge industry. His research areas include large-scale structural experimentation, structural health monitoring, material characterization, finite element simulation, fatigue and fracture, and additive manufacturing for civil engineering infrastructure. Sherman’s research for the Federal Highway Administration Transportation Pooled Fund resulted in a proposed methodology to set rational inspection intervals using high-toughness steel and an integrated fracture control plan, and his role in NCHRP Project 10-74 resulted in a new fatigue design load for high-mast lightning towers that AASHTO adopted into its LRFD LTS Specification.
“Though early in his career, Dr. Sherman has already established himself as a highly productive researcher who is solving practical problems facing the industry,” said Robert J. Wills, PE, vice president of construction for AISI in a press release.
An assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology since 2019 and, prior to that, an assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Sherman is a licensed professional engineer in Nevada and a member of the World Steel Bridge Symposium Planning Committee and AISC’s Partners in Education committee. In 2022, AISC recognized Sherman with the Terry Peshia Early Career Faculty Award.
Find out more about Sherman and the Robert J. Dexter Memorial Award Lecture on AISI’s website.