Bridge Task Force Member Dr. Rob Connor Interviewed on AISC Podcast

The following excerpt and photo was provided by the American Institute of Steel Construction.

STUDYING AND TESTING bridge fatigue has made Dr. Rob Connor anything but tired. Connor, the Jack and Kay Hockema professor in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University, won a 2023 AISC Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2018 T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award for his significant contributions to advancing design in steel bridge fatigue, fracture, and other performance issues. He’s also the director of two cutting-edge Purdue engineering facilities: The Center for Aging Infrastructure (CAI) and the Steel Bridge Research Inspection Training and Education Center (S-BRITE).

Connor’s research interests have focused on fatigue and fracture, field testing and remote monitoring of structures, nondestructive testing,
large-scale structural testing in real time, and redundancy, among other areas. He has helped grow S-BRITE into a nationally acclaimed training and test center that obtains decommissioned bridges from around the country.

Connor spoke with Modern Steel Construction about his career, research projects, S-BRITE, and more.

Read the full article here.

Listen to the podcast here.

Connor’s Past Achievements

Rob Connor is a previous Richard S Fountain and Robert J. Dexter Award winner.

The Robert J. Dexter Memorial Lecture provides an opportunity for an individual early in his/her career in structural engineering to present a lecture on his/her steel bridge activities to the Steel Bridge Task Force and to participate in its semiannual three-day meeting. The Steel Bridge Task Force is made up of leading steel bridge experts. Robert was recognized with this award in 2005.

The Richard S. Fountain Award is presented annually by the Steel Bridge Task Force, the National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA) and the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Steel and Metals Technical Committee to recognize leadership in steel bridge research and outstanding efforts to advance AASHTO specifications. The award was instituted in 2001 to honor Richard S. Fountain, founder of the Steel Bridge Task Force. Richard Fountain passed away on March 14, 2011. Robert was recognized with this award in 2020.