Two prestigious awards were presented to Professor Robert Mair and Professor Gopal Madabhushi at the recent Awards Ceremony at the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in London. The President's Medal was presented to Professor Mair and the T K Hsieh Award to Professor Madabhushi and his co-authors.
The citation for Professor Mair stated: "The ICE President's Medal for 2013 is awarded in recognition of innovation that is delivering a step change in design and construction...Professor Mair is internationally recognised for his work on underground construction involving soft ground tunnelling, retaining structures, deep excavations and foundations. He leads the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction which focuses on the innovative use of emerging technologies in sensor and data management...it is already impacting on major construction projects achieving transformational change in performance, efficiency and cost".
The T K Shieh Award is given annually to the authors of the best paper published by the Institution of Civil Engineers in the field of structural and soil vibration caused by mechanical plant, waves or seismic effects. Professor Madabhushi's paper 'On the behaviour of flexible retaining walls under seismic actions' was recently published in Géotechnique. His co-authors were Professor Giulia Viggiani and Dr Riccardo Conti of the University of Rome Tor Vegata, both of whom have been recent visitors to the Department.
