CAE Member Xiang Haifan Won ASCE Robert H. Scanlan Medal

Prof. Alexander Cheng with the Engineering School of Mississippi University, US, also Vice Chairperson of Engineering Mechanics Institute of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), came all the way to China to present 2010 ASCE Robert H. Scanlan Medal to CAE Member Xiang Haifan, in recognition of his lifelong outstanding contributions to the theoretical studies as well as practical applications of engineering mechanics. This is the first time ever that Chinese scholar is granted such honor. It is also the first time that ASCE confers the greatest honor to a Chinese citizen.

Prior to this event, on the 17th quadriennual rotating conference of International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) in 2008, IABSE conferred Anton Tedesko Award to Prof. Xiang Haifan from Tongji University (TJU), also the vice chairperson of IABSE in order to commend him for his remarkable achievements and brilliant contributions in fields like structural engineering and personnel training. That was also the first time for Chinese scholars to win such laurel.

About Robert H. Scanlan Medal: Founded in 1852, today ASCE is a worldwide leader for excellence in civil engineering, the biggest of all the civil engineering societies in the world, with a rich history of almost 160 years. ASCE represents more than 140,000 members of the civil engineering profession worldwide.

ASCE started to issue Robert H. Scanlan Medal in honor of Prof. Robert H. Scanlan, who s a brilliant expert in engineering mechanics, wind engineering and bridge aerodynamics. This Medal, according to ASCE, is awarded to an individual in recognition of distinguished achievements in engineering mechanics based upon scholarly contributions to both theory and practice.

The areas of achievement will generally be structural mechanics, wind engineering and aerodynamics.

About Anton Tedesko Award: Founded in Switzerland in 1929, IABSE is the bridge and structural engineering association that enjoys the most member countries. IABSE set up a prize in honor of Americanborn German engineer and knowledge instructor Anton Tedesko in 1998 and named it Anton Tedesko Award in recognition of lifelong work and exceptional contributions of winners in structural engineering profession, as well as their brilliant accomplishments in engineering technology and knowledge imparting.

This award is issued once every two years. Another component of the reward is that the winner can pick a young engineer from other countries and sponsor his or her internship in one world famous engineering enterprise for half year either in the winner s home country or any other place in the world, by using the 25,000 Swiss francs granted by IABSE.

(By Gao Zhanjun, September 2010; translated by Liu Chang)