Anahid A. Behrouzi, Ph.D. is the winner of the 2018 American Concrete Institute (ACI) Young Professional Essay Contest. Her essay “Kind Gestures: Longtime ACI Members Shape the Career of Younger Generations,” focuses on the impact networking and mentorship have had on her academic career. The winning essay will appear in the October issue of Concrete International magazine.
Since 2016, Behrouzi has been an assistant professor at California Polytechnic State University. She teaches courses in reinforced concrete design as well as structural analysis and dynamics. Her current research involves developing machine learning approaches to automate tagging of civil infrastructure damage in post-hazard images from engineering reconnaissance teams and other platforms. Previously, she was a doctoral researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she investigated the seismic response of non-planar reinforced concrete structural walls.
Behrouzi is a two-time ACI Graduate Fellowship recipient, a member of the ACI Student and Young Professional Activities Committee, the ACI Scholarship Council, and ACI Committee 133, Disaster Reconnaissance.
“Time and again, seasoned ACI members have gone out of their way to extend a hand to me and fellow young members. Quite often I think back to my many interactions with them as a model on how to mentor my own students or new ACI members,” says Behrouzi.
The ACI Young Professional Essay Contest is open to those who have been in a concrete or construction related industry for less than eight years. Winners receive $400 and free registration to the 2018 Concrete Convention and Exposition. The convention will take place in Las Vegas, NV, October 14-18, 2018.
Read the winning essay here.
