Western Engineering professor Ashraf El Damatty has been honoured for his research in developing resilient structures that can withstand earthquakes and high winds.
He received the 2018 Engineering Medal for Research and Development from the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers and Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) during an awards ceremony that celebrated engineering excellence and achievement among industry innovators, business leaders and policy-makers.
“I am really honored to receive the 2018 PEO Medal for Research and Development,” said El Damatty. “I felt very warm receiving this award surrounded by family members, colleagues from Western and my industrial research sponsors.
“This award is a reflection of the hard work of my research team and collaborators over the years, including more than 50 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and my staff and faculty colleagues at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.”
El Damatty has served as the department chair since 2013 and is Research Director of the Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment (WindEEE) Research Institute.
His work has led to innovative design methodologies – used in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Japan – in managing hydrostatic and earthquake loads on structures including elevated water tanks.
During the past five years, El Damatty has published 45 peer-reviewed papers in the top scientific journals, has supervised 20 doctoral and 8 masters students, obtained an MBA in Higher Education Management from University College London (U.K.), served as Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Wind and Structures and received many national and international awards and recognitions.
