Pedram Bazrafshan, a PhD candidate in civil, architectural and environmental
engineering (CAEE), has received a 2024-2025 O. H. Ammann Research
Fellowship in Structural Engineering from the American Society of Civil
Engineers (ASCE) for his paper, “A graph-based method for quantifying crack
patterns on reinforced concrete shear walls."
Under the guidance of
Arvin Ebrahimkhanlou, PhD
, assistant professor of CAEE, Bazrafshan's research uses computer vision
and graph theory, a fundamental building block of artificial intelligence,
to automate the assessment of cracking in reinforced concrete. This work
aims to eliminate the subjectivity of current assessments by quantifying
damage levels with raw images of surface crack patterns.
"As infrastructures are aging and threats (such as hurricanes) are
intensifying due to climate change, the importance of enhancing the speed
and reliability of monitoring and maintenance procedures is increasing,"
Bazrafshan explained. Because of the subjectivity (and the resulting
undermined reliability) of current structural assessments, Bazrafshan
believes that "developing objective and autonomous methods that facilitate
robust and reliable infrastructure assessment," such as the usage of raw
images, "is a necessity."
Bazrafshan presents at the SPIE Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation conference in March 2024
Bazrafshan's work has shown great promise in advancing the field of
structural engineering, having appeared on the cover of the Journal of
Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering (CACAIE)'s special issue
on computational concrete engineering in February.
Being further recognized by the ASCE was "heartwarming" for Bazrafshan, who
Ebrahimkhanlou commended for his "strong background in structural
engineering and artificial intelligence" along with his "motivated and
hardworking personality."
Named after Othmar H. Ammann, the first ever civil engineer to be awarded
the National Medal of Science, the O. H. Ammann Research Fellowship in
Structural Engineering awards outstanding ASCE members with a $5,000 stipend
"to encourage creation of new knowledge in structural design and
construction."
"I am eager to advance our work and contribute to the field through the
inspiring developments this opportunity will bring," Bazrafshan stated.
"This recognition marks a significant milestone in my career, and I am
profoundly grateful for the support."