O.H. Ammann Research Fellowship

Information about the O.H. Ammann Research Fellowship

The O. H. Ammann Research Fellowship in Structural Engineering, which is bestowed annually to a member for the purpose of encouraging the creation of new knowledge in the field of structural design and construction. The O. H. Ammann Fellowship was endowed in 1963 by O. H. Ammann, Hon.M.ASCE, and was increased in 1985 by Klary V. Ammann (widow of O. H. Ammann).

The 2012 O.H.Ammann Fellowship application deadline has passed.

Updated 2013 application - deadline is November 1, 2012

Announcement of the 2011 O.H. Ammann Research Fellowship Award

The SEI Technical Activities Division Executive Committee awarded the 2011 O.H. Ammann Research Fellowship in Structural Engineering to Ms. Rachel Howser, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Houston. The fellowship was awarded for her research entitled "Development of Self-Consolidating Carbon Nanofiber Concrete Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring." The overall objective of Howser’s research is to develop a carbon nanofiber aggregate (CNFA) that can measure the damage in a concrete structure. The findings of this study will be used for structural health monitoring in concrete structures. Ms. Howser’s full report will be posted when it becomes available.

Rachel Howser obtained her Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT) in 2008. While earning her undergraduate degree, Ms. Howser was very active in the RHIT ASCE student chapter. She served as chapter secretary and planned several community service projects. In 2007, she won the national ASCE Daniel W. Mead Student Essay Contest on professional ethics. In 2008, Ms. Howser won the RHIT ASCE Alumni Award. This award is given to the student in the student chapter that contributed the most to the chapter’s success during the school year awarded. During the summer of 2007, Ms. Howser was part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at the University of Houston (UH). During that summer, she became very interested in research and attending graduate school. Her research consisted of studying the relationship between flexural ductility and shear capacity in reinforced concrete (RC) columns through modeling over 100 nonlinear RC columns and developing design equations. When Ms. Howser graduated in 2008, she moved to Taiwan to do research on an NSF International Research and Education in Engineering (IREE) grant. While in Taiwan she modeled an unsymmetric, three-dimensional, RC building. In the fall of 2008, Ms. Howser moved to Houston, Texas to begin graduate school at UH. While pursuing a master’s degree, she modeled prestressed concrete bridge girders, researched the self-sensing abilities of carbon nanofiber (CNF) reinforced concrete and studied the structural behavior of traditional RC columns compared to steel fiber and CNF reinforced concrete columns. Ms. Howser earned her master’s degree in civil engineering in 2010. She immediately began her Ph.D. work developing a CNF aggregate that can measure localized damage in concrete structures. While in graduate school, Ms. Howser has continued to be active in ASCE. She serves as a graduate advisor to the UH student chapter and serves as the Engineering Week chairperson. In 2010, she received the “ASCE Outstanding Civil Engineering Award Sponsored by Freese and Nichols, Inc.” The purpose of the award is to recognize an outstanding civil engineering student from each Texas university based on strong academic performance, ASCE activity and high moral and ethical character. While in graduate school, she has also participated in the NSF GK12 12 program that sends graduate students in science and technology majors into middle and high school classrooms to teach them about advanced science and technology. Ms. Howser spends ten hours per week teaching sixth graders about engineering and nanotechnology.

Congratulations to Ms. Howser for her hard work and dedication which earned her this fellowship award.

Past Winners of the O.H. Ammann Research Fellowship Award:

2002    Beth Brueggen  
2003    Beth Brueggen  
2004    Kerri Anne Taeko Tokoro
2005    Dragana Jankovic  
2006    Dragana Jankovic
2007    Kapil Khandelwal
2009    Taraka Ravi Shankar Mullapudi
2010    Fernando Moreu
2011    Rachel Howser