Professor Bassem Andrawes has been named Director of the Newmark Structural Engineering Laboratory (NSEL). Completed in 1967 and extended in 1971, NSEL has been home to large-scale experimental structural research for more than 50 years. The laboratory features a central, three-story crane bay with a strong floor and a 28-foot, L-shaped reaction wall. The structural testing area is used to carry out a range of tests of building materials, components, structural assemblies and models.
“I feel honored and excited to be able to serve the CEE department through this new position,” Andrawes said. “As Director of NSEL, I hope to work with my colleagues to create a vision for the future of this lab that would maintain the legacy of our department.”
In announcing the appointment, Department Head Benito Mariñas noted that NSEL has played an iconic role in advancing knowledge and graduating leaders in the structural engineering and civil infrastructure sustainability profession and expressed confidence in Andrawes's vision for modernizing the lab.
“Under Professor Andrawes’s leadership NSEL will evolve into a hub for innovation and creativity within the structural engineering discipline and along its interfaces with other areas of CEE as well as across The Grainger College of Engineering and campus,” Mariñas wrote.