image: Sharareh (Sherri) Kermanshachi view more
Credit: UT Arlington
The Board of Direction of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has named Sharareh (Sherri) Kermanshachi, a University of Texas at Arlington associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, as a fellow.
ASCE fellows have “made celebrated contributions and developed creative solutions that change lives around the world,” according to the ASCE website. It is an honor reserved for approximately 3% of ASCE members. The ASCE represents more than 150,000 members of the civil engineering profession in 177 countries. Founded in 1852, it is the nation’s oldest engineering society.
“I am honored to be named an ASCE fellow,” said Kermanshachi, who also is director of the Resilient Infrastructures and Sustainable Environment Lab, assistant director of research initiatives in the College of Engineering and technology transfer director of the Center for Transportation Equity, Decisions and Dollars at UT Arlington. “The ASCE is the premier civil engineering organization in the industry. It stands for why I got into civil engineering in the first place.
“The ASCE represents everything about the built environment, from design to construction to maintenance. It means so much to be recognized by such an impressive organization.”
Melanie Sattler, interim chair of the Department of Civil Engineering, said Kermanshachi leads numerous grant-funded projects at UT Arlington that provide new opportunities for students.
“These grants have propelled UT Arlington into so many sectors of civil engineering,” Sattler said. “In addition, she has acted as such an inspiration to female students in encouraging them and pushing them to be involved in these projects she has landed for the University.”
Kermanshachi’s research focuses on resilient infrastructures, autonomous vehicles and risk analysis. She has published more than 275 books, scholarly articles, conference proceedings and research reports. She has authored more than 90 articles published in journals such as ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering, ASCE Journal of Natural Hazards Review, Elsevier Journal of Sustainable Cities and Society, Elsevier International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Transportation Research Record and Traffic Injury Prevention.
She also has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed conference papers in ASCE Construction Research Congress, ASCE International Conference on Transportation and Development and American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, among others.
During the last five years, Kermanshachi has also conducted 35 national, state and regional research projects, which received funding from the Federal Transit Administration; Department of Labor; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Texas Department of Transportation; Federal Highway Administration; Transit Cooperative Research Program; U.S. Department of Transportation; North Central Texas Council of Governments; Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development; city of Arlington; Engineering Information Foundation; and city of Fort Worth.
She also has mentored dozens of postdoctoral students, graduate students and undergraduate researchers.
Kermanshachi has won 44 merit-based international, national and regional awards, including the 2022 Diversity Leadership Award from Dallas Business Journal, the 2022 Young Leader Award from Texas Women’s Foundation, the 2021 Rosa Parks Leadership Diversity Award, the 2021 Education Sciences Best Paper Award, the 2020 Women in Technology Award, the 2020 Mark Hasso Educator of the Year Award, 2020 Outstanding Young Faculty Award from the American Society of Engineering Education, the 2018 Design Build in America Distinguished Leadership Award, and the 2018 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. Earlier this year, she also was named a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
In addition, Kermanshachi has published several articles focusing on evaluation of gender-based pay gaps for women across engineering fields. She also has performed multiple research and outreach projects to boost participation of women and other minorities in engineering. Kermanshachi spends significant time encouraging female K-12 students to pursue higher education and engineering careers.