The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Engineering Mechanics Institute has announced Satish Nagarajaiah, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing at Rice University, as the recipient of the prestigious 2025 George W. Housner Structural Monitoring & Control Medal. This award is given in recognition of outstanding research contributions to the broad field of structural control and monitoring. It is named for George W. Housner, a professor at the California Institute of Technology, who was well-known for his pioneering contributions to the structural control and monitoring of civil infrastructure systems.
“I am humbled to receive the 2025 George Housner Medal and join the illustrious cohort of past Housner medalists,” Nagarajaiah said. “I am deeply grateful to ASCE for bestowing me with this great honor.”
Nagarajaiah’s exemplary research has resulted in inventions and new technologies that have advanced the interdisciplinary fields of civil infrastructure, mechanical, and aerospace systems.
His innovative research in structural dynamics, seismic isolation, adaptive passive negative stiffness structural systems, smart/adaptive passive tuned mass dampers and response reduction negative stiffness systems with damping has led to numerous new systems and devices to protect critical buildings, high-rises, and bridges from damaging vibrations of earthquakes and winds. The algorithms he developed have been implemented widely in practice to analyze and design large structures, such as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, San Francisco International Airport, Exxon, and Apple Inc. headquarters.
He has also co-invented and developed non-contact optical ‘smart skin’ sensors using single-walled carbon nanomaterials that can detect strain or stress on structures. These are now used to produce laser-induced two-dimensional spectral strain maps, which is an important tool in measuring the buildup of strain/stress in structures and infrastructure.
In recognition of these important contributions, Nagarajaiah has received several awards and accolades including the National Science Foundation’s early CAREER award, the Moisseiff Award and the Raymond Reese Research Prize by ASCE, the Takuji Kobori Prize by IASCM/SCHM, and the prestigious Nathan M. Newmark Medal jointly by ASCE Structural Engineering Institute and Engineering Mechanics Institute, elected fellow of the United States National Academy of Inventors, and elected Distinguished Member of ASCE.
He holds four patents in structural and mechanical engineering. He currently serves as the senior editor of the international journal Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing (Elsevier) and the Structural Control and Health Monitoring Wiley International Journal, and was the former managing editor of the ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering.