Dr. Matthew Yarnold, assistant professor in the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been chosen to deliver the 2021 Robert J. Dexter Memorial Award Lecture.
The award was given by the Steel Bridge Task Force Oversight Council of the American Iron and Steel Institute, the National Steel Bridge Alliance, and the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials T-14 Technical Committee for Structural Steel Design.
Yarnold will present a lecture on his past and current research findings at the next meeting of the Steel Bridge Task Force on Aug. 12, 2021, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Robert J. Dexter Memorial Award Lecture program provides an opportunity for individuals early in their careers in structural engineering to present a lecture on their steel bridge research activities to the Steel Bridge Task Force, and participate in its semiannual three-day meeting. Recipients become invited guests of the Steel Bridge Task Force, comprised of leading steel bridge experts.
The program was instituted in 2005 in memory of Robert J. Dexter, an associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Minnesota, who was an internationally recognized expert on steel fracture and fatigue problems in bridges.
Yarnold’s research includes structural steel behavior, bridge engineering, the experimental assessment of structural systems, novel techniques for structural health monitoring and engineering education. He has extensive experience with the experimental testing of structural systems and has led research projects for the National Science Foundation, state departments of transportation and private engineering firms. He is an active member of several national committees through the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Transportation Research Board.
Yarnold has more than 17 years of structural engineering research and design experience. He began his career at Lehigh University, where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Following graduation, he accepted a position with the engineering firm Ammann & Whitney, where he contributed to more than 15 bridge design and rehabilitation projects while also obtaining his professional engineering license. After a successful career as a consultant, he returned to academia and completed his doctoral degree at Drexel University. He joined the civil and environmental engineering department at Texas A&M in 2017.
Yarnold is also an affiliated faculty member and researcher at the Structural and Materials Testing Lab at the Center for Infrastructure Renewal.