Venkatesh Kodur, Michigan State University professor in the College of Engineering, was honored for his work in advancing fire safety in concrete materials and structural systems during two special ceremonies in India.
Kodur, a University Distinguished Professor, was recognized during the R.N. Raikar Memorial International Conference and Gettu-Kodur International Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology of Concrete in Mumbai, India.
The international conference, hosted by the India chapter of the American Concrete Institute, was specially organized to honor of Kodur and Ravindra Gettu, dean of the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, for their contributions to the field of concrete technology and structural/fire engineering.
“I credit my graduate students and post-doctoral scholars for their high-quality contributions in advancing the field of field of concrete technology and structural/fire engineering,” Kodur said.
Kodur was also invited to present the keynote address at the 2018 CSK Memorial Annual Lecture at the Indian Institute of Technology. This prestigious lecture is organized annually in memory of C.S. Krishnamurthy, known for his outstanding contributions in the field of computational mechanics.
“I am highly honored to be selected for delivering this keynote address to present the emerging trends and research needs in the field of structural fire engineering,” he said.
Kodur is chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MSU and directs MSU’s Center on Structural Fire Engineering and Diagnostics.
His academic contributions have led to the development of fundamental understanding on the fire behavior of material and structural systems, and have resulted in numerous innovative design approaches and cost-effective solutions for enhancing fire-resistance of structural systems. He has published more than 400 peer-reviewed papers in journals and conferences and has given numerous invited keynote presentations.
Kodur is a fellow of two academies and three institutes, and is an associate editor of the Journal of Structural Engineering and the Journal of Structural Fire Engineering. He is also chairman of the ASCE-29 (Fire) Standards Committee.
Kodur has won many awards including the AISC Faculty Fellowship Award, MSU Distinguished Faculty Award, NRCC Outstanding Achievement Award, and the NATO Award for collaborative research. He was also part of the FEMA/ASCE Building Performance Assessment Team that studied the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings as a result of Sept. 11 terrorist incidents.