IAS Contract Lead Assessor Hatem Seliem (second from right), Ph.D., was awarded the 2014 Chester Paul Siess Award for Excellence in Structural Research at the American Concrete Institute (ACI) convention in Reno, Nev. This award is given to the author or authors of a peer-reviewed paper published by the ACI that describes a notable achievement in experimental or analytical research that advances the theory or practice of structural engineering and, most importantly, recommends how the research can be applied to design. It is worth noting that the award need not be presented each year.

Dr. Hatem Seliem and his research team at North Carolina State University developed a relationship that characterizes the bond strength between high-strength steel reinforcement and concrete, and prepared a technical paper (coauthored by three co-workers) which was published in ACI's Structural Journal in 2012. This technical paper has been selected to receive this prestigious award.

Selection for the Chester Paul Siess Award for Excellence in Structural Research is a very competitive process. Each year there are approximately 500 technical papers in the area of structural engineering submitted to ACI for possible publication. Each submitted paper is critically reviewed by at least three peer reviewers. On the average, only about 200 papers are accepted for publication, of which 50 papers may be considered worthy of the award. These 50 papers are then critically reviewed for technical importance by an anonymous committee of 10 peer members chaired by a past president of ACI to select the single winner of the award.