SOM Foundation Announces Jury for the 2022 Structural Engineering Fellowship

Benton Johnson (Chair) is Structural Engineering Principal in SOM’s Chicago office. Johnson brings new approaches to structural engineering and sustainable design through research initiatives and industry partnerships. He leads SOM’s Timber Tower Research Project, a multiyear initiative involving full-scale structural, fire, and acoustic testing of mass-timber systems. He has also emerged as a leader in 3D printed buildings through collaborations with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the US Army Corps of Engineers. Johnson’s innovative approach to structural engineering results in efficient and sustainable solutions that are applicable to a wide range of building types. His project experience includes a range of domestic and international projects, from supertall buildings, mixed-use developments, and commercial offices to convention centers, healthcare facilities, and demonstration buildings. Johnson is a member in several industry organizations, including the American Concrete Institute, the American Wood Council, the American Institute of Steel Construction, and the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (SEAOI).

Karen Scrivener obtained her PhD at Imperial College London in 1984. She worked for Lafarge in France for six years before being appointed Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Construction Materials at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland in 2001. In 2003 she founded the research network Nanocem, bringing together the leading industrial companies with European academic institute to do research on cementitious materials. Her research focuses on the understanding the chemistry and microstructure of cement-based materials and improving their sustainability. In 2008, she came up with the idea for LC3 cement, this material has the potential to cut CO2 emissions related to cement by more than 400 million tons a year. Scrivener has authored over two hundred journal papers and was made a fellow of the UK Royal Academy of Engineering in 2014.

Wil Srubar is Associate Professor of Architectural Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he leads the Living Materials Laboratory. Srubar holds a PhD in civil engineering from Stanford University, as well as BS and MS degrees in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin, respectively. His academic research integrates biology with polymer science and cement chemistry to create low-carbon, biomimetic, and living material technologies for the built environment. To date, his laboratory has received over nine million dollars in sponsored research funding through the US National Science Foundation (NSF), Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL), Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E), and Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office, and he is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award. Srubar has authored over eighty-five technical journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings, and his work has been highlighted in The New York Times, National Public Radio, and The Washington Post. He remains actively involved in leadership positions for the American Concrete Institute (ACI), the American Ceramic Society’s (ACerS) Cements Division, and American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Architectural Engineering Institute.

Theodore Zoli has led the design of numerous innovative first-of-their kind bridges during his thirty plus years with HNTB. Notable projects include the hybrid cable stayed Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge in Massachusetts, the network arch Lake Champlain Bridge between New York and Vermont, and the gussetless truss for Memorial Bridge between Maine and New Hampshire. Licensed in sixteen states, he also currently serves as an adjunct professor at Columbia University and University of Notre Dame. Zoli was made a MacArthur Fellow in 2009 and selected as ENR’s Award of Excellence winner in 2012, considered the construction industry’s most prestigious honor.