EMI’s Awards Program

The objective of the EMI Awards Program is to recognize outstanding mechanicians for their achievements and contributions to the field of mechanics.  The program includes Society Awards, Institute Awards, and other ASCE awards.

Society Awards

Eight very prestigious Society Awards are named after world-class outstanding mechanicians and held in very high regard in the mechanics community. The von Kármán Medal, in particular, is widely considered as one of the highest honors in all areas of Engineering Mechanics.  The eight medals are listed below:

	Maurice A. Biot Medal The Maurice A. Biot Medal was established to recognize the lifetime achievement of Dr. Maurice A. Biot and is awarded to an individual who has made outstanding research contributions to the mechanics of porous materials. Previous winners.
	Jack E. Cermak Medal The Jack E. Cermak Medal was established by the Engineering Mechanics Division (now EMI) and SEI to recognize Dr. Jack E. Cermak's lifetime achievements in the field of wind engineering and industrial aerodynamics. This award is held jointly with SEI.  Previous winners.
	Alfred M. Freudenthal Medal The Alfred M. Freudenthal Medal recognizes distinguished achievement in safety and reliability studies applicable to any branch of civil engineering.  Previous winners.
	George W. Housner Medal The George W. Housner Structural Control and Monitoring Medal recognizes contributions to the field of structural control and monitoring of civil infrastructure systems.   Previous winners.
	Raymond B. Mindlin Medal The Raymond D. Mindlin Award recognizes outstanding research contributions to applied solid mechanics. ASCE membership is not a requirement. Previous winners.
	Nathan M. Newmark Medal The Nathan M. Newmark Medal recognizes an ASCE member for contributions that have substantially strengthened the scientific base of structural engineering; these contributions having been made in the form of papers or other written presentations. This award is held jointly with SEI. Previous winners.
	Robert H. Scanlan Medal The Robert H. Scanlan Medal recognizes distinguished achievement in engineering mechanics based upon scholarly contributions to both theory and practice. The areas of achievement will generally be structural mechanics, wind engineering and aerodynamics. Previous winners.
	Theodore von Kármán Medal The Theodore von Karman Medal recognizes distinguished achievements in engineering mechanics that are applicable to any branch of civil engineering. Previous winners.

Helpful information for preparing nominations (deadline, rules, criteria and conditions for the award, step-by-step guide to nominations, and nomination forms) is available by clicking on the link for each of the above awards. These awards may normally be given every year, except for the Alfred M. Freudenthal medal which may be given every other year.  At the discretion of the EMI Awards Committee, an award may not be given. 

Institute Award

An Institute Award, the EMI Leonardo da Vinci Award was created in 2011 to recognize outstanding young investigators early in their careers for promising ground-breaking developments in the field of Engineering Mechanics. Previous winners.

Other ASCE Awards

In addition to these EMI awards, EMI members may be considered for several other Society-wide awards, including the  Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize Huber Prize, the Norman Medal, the J. James R. Croes Medal, the ASCE State-of-the-Art of Civil Engineering Award, and the OPAL Award.  Of note are two awards created to recognize the outstanding service of an ASCE Journal Editor (Richard R. Torrens Award) and an ASCE Journal Associate Editor ( ASCE Associate Editor Award). The complete list is available at: SOCIETY AWARDS.  

The Awards Process

Awards are of great importance to the engineering mechanics community.  It is therefore essential that awards decisions be made with total openness, fairness, objectivity and integrity.  Read more.