ASCE has honored Roger Ghanem, Ph.D., F.EMI, with the 2022 Theodore von Karman Medal for his lasting contributions to the field of stochastic mechanics and its application to emerging problems in science and engineering.
Ghanem has pioneered the field of uncertainty qualification (UQ) since well before it became critical in almost every branch of computational engineering. His seminal book Stochastic Finite Elements: A Spectral Approach has served as the entry point to this exciting field for two generations of researchers. His original adaptation of polynomial chaos expansions (PCE) to solving stochastic partial differential equations has laid the ground for the very rapid growth of UQ.
In addition to introducing PCE to computational engineering, Ghanem has demonstrated and explored the significance of this method as a probabilistic multiscale/multiphysics modeling tool. In the process, he has contributed to its conceptual, algorithmic, and integration aspects.
His impact on the academic community is also profound. He has trained a number of fabulous students who have gone on to join academia at UIUC, CU Boulder, Buffalo, TAMU, Tongji University, and the University of Tokyo, among many others.
The Theodore von Karman Medal is presented to an individual in recognition of distinguished achievements in engineering mechanics that are applicable to any branch of civil engineering.
