Roberto T. Leon was honored with the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Design Award. The award recognizes advanced concepts and techniques applied to a specific design project. Awards are given to the author or coauthors of the paper and to the engineer or engineering firm responsible for the design.
Leon is the David H. Burrows Professor of Construction Engineering. He has served in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering for 20 years. Previously, he was affiliated with the Georgia Institute of Technology for 16 years.
He has served on the ACI Publications Committee; Joint ACI-ASCE Committees; 335, Compsite and Hybrid Structures; 352, Joins and Connections in Monolithic Concrete Structures; and 408, Bond and Development of Steel Reinforcement; ITG-2, Reinforcing Bar Development Pattern Technology Transfer Group; and the Journal Oversight Committee.
Leon’s research interests include behavior of reinforced concrete beam-column connections, bond of reinforcing bars under cyclic loads, design and behavior of composite structural systems, behavior of bolted connection subjected to large cyclic loads, design of steel-reinforced concrete and CFT composite columns, design of composite joists and trusses, long-term behavior of composite floors, design of innovative braced frames for large seismic loads, and development of innovative energy dissipation and recentering devices for small structures.
He received his BSCE in civil engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; his MSCE in structural engineering from Stanford University; and his PhD in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Leon is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and a Fellow of the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI)
From 1997-2000, the award was named the Structural Engineering Award and was given for advanced concepts and techniques related to structural engineering. Up until 1997, the award was named the Maurice P. van Buren Structural Engineering Award and was given for a completed outstanding concrete building project incorporating advanced structural design concepts, advanced structural design techniques, or both, described in a paper published by the Institute. Recipients are awarded a plaque.