Alvaro Ruiz Emparanza, a PhD candidate in the University of Miami College of Engineering (UMCoE) Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (CAE), has been awarded the 2019-2020 American Concrete Institute (ACI) President’s Fellowship award. The fellowship is awarded to one graduate or doctoral student each year, worldwide.
Emparanza is involved in research in the fields of civil infrastructure sustainability and renewal. His research focuses on making infrastructure cost-effective and durable, specifically through the use of glass fiber reinforced polymer materials. Emparanza’s research was conducted under the supervision of civil engineering’s faculty members Francisco De Caso y Basalo and Antonio Nanni.
Recently, Emparanza became one of only four UM PhD candidates to be inducted into the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society, which recognizes outstanding scholarly achievement and promotes diversity and excellence in doctoral education and the professoriate. He also received first prize at the inaugural UM Graduate and Postdoctoral Research Symposium for his TED talk entitled, “Leading the Resiliency Battle of Civil Infrastructure Using Composite Materials.” In addition, he was awarded with the ‘2018-19 GSA Academic Excellence Leadership and Service Award’ because of his academic and extracurricular merits, such as, serving as the president of the Graduate Student Association (governing graduate student body at the University of Miami level).
“Alvaro continues to be an outstanding graduate student — in the classroom, in the laboratory and in the field,” said Antonio Nanni, professor and chair of the Department of CAE. “He exhibits a rare combination of intellectual curiosity, practicality, and leadership — qualities that are vital for a successful career in structural concrete research and innovation.”
Prior to his fellowship, Alvaro professionally participated in the ACI Committee at the national level, leading significant efforts to engage students globally to learn more about the concrete industry. Specifically, he was key for the foundation of 23 ACI student Chapters in Peru, being named the Liaison for Student Chapters in Latin America.
