ASCE has honored Gerardo W. Flintsch, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, with the 2024 Wilbur S. Smith Award for his contributions in providing sustainable, resilient, and multifunctional pavement systems using environmentally friendly technologies and practices; producing innovative design, assessment, and management solutions; and educating a workforce prepared to implement and deploy these innovations.
At Virginia Tech, Flintsch established and led the Center for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure. CSRI focuses on providing innovative solutions for managing facilities, networks, and systems, as well as educating new professionals in the field.
He was also involved in a state-of-the-art research project, the Virginia Smart Road, in Southwest Virginia – a unique, full-scale research facility for pavement research and evaluation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) concepts, technologies, and products. It is the first facility of its kind in the world to be built from the ground up with its infrastructure incorporated into the roadway. The Smart Road project produced better road design and construction methods, resulting in better and longer-lasting pavements and reduced road maintenance and new road construction costs.
Before joining Virginia Tech, he conducted research with the Arizona Department of Transportation and was one of the first to research the applicability of neural networks to pavements as part of the pavement management system.
Flintsch’s research efforts have attracted more than $48 million from an array of sources, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), among others. He has participated in 24 technical committees and subcommittees and collaborated with 11 foreign universities. He has developed workshops and new courses in response to industry and engineering community needs. He has also advised 72 graduate students who hold positions in government, industry, and academia.
The Wilbur S. Smith Award recognizes contributions to the enhancement of the civil engineer’s role in highway engineering.
