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M. Shahria Alam, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, a full professor of civil engineering and the prestigious Tier-1 Principal’s Research Chair in Resilient & Green Infrastructure in the School of Engineering at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus, has been named a fellow by the ASCE Board of Direction.
Alam, as the founding director of the Green Construction Research & Training Center (GCRTC) and acting director of the Materials and Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI), both at UBC, has been spearheading initiatives that bridge sustainable construction practices with infrastructure resilience. His research focuses on smart materials and sustainable construction technologies, where he has made pivotal contributions to seismic retrofitting, self-centering structural systems, and green concrete innovations. His research has greatly influenced new material development, design guidelines, and industry standards, and his developed technologies and tools are adopted by industries, design firms, and software companies.
Alam has authored over 450 peer-reviewed articles and earned more than 11,000 citations (Google Scholar), establishing a substantial impact on academia and practice. He has led notable collaborative projects with industry and government, including the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, Altair, WSP Canada, Rapid Span, and FortisBC. His patented self-centering bracing systems, using SMA bars and friction springs, were tested for seismic resilience. The unique hysteretic response has been modeled and implemented in S-FRAME software and made accessible to more than 40k users. He developed innovative green concrete technologies, using recycled materials, that have been adopted by local companies. His work has been recognized with 40+ awards, such as the EGBC Sustainability Award and the CSCE’s PL Pratley Award, furthering his recognition as an authority in sustainable and resilient infrastructure.
He is an influential figure in the civil engineering community. He currently serves as vice president (Technical Program) of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) and is the former chair of the Engineering Mechanics and Materials Division. As an ASCE journal editor and conference organizer, Alam is committed to advancing global civil engineering research and practice. He has served as chair or co-chair for nine international conferences in Canada and abroad. Since 2018, he has been an associate editor for the ASCE Journal of Bridge Engineering. He joined ASCE’s Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering as an associate editor in 2021 and began his role with Elsevier’s Engineering Structures in 2023. Additionally, he was a guest editor for the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering from 2020 to 2021. Currently, he chairs the joint ASCE-ACI 441 Reinforced Concrete Column Committee.
Educated at Western University (doctoral degree) and the Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (bachelor’s and master’s), Alam’s academic leadership includes mentoring over 100 early-career professionals (21 postdocs, 24 Ph.D., 27 MASc, 10 MEng, 15 undergrad, and 20 visiting students), many of whom now hold influential positions in academia and industry. Recognized for his contributions to infrastructure resilience and sustainable materials, Alam continues to impact both engineering scholarship and practical implementation, inspiring the next generation of engineers.
