Sharareh “Sherri” Kermanshachi

‘She cares about the profession.’

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has named Sharareh “Sherri” Kermanshachi, a University of Texas at Arlington associate professor of civil engineering, as a fellow, the highest grade of membership it awards.

“I am honored and humbled to be named a fellow by the Institution of Civil Engineers,” said Kermanshachi, who is also director of the Resilient Infrastructures and Sustainable Environment Lab at UTA and the technology transfer director of the Center for Transportation Equity, Decisions, and Dollars (CTEDD). “Awards like this are so special because you’re being recognized by your peers. ICE is a very prestigious organization.”

Founded in 1818, ICE has more than 95,000 members around the world. Fellowship is the highest grade of membership awarded by the Institution.

New fellows will be honored Sept. 15-16 and Dec. 2-5 at Certificate Presentation Ceremonies at ICE headquarters in London.

Melanie Sattler, Department of Civil Engineering interim chair and professor, said Kermanshachi continues to make a difference at UT Arlington and in the civil engineering sector.

“She cares about the profession, and it shows in the number of students she mentors, the number of grants she shoulders and the amount of outside activities she dedicates herself to,” Sattler said.

Kermanshachi’s research focuses on resilient infrastructures, autonomous vehicles and risk analysis. She has published more than 250 books, scholarly articles, conference proceedings and research reports. She has authored more than 85 articles that have been published in journals such as American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering, ASCE Journal of Natural Hazards Review, Elsevier Journal of Sustainable Cities and Society, Elsevier International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Transportation Research Record and Traffic Injury Prevention.

She also has authored more than 140 peer-reviewed conference papers in ASCE Construction Research Congress, ASCE International Conference on Transportation and Development and American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, among others.

During the last five years, Kermanshachi has also conducted 32 national, state and regional research projects, which received funding from the Federal Transit Administration; Department of Labor; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Texas Department of Transportation; Federal Highway Administration; Transit Cooperative Research Program; U.S. Department of Transportation; North Central Texas Council of Governments; Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development; city of Arlington; Engineering Information Foundation; and city of Fort Worth.

She also has mentored dozens of postdoctoral students, graduate students and undergraduate researchers.

Kermanshachi has won 43 merit-based international, national and regional awards, including the 2022 Diversity Leadership Award from Dallas Business Journal, the 2022 Young Leader Award from Texas Women’s Foundation, the 2021 Rosa Parks Leadership Diversity Award, the 2021 Education Sciences Best Paper Award, the 2020 Women in Technology Award, the 2020 Mark Hasso Educator of the Year Award, 2020 Outstanding Young Faculty Award from the American Society of Engineering Education, the 2018 Design Build in America (DBIA) Distinguished Leadership Award, and the 2018 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.

In addition, Kermanshachi has published several articles focusing on evaluation of gender-based pay gaps for women across engineering fields. She also has performed multiple research and outreach projects to boost participation of women and other minorities in engineering. Kermanshachi spends significant time encouraging female K-12 students to pursue higher education and engineering careers.

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