Udaya B. Halabe, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at West Virginia University, was recently named a fellow by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

ASCE fellow designation is one of the highest honors civil engineers can receive from their peers. Fewer than 5 percent of ASCE members hold the title.

A member of the WVU faculty since 1990, Halabe earned both his masters and doctoral degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a recognized expert in the field of nondestructive testing, which is testing of an object or component that does not destroy it or impair its future usefulness.

Many materials and structures, from aircrafts to underground pipes to concrete structures, need regular nondestructive tests to detect cracks, corrosion or other damage without damaging the materials themselves through the testing process.

Halabe has advanced nondestructive testing of civil infrastructure using ultrasonic technique, ground penetrating radar, infrared thermography and vibration techniques. He has also authored 90 journal and conference papers, a book chapter and 36 research reports on the subject. He has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on funded research projects totaling more than $13 million.

Halabe has taught short courses around the country on ground-penetrating radar and ultrasonic techniques to practicing civil engineers. He was also the lead author ofNondestructive Evaluations Methods for Highway Bridge Superstructures,a manual for field engineers.

Halabe was an expert in developing ASCE s multimedia Professional Engineer Exam Review Course, and his research was cited in the American Concrete Institutes Report,Nondestructive Test Methods for Evaluation of Concrete in Structures.

The work of these prominent civil engineers realizes a major goalto serve as stewards of the public infrastructure and guardians of public health and safety,said Delon Hampton, ASCE past president.

For his service to the profession and dedication to preparing future generations of engineers, Halabe has received the Outstanding Young Researcher Award from WVU s College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. He has also been inducted as an Eminent Engineer by Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honorary, and awarded the Mahendra Vidya Bhushan Award for Academic Excellence by the king of Nepal.

Additionally, he was a consultant to the Institute of Engineering in Nepal under the United Nations Development Programme for training civil engineers in the area of nondestructive testing and planning a nondestructive testing laboratory in Kathmandu.