The Art of Teaching | Engineering Art Lecture Series
Excellence in Engineering Practice and Education
Luis E. Garcia
Friday, March 31, 2017
Lecture: 2:30-3:20pm – HAMP 1252
Reception: 3:30-4:15 – Wood Commons
The presentation will focus on how to develop judgement in engineering practice and the importance of the right engineering education in order to acquire this judgement.
The history of civil engineering will be discussed briefly and under this perspective the tools needed for a successful engineering practice will be discussed with structural engineering practice in mind. The impact in engineering practice as seen from the innovation point of view will be presented focusing on those innovations that changed the course of what engineering is practiced and the perception of engineering in society.
The impact of developments that had affected civil engineering practice will be reviewed with proper modern practice in view and how to address what the future, still unknown, will bring.
Bio:
Born in 1948 in Bogotá, Colombia. Civil Engineer from the Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia (February 1971). Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign (June 1972).
Has been involved in consulting in structural engineering since the early seventies. In 1980 he founded Proyectos y Diseños Ltda. (P&D Ltda.), a structural engineering consulting firm in Bogotá, Colombia. He retired from P&D Ltda in April 2015. At P&D Ltda. he was in charge of the structural design on numerous buildings, industrial structures and bridges in Colombia and other Latin American countries. P&D Ltda. has a design record that includes more than twenty million square meters (2 hundred million square feet) of design area.
He has been engaged in teaching and research at the Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia, since 1973, and was Chairman of the Civil Engineering Department 1982‐1983. From 2001 to 2003 he was Visiting Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA. He was President of the American Concrete Institute – ACI for 2008‐2009. Has been a member of Committee ACI 318, “Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete” since 1985, was Chairman of Subcommittee D of ACI 318 for the 2002‐2008 Code cycle, and is currently Chairman of Subcommittee L (International Liaison) and Subcommittee N (Nonlinear Analysis). He is a member of ACI Committees 133, 314, 318, 352, 374, 439, and ISO TC71 Advisory. He is a Fellow of ACI and was elected Honorary Member of the American Concrete Institute in March 2017. He is a Fellow and Life Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers – ASCE, member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute – EERI, and a Fellow of the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineers – IABSE. He is also an Honorary Member of the Colombian Society of Engineers.