Meet the 2025 ICE Award winner for Bridge Engineering!
We are delighted to feature an interview with the winner of the 2025 Best Paper Award in Bridge Engineering. This recognition celebrates outstanding academic research that advances the field of bridge engineering. In this brief conversation, the author shares insights into their award-winning work, the motivation behind it, and their experience publishing with ICE Publishing/Emerald.
Congratulations on your recent award! You are the recipient of 2025 Bridge Engineering Best Paper for article 'A lumped plasticity model for corrosion-damaged reinforced concrete columns'. Could you briefly introduce yourself and your background for our readers?
I am Mehdi Kashani, Associate Professor of Structural Engineering at University of Southampton. I am specialising in the behaviour of reinforced concrete structures under extreme conditions. My academic background includes PhD study at University of Bristol with a year abroad at University of Washington, and my work focuses on advancing modelling techniques that can better predict deterioration and failure in ageing infrastructure. Over the past several years, I have collaborated with both academic and industry partners to develop practical solutions that improve safety, durability, and sustainability in bridge engineering.
What inspired the research behind your award-winning paper, and what key question were you aiming to answer?
The primary inspiration for this research came from the pressing challenge of ageing bridge infrastructure worldwide, much of which suffers from reinforcement corrosion. I aimed to address a critical question: Can we create a simplified yet accurate modelling approach that reliably predicts the behaviour of corrosion-damaged reinforced concrete columns under seismic loading? By doing so, we hoped to bridge the gap between highly detailed numerical simulations and the practical tools engineers need for assessment and retrofitting.
Were there any unexpected challenges or discoveries during your research process?
One unexpected challenge was striking the right balance between model simplicity and predictive accuracy. Many existing models were either too complex for everyday engineering practice or too simplistic to capture key failure mechanisms. A surprising and encouraging discovery was that the lumped plasticity approach, when properly adapted for corrosion effects, could achieve accuracy comparable to more computationally intensive methods, significantly reducing analysis time.
How do you envision your findings influencing future research or real-world applications?
I believe this work can serve as a foundation for more efficient structural assessment tools for ageing infrastructure. In practice, engineers could use this modelling approach to quickly evaluate the seismic performance of deteriorated bridge columns and prioritise retrofitting efforts. In research, it opens the door to refining lumped plasticity models for other forms of deterioration, such as alkali–silica reaction or fatigue damage.
What motivated you to choose ICE Publishing/Emerald and Bridge Engineering as the platform for sharing your research?
ICE Publishing and Bridge Engineering have a strong reputation for publishing high-quality, impactful research in civil and structural engineering. The journal’s readership includes both academic and practising engineers, which was essential for ensuring the findings reached those who can apply them directly in the field. Additionally, ICE’s global network offers excellent visibility for innovative engineering solutions.
What are the next steps in your research or academic career? Are there any emerging areas or interdisciplinary connections you are excited to explore?
My next research steps involve extending the modelling framework to incorporate multiple deterioration mechanisms simultaneously and validating it with large-scale experimental data. I am also exploring interdisciplinary collaborations with materials scientists to integrate advanced corrosion monitoring techniques into predictive structural models. These developments could further enhance bridge safety management and prolong service life.
What advice would you give to early-career researchers or students hoping to make a meaningful impact in academia?
Stay curious, persistent, and open to feedback. Aim to work on problems that matter not only academically but also in real-world applications. Building a strong network of collaborators, across disciplines and industries, can accelerate both your research impact and career growth. Finally, don’t be discouraged by early setbacks; some of the most valuable breakthroughs come after periods of challenge and uncertainty.
Thank you for sharing your insights, and congratulations once again on this well-deserved recognition.
The article, A lumped plasticity model for corrosion-damaged reinforced concrete columns published in Volume 177, Issue 4 (December 2024) of Bridge Engineering, will be free to read for a limited time.
For more awards on related engineering subjects, please visit ICE Publishing Awards.