PhD student Arthriya Suksuwan selected as Barbour Scholar

PhD student Arthriya Suksuwan has been selected by the Dean and Executive Board of the Rackham Graduate School and the Barbour Advisory Committee to receive one of eight Barbour Scholarships for the 2019-2020 academic year.

The Barbour Scholarships were endowed at the University of Michigan in 1917 by Levi Lewis Barbour for women of the highest academic and professional caliber from the countries encompassing the large region extending from Turkey in the west to Japan and the Philippines in the east to study modern science, medicine, mathematics, and other academic disciplines and professions critical to the development of their native lands. Awards cover full tuition and required fees and recipients receive a stipend for one academic year.

Suksuwan’s research focuses on establishing benchmark approaches for designing wind sensitive structures that optimize economical/environmental criteria while rationally meeting society’s need for a truly safe built environment. Around the globe, recent trends in urbanization and population growth have resulted in a significant percentage of the population working and living in high-rise buildings. In particular, many major cities where these structures are located are in regions that are prone to severe windstorms. The exposure of these infrastructure components as well as their occupants to extreme wind hazards is continuously increasing. A source of serious concern is represented by the potential consequences associated with congested highways during mass evacuations. This has triggered interest for proactive strategies that enhance structural performance such that these buildings can provide suitable shelters during extreme wind events and can be repaired to full functionality shortly after the event at minimal costs. Suksuwan’s dissertation will tackle the theoretical and practical challenges that must be overcome to enable system-level performance-based design optimization methods for wind sensitive structures that are efficient, scalable, and driven by practical datasets.

Suksuwan is advised by Assistant Professor Seymour Spence.