10:54 a.m., Feb. 3, 2010----Michael Chajes, dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Delaware, has been named the 2009 Engineer of the Year by the Delaware Council of Engineering Societies (DCES). He will be recognized for his contributions to the field of engineering at the council's annual awards banquet on Feb. 18 at the DuPont Country Club.

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“This is a great honor for me,” Chajes says. “Most of the past recipients of the award have been practicing engineers rather than educators, and it is a testament to the profession of teaching that the council chose to recognize me this year.”

In addition to his administrative roles, Chajes teaches structural analysis and structural design, and he was instrumental in the development of UD's Introduction to Engineering course, which is now required of all freshmen engineering students.

“I think this course is critical to our curriculum,” Chajes says, “because most incoming college students have never taken an engineering course -- they often choose the major because someone has advised them to do so on the basis of their math and science skills. But most of them don't know exactly what's involved in the various sub-fields of engineering. This course is designed to provide an overview of each of the engineering degrees we offer at the undergraduate level so that students can make informed choices about their majors.”

Chajes places a strong emphasis on the development of UD's engineering students into leaders. “Engineers are trained to solve technological problems,” he says, “but I think it's also important that they leave here with leadership skills, as such skills are a valuable asset no matter what path our graduates follow in their careers.

“I also encourage all of our students to take advantage of the University's extensive opportunities to study around the world so that they can enhance their own skills as well as their understanding of the role of engineers in a global economy.”

Chajes earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and his master's degree and doctorate from the University of California, Davis.

He has focused his research on bridge testing, evaluation and rehabilitation, and has worked on bridges throughout the U.S., including the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the Ben Franklin Bridge, the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, the Chesapeake City and Summit Bridges, and the lock gates on the Erie Canal.

In 1992, Chajes and a team of students rehabilitated a Delaware bridge using advanced composite materials, one of the first such applications in the U.S.

His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, the Federal Highway Administration and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. He is widely published and a frequent public speaker on these projects both in the U.S. and abroad.

Chajes is a former board member of the Delaware Association of Professional Engineers and he has been an active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, serving as past chair of the Department Heads Council Executive Committee and as a member of the planning committee for the 2006 summit on the “Future of the Civil Engineering in 2025.”

Article by Diane Kukich