By Gillian Castro
A recent graduate of The University of Alabama civil, construction and environment engineering program has received a prestigious fellowship with the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Shane Crawford has been awarded a National Research Council fellowship and will receive funding for 24 months to work at the NIST campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Crawford, who graduated with his doctorate Dec. 15, will start with NIST in January 2019.
“By taking his experience to the national level, communities across the country will benefit from his research,” said Dr. Andrew Graettinger, UA civil, construction and environmental engineering professor and Crawford’s doctoral adviser. “By gaining this national level experience, Shane will be a valuable faculty member in the future.”
The NIST NRC Postdoctoral Research Associateship Program brings research scientists and engineers of unusual promise and ability to perform advanced research related to the NIST mission. Crawford’s work during the fellowship will be with the NIST Community Resilience group and the Disaster and Failure Studies group.
“I’ve been told that the program is very competitive,” Crawford said. “Many of the NRC postdocs at NIST go on to work full time with NIST.”
Crawford will be working to develop strategies for communities to build and adapt to their risk from natural hazards. He will also be developing data collection protocols to more accurately and efficiently document impacts to the built, economic and social environment of affected communities.
The application process for this fellowship involved a research proposal, submitting education information and curriculum vitae, and five references. In addition to Graettinger, Crawford received references from three UA faculty, which were Dr. Ed Back, department head of civil, construction and environmental engineering; Dr. Mike Kreger, Garry Neil Drummond endowed chair of civil engineering; and Dr. Lawrence Powell, director of the Alabama Center for Insurance Information and Research.