CSEE alumna Sissy Nikolaou featured in SWE magazine

Sissy Nikolaou standing in front of construction on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Washington, D.C.

Sissy Nikolaou helped design the foundation of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac River in Washington, DC.

Published October 31, 2014 This content is archived.

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“If the public had a better understanding of the complexities of geotechnical engineering, more women, who I believe like challenges, would choose this field. ”
Sissy Nikolaou, Senior Associate
Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers

Work of geotechnical engineer Sissy Nikolaou (PhD CSEE 1998) was featured in the Fall 2014 issue of SWE, the magazine of the Society of Women Engineers. The article, entitled "Building a Firm Foundation," was also highlighted on the National Academy of Engineering’s Frontiers of Engineering website.

Nikolaou received both her MS and PhD in civil, structural and environmental engineering from UB. Upon receiving her doctorate in 1998, she joined Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers as a geotechnical engineer and became a senior associate in 2011.

She is a leading expert in seismic design, particularly for the eastern United States. Her technical capabilities include structural and geotechnical engineering in multi-hazard environments with emphasis on performance-based engineering, soil-structure interaction, seismic hazard analysis, liquefaction evaluation and mitigation, and risk/resiliency assessment of critical facilities.

Dr. Nikolaou has worked on large bridge, infrastructure, and private development projects, such as the seismic retrofits of the Robert F. Kennedy and Queensboro bridges in New York City, the World Trade Center Towers, and large-scale projects in the Middle East, Germany, Mexico and Panama. In addition, she has led and/or participated in several engineering investigations following extreme events, where she documented the successes and failures of buildings, bridges, geostructures and other infrastructure subjected to earthquakes, hurricanes and floods.

Read the full story in SWE magazine:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/swe/fall14/#/32

and the item on Frontiers of Engineering:

http://www.naefrontiers.org/Media/News/47096.aspx