Dr. Laura De Lorenzis, Robert L'Hermite Medallist 2011

During the RILEM Spring meetings, in Paris La Défense, Dr. Laura De Lorenzis, University of Salento, Italy, has been nominated Robert L'Hermite Medallist for 2011.
She will present her lecture, on Monday 5 September 2011, during the 65th Annual Week in Hong Kong, China.

The Jury for the 2011 Robert L'Hermite Medal was composed of Prof. Ravindra Gettu (Jury President and Chair of the RILEM Technical Activities Committee), Prof. Jacques Marchand (Editor in Chief of the journal Materials and Structures), Prof. Lars-Olof Nilsson and Dr. Maria Rosa Valluzzi (Experts of the Technical Activities Committee).

The Jury examined the list of authors who met the criteria for the award, being under 40 years of age in 2010 and having performed high level scientific research in the field of ‘Building Materials and Structures’, and published at least one original paper in an international scientific journal, preferably the RILEM journal Materials and Structures during the last two years, in general as main contributor.

The author selected for this award in 2011 was Dr. Laura De Lorenzis 'in recognition of her outstanding contribution to experimental reseraches and modeling studies on building materials and structures.'
Laura De Lorenzis is Assistant Professor of Structural Engineering at the Department of Innovation Engineering of the University of Salento, Italy, since 2000. She obtained a MS in Materials Engineering in 1998 at the University of Lecce (Italy), followed by a MS on Science in Structural Engineering at the University of Missouri, Rolla (USA, 2000), and a PhD in Composite Materials for Civil Construction at the University of Salento in 2002.
She has been visiting scholar at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg (Sweden, 2001), at Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2005), and at the Department of Architecture of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA (USA) in 2006, through a Fulbright Scholarship, and at Leibniz University of Hannover (Germany), in 2010, as Research Fellow.

She is associate member of ACI440 'Fiber-reinforced polymer reinforcement', member of fib Task Groups 4.5 "Bond models" and 9.3 "Fiber-reinforced polymer reinforcement for concrete structures", member of ACI Italy and of the Committee for the development of CNR DT 200/2004. She is also member of the RILEM TCs 223-MSC "Masonry strengthening with composite materials", and 234-DUC "Design procedures for the use of composites in strengthening of reinforced concrete structures", member of IABSE and of IIFC Council.
Her expertise ranges from experimental characterization of the mechanical behaviour of various building materials, theoretical studies on fracture mechanics and contact problems, and strengthening of structures and components, including architectural heritage.
She has authored or co-authored more than 100 refereed publications, of which more than 40 papers on international journals and 2 book chapters.