New Civil Engineering Leader Brings Research Dollars, Mobile Lab to OSU

Story Posted: Thu, May 24, 2007

By Gregg Kleiner, 541-737-9684
SOURCES: Ron Adams, 541-737-3101; Scott Ashford, 858-822-0431

CORVALLIS – Oregon State University has named a leader from one of the nation’s top engineering schools and a former CH2M HILL engineer with eight years of industry experience as the director of its new School of Civil and Construction Engineering.

Scott Ashford, who graduated from OSU in 1983 then earned a doctoral degree in geotechnical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, has been a professor since 1996 at the University of California, San Diego, where he helped the Jacobs School of Engineering climb up the national rankings from No. 43 to No. 11.

“During that process, I learned a lot, and I plan to take that knowledge and apply it here at Oregon State,” said Ashford, who has taught and done research in many parts of the world, from work on California highways to seismic hazards in Thailand and landslide mitigation in Sri Lanka.

One of Ashford’s main goals at the helm of the new school will be growing the graduate programs in both civil engineering and construction engineering management.

“Students today need to know that a master’s degree helps lead to a successful career,” Ashford said. “I believe every single one of our students should consider staying on to get a master’s degree before entering the job market. We have an outstanding undergraduate program, so my focus will be growing our graduate program while maintaining the high quality of our undergraduate program.”

Ashford plans to expand OSU’s new Master’s of Engineering (MEng) degree. “I want our students, as well as working engineers in the field, to know they can come to OSU for one year and get a master’s degree.”

In addition, Ashford will bring with him four research grants totaling approximately $800,000, as well as a mobile structures testing lab that can be transported to jobsites. He also plans to build a Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction lab at OSU, where the relationship between buildings, foundations and the soils they sit on can be studied.

At OSU, Ashford will join a strong engineering leadership team that is guiding the college through an unprecedented transformation that is fueled by approximately $100 million in private investment. That investment and state funds directed through the Oregon Engineering and Technology Industry Council (ETIC) have stimulated a 130 percent jump in engineering research at OSU, a 40 percent increase in engineering degrees conferred, and a 60 percent growth in PhD enrollment since 1999, moving the College to a No. 40 position among U.S. engineering programs in overall output of degrees and research.

“Scott is a perfect match with the OSU team, and his leadership will help us move both the new School of Civil and Construction Engineering and the College as a whole to the next level,” said Ron Adams, dean of the OSU College of Engineering.

Ashford will also oversee a complete renovation of historic Apperson Hall, to be renamed Kearney Hall, which will house key components of the new school.

Drawing on his experience as a civil engineer working in industry, Ashford plans to grow research funding and develop new engineers who are work-ready upon graduation.

“I have a good sense of what industry wants in terms of research and graduates because I’ve been there,” he said. “And if you look around at the multidisciplinary research underway at Oregon State, we have an outstanding group of faculty, not just in this department, but throughout the College of Engineering and across campus. We’re a real asset to industry.”

Both Ashford and his wife, Meleah, who is a water resources engineer and an OSU engineering alumna, are pleased to be returning to Oregon.

“We both feel we had an outstanding education at Oregon State. The education we received here really set us up for success. Now I look forward to the opportunity to be giving back, to raising the prominence of the department.”

The OSU School of Civil and Construction Engineering conducts work in such fields as coastal and ocean engineering, construction engineering, geotechnical, structural and transportation engineering, and water resources engineering. Faculty operate the internationally recognized O. H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory that houses the National Tsunami Wave Basin, the National Center for Accessible Transportation, the Kiewit Center for Infrastructure and Transportation and other key research facilities.

Studies done by the departments are helping Oregon to better prepare for earthquakes or tsunamis, developing improved transportation systems for people with disabilities, helping the state more effectively reallocate millions of dollars for repair of aging bridges, and creating new ways to preserve high quality groundwater.