Clay Naito, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Lehigh University, has been elected as a Fellow of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI).
The award recognizes Naito’s outstanding contributions to the precast concrete structures industry and PCI in the areas of education, research, and service.
As a faculty member of the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science and an associated member of the ATLSS Engineering Research Center, Naito teaches prestressed concrete design and conducts industry-related testing projects.
“Clay has been a leader within the PCI community,” says Panos Diplas, P.C. Rossin Professor and chair of civil and environmental engineering at Lehigh. “His election to fellow grade is a well-deserved recognition of his many and substantive research contributions in the areas of precast and prestressed concrete.”
Naito’s research endeavors include the PCI/NSF-funded development of a seismic design methodology for precast concrete diaphragms, integration of self-consolidating concrete for use in precast concrete bridge beam production, evaluation of bond mechanics for prestressed elements, implementation of welding methods for embedded connections in precast concrete elements in harsh weather conditions, examination of blast resistance of precast concrete cladding and development of new response limits for these systems, development of new flange-to-flange connections for precast concrete diaphragms, and development of fatigue assessment strategies for flange-to-flange connections subject to vehicle loads.
PCI is the technical institute and trade association for the precast/prestressed concrete structures industry. Its membership comprises precast concrete manufacturers, companies that provide products and services to the industry, precast concrete erectors, and individuals such as architects, consultants, contractors, developers, educators, engineers, and students.
Naito has been a member of PCI’s Technical Activities Council since 2010, has served as past chair of the PCI Blast Committee, and has served on many other PCI committees, including the eighth edition Industry Handbook Committee and the Design Specification Committee.
He is the author of numerous articles in PCI publications and is heavily involved with the PCI Diaphragm Project and Fatigue Project. Naito also actively participates in and promotes the Big Beam Contest, leading a Lehigh team to a first place finish in 2013.
Clay’s research achievements have been recognized by the George D. Nasser Award in 2012 and the Charles C. Zollman award in 2005 and 2009. He is also a past recipient of the PCI Young Educator Award and PCI Academic Educator Award.
