Structural Stability Research Council

The award has been established in honor of the late Lynn S. Beedle, an international authority on stability and the development of code criteria for steel and composite structures. He was a leader and outstanding contributor to the work of the Structural Stability Research Council for a period of more than 50 years, establishing the council as the pre-eminent organization worldwide in the area of structural stability. Through Lynn Beedle’s dedicated work and leadership in the national and international arenas, the structural engineering profession has seen advanced concepts developed into practical engineering tools. He consistently and successfully endeavored to advance collaboration between researchers, engineers and code writers worldwide.

Recipients of the Lynn S. Beedle Award must meet the following criteria:

Long time member of SSRC.
A worldwide leading stability researcher or designer of structures with significant stability issues.
A leader in fostering cooperation between professionals worldwide.
Significant contributions to national and international design code development.
The SSRC Executive Committee will serve as the award committee. The award may be presented as frequently as annually. An individual can only receive the award once.

The award will be presented at the SSRC Annual Stability Conference. It consists of a framed certificate, signed by the SSRC Chair and Vice Chair.

2012 Award Winner

Prof.Peter Birkemoe
Presented April 20, 2012

Peter C. Birkemoe, Ph.D., P.Eng., Professor Emeritus Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, has over 45 years in experience in structural engineering involving research, practice, and teaching related to design and behaviour of steel structures and is a member of the Canadian Standards Association Committee on Steel Design S16, the Research Council on Structural Connections, the Structural Stability Research Council and served on the Ontario Highway Bridge Design Code (section on Steel Bridges).

Professor Birkemoe’s experimental and analytical investigations on the behaviour of HSS members, led to the special strength classification for manufactured cold formed, heat-treated tubular members. Extensive large scale testing and analysis of fabricated circular tubular members examined the effects of weld induced residual stresses and geometric imperfections (including damage) on the behaviour of beam-columns in offshore applications. Other research on stability conducted by Professor Birkemoe includes the examination of safety of curved bridges during construction and the study of sustained plastic deformation beyond development of full yield properties. With particular expertise in research and design practice for connections employing high strength structural bolts and related structural behaviour, he works with various code/specification writing bodies in Canada and the United States. He is currently conducting research on field practices of high strength bolting.

Past Beedle Award Winners

2002	Prof. T.V Galambos	University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Campus
2004	Prof. Yuhshi Fukumoto	Fukuyama University
2005	Prof. William McGuire	Cornell University
2006	Prof. Joseph Yura	University of Texas at Austin
2007	Prof. D.J. Laurie Kennedy	University of Alberta
2008	Prof. Donald R. Sherman	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
2009	Prof. Wei-Wen Yu	Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly University of Missouri-Rolla)
2010	Dr. Reidar Bjorhovde	The Bjorhovde Group
2011	Prof. Nick Trahair	University of Sydney