Congratulations to Ph.D. student Héctor García Matamoros on being named a 2025 ACI Presidents' Fellow! The ACI Presidents' Fellowship is among the most prestigious ACI awards for graduate students working on concrete-related topics in the U.S., alongside the ACI Best Paper Awards. Awardees are given $10,000 and must be enrolled in a Master's or Doctoral program in construction, design, education, or materials during the year of the award.
Although the fellowship is typically awarded to third- or fourth-year Ph.D. students, Héctor received it in his first year—an extraordinary achievement! Past recipients of the award have mostly been Ph.D. students from other top concrete research programs, particularly UIUC, Purdue, and Georgia Tech. Many have gone on to make significant contributions to the field. CEE Assistant Professor Tayo Opabola serves as his advisor.
The award committee was impressed with Héctor's Ph.D. progress and immediate impact on the structural engineering practice in the U.S. Héctor's work is already informing updates to U.S. seismic evaluation and retrofit guidelines.