Dr. Robert Y. Liang, F. ASCE

Title: Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Dept/Program: Civil Engineering
Email: rliang@uakron.edu

Biography

Dr. Liang came to UA in 1985. During his time here, he served as both professor and department chair of the Civil Engineering department. He served as the Associate Editor for the Journal of Engineering Mechanics, ASCE from 1994-1998. He is a member of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Concrete Institute (ACI), International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering (ISSMFE), and Transportation Research Board, National Research Council (TRB), to name a few. Dr. Liang is the recipient of the Louis Hill Award from the College of Engineering at UA and the Outstanding Civil Engineer of the Year (1997) from ASCE, Akron-Canton Section.

Research

Geotechnical Engineering encompassing deep foundations; Soil improvement techniques; Retaining structures; Soil dynamics; Construction Materials, including concrete, asphalt concrete, with particular emphasis on properties characterization, damage and degradation mechanisms, and development of new materials and applications; Engineering Mechanics with emphasis on inelastic behavior, fatigue, and damage mechanics; instrumentation for laboratory-scale specimens and large-scale prototype structures such as bridges, pavements, and geotechnical structures.

Education

• Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of California, 1985
• M.S., Civil Engineering, North Carolina State University, 1979
• B.S., Civil Engineering, Tam Kang University, Taipei, Taiwan, 1974