UNF professor wins 2023 Distinguished Educator Award
Dr. Adel ElSafty, professor of civil engineering at UNF, recently received the 2023 Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Distinguished Educator Award at the 2023 PCI Convention.
The award recognizes educators who have achieved a sustained period of professional contributions during their careers and have a well-established record of contributions to the educational mission of PCI.
Since joining the UNF faculty in 2005, Dr. ElSafty has developed and taught numerous undergraduate and graduate structural engineering courses, including Concrete Design, Steel Design, Analysis of Structures, Mechanics/Strength of Materials, Statics, Prestressed Concrete, Matrix Structural Analysis, Introduction to Bridge Engineering, Civil Engineering Materials and Advanced Mechanics.
Dr. ElSafty has secured more than $2.5 million in research project funding for his research that addresses innovative materials to be used in constructing and repairing infrastructures; some of the materials have not been known to the public, like Basalt fibers-extremely fine fibers similar to fiberglass-as well as some new glass and carbon fibers. Dr. ElSafty is currently doing research on bridge engineering, prestressed concrete, repair of structures and fiber-reinforced polymer applications in infrastructures.
His most rewarding academic experience was winning a national grant in 2009, establishing the first Engineering Design Studio in the United States for the PCI Foundation. This allowed him to collaborate with other academic institutions and with the industry, such as consultants and fabricators, on research as well as training for UNF students. ElSafty has led faculty groups from eight universities across the country on research projects. The Engineering Design Studio helped the University become a magnet for prestressed concrete and conduct research in this field of study.
ElSafty has led student teams to win national/regional competitions and has led student groups on study-abroad trips to several countries including Italy, Germany, Ghana and Morocco. He has also led UNF faculty groups on international academic visits to Turkey, Morocco and Egypt, where he established and maintained research initiatives in addition to initiating scholastic exchange programs.
He's won numerous awards, including the 2018 UNF Distinguished Professor award, PCI Educator of the Year, Fulbright U.S. Scholar, Fulbright Specialist, International Scholarship and Journal Paper Award, Florida Prestressed Concrete Association Education Foundation Award, Outstanding Faculty Scholarship Award, and Outstanding International Leadership Award, to name a few.
Dr. ElSafty has served on the PCI Education Committee, is chair of the PCI Foundation Academic Council, and has been a member of the PCI Foundation Board of Trustees since 2018. He is also an active member of the Florida Prestressed Concrete Association (FPCA), and he has led several initiatives to promote industry participation by students locally, nationally, and worldwide. Dr. ElSafty earned his doctorate degree in civil engineering from North Carolina State University, an MBA from UNF, and received a master's degree in structural engineering as well as a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, both from Cairo University in Egypt.