Heather A. K. McLeod

Heather, a 2003-2007 Self Fellow, received a Ph.D. in civil engineering in 2010. She received a B.S. (1997) in civil engineering from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln and an M.S. (2005) in civil engineering from the University of Kansas. Heather was one of two students to receive the American Concrete Institute International Student Fellowship in 2003. Before graduate school, Heather worked professionally as a structural engineer for two years and lived in Asia for three and a half years. Heather's research interests were related to the durability of concrete structures through improved materials, design, and construction techniques. A major project included oversight of the construction of 20 full-scale bridge decks in Kansas and other states with the goal of preventing corrosion and reducing live-cycle costs. By limiting the formation of cracks, which are a pathway for chlorides to reach the reinforcing steel, corrosion can be prevented and the $8.3 billion annual cost of bridge corrosion in the U.S. can be reduced. Heather is currently employed as a concrete research engineer for the Kansas Department of Transportation in Topeka, Kansas.

Mentor: David Darwin, Distinguished Professor, and JoAnn Browning, Professor; Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering