Kopp receives ASCE's 2021 Jack E. Cermak Medal

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Western Engineering News | June 1, 2021

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently announced Western Engineering’s Dr. Greg Kopp as the recipient of its 2021 Jack E. Cermak Medal, recognizing Kopp’s outstanding achievements in wind engineering and his many contributions to the field through the research and development of wind load building standards. 

The Jack E. Cermak medal was established by the Engineering Mechanics Institute and the Structural Engineering Institute to recognize Cermak's lifetime achievements in the field of wind engineering and industrial aerodynamics.

Cermak, a well-respected and internationally renowned engineer, served a prestigious career at Colorado State University, and was widely referred to as the “U.S. Father of Wind Engineering.”

"It is a great honour and truly humbling to be awarded the Cermak Medal, named for one of the founders of our discipline, and to be added to a list past winners whose research I admired and who influenced my own work," said Kopp, a professor in Western’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Kopp serves as the ImpactWX Chair in Severe Storms Engineering and is the lead researcher for the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP).

Through his work with NTP, Kopp and his team aim to better detect tornado occurrence throughout Canada, improve severe and extreme weather understanding and prediction, mitigate against harm to people and property, and investigate future implications due to climate change. 

Kopp works actively to implement research findings into practice, currently serving as Chair of the ASCE 49 Standards Committee on Wind Tunnel Testing For Buildings and other Structures, and as a member of various other Building Code committees. A former Canada Research Chair in Wind Engineering, he is also the lead researcher for the Three Little Pigs Project at The Insurance Research Lab for Better Homes.

“[Kopp’s] understanding of the mechanisms and scaling parameters is second to none in the profession. His work has and will continue to lead to improvements in the way in which codes and standards present wind loading requirements that better match the physical phenomena but are readily and easily implemented in codes or standards.” - ASCE’s Civil Engineering Source