Earthquakes are to Turkey what hurricanes are to Florida. So when Necati Catbas elected to study engineering in his hometown of Istanbul, it is not surprising that he was particularly interested in protecting buildings from such powerful natural forces.
In 2008, Associate Professor Catbas was inducted into the UCF Millionaires Club for receiving more than $1 million in research funding. His biggest single award ($855,259) is leading to new tools to better predict the strength and lifespan of existing bridges and make the bridges of the future even stronger.