awards>>Samer madanat tapped for first Xenel professorship

Samer Madanat Awarded Xenel Distinguished Professorship in Engineering

ITS Director Samer Madanat has been named Xenel Professor, the first recipient of a newly endowed distinguished professorship in the College of Engineering. 

The five-year professorship, which may be extended, is made possible through a donation to Berkeley’s College of Engineering by a former engineering alumnus, Khalid Alireza, who is vice chairman and executive director of Xenel Industries of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Its purpose is to support advanced research  addressing issues common to California and the Organization of Islamic Conferences region, stretching from western Africa to Indonesia.

Madanat’s research interests are in the area of civil infrastructure systems management, with emphasis on the utilization of analytical methods in modeling facility performance and optimizing life-cycle management decisions.  More recently, his interests have expanded to include sustainable transportation development.

Before he became director of ITS, Madanat served as director of PATH. He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Infrastructure Systems of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the author of 50 articles in archival journals. In 1999 he received the Science and Technology Award from the Office of the President of the University.

Madanat earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Jordan, and a Master’s and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.