Juan Sobrino is a civil engineer, known internationally for designing more than 400 bridges, introduction of advanced materials in bridges and innovative bridge designs. He is the founder of Pedelta, an international structural engineering firm. Sobrino was an adjunct professor at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

from 2010 to 2012, and a part-time associate professor at

Polytechnic University of Catalonia The Polytechnic University of Catalonia (, , ; UPC), currently referred to as BarcelonaTech, is the largest polytechnic university in Catalonia, Spain. UPC's objectives are based on internationalization, as it is one of Europe's techni ...

Education

Dr. Sobrino studied Civil Engineering at

Technical University of Catalonia The Polytechnic University of Catalonia (, , ; UPC), currently referred to as BarcelonaTech, is the largest polytechnic university in Catalonia, Spain. UPC's objectives are based on internationalization, as it is one of Europe's techni ...

(UPC), and earned Master of Science in 1990. He went on to pursue a PhD in Civil Engineering. He has been actively involved in sharing his industry experience and research experience with students and young engineers as he is frequently invited as a guest speaker in Civil Engineering departments of universities including Princeton and the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

Career

Dr. Sobrino founded Pedelta immediately after earning his PhD in 1994. Since then, he has been involved in design of new bridges, as well as assessment and rehabilitation of existing bridges in USA, Canada, Latin America, Europe and Asia.

Awards

* 2003 IABSE (International Association for Bridge & Structural Engineering) award * 2005 GFRP Lleida Footbridge Awarded with Footbridge Award. Venice, Italy. * 2012 Innovation award Spain, Spanish Board of Civil Engineers, Valencia, Spain. * 2012 The Triplets, La Paz, Bolivia awarded with Eugene C.Figg Jr. medal, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. * 2015 Medal of Professional Merit, Spanish Board of Civil Engineers, Madrid, Spain.

Innovations

Amongst his various innovative bridge designs, his application of use of advance materials has reached international recognition, with completed bridge examples including the first stainless steel vehicular bridge in Menorca, the stainless steel arch pedestrian bridge in Sant Fruitos, the first hybrid stainless steel and GFRP pedestrian bridges of Zumaia and Vilafant, as well as the

Abetxuko Bridge The Abetxuko Bridge is a steel girder bridge with organic forms in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, Basque Country, Spain. The Abetxuko Bridge over the Zadorra River is one of several projects being built by Vitoria council to improve mobility for it ...

, a steel girder/organic form bridge.

Notable projects

Image:STBoiBridge.jpg, Sant Boi Bridge, Sant Boi, Spain (2005). Image:LlinarsBridge.jpg, High Speed Railway Bridge over AP7, Llinars del Valles(2007). File:AbetxukoBridge.jpg,

, Vitoria, Spain(2005). File:Lleida GFRP Pedestrian bridge.jpg , GFRP Lleida footbridge, Lleida, Spain(2001). File:CalaGaldanaBridge.JPG, Cala Galdana Bridge (First Stainless Steel Vehicular bridge), Menorca, Spain(2004). File:Viaducto-Envigado.jpg, Envigado bridge, Envigado, Colombia (2004). File:Vilafant_Bridge.JPG,

Vilafant Bridge The High Speed Railway line connecting Barcelona and the French border crosses the Municipality of Vilafant 19 ft (6 m) below the ground level. To cross the sunken railroad, two pedestrian bridges were constructed. The structure, with one spa ...

, Vilafant, Spain (2011). File:Sant Fruitós 1.JPG, Sant Fruitós, Spain (2009)

References