Faculty Profile

Dr. ZHAO Renda, born in November 1961, is now a professor of Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU), a vice dean of Graduate School, a doctoral tutor in the field of bridge and tunnel engineering. In 1982, he graduated from Institute of Chongqing Architectural Engineering and received his first degree. He received his Master's degree in 1984 and his doctoral degree in 1990 from SWJTU. In 1993, as a senior visiting scholar he worked at University of Stuttgart for half a year. Invited by Prof. Eligehausen he again worked there from October 1994 to December 1996 as a guest researcher. Once he was deputy director and then director of Structural Engineering Research Institute and Testing Center of Structural Engineering, head of Department of Bridge Engineering, vice dean of School of Civil Engineering. In the academic field, he once was a vice chief member of Specialized Committee on Architectural Structure in Sichuan Society of Civil Engineering and Architectural Structure. At the present, he is a member of a council of the Institute of Computer Application of China Civil Engineering Society, and a member of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE), etc.
     Since receiving his Master's degree and working at SWJTU, Dr. ZHAO has been engaged in scientific research in the field of bridge engineering and cultivated undergraduates, Master's and doctoral graduate students. He has taken and accomplished more than 60 research projects, including a key project funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China, two projects from the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education, ten from the Ministry of Railways and two from National 863 Plans. He has published several books and more than 170 papers in international and home periodicals and technical conferences. He is a reviewer for several journals.
     He was honored as a Chinese Doctoral Degree Receiver with Outstanding Contributions in December 1991, given by Sichuan Provincial Education Committee. In May 1994, he was honored as an Excellent Young Teacher of the Second Session of Colleges and Universities and Technical Secondary Schools in Chengdu City. In 1997, he won a designation of Tiptop Qualified Scientists and Technicians in the Ministry of Railways. He has received the following awards: 1 second-class National Prize for Progress in Science and Technology, 1 first-class Provincial Prize for Progress in Science and Technology, 2 second-class Ministerial Prizes for Progress in Science and Technology. In addition, he has also won 1 first-class National Teaching Prize, 2 first-class Provincial Teaching Prizes. He has been one of the leading persons in Science and Technology of Sichuan Province since August 2005.