Based in New York City, the program is named for Clare Boothe Luce - playwright, journalist, U.S. ambassador to Italy, the first woman elected to Congress from Connecticut and generally a trailblazer, who was married to publisher Henry Luce. The program encourages young women to achieve distinction in the fields of science, engineering and mathematics where traditionally there have been obstacles to their advancement.
Sarah Billington
Billington, the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Structural Engineering, came to Stanford from Cornell University, where she had been an assistant professor for five years. The recipient of several engineering awards, she focuses her research on the use of advanced materials for making buildings and bridges more earthquake resistant.
"Concrete is brittle, like chalk when you break it. Adding certain fibers to the concrete in the right way makes it hold together better," Billington said. "The fibers bridge the cracks that form, so you get many tiny cracks instead of one large one." This fiber-reinforced concrete is several hundred times more ductile than traditional concrete and may prove useful in keeping earthquake-damaged buildings standing and functional so that their elevators, sprinklers and electrical systems continue to work.
Billington hopes to begin collaborating with other Stanford colleagues to develop wireless sensors that will indicate whether a building is safe to enter after an earthquake and pinpoint where damage has occurred. She also is interested in engineering sustainable infrastructure that has minimal environm
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Contact: Mark Shwartz
mshwartz@stanford.edu
650-723-9296
Stanford University
19-Mar-2003