Press
Matthys Levy Awarded Thomas Egleston Medal for Distinguished Engineering Achievement by Columbia University Alumni Association
New York, NY - November 12, 2008 - Matthys Levy, chairman emeritus of the international engineering firm Weidlinger Associates, Inc., was awarded the Thomas Egleston Medal for Distinguished Engineering Achievement, the highest honor given by the Columbia Engineering School Alumni Association. The medal was presented during the association's annual awards dinner held at the university's Low Memorial Library on november 11, 2008. Levy, who received his master's and professional degrees from Columbia's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science in 1956, was cited for his "pioneering work in designing and developing unprecedented structures of beauty and utility around the world."
In accepting the award, Levy challenged the engineering community, and Columbia University alumni in particular, to join him in his concern about the "looming water problem." Levy's most recent book, Why the Wind Blows (2007), is an entertaining account of the science of weather and climate change that urges action on global warming. Levy began his remarks by recalling 1956, "when we were bathed in the afterglow of the victory over fascism...and global warming had not yet revealed itself from under the greenhouse blanket." He contrasted that more innocent time to 2008: "Today, over a billion people, one sixth of the world's population, lack access to fresh water and almost three billion lack adequate sanitation facilities. To sustain us, we all need about 30 liters per day. Where will we get it?"
Levy received the Egleston Medal for more than a half century of accomplishments, specifically the design of domes, buildings, and bridges, and his responsibility "for many breathtaking feats of engineering...that added immensely to the built environment." The citation singles out his direction of "one of the world's leading structural engineering and applied mechanics firms," membership in the national Academy of Engineering, two roof-design patents, more than 50 technical papers, and seven books, two of which were co-authored with his teacher and mentor, Columbia's legendary Mario Salvadori. Projects mentioned by name include: the Georgia Dome Stadium in Atlanta; the Javits Convention Center and the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City; La Plata Stadium in Argentina; the Schalke Stadium Retractable Dome in Gelsenkirchen, Germany; the Bank of China Headquarters in Beijing; as well as the investigation of the World Trade Center tower collapses, which provided " key information to insure safer buildings in the future."
The Egleston Medal has been awarded since 1939 for "notable application of engineering principles, the development of processes or techniques, or the furtherance of a specific branch of the profession." It is named for Thomas Egleston, founder in 1939 of the Columbia School of Mines, a predecessor school. Levy is the second Weidlinger founding principal to receive the prestigious award. In 1983, Dr. Melvin Baron was recognized for his work as an authority in the field of ground and underwater shock. A recipient must "significantly advanced his or her branch of the profession or the practice or management of engineering activities in general." Recent awardees have pioneered in the fields of systems analysis and fuzzy logic; bioengineering of unstable respiratory disorders; modern control theory; probabilistic mechanics, structural reliability, and risk assessment; launch vehicles and satellite systems; and liquid-cooled engines.
Weidlinger Associates, Inc., is a 350-person consultant engineering firm that designs and rehabilitates buildings, bridges, and infrastructure and provides special services in applied science, forensics, and physical security. For more than 55 years, the firm has been acknowledged worldwide for design solutions both innovative and practical and for a commitment to advancing the state of the art in engineering. Headquartered in New York City, the firm has branch offices in the United States and the United Kingdom. For more information, please see www.wai.com.
Contact: Mollie Fullington or Lynn Trono
Linden Alschuler & Kaplan, Public Relations
212-575-4545 or ltrono@lakpr.com
Weidlinger's Matthys Levy Receives 2007 CCNY Townsend Harris Medal
Levy engineered the Marriott Marquis Hotel, where the awards dinner was heldNew York, NY - October 18, 2007. The international engineering firm of Weidlinger Associates, Inc., announced today that Matthys Levy received the 2007 Townsend Harris Medal from the Alumni Association of the City College of New York (CCNY). The medal was presented to Mr. Levy, a CCnY graduate, at the 127th Annual Alumni Dinner on Thursday, October 18, 2007, at the New York Marriot Marquis.
Levy was selected from among nearly 100 nominees by the Townsend Harris Medal Committee, consisting of former medalists, in recognition of his "exemplary contributions to his chosen field of endeavor." The Medal is named for CUnY's founder, who was also America's first diplomatic representative to Japan. Levy is a founding principal and Chairman Emeritus of Weidlinger. Dr. Melvin Baron (deceased), also a founding partner of Weidlinger, received the Medal in 1988.
Levy has been the structural designer for many dramatic buildings, including Atlanta's Georgia Dome Stadium and New York's Rose Center for Earth and Space. The Whitney Museum, the Javits Center, and the Rockefeller Center pedestrian bridge are some of the many New York City landmarks he also engineered. As structural engineer of the Marriott Marquis, he was responsible in part for the soaring atrium, slip-formed concrete elevator core, and economic 112-foot-span Vierendeel superframe. Levy also engineered major buildings for CUnY's Hostos, Baruch, and Manhattan campuses.
Levy is often interviewed and quoted as an expert on structural practice. He was Principal Investigator for the most comprehensive study of the World Trade Center collapses to date, which received the nation's most prestigious engineering excellence award (from ACEC) in 2004. He has published numerous papers in the fields of structures, computer analysis, aesthetics, and building systems design; has illustrated two books; and is the co-author of five books: Why the Earth Quakes (1997), Earthquake Games (2000), Engineering the City (2000), Why Buildings Fall Down (2002, second edition), and Why Buildings Stand Up (2002, second edition). He is the also the author of Why the Wind Blows (2007), a timely and entertaining account of the science of weather and climate change.
Levy accepted his award before more than 600 alumni, members of the College community, family, friends, and co-workers. He is candid about the opportunity that City College provided him: "I had neither the funds nor good enough test scores to attend a big-name American university. City College, tuition free at the time, gave me a chance to develop academically, which I did in four challenging years."
Weidlinger Associates, Inc., is a 350-person consultant engineering firm that designs and rehabilitates buildings, bridges, and infrastructure and provides special services in applied science, forensics, and physical security. For more than 55 years, the firm has been acknowledged worldwide for design solutions both innovative and practical and for a commitment to advancing the state of the art in engineering. Headquartered in New York City, the firm has branch offices in the United States and the United Kingdom. For more information, please see www.wai.com.
Contact: Mollie Fullington Linden Alschuler & Kaplan, Public Relations 212-575-4545 or cuzzi@lakpr.com
