Brief Bio

Ramesh B. Malla, Ph.D., is a Professor of Structural Engineering and Applied Mechanics, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Connecticut (UConn), Storrs, CT, U.S.A. He has more than 44 years of teaching, research, and industrial experience, including more than 40 years at UConn. In addition to being a faculty member, Prof. Malla worked as a structural engineer at United Engineers & Constructors, Inc. in Philadelphia, PA; a Visiting Faculty Fellow at the NASA Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center, Cleveland, OH and a Visiting Faculty at Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International, Inc. (now Collins Aerospace) in Connecticut; and as the Founding UConn Campus Director of the NASA/Connecticut Space Grant College Consortium. He also played  leading role from UConn to receive funding from NASA to establish the multi-institutional Resilient Extraterrestrial Habitats Institute, RETHi (with Purdue University, Harvard University, and University of Texas/San Antonio)  sponsored by the NASA Space Technology Research Institutes (STRI) program in 2019 and served as the Institutional PI from UConn during 2019-2022. Since 2018 to present, he is serving as the Institutional PI/Lead from UConn for the U.S.DOT funded Region 1 (New England) University Transportation Center (UTC) -Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center (TIDC).  Dr. Malla’s teaching and research areas include structural engineering and applied mechanics, dynamics & vibrations of structures, finite element modeling and analysis.

His research encompasses structures on earth, in space, and on the Moon.  Prof. Malla’s research work has been supported by more than 20 federal, state and regional agencies and industry, including several prestigious federal agencies like NSF; NASA; U.S. Army; U.S. DOT (FRA and FHWA), and U.S. Navy.  He has authored/co-authored more than 170 technical publications and has delivered more than 200 research and educational presentations. He has edited 8 prestigious ASCE conference proceedings volumes and 2 special volumes/books. He has served in the organizing/steering/technical committees of more than 52 national and international conferences. He has played lead roles as  the General and Technical Chair of several prominent and highly regarded conferences, such as ASCE Earth & Space and AIAA SDM Conferences and has also organized/chaired/co-chaired more than 90 technical sessions in the conferences. He has also served on more than 25 ASCE, AIAA, and other professional technical committees, including as the Chair of several of them. At present, he holds membership in 9 national and international professional societies, including elected Fellow & Life Member of ASCE and ASNEngr; Fellow of EMI; Life Member of ASME; Associate Fellow of AIAA; Life Fellow of American Society of Nepalese Engineers (ASNEngr); and elected member of Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE).  He has received numerous awards, honors and recognitions including the ASCE Columbia Medal,  the Outstanding Technical Contribution and Outstanding Professional Service awards from the ASCE Aerospace Division, and Gold Medal from the King of Nepal for academic achievement.

Born and raised in Chhoprak, Gorkha, Nepal;  Prof. Malla received his B.S. degree in Civil Engineering (First Class with Distinction) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India in 1979; M.S. in Civil Engineering (with concentration in  Geo & Structural mechanics) from the University of Delaware, Newark, DE, U.S.A. in 1981;  and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (with concentration in Structural and Applied Mechanics) from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA,U.S.A.  in 1986.