Shirley J. Dyke, Ph.D., was installed as the Edward C. Dicke Professor of Engineering at a May 4 ceremony in Uncas A. Whitaker Hall for Biomedical Engineering.
A civil engineer, Edward C. Dicke was responsible for many of the buildings which have become area staples. Dicke’s spirit and vitality continue today through the professorship, which was established in 1991.
After graduating at the top of his class in 1900, Dicke went to work for a local engineering consulting firm and, eventually, a number of railroads. The opportunity to remain in St. Louis permanently presented itself when Dicke joined the firm of Fruin-Colnon in 1908.
Twenty years later, Dicke and three other engineers — all graduates of the University — reformed the company as Fruin-Colnon Construction Co.
At 70, Dicke retired from Fruin-Colnon in 1948. The company, now called Fru-Con Construction Corp., remains one of the largest engineering construction firms in the state. Dicke died in 1976.
Dyke, a Chicago native, earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1991, and a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1996. Dyke became assistant professor of civil engineering in 1997 at Washington University and is now a professor of civil engineering.
Dyke’s research efforts have addressed a variety of issues related to “smart” structures, including innovative control technologies for natural hazard mitigation, and structural health monitoring and damage detection.
With support from the School of Engineering & Applied Science, Dyke established the Washington University Structural Control and Earthquake Engineering Laboratory (WUSCEEL) in 1997.
WUSCEEL is recognized internationally for contributions in structural control and health monitoring, a result of strong collaborations with both students and colleagues.
As one of the first researchers of the implementation of magnetorheological (MR) fluid dampers for vibration control, Dyke’s research has made significant contributions toward developing innovative hazard mitigation measures, facilitating the evolution of a new era of civil engineering structures.
The formulation and validation of nonlinear control algorithms that effectively use the unique traits of MR dampers propelled this technology forward, attracting international attention.
Moreover, her work has shown the advantages of semiactive control schemes, recently focusing on controlling torsional responses and nonlinear structural systems.
Dyke developed and verified new algorithms for detecting damage in civil structures.
This research emphasized the application of these techniques for long-span bridges, vital structures in our nation’s transportation network.
Dyke has authored more than 100 technical articles, has been a visiting professor in Italy, Colombia and Japan, and at the University of Southern California. She is the chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Technical Committee on Structural Control, the co-program director for the Mid-America Earthquake Center’s education program and is on the board of directors for the American Automatic Control Council.
She is an associate editor of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Journal of Vibration and Acoustics and has been a guest editor for an issue of the Journal of Structural Control. She is also organizing the Seventh International Conference on Motion and Vibration Control, to be held at the University in August.
As a strong proponent of educational efforts, Dyke coordinates two summer research programs for undergraduates, one hosted at the University, the other at the University of Tokyo. She also developed and now directs the University Consortium on Instructional Shake Tables, an international cooperative improving education in civil engineering departments through the effective use of earthquake simulator lab stations.