Amanda Bao is an assistant professor of civil engineering technology at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Written by

Greg Fox
Staff writer

Amanda Bao, a researcher at the Rochester Institute of Technology, is working to make bridges stronger, an important task seeing how many of the nation's bridges are aging, deficient or don't meet minimum grades established by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The Pittsford resident discovered during computer simulations that adjusting the shape of bridge piles - the long, heavy steel beams that are driven into the ground to support the structures - can make bridges stronger and last longer.