DEMETER G. FERTIS is Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Akron. He was previously an associate professor at the University of Iowa and Wayne State University, and a research engineer in the Michigan State Department of Transportation. Dr. Fertis was also visiting professor at the National Technical University in Athens, Greece. During his teaching career, he taught more than twenty graduate courses on different subjects, in the Civil, Mechanical, and Engineering Mechanics Departments. He has received a BS and an MS degree from Michigan State University, and a Doctor of Engineer...