Praveen Majjigapu

Praveen Majjigapu is a doctoral student in civil engineering at WVU. After earning his bachelor’s degree in the discipline from the Chaitanya Bharthi Institute of Technology, Osmania University in India, he relocated to WVU as a graduate student to focus on structural engineering. A graduate research assistant in the Constructed Facilities Center, Majjigapu’s doctoral research focuses on economical solutions to repair and retrofit deteriorating infrastructure.

Working under the supervision of Hota GangaRao, Majjigapu has designed fiberglass reinforced plastic composite wraps to strengthen corrosion-damaged concrete girders on a number of projects including the Opekiska Lock and Dam (Fairmont)-White Day Creek Public Access Bridge (funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers), and concrete piers for the Denzell R. Mills-Larry R. Hatcher Memorial Bridge (WV District 10) and the Turnpike Bridge (WV District 9), which are being field implement in summer 2017.

Earlier this year, Majjigapu was named inaugural national chair for the Structural Engineering Institute Graduate Student Chapter Leadership Council. The council represents SEI Graduate Student Chapters at universities across the United States. In 2016, he was awarded WVU’s Outstanding Merit Fellowship for Continuing Doctoral Students; the Maurice and JoAnn Wadsworth Graduate Fellowship; and the Kenneth D. Gray Leadership Award, a merit for outstanding student leaders at WVU.