federation internationale du beton (fib)International federation for structural concreteCase Postale 88, 1015 Lausanne, SwitzerlandPhone +41 21 693 2747 * Fax +41 21 693 6245fib@epfl.ch * www.fib-international.orgFor immediate releasePress contact:  Laura Thommen-Vidale, EditorEmail:  laura.thommen-vidale@epfl.chTel.:  +41 21 693 2747Fax:  +41 21 693 6245
Press area: www.fib-international.org/press
Lausanne, 29 June 2011ref. PR11003

fib Medal of Merit awarded in Prague

The 2011 fib Medal of Merit was recently awarded to Vladimir Cervenka, Czech Republic, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of structural concrete and to fib. The medal was presented to Dr. Cervenka on 8 June 2011 by fib president Gyorgy L. Balazs, during the opening ceremony of the recent fib symposium held in Prague.

Vladimir Cervenka was born in 1941 in Zlin, Moravia. In 1962 he received a degree in engineering from the Czech University in Prague. In 1970 he earned his Ph.D. at the University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, with a dissertation on inelastic finite element analysis of reinforced concrete panels under in-plane loads.

Dr. Cervenka's distinguished career has been devoted to the development of nonlinear finite element modeling of reinforced concrete. He has worked as a researcher in the United States, Germany and the Czech Republic, and, after founding Cervenka Consulting in 1992, brought his expertise and analysis software ATENA to many countries around the world, including, among others, Japan, India, Germany and USA, for applications such as nuclear containments, historical buildings and tunnels. 
His invaluable contributions to CEB and fib include work on CEB Bulletin 230 "RC elements under cyclic loading", fib Bulletin 45 "Practitioners' guide to finite element modelling of reinforced concrete structures" and the 2010 fib Model Code, as well as involvement in fib Commission 2 "Safety and performance concepts", Task Group 4.1 "Serviceability models", and Special Activity Group 7 "Assessment and interventions upon existing structures". Furthermore, Cervenka Consulting has been a corporate member of fib since 1998.###