Dr. Habib Dagher

Habib Dagher, the Bath Iron Works Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of Maine, is the founding director of the AEWC Advanced Structures & Composites Center. Established by the National Science Foundation in 1996, the interdisciplinary AEWC Center is a world leader in the development of cost-effective, high performance hybrid composite materials for construction applications. The center recently received $15 million in funding from the Department of Energy for the development of offshore wind energy off Maine's coast.

Under Dagher's leadership, AEWC has grown from four to 40 associated faculty and full-time staff in 10 years and annually employs 150 graduate and undergraduate students from 15 academic departments. The center does contract research for U.S. government agencies and private companies worldwide, generating nearly $10 million annually in external research and development funding.

Dagher has received numerous awards for his work including the University of Maine's Distinguished Maine Professor Award in 1995, the UMaine Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award in 2003 and the 2004 New England Board of Higher Education Excellence Award. He has written over 120 technical publications, chaired national technical committees in the structural/bridge engineering and composite materials fields, and serves on the Science and Technology Advisory Board for Maine Governor John Baldacci.

Dagher received his doctorate in structural engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985. He also holds two master's degrees in structural engineering and in engineering mechanics.