Ann Sychterz

Ann Sychterz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Faculty Affiliate in Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She holds multiple affiliations, including Faculty Fellow at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Her research focuses on adaptive, deployable structures and resilient infrastructure systems, leveraging geometrically nonlinear systems like tensegrity and origami. She leads the SMARTI lab, which develops innovative solutions for civil infrastructure challenges.

Education: Ph.D. (2018) from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), M.A.Sc. (2014) and B.A.Sc. (2012) from the University of Waterloo. Postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan.

Research interests include optimized sensor placement, structural dynamics, machine learning in civil engineering, damage mitigation, and adaptive structures. Her work emphasizes sustainability and resilience against climate change impacts.

Awards include the 2024 SEAOI Outstanding Young Engineer Award, ASCE SEI Future Leaders Award, and the 2023 ASCE SEI Futures Fund Young Professionals Award. She is actively involved in editorial roles and professional committees, including ASCE Structural Control and Sensing Technical Committee.

Her lab's projects include deployable anchors for coastal erosion prevention and VR-based engineering education tools. She collaborates internationally, including a 2024 visiting professorship at the University of Stuttgart.