Professor Parra’s main research interests include the behavior and design of reinforced concrete, fiber-reinforced concrete, and hybrid steel-concrete structures, with emphasis on behavior during strong ground motions. In the past few years, Prof. Parra’s research has primarily focused on structural applications of fiber-reinforced concrete. Applications investigated include structural walls, coupling beams, precast/prestressed hollow-core slabs, and beam-column and slab-column connections. Prof. Parra is also conducting research on the breakout strength of beam-column and column-footing connections.
Professor Parra has received several professional awards, including the Arthur J. Boase Award, the Charles S. Whitney Medal, the Wason Medal for Most Meritorious Paper, the Chester Paul Siess Award for Excellence in Structural Research, and the Young Member Award for Professional Achievement from the American Concrete Institute (ACI); the Walter L. Huber Research Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE); the Shah Family Innovation Prize from the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI); and the Top 25 Newsmaker of the Year Award from Engineering News Record. Professor Parra is also a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute.
Professor Parra has been a member of the ACI Building Code Committee (ACI 318) since 2008. He was Chair of ACI Sub-Committee 318-J between 2014 and 2025. He is also a member and past chair of ACI-ASCE Committee 352 on Joints in Monolithic Reinforced Concrete Structures, and of ASCE-ACI Committee 335 on Composite and Hybrid Structures.