Isabella Rakestraw is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University. She holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from FIU, where her research focused on the behavior and design of precast and prestressed concrete connections for bridge and infrastructure systems.
Her work combines full-scale experimental testing and numerical modeling to better understand how structural connections behave in real life, with the goal of developing practical, design-oriented recommendations for engineers. Her research interests include the design and behavior of precast, prestressed concrete structures, and nonlinear anlysis of reinforced concrete elements.
Isabella is also deeply committed to innovative engineering education. She teaches courses in structural analysis, reinforced concrete, and engineering drawing, emphasizing active learning, conceptual understanding, and the integration of emerging tools such as AI to support student learning and engagement.
