Ira Hooper, a former chief structural engineer at STV Inc., New York City, who worked on complex projects for NASA and the U.S. Energy Dept., among others, died on June 20, says the firm. He was 93.

HOOPER

Hooper's expertise included multi-story frames, plastic design, composite construction and rapid design for steel and concrete.

His projects included the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, one of the world's largest structures, and the Enrico Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill.

Hooper, also a vice president, retired in 2005. He was honored in the 1980s by the American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

"Ira was one of the leading structural engineers of his time," says Dominick Servedio, STV executive chairman. "He inspired people to become structural engineers."