Bill Baker, the engineer who developed the structural system for the world’s tallest building, is coming to Rolla, Missouri.  
 
Baker will deliver Missouri S&T’s 2024 Jones Distinguished Lecture at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, in the Innovation Forum on the S&T campus.  
 
This event is free and open to the public, both in person and through Zoom. To attend the lecture via Zoom, visit umsystem.zoom.us/j/91408515220. 
 
Baker’s presentation’s title is “Theory and Design in Engineering.” He will discuss how theory can be a practical source of inspiration when engineers are aiming to find creative methods to accomplish feats that have never been done before. 
 

“It is theory that enables engineers to see what others do not,” Baker notes in a summary of his upcoming presentation. “It enables the identification of the ‘why’ when one sees a potential solution. Theory has no expiration date; it always applies.”  
 
One example of Baker accomplishing something that had never been done before was his work on Burj Khalifa — a skyscraper that stands over half a mile tall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 
 
Through his work with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, a firm in which Baker led structural engineering efforts for over 20 years and is now a consulting partner, he developed the structure’s buttressed core — a system with a central core column and three arms that provides Burj Khalifa with stability and strength. 
 
Some of his other skyscraper projects include Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou, China, and Cayan Tower in Dubai, among several others.  
 
Along with super-tall structures, Baker is also known for his work with long-span roof structures, as well as specialty structures. Some of these past projects include the Broadgate Exchange House and Broadgate Tower in London, the entrance pavilion for General Motors’ headquarters in Detroit, and the Manulife pedestrian bridge in Calgary, Canada. 
 
His work has also led to collaborations with multiple prominent artists, such as James Turrell, Janet Echelman and Jaume Plensa. 
 
Baker is a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Construction, and he is also a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. 
 
He has been awarded four honorary doctorates from universities around the globe, including the University of Missouri-Columbia, where the Fulton, Missouri, native also earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. His master’s degree in civil engineering is from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.  
 
The Jones lecture series is named for Vernon Jones, a 1953 civil engineering S&T alumnus, as well as his wife, Maralee. 

About Missouri S&T

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top public universities for salary impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.