CEE Magazine Summer 2020

CEE

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering The Grainger College of Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Summer 2020

The future continues

New faculty COVID-19 projects, perspectives Alumni news and features

VISIT THE CEE MODERNIZATION WEBSITE modernize.cee.illinois.edu Read the latest news about the plan to modernize Illinois CEE, support the project, learn about named spaces, and scroll through our photo archives.

CEE

The CEE magazine is published twice a year for alumni and friends of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Albert J. Valocchi Professor and Interim Head Celeste Bock Senior Director of Advancement Operations Kristina Shidlauski Associate Director of Communications Vicki Dixon Associate Director of Operations Katya Trubitsyna Strategic Data Manager Keely K. Ashman Coordinator of Alumni and Corporate Relations Sheree Eyestone Office Manager

CEE Magazine Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering The Grainger College of Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1201 Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory MC-250 205 North Mathews Avenue Urbana, Illinois 61801 (217) 333-6955 celeste@illinois.edu Cover: Aerial view of crowd. OrbonAlija/ istockphoto.com cee.illinois.edu

CEE

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Strength and resilience/Albert J. Valocchi

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From what-if to what-now/John P. Kos, P.E., (BS 77)

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The future continues: New faculty

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Modernization donors: Why We Gave

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Pandemic forces pivot to online classes

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Project aims to retain underrepresented minority students

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Project produces face shields for health care workers

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New group works to engage young alumni

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50 years of CERL

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Alumni award winners

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Student awards

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Alumni news

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Department news

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In memoriam: William J. Hall

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Remembering Illinois

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Parting shot: Asphalt Concrete Brownie

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CEEAA Board of Directors

out this video u Check about CEE PhD student Jose Rivera, whose research gives him the opportunity to make a difference on his home island of Puerto Rico.

Check out these and other stories at

uCEE.ILLINOIS.EDU/NEWS

President John P. Kos, P.E., (BS 77) H.W. Lochner Inc. Chicago Vice President Paula C. Pienton, P.E., S.E., (BS 85) T.Y. Lin International Group Chicago Second Vice President and Secretary David L. Byrd (BS 01, MS 06) Blinderman Construction Chicago Past President Colleen E. Quinn, P.E., (BS 84) Ricondo & Associates Inc. Chicago Directors Nicholas L. Canellis (BS 94) Forge Projects Chicago John E. Conroyd, P.E., S.E., (BS 83, MS 85) AECOM Hunt Construction Chicago James M. Daum, P.E., (BS 77) Gannett Fleming Chicago

U.S. Department u The of Energy has awarded

class of 2020 u The virtual yearbook gave students in lockdown a chance to share photos and memories.

a $3.3 million grant to a multidisciplinary research team at Illinois to develop a precise system for measuring greenhouse gas emissions from commercial bioenergy crops grown in central Illinois.

Kevin C. Fuhr (BS 96) Hanson Professional Services Chicago James K. Klein, P.E., S.E., (BS 78) Hampton, Lenzini and Renwick Inc. Springfield Justin R. Lewis, P.E. (BS 07, MS 08) Keller Roselle, Illinois Michael J. Mack (BS 89) Burns & McDonnell Downer’s Grove, Ill. Dana B. Mehlman, P.E., (BS 99, MS 01) Vedder Price Chicago Doug Pelletier (BS 95) Fermi Research Alliance LLC Batavia, Ill. Katherine Pripusich-Sienkiewicz (BS 03, MS 13) Fermilab Batavia, Ill. Robert Risser (BS 87, MS89) Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute Chicago

Golparvar-Fard u Mani works with drones and 360 degree cameras to transform their depictions into three-dimensional models.

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David A. Schoenwolf, P.E., (BS 77, MS 78) Haley & Aldrich Inc. McLean, Virginia Richard Sieracki (BS 74) The Kenrich Group LLC Chicago Michael Vitale, P.E., (BS 82, MS 84) Mott MacDonald Cleveland, Ohio Daniel J. Whalen, P.E., (BS 84, MS 85) Hanson Professional Services Inc. Springfield

Strength and resilience

By Albert J. Valocchi Abel Bliss Professor and Interim Head Dear CEE at Illinois Alumni and Friends, As Interim Department Head, I want to welcome you to our summer 2020 alumni magazine. I began in this role on February 16, but you might recognize me since I have been on the faculty for my entire academic career of nearly 40 years.

I also served as Associate Head for Graduate Studies from 2004 to 2012.

I’m serving in this interim role after Benito Mariñas’s six-year service as department head and will serve until a new head is named. I’m thankful to Benito for his leadership and his commitment to excellence across all the initiatives for our department. Benito achieved megapremier-multi-platinum-elite airline mileage status traveling to meet with our alumni, whose generosity is so important for our success. His work to establish new connections and strengthen existing relationships has resulted in strong partnerships that will benefit our teaching, research and engagement missions. Benito’s work to realize the next phase of the modernization of our facilities and curriculum will benefit generations of students in Civil and Environmental Engineering and will keep us in the elite group of topranked departments. Previous articles in this magazine have noted some spectacular milestones achieved with Benito’s leadership. As you will read in this issue, our work continues. We’re pushing out into new directions that will enable us to focus attention on undergraduate instruction, including taking a big step in our curriculum modernization by hiring our first teaching professor, CEE alumnus Jacob Henschen (BS 07, MS 09, PhD 18).

You can read more about Jacob and our seven new tenure-track faculty elsewhere in this issue.

When I began in this role in February, my goal was to keep the department moving steadily forward toward our strategic goals of curriculum and facility modernization and mentoring recently hired assistant professors, and to stay the course in preparation for the new permanent head. But one month later, we were changing almost all operations to address the threats posed by the current pandemic. In just a few months, nearly every aspect of our teaching and research mission has been disrupted. Despite the disruptions, our faculty, staff and students have pushed on to achieve department goals for research, outreach and instruction.

We finished the semester, graduated our Class of 2020, and reconsidered our research and outreach initiatives with new safety considerations. The response from our department has been nothing short of amazing.

As I write this, the University of Illinois is making plans to transition to limited on-site work starting in June. This will allow faculty, graduate students and staff to resume experimental research in various laboratories and the Newmark Crane Bay. The Urbana-Champaign community, working with partners such as the public health department and University, has been able to “flatten the curve” and move toward increased safety. Our alumni have made the same sacrifices and contributions in their own communities. In this issue, you can read how our CEE faculty and staff stepped up to apply their knowledge and creativity to an important campus initiative to manage and mitigate impacts of the coronavirus – another reason to be proud of CEE! Our plans for summer include an exContinued on page 6

When I began in this role in February, my goal was to keep the department moving steadily forward.

But one month later, we were changing almost all operations to address the threats posed by the current pandemic.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Summer 2020 5

Strength and resilience Continued from page 5

panded suite of classes, delivered online.

While the forced sudden change to online instruction halfway through the spring semester was disruptive, I am proud to report that CEE faculty, staff and students didn’t miss a beat. We moved to online platforms, reconnected to students during class and individual meetings, and generally moved from our in-person format to an online format. Our Yeh Center classrooms were already equipped for

As I write this, the University is planning options and alternatives for the fall semester.

What we know with certainty is that it will not be like any other fall semester in our history. online delivery, and we have extensive experience offering online MS programs.

See the details in the article which describes CEE’s number one spot in the firstever U.S. News & World Report ranking of online master’s programs in civil engineering. Kudos to Professor Jeff Roesler (BS 92, MS 94, PhD 98) and Meg Griffin (BS 92) for their leadership of our online programs!

As I write this, the University is planning options and alternatives for the fall semester. What we know with certainty is that it will not be like any other fall semester in our history. It might be another “first” in this series of “firsts” that have been necessary in our response to the pandemic. From our experience finishing up this semester, and how well we can support our research, education 6

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and outreach missions, I find myself both concerned about world conditions and hopeful about CEE’s role in addressing those concerns. CEE has built a foundation that will support resilience and success. Amidst all these recent changes, some constants remain. We are certain of our goals to be leaders in education and research; certain that our outstanding faculty and staff will rise to the challenge; and certain that our well-prepared graduates will start their careers with the technical skills and sense of opportunity that we have always appreciated. From the department head’s perspective, I am grateful to support an amazing and productive team.

During my job interview in February 1980, I could not have imagined that I would be writing to you today as the Interim Department Head. Back then, as a 27-year-old graduate student, I was feeling a little queasy after a bumpy propeller-jet flight on Ozark Airlines from Chicago. That queasiness turned into awe when I was met at Willard Airport by the renowned Professor Ven Te Chow. I knew that the top-ranked Illinois civil engineering department had world famous faculty, but I had not expected any one of them to chauffeur me from the airport.

The short drive to my hotel room at the Illini Union (I had yet to learn how to pronounce “Illini”) gave me a glimpse into the welcoming and collegial nature of the faculty. I finished up my visit feeling impressed and inspired, and was happy when I was extended an offer. I arrived for work in January of 1981, and I’ve been here ever since.

When we began the 2020 spring semester, none of us could have foreseen the tumultuous times in which we would finish it. Fortunately, our department has a strong foundation and the resilience to respond to any challenge with an energetic, innovative spirit – also qualities of a good civil and environmental engineer.

To our newest alumni, congratulations on completing your degrees in that spirit. Although life is full of unexpected events, i we are confident in your future.

Although much has changed in 2020 ... we are committed to connecting with CEE alumni, students and faculty in a variety of ways – just not face-to-face at this time.

From what-if to what-now

By John P. Kos, P.E., (BS 77) President, CEE Alumni Association Board of Directors Having spent time on the University of Illinois campus as a student, alumnus and parent, I can say that while so much has changed, still so much remains the same.

Every year the students get younger, the buildings get older (or newer, depending on your perspective), and our stories of college life get better, at least the parts that we choose to remember. One constant is the strength of the CEE department, the caliber of the students and the quality of one of the top-rated civil and environmental engineering programs in the country.

I was planning to focus my final CEE Magazine article on the “what-if” of civil and environmental engineering – how would society have evolved “if” civil engineers were not involved in leading and responding with innovative ideas and solutions. That was the plan, and then the coronavirus hit and “what-if” became “what-now.”

Our annual CEEAA spring meeting and awards dinner is our marquee networking event of the year, as alumni gather with faculty, staff and students to honor our Distinguished Alumni and Young Alumni of the year award recipients. The stars appeared to be lining up perfectly for a wonderful evening. More than 300 attendees signed up for the event, and generous sponsors helped pay for two busloads of students traveling to Chicago from campus to join us for the evening. Our Fighting Illini basketball team won their final home game of the season giving them a double bye heading into the Big Ten Tournament, which meant no conflict with our Thursday night dinner. Just days before the event, in conversation with department leadership and due to the ongoing threat of the virus and safety concerns for

our attendees, we postponed our awards dinner. It was a difficult decision to make at the time, as we were one of the first groups to cancel or postpone a large event, but we felt it necessary to protect everyone’s health and well-being. Within days, the world as we know it drastically changed to where social distancing and shelter in place became an everyday reality. While we are not able to honor this year’s Distinguished and Young Alumni in person at the awards dinner, you can read all about our honorees in this issue of the CEE magazine. The Distinguished Alumni Award was established in 1968 and the Young Alumni Achievement award was established in 1978. Visit the awards page of the cee website (cee.illinois.edu/ alumni/awards) and take a stroll through 50-plus years of award recipients that our 2020 honorees will be joining. It is a fascinating journey and makes you proud to be a CEE alumnus alongside those who have distinguished themselves academically, professionally and philanthropically.

The department reacted quickly to the coronavirus crisis and did an outstanding job transitioning students from classroom instruction to online instruction. As you know, the department has a wealth of experience in online instruction, having initiated the CEE Online master’s program in 2011, now ranked as the number one online CEE program in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Fifty-five of the department’s tenure-track professors had already taught an online class, so the transition to online instruction for all students was a relatively seamless effort. Kudos to the faculty and staff for their leadership and innovation during these challenging times.

While we have cancelled or post-

poned spring/summer alumni networking events, we continue to monitor the situation for the opportunity to reschedule these events for whenever it is safe.

Although much has changed in 2020, the mission of your Alumni Association remains the same: to engage alumni and support the department. Despite challenges, we are committed to connecting with CEE alumni, students and faculty in a variety of ways – just not face-to-face at this time. As we finalize plans, please look for future announcements on a variety of virtual events including virtual alumni happy hour gatherings, a virtual recent graduate gathering and virtual fall and spring job fairs.

Thank you for your commitment and support to the Orange and Blue. i Go Illini!

NOMINATIONS INVITED Know any outstanding CEE Illini?

The Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Award and the Young Alumnus/ Alumna Achievement Award recognize those who have distinguished themselves in the field at different career stages. The next deadline is August 1, 2020. For more information, visit cee.illinois.edu/alumni/awards.

VOLUNTEER Interested in serving on the CEEAA Board of Directors? If you are interested in serving the department as a board member, fill out an online application at cee.illinois.edu/alumni.

For more information, contact Keely Ashman, (217) 333-6454, kashman@ illinois.edu.

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THE

FUTURE STARTS NOW PART 2

Tomorrow’s civil and environmental engineers will serve society in ways unimaginable a generation ago.

To prepare the CEE leaders of the future, CEE at Illinois is modernizing its curriculum and its facilities, and executing an ambitious hiring plan. In the last issue, we featured seven new outstanding teachers and researchers.

In the latest round of hiring, we added eight more, featured on the following pages. They join our world-class faculty in preparing students to take on the greatest challenges society has to offer, now and into the future.

Can you imagine driving on roads with no potholes? I think we’ll see it at some point.

Ramez Hajj Transportation Engineering Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin M.S. University of Texas at Austin B.S. Virginia Tech

manity to be a civil engineer.

What will you be teaching?

CEE 405 Asphalt Materials CEE 310 Intro to Transportation Engineering What are your research interests?

My research occurs at the intersection of materials, mechanics and transportation engineering. My goals are to understand the fundamental properties at microscopic scales which lead to the failure of asphalt and other infrastructure materials. I also hope to develop more sustainable, smart and durable materials for pavement applications.

What drew you to Illinois?

The reputation of the University and CEE department speak for themselves.

But coming to campus was what really helped me see the potential that I'd have here. This campus is full of people doing amazing work – from undergraduates to grad students to staff to faculty. Coming here gave me the opportunity to work with people who are passionate and dedicated to the next frontiers of science and engineering, and to leverage the fantastic facilities and resources here.

What attracted you to the CEE field?

A lot of civil engineers tell a story about feeling inspired when they were young by playing with LEGOs. But for me, it was

another toy that inspired me – Silly Putty.

I was so fascinated by this material which you could ball up and bounce off the ground, but could also flow like a fluid. I knew that my dream job involved playing around with cool materials like it, and even better was being involved in a field where I got to use them to build the infrastructure that we use every day.

Predict the future in your area of work: what exciting innovations or developments will happen in the next 10-20 years?

I think in the world of asphalt materials, we will develop sustainable binders which include 100 percent recycled materials and waste materials from other applications.

I also think we'll see pavements which don't fail prematurely and have a longer life than ever. Can you imagine driving on roads with no potholes? I think we'll see it at some point.

Why should today’s high school students consider CEE? Civil and environmental engineers have such a unique impact on the world. We get to build and improve the infrastructure that keeps our daily lives going. I think we are probably the only branch of engineering whose work touches every person on the planet every day. It's truly a rewarding service to the public and hu-

What do you hope to accomplish in the world through your work?

I hope that in the next couple of decades, my research will lead to a brand new generation of pavement materials. I think this is absolutely necessary to help us reach our goals of net zero emissions, and to modernize our infrastructure. I want to be at the forefront of using new, sustainable, recyclable materials. I also hope to lead the charge in developing smart pavements, self healing materials and other interesting pavement technologies. Finally, I also hope that I'll discover the mechanisms at very small scales which lead to premature pavement failures.

Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed your perspective on your work in any way?

I’m very interested in the effect of COVID-19 on the asphalt industry. Due to such a sharp decrease in demand, the price of oil has gone negative, and some asphalt sources have already done the same. If this goes on much longer, the entire landscape of asphalt construction and production will look completely different, and this will no doubt have an impact on my research area.

Anything else to add?

Go Illini!

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My primary focus at Illinois will be the modernization of the curriculum, where we will be implementing new strategies and an alternative course structure to enhance the graduate and undergraduate educational experience.

Jacob D. Henschen Teaching Faculty Construction Materials Engineering Structural Engineering Ph.D. CEE, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign M.S. CEE, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign B.S. CEE, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign What will you be teaching?

Courses in materials and structural engineering. My primary focus at Illinois will be the modernization of the curriculum, where we will be implementing new strategies and an alternative course structure to enhance the graduate and undergraduate educational experience.

The goal is to prepare our graduates to be more effective and innovative in their work – teaching ability or research.

In addition, I plan to continue technical research on the rheological behavior of cementitious materials for 3D printing applications. I will also continue to develop uses of waste and recycled materials as additives in concrete.

What drew you to Illinois?

I came to Illinois as a student because of the reputation, world-class faculty and state-of-the-art facilities. While these remain reasons for my return, I am excited at the prospect of shaping the new curriculum and working with faculty who have had positive impacts on my career.

What attracted you to the CEE field?

Before my undergraduate studies, I loved building things and learning how different materials work together to make structures stand. As a student, I was fascinated by the wide variety of properties and applications of seemingly simple materials like concrete. Now as a professor, I 10

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am excited for the future with the use of sustainable materials and new technology like 3D printing.

Predict the future in your area of work: what exciting innovations or developments do you see happening in the next 10-20 years?

In the classroom, we are going to see a significant change to how instruction is delivered. Students will take a more active role in their education and have more opportunities to learn through projects, team activities and hands-on experiences. In addition, we are going to see more cross-disciplinary education where students may take courses across the college to be ready for new career paths (like 3D printing with concrete).

Why should today’s high school students consider civil and environmental engineering?

Civil engineering is a massively varied field of study that opens a huge range of career paths. You can design the tallest building in the world or a new road in your city. You can work at a computer modeling systems, or you can travel around the country inspecting built structures. In any of these careers, your projects improve life for the public and the environment.

What do you hope to accomplish in the world through your work?

The challenges facing society continue to change and become more complex.

My hope is to create a curriculum that adapts to new problems and embraces new technology so that students are empowered and excited to face these new challenges. Through continued advances and innovation in engineering education, the University of Illinois will remain as the model civil and environmental engineering program in the world.

Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed your perspective on your work?

The move to distance learning has been difficult for both faculty and the student population. While the spring semester was a challenge for everyone with the rapid transition to distance learning, the fall semester could be equally challenging with changes to class sizes or hybrid learning. As educators, we will use the summer to improve strategies to increase online class engagement and move hands-on activities online. Since students are also facing a new set of challenges with distance learning, I want to make sure that our methods are sensitive to their needs and continue to provide an effective education.

Anything else to add? I am really excited to return to Illinois and work with a program that has been so instrumental in my career!

I think the pandemic has shown that science research and education matters.

Hannah M. Horowitz Environmental Engineering and Science Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability Ph.D. Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University M.S. Environmental Science and Engineering, Harvard University B.A. Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard College

What are your research interests?

I focus on how human activity, climate change, chemistry and pollution interact. How do we get from human activity all the way to environmental and health impacts? How can we improve predictions of impacts to serve society? I develop computer models of the air and environment to answer these questions.

What drew you to Illinois?

Excellent faculty and students, great resources and support for research, students and computation. I feel wellsupported here, and that the University of Illinois will help me reach even higher than I previously imagined.

What attracted you to the field of civil and environmental engineering?

I have a strong desire to do research with real applications, and that’s something I found in CEE. My interests overlap and integrate several fields. I feel at home in environmental engineering; it is by nature interdisciplinary.

Predict the future in your area of work: what exciting innovations or developments do you predict will happen in the next 10-20 years?

I think the major innovations will be in

integrating often disparate scientific communities to lead to a fully connected understanding of our earth system. Capturing the full extent of the two-way interactions between climate change and our environment, which we are not able to do right now, could impact what we predict the future will look like. I aim to help drive this integration by applying my varied expertise at the interfaces of atmospheric chemistry, climate science and environmental pollution.

Why should today’s high school students consider CEE?

To me, civil and environmental engineering is about serving fundamental human needs and rights – shelter, water to drink, clean air to breathe, health. I also think that interdisciplinary and holistic approaches are more and more critical to solving society’s greatest challenges, and CEE is already well-poised to tackle that type of work. As population and standards of living increase, so will environmental challenges and the need for civil and environmental engineers.

Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed your perspective on your work?

I don’t have any children that are at

home without childcare or school. I don’t do lab or field work; my research can be done on the computer. I’m not teaching yet. And yet, it is still hard, not only because of the uncertainty and anxiety. I’m missing interacting with people, which is one of the most meaningful things about science and engineering for me, and that I think is critical to what we do. I am reminded to focus on what really matters, besides work, and I hope I can carry that perspective with me throughout my time as an assistant professor. I think the pandemic has shown that science research and education matters.

What do you hope to accomplish in the world through your work?

I hope that through my work, we will be better able to predict both our impacts on the environment and how climate change will impact us, so that we can make informed actions to protect human and ecosystem health. I aim to help shape pollution and climate change policy from a local to international scale. Along the way, I hope to contribute to making academia more inclusive, diverse and sustainable and to mentor the next generation of scientists and engineers to achieve success.

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A structure that can self-identify damage, adapt and learn for our everchanging environment addresses the emerging field of intelligent infrastructure.

Ann Sychterz Structural Engineering Ph.D., School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne M.A.Sc. CEE, University of Waterloo B.A.Sc. CEE, University of Waterloo neering Lab for testing of my large-scale deployable structure.

What are your research interests?

My research interest is to investigate deployable and adaptive structures for large civil engineering scale applications that use machine learning to control their shape due to environmental factors. Current infrastructure is designed and built such that it must simultaneously comply with all possible traffic, wind, seismic and impact loads. This leads to over-designed structures that are inefficient in terms energy and cost. A structure that can selfidentify damage, adapt and learn for our ever-changing environment addresses the emerging field of intelligent infrastructure. These structures are of particular interest for remote and challenging climates such as deep sea, arctic regions and off-world terrestrial applications.

What drew you to Illinois?

I was drawn to the University of Illinois because of the possibility of collaboration with a plethora of talented and diverse researchers especially within civil engineering, mechanical engineering and architecture. Additionally, I saw great potential for my research work here at Illinois because of the generous laboratory facilities in the Newmark Structural Engi12

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What attracted you to the CEE field?

I’ve been interested in civil engineering and its related studies since I was a kid playing with LEGO (the original bucket not the fancy sets). I learned through creativity; you could achieve the same goal in various ways. Later on, I was fascinated by the combination of civil and mechanical fields in aerospace, and the combination of civil and architectural fields in building design. I’ve never turned down an opportunity to visit a construction site, a famous bridge or dam.

Predict the future in your area of work: what exciting innovations or developments do you see happening in the next 10-20 years?

Civil infrastructure is going to have to change to meet environmental and societal demands. Within 10 years, the building industry should address methods to conserve material and reduce the energy required to produce these materials.

This can be achieved in this time frame through automation and intelligent control of lightweight components applied to real civil infrastructure at a small to medium scale. Within 20 years, this intelligent control will be able to manage individual and networks of lightweight structures to change their properties to increase resilience to an imposed environmental factor. These lightweight structures can be modular for ease of construction or unique in shape for aesthetic centerpieces of a city. Using machine learning, previous environmental events will serve as teaching tools for improved performance of the structural network in the future.

Why should today’s high school students consider CEE? Civil engineering is the go-to engineering field for any type of large-scale construction, be it on the ground (Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai), underground (Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland), or in space (Mars 2020 Perseverance rover by JPL). This field can provide rich advancements within civil engineering and in partnering fields such as architecture, mechanical engineering, material science, computer science and robotics. There’s a sense of wonder and awe in the ability to tangibly experience a project you have contributed to as a civil engineer, and even more so as it weaves into the fabric of the community.

What do you hope to accomplish in the world through your work?

Through my work, I want to demonstrate to the public and practicing engineers that lightweight, deployable and adaptive structures are a feasible solution to the next generation of infrastructure. I hope to see the students in my lab be successful in pushing the frontiers of what structural engineering can offer society and the environment by its collaboration with architecture, mechanical engineering, computer science and robotics.

Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed your perspective on your work?

I see parallels in my work with regards to system network failure detection. A structural model is more well-developed than that of the spread of a new virus, however research into frameworks that can detect the spread of a virus or a damaged element in a structure could have similar attributes. This relationship is in the process of being investigated for future research.

This is possibly the most exciting time to be a civil engineer.

Alireza Talebpour Transportation Engineering B.Sc. CEE, Sharif University of Technology M.Sc. CEE, Sharif University of Technology Ph.D. CEE, Northwestern University

What are your research interests?

My group's research focuses on humanautomated vehicle interactions. We particularly investigate if the widespread introduction of automated vehicles will change our driving behavior, walking behavior and biking behavior. We utilize a combination of field testing and simulation to model the future of mobility in both urban and rural environments.

What drew you to Illinois?

The quality of the school and the opportunities that I could have here were motivation for me to move. I am particularly excited about the new initiatives in the areas of connected and automated vehicles, the I-ACT (the Illinois Autonomous and Connected Track) and the new Center for Autonomy.

What attracted you to the field of civil and environmental engineering?

As a child, I always dreamed of living in the “City of the Future.” Being a civil en-

gineer gave me the opportunity to play a part in developing the notion of smart cities.

Predict the future in your area of work: what exciting innovations or developments do you predict will happen in the next 10-20 years?

I believe we will see significant changes in the way people and goods will travel around our cities. Automated vehicles will be deployed in more and more cities across the country to move people and goods. We will see some implementations of flying cars for passenger travel and possibly a widespread use of unmanned aerial systems for package delivery.

Why should today’s high school students consider CEE? Civil engineering is going through its biggest change since the start of this field with the introduction of smart cities, smart manufacturing, augmented reality

technology, etc. This is possibly the most exciting time to be a civil engineer.

What do you hope to accomplish in the world through your work?

I am hoping that our research can contribute to increasing the safety and efficiency of mobility systems in the near future.

Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed your perspective on your work in any way?

The challenges that people faced during COVID-19 to visit doctors, buy groceries, etc. showed me the benefits of an automated transportation system and how automated vehicles can improve health and safety by reducing contact. This has motivated me and my research group to further study how automated vehicles can help in pandemics.

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I hope that my work will improve our understanding of complex systems such as the water, energy and food security nexus.

Alexandre M. Tartakovsky Water Resources Engineering and Science Ph.D. Hydrology, University of Arizona Postgraduate, Sociology, Kazan Institute of Finance and Economy M.Sc. Hydromechanics and Applied Mathematics, Kazan State University What will you be teaching?

Hydrogeology, stochastic hydrology and scientific machine learning What are your research interests?

Flow and transport of contaminants, groundwater-surface water interactions, scientific machine learning What drew you to Illinois?

Excellent faculty and students, the department’s reputation What attracted you to the field of civil and environmental engineering?

Fresh water is a critical resource for human well-being.

Predict the future in your area of work: what exciting innovations or developments do you predict will happen in the next 10-20 years?

I predict that the role of data science in civil and environmental engineering will dramatically increase. Advances in the way we collect, analyze and model data will significantly change how we use and protect water resources.

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Why should today’s high school students consider civil and environmental engineering?

Our society and nature are undergoing rapid transformations, including how society and nature interact with each other.

If you want to actively participate in these interactions, you should consider a career in civil and environmental engineering.

What do you hope to accomplish in the world through your work?

I hope that my work will improve our understanding of complex systems such as the water, energy and food security nexus.

Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed your perspective on your work in any way? For example, has it inspired new research interests?

I realized that most epidemiology models do not consider spatial variability that we have to deal with all the time in modeling subsurface transport of contaminants.

Currently, I am developing epidemiology models that account for variability in the infection and transmission rates.

Christopher Tessum Environmental Engineering and Science Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability Ph.D. Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering, University of Minnesota M.S. Civil, Environmental and Geo-Engineering, University of Minnesota B.M.E. Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota What are your research interests?

Ambient air pollution causes approximately 4 percent of total deaths in the United States, more than three times the number caused by motor vehicle crashes. I study the relationships between air pollution emissions, human activities that cause them and the resulting health impacts, and I develop modeling capabilities to enable these types of analyses.

happen in the next 10-20 years?

In the United States, we've made great progress in reducing air pollution over the last several decades, but it still kills nearly 100,000 people per year. In the next several decades I hope that we are able to continue this progress in the U.S .and other high-income countries, and to extend it to low- and middle-income countries.

What drew you to the University of Illinois?

I was impressed by the combination of cutting edge research and passionate teaching that occurs here, as well as the supportive and collegial faculty members.

Why should today’s high school students consider civil and environmental engineering as opposed to another engineering field?

Civil and environmental engineers are working directly to improve people's quality of life, be it through cleaning the water and air or designing safe and functional buildings and transportation infrastructure. It's a great way to have a positive impact.

What attracted you to the field of civil and environmental engineering?

I felt that it was a good way to apply myself toward making a positive difference in society.

Predict the future in your area of work: what exciting innovations or developments do you predict will

In the United States, we’ve made great progress in reducing air pollution over the last several decades, but it still kills nearly 100,000 people per year.

What do you hope to accomplish in the world through your work?

I would like to contribute to making our environment a better place to live in.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Summer 2020 15

Joe G. Tom Jr. Geotechnical Engineering Societal Risk and Hazard Mitigation Ph.D. Civil/Offshore Engineering, The University of Western Australia M.S. CEE, University of California, Davis B.S. CEE, Mississippi State University What are your research interests?

I am interested in problems where water interacts with soil – for example, managing the impact of sediment movement around coastal and offshore infrastructure. I am also interested in developing new types of foundations optimized for applications to support energy production infrastructure.

What drew you to Illinois?

The strong history and international reputation of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department and the geotechnical e ngineering group in particular.

What attracted you to the field of civil and environmental engineering?

My father is a civil engineer and so I grew up around civil engineering. My decision to choose civil engineering was also influenced by the occurrence of Hurricane Katrina and associated rebuilding efforts, which occurred right as I was beginning my undergraduate engineering studies.

Predict the future in your area of work: what exciting innovations or developments do you predict will happen in the next 10-20 years?

Geotechnical engineers working in the offshore areas are already beginning to build more infrastructure focusing on renewable energy systems in the ocean 16

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rather than oil and gas. This will only grow in time and geotechnical engineers will become increasingly important for this development, as the supporting foundations make up much more of the total project costs for renewable energy.

We will also be working more to support other ocean and coastal space utilization concepts, such as floating cities and infrastructure.

Why should today’s high school students consider civil and environmental engineering as opposed to another engineering field?

Civil engineering is a field that impacts everyone, everywhere. Work opportunities as a civil engineer can take you anywhere. Civil engineers can find jobs close to home, or find jobs where they travel the world and work in different places, environments and with people from many places.

What do you hope to accomplish in the world through your work?

I hope to reduce the cost and improve the reliability of renewable energy production, to help it become utilized more cost-efficiently in locations across the globe. Additionally, I hope to contribute to improving the safety of geotechnical systems subject to natural disasters (e.g. floods, tsunami, storms).

I hope to reduce the cost and improve the reliability of renewable energy production, to help it become utilized more cost-efficiently in locations across the globe.

“Historical cities in Europe embody an inestimable treasure of cultural heritage for their art collections, buildings, urban organization and traditions, and preserving them for the generations to come is a most urgent need.”

Florence, Italy: protecting a world treasure from floods On November 4, 1966, a catastrophic flood struck Florence, Italy, after nearly eight inches of rain fell in a 48-hour period. Combined with already saturated soil and exacerbated by urban development, the deluge caused the Arno River to overflow and inundate the city. Thirty-eight people died, and an incalculable treasure of art, literature and archaeological artifacts was lost.

It wasn’t the first of such floods, but it was among the worst. As early as 1503, Leonardo Da Vinci advocated for one of Florence’s first flood mitigation plans when he designed a bypass channel. The plan was never implemented, and more than 500 years after Da Vinci’s birth, Florence is still at high risk of flooding.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the 1966 flood, local authorities appointed an International Technical and Scientific Committee composed of six engineers and scientists, whose charge was to assess the current flooding risk along the Arno River and propose a mitigation strategy. Among those committee members was Illinois CEE professor Marcelo H. García. After two years of work, the committee published the report “Saving a world treasure: Protecting Florence from flooding.” More recently, the team published a forum paper in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Journal of Hydraulic Engineering.

In “Reducing the Flood Risk of Art Cities: the Case of Florence,” the authors argue that a coordinated plan is urgently needed for reducing flood risk in Florence, Italy, as well as in other culturally im-

The Arno River in Florence. istockphoto.com/sansa55

Marcelo García in Florence, Italy, at Ponte Vecchio.

portant European cities. The article summarizes the history of flooding and flood mitigation efforts in Florence, details the work of the committee in studying the city’s flood risk, makes recommendations for a coordinated flood mitigation plan and outlines future work that is necessary to make sure the cultural heritage of the

city is adequately considered in any future flood plan.

“Historical cities in Europe embody an inestimable treasure of cultural heritage for their art collections, buildings, urban organization and traditions, and preserving them for the generations to come is a most urgent need,” the authors write. i

Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Summer 2020 17

Why We Gave

The facilities portion of the CEE Modernization Project is under construction – a large addition to the Hydrosystems Lab and a Smart Bridge. Due to the pandemic, construction has been delayed; the new completion date is estimated to be sometime this fall.

Plans are being made for a grand opening celebration sometime in spring 2021.

All donors will be invited.

On the following pages, a few of our approximately 500 donors share their motivation for giving to this historic initiative. We are humbled and honored by their generosity. Gifts are still needed to fully realize all the planned spaces.

For more information or to make a gift online, please visit the project website: modernize.cee.illinois.edu

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modernize.cee.illinois.edu

Amanda Bordelon (BS 05, MS 07, PhD 11), Matthew George and Lucas George* * future engineer, BS 2039 Concrete Canoe History Display When I was looking at colleges, I remembered getting a tour of a school with canoes on the wall and was inspired to go there. Upon becoming a freshman at Illinois, I remember someone telling me to join the Concrete Canoe Team, and I was hooked. I loved learning the complex challenges associated with the mixture and the aesthetics, and learning so many of the managerial/ leadership skills. Most of all I loved that the other alumni from the Boneyard Yacht Club came back to train and support us through the process. I am donating back to Illinois so that the future visitors will continue to see and be inspired by the history of the concrete canoe team starting with [faculty members] Clyde Kesler and Francis Young in 1971. I hope Illinois students will continue to take part and lead in this long-standing, notable, now-international competition.

Ernest J. Barenberg Concrete Materials and Pavement Instructional Laboratory I was in the transportation group working for Jeff Roesler during my graduate years. I loved my experiences with the other faculty, staff and students in all of the transportation area – including going to the Railroad Seminars and driving out to Rantoul to test pavement materials, before and after the Illinois Center for Transportation existed. I felt like the transportation group was my family. The staff throughout the entire department were also very memorable to me for their friendliness and wilingness to help. I have very fond memories of those who helped me with my research and would like to give back to the Ernie Barenberg lab so that they can continue to progress as being world-renowned for pavements and railroads. I hope to also pay it forward myself as I use the knowledge and skills learned in graduate school on concrete and pavements in my own career as a professor.

— Amanda Bordelon, CEE alumna and Associate Professor at Utah Valley University. Pictured above are Bordelon with her husband, Matthew George, Ph.D. (PhD MATSE 09), Application Scientist at Moxtek, and their son, Lucas.

“I felt like the transportation group was my family.”

Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Summer 2020 19

Why We Gave

Vernon L. Snoeyink Water Chemistry Laboratory Greeley and Hansen is firm, Greeley and dedicated to designing betHansen is committer urban environments by ted to supporting providing sustainable and and advancing the innovative water resources water and wastesolutions and programs to water industry, the meet the needs of the water engineering prosector. fession, and STEM Since our founding in education as well.

Chicago in 1914, a long line In keeping with our of U of I alumni have joined vision and commitGreeley and Hansen and ment to advancing Andy Martin many have contributed to technical excellence the continued success of and innovation in our firm by serving in key the field of civil and leadership positions and roles over environmental engineering, over the the years. And, we believe that both years our firm has forged a valued and our firm and our clients have benefit- rewarding relationship with the Univerted from the strong technical training, sity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign CEE advanced skills and innovative mind- department. set that U of I CEE graduates have And, Greeley and Hansen is proud to brought, and continue to bring, to our continue to honor our partnership with project work.

CEE through our leadership gift for the As a leading global engineering Vernon L. Snoeyink Water Chemistry Lab-

“The gift to sponsor the Snoeyink Lab is in direct alignment with the work, commitment and spirit of our firm from its earliest history.”

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oratory as part of the CEE Modernization Project. This world-class lab will provide students with cutting-edge facilities for advanced study, innovative research and transformative learning related to water engineering.

“The gift to sponsor the Snoeyink Lab is in direct alignment with the work, commitment and spirit of our firm from its earliest history,” said CEE alumnus Andy Martin (BS 98), Principal and Global Design Center Manager at Greeley and Hansen. “In fact, our founder, Samuel A. Greeley, was a true pioneer in advancing water and sanitation practices in the early 1900s.”

In addition to supporting Greeley and Hansen’s overall commitment to advance STEM education, we believe the Snoeyink Lab will have a profound and lasting impact in preparing future generations of engineering leaders in the water resources field.

modernize.cee.illinois.edu “One of the things that really matters to me is education.

My education, your education and the education of generations to come.”

Dana Mehlman (BS 99, MS 01) CEE Alumni Association Board of Directors Student Collaboration Space I am often confronted with the question, why do you give? And sometimes when others discover that I give to the University of Illinois, that question is combined with an off-the-cuff, you paid a ton in tuition, haven’t you given enough? To this, my answer is always the same. No. I will never be able to give enough.

Giving is a way that I can express what really matters to me. And one of the things that really matters to me is education. My education, your education and the education of generations to come. Strength in higher education comes in many forms: excellent teachers, excellent students and an excellent learning environment. This is why I chose to give to the Phase II Modernization Project

through the Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association (CEEAA) Board of Directors Student Collaboration Space.

The CEEAA Board of Directors was established in 1963 to inspire loyalty and pride among alumni and friends by developing and enhancing their continued relationship with the department. My own commitment to the CEEAA Board of Directors began in the fall of 2012, and I look forward to the next eight years where I will have the opportunity to serve on the Executive Committee of the CEEAA. Through my involvement in the CEEAA, I have been able to maintain and

establish relationships with the faculty, students and staff of the CEE department. The ingenuity, creativity and intelligence of the students never ceases to amaze me. But students need more than internal traits to succeed; they need modern facilities and collaboration spaces to flourish. Just as those before me gave so that I could have a first-class education at the University of Illinois, so too do I give, so that others can build upon the legacy that began so long ago.

—Dana Mehlman, Environmental Attorney, Vedder Price, P.C

Jerry Benson (BS 75) Vernon L. Snoeyink Water Chemistry Laboratory

The education I received at the University of Illinois set a great foundation for my career in the field of research engineering and my professional career. Part of those experiences involved the knowledge gained and skills gained in addition

to the interaction with fellow students, teachers and professors. Even some 55 years since graduation, I still remain in contact with fellow students. Upon hearing about the Modernization Project through the CEE magazine, especially since it included a laboratory involving one of my former professors, whom I greatly admired, I was moved to make a contribution to this worthwhile project.

That professor was Dr. Vern Snoeyink, who was a mentor while I was a student and served as a wonderful example I

used as a model for my professional career. Fortunately, my successful career in engineering and later as a founder/owner of a commercial laboratory allowed me to contribute to the Modernization Project.

— Jerry Benson retired after 30 years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory. He founded and was one of four owners of Isotech Laboratories Inc. When it was sold in 2011 he retired to Lafayette, Colo.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Summer 2020 21

Why We Gave

Michael A. Burson (BS 73) Transportation Faculty Classroom in honor of Barry Dempsey Professor Benito Mariñas, at the time Head of CEE at Illinois, came out to Chico, Calif., where I live and met with my wife, Gloria, and me to explain the project in detail. Dr. Mariñas was so enthusiastic about the undertaking and provided me with significant details; which also got me interested in how I could help.

If not for my education at Illinois, I would not have known about the company for which I worked my entire 40-year career. In 1973, The Lyles Construction Group (LCG) from Fresno, Calif., only interviewed on campus for CE graduates from Purdue (where the owners graduated), Illinois and Iowa State. I was fortunate to be hired that year and worked my way up from being an engineer-intraining to president of the company when I retired.

In retirement now for seven years, I work a few days a month and serve

as Chairman of the Board. LCG is composed of W.M. Lyles Co., American Paving Co., Lyles Utility Construction, New England Sheet Metal and Mechanical, and Lyles Services Co. The companies specialize in sewage and water treatment plants, asphalt paving and grading, pipelines and underground utilities, and industrial/ mechanical systems. LCG is one of the largest construction organizations on the west coast.

It was not the specific details that I learned from my classes at Illinois that allowed me to have a successful career so much as the critical thinking that was needed to solve problems and how to work with a team/group to complete projects. I took a different route than most CEs in that I went into construction management, whereas most CEs go into a design role.

As Professor Mariñas and I discussed how I might help, he asked me who my favorite professors were during those four

“Two professors stood out, Barry Dempsey and Narbey Khachaturian.

I had both of them for two classes each and both were excellent, not only as instructors but as gentlemen who treated their students with respect.”

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years in Champaign. Two professors stood out, Barry Dempsey and Narbey Khachaturian. I had both of them for two classes each and both were excellent, not only as instructors but as gentlemen who treated their students with respect. I said I would be glad to provide the leadership gift for the classroom renovation for whichever one Professor Mariñas wanted.

As it turned out, Professor Khachaturian’s classroom gift was taken, so I gladly took on the pledge to start the one for Professor Dempsey.

—Michael A. Burson, Chairman of the Board, Lyles Construction Group

modernize.cee.illinois.edu

I still remember our field trip to take water samples along the Boneyard Creek and view under microscopes in the laboratory. The facilities at U of I benefit not only the students and faculty but also the community.

Marilyn Erickson Tears (BS 80, MS 82) and Nelson Tears Illinois Alumni of ExxonMobil Conference Room The CEE Modernization Project provided an opportunity for me to join with other ExxonMobil employees as a group to link our personal contributions to the improvement effort. We saw this as a great opportunity to recognize the university department that gave all of us a strong foundation to begin our careers. The effort also allowed us to establish a lasting legacy by naming a conference room for ExxonMobil and show our pride in working for ExxonMobil.

My entire career I was involved in campus recruiting for engineers at U of I and take pride in the number of CEE alumni that have joined ExxonMobil and their accomplishments – so the room naming is extra special for me. I am looking forward to future pictures of ExxonMobil alumni in front of the classroom named in ExxonMobil’s honor.

In addition to being a student at U of I, I also grew up in Urbana and was exposed to the benefits of the University at a very young age through after-school science programs and school field trips. I still remember our

field trip to take water samples along the Boneyard Creek and view under microscopes in the laboratory. The facilities at U of I benefit not only the students and faculty but also the community. I’ve seen the value in other bricks and mortar improvements over the years and believe that the Modernization Project will set

CEE up for students of the future. My BS/MS in Civil Engineering education supported my successful 37-year career at ExxonMobil in construction, operations management and global project management. I look forward to seeing the future CEE alumni make a difference in our world.

One item that is great about giving at U of I is that donation pledges are allowed to be done over several years.

This gave me the ability to make a larger pledge over several years. I found this option useful for donating to the CEE Modernization Project. I also used this option when establishing a scholarship to honor my parents previously. I take pride in CEE’s standing as a top civil engineering program and I am very vocal of my pride in being a CEE graduate. If there are any alumni who have not donated to CEE through either monetary donations, time or talent, I hope this article gives you a nudge to think again about making a pledge to support CEE. —Marilyn Erickson Tears (BS 80, MS 82) retired in 2019 after a 37-year career with ExxonMobil

Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Summer 2020 23

Pandemic forces mid-term pivot to online classes When the COVID-19 pandemic worsened in the U.S. in March, the University of Illinois discontinued in-person classes in favor of online instruction for spring and summer 2020. Even as they grappled with concerns about health, finances and living arrangements, nearly 1,500 civil and environmental engineering (CEE) undergraduates and graduate students had to finish the school year entirely online.

CEE faculty teaching 60 in-person classes had to immediately transition them to virtual delivery. Thanks to nine years of experience in online education, CEE was poised for a smooth-as-possible transition and learned some lessons to improve online delivery going forward.

The department’s online master’s program has been in operation since 2011, and classroom technology had recently been upgraded. In January 2020, CEE’s online program was ranked number one in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s first-ever rankings of online CEE master’s degree programs. As a result of the long history of this program, nearly all of CEE’s faculty members had taught online already when the pandemic necessitated it.

“The CEE department was a leader in the transition, working with faculty and students to share information and resources, as well as working with The Grainger College of Engineering administrative and Information Technology staff to provide feedback and documentation and share best practices for online deliv-

German Gurfinkel 24

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57, PhD 66) joined the department’s structures faculty in fall 1962. Although he officially retired in 1998, he has continued to teach, bringing his total years of teaching at Illinois to 58.

He teaches three courses a year: CEE461 Reinforced Concrete, CEE468 Prestressed Concrete and CEE468 Wood Structures. Gurfinkel says his teaching assistant Gloria A. Frank (BS 18), a current master’s student in CEE, facilitated his transition to online instruction this spring.

“She took care of all details regarding the switch from delivering face-to-face to an electronic-virtual mode, for all of which I am most grateful to her,” Gurfinkel said.

Gurfinkel prefers in-person instruction because of his practice of asking questions to students at random, which requires them to be present and prepared, helps Gurfinkel get to know them, and helps them get to know one another, he said. Although he tried to preserve as much of his teaching style as possible in the online classes, it wasn’t the same.

“The students see me, but I don't see them, and they don't see each other,” he said. “I miss looking at their faces to realize if my presentation is well understood.

The feeling that a student may have of being in a class surrounded by their own peers is definitely lost.”

Gurfinkel is hopeful that online methodology will advance to address these limitations.

“I believe that virtual delivery can neither be ignored nor avoided. The future demands it,” Gurfinkel said.

For students, suddenly having to finish the semester online was challenging on many levels. Students struggled with displacement from campus housing, a lack of campus resources, and the logisti-

“The CEE department was a leader in the transition, working ... [to] share best practices for online delivery with other departments.”

Meg Griffin

ery with other departments,” said Meg Griffin, assistant director for graduate programs, who has administered the online program since its inception.

“In many cases, in the first few weeks faculty continued to go into the classrooms and make recordings for students to provide continuity in instruction,” she said. “Even before the University requested documentation on plans for individual classes, CEE administration and staff coordinated with each instructor to determine the best plan for each class. Live sessions with students via Zoom were encouraged, and many classes shifted to that format. In some cases, faculty took advantage of personal capture tools to prerecord lectures, and then held discussion sections with Zoom. All live classes were also recorded to facilitate student participation across time zones and varying levels of access to technology and Internet.

The biggest challenge to faculty was how to manage assessments, and in most cases, this required making some changes to course requirements given the circumstances – for example, replacing an exam with a proj“I miss looking ect or take-home exam. Laboat their faces ratory work for classes had to to realize if my be modified.”

One of the faculty members presentation who had not previously taught is well online is professor emeritus understood.”

German Gurfinkel. Also an alumnus of CEE, Gurfinkel (MS

In January 2020, CEE’s online program was ranked number one in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s first-ever rankings of online CEE master’s degree programs.

work at engineering workstations that had two monitors. ... A lot of the programs I used were also very new to me and I relied heavily on in-class lab time where I could use the programs and have the course instructors/professors in the same room so I could easily ask questions as I CEE rising senior Andrew Conwell shared this was going along. My professors recorded picture of his work-from-home setup. lab tutorial videos, but it was almost impossible to watch the tutorial and try to use the program at the same time.” cal and emotional upheaval of the abrupt Faculty and staff are paying close atdisruption of the semester. tention to such student feedback, which Rising senior Andrew Conwell was Griffin says will be useful in fine-tuning enrolled in two of his most important the way online classes are delivered go400-level technical courses. He was able ing forward. to remain on campus in his apartment “We were able to transition to all-onbut missed having in-class discussion line delivery quickly and well, in part betime in these critical classes, he said. He cause of our previous online experiences,” appreciated the understanding of CEE Griffin said. “This situation forced us to try professors, he said, who some new things and look helpfully addressed any isfor solutions in new areas, sues he encountered. such as assessment, colCEE student Ryan laboration and labs – and Schiffer moved back to those experiences will his family home in Elgin, continue to enrich our deIll., where he juggled both partment going forward. his studies and a job at an But to have the best expeAmazon Fulfillment Center rience, students must be to help pay for school. But present on our campus, in he takes an optimistic view our classrooms, libraries of the experience, saying and laboratories, and we it “taught me how to be are looking forward to bemore disciplined, especialing back on campus.” ly as I moved towards my Whether fall 2020 will future in industry.” bring a return to in-person Kayla O’Sullivan moved instruction, online course back home to the Chicago delivery or something insuburbs when school went between remains to be deRyan Schiffer online. She struggled with termined. But the biggest the loss of the campus lilessons of spring semester braries and the availability of engineering 2020 might have been more philosophiworkstation computers. cal than technical.

“The CEE classes I was taking this se“Civil engineers are problem-solvers, mester relied heavily on a variety of engi- and our students and faculty met these neering programs and before the switch challenges with diligence, creativity and to online instruction, I did most of my flexibility,” Griffin said. i

The longest day The pandemic forced an abrupt return from study abroad in Denmark for CEE student Maggie Bono, who shared this account: I feel like I will be able to remember the seconds of Thursday, March 12, 2020. I woke up to find out that Illinois had canceled all study abroad programs. Nervous, I quickly looked online for flights back home. A popular airline is Scandinavian Airlines, so I checked there. I decided that I would fly home on Friday. I called my mom to let her know of my decision while the flight was in my shopping cart. However, because of the time difference, she was asleep. Like most online shopping sites, they can close the window of purchasing if you take too long to buy. That happened to me, so when I went to refresh the page, every single flight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday was cancelled. Only one flight remained for Thursday at 3:40 p.m. Panicked, by 10 a.m. I had bought a flight back to the United Stated that was less than six hours away. I gave myself two hours to pack up my entire life, and I had to leave for the airport since campus is at least a half hour away. As I looked out the window of the cab while leaving, I felt like I was in a trance and that this was a dream from last night that I couldn’t shake myself from. That was the longest day of my life, and I will remember it forever.

While Illinois’ decision to end study abroad programs was abrupt, they did pay for my flight home. My flight home was the largest purchase I have ever had to make at one time – $1,600 dollars! Additionally, Illinois partially reimbursed my Danish housing.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Summer 2020 25

Project aims to improve retention of underrepresented minority students A team project led by civil and environmental engineering doctoral candidate Jamie Clark (MS 17) aims to improve retention of underrepresented minority (URM) students in The Grainger College of Engineering. The project, Threepronged Approach for Retention of Underrepresented Minority Students, will take advantage of existing relationships between URM registered student organizations (RSOs), faculty and administration to expand support systems for URM students and foster broader institutional change.

Although the number of URM students in the college has increased in recent years, the number is still a small percentage of the overall student population. Clark's project grew out of a need she and her peers saw for a stronger community among these URM students and a way for them to share concerns regarding diversity and inclusion with the administration.

Clark outlines three objectives in her proposal: build a network of mentorship between URM faculty, graduate and undergraduate students; connect the URM community with administrators who can implement institutional changes to improve retention of URM students; and educate the broader Grainger College community on issues of inclusion and diversity.

A mentorship network already in place between members of the Graduate Engineers Diversifying Illinois (GEDI) RSO and a group of URM faculty advisers will expand to include the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) RSO, which consists primarily of African American undergraduate engineering students. By strengthening these networks within the 26

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college, the team hopes to make it easier for URM students to successfully navigate their academic programs without feeling so alone, Clark said.

“Everything we’re experiencing as URM students at the graduate and undergraduate level … there are URM faculty who came before us and had similar experiences,” she said. “So if we don’t take advantage of that existing knowledge within our network, our individual experiences can drive us further into isolation instead of bring us closer together.”

In addition to expanding the mentorship network, GEDI and NSBE leaders will work to establish closer relationships with college administrators who have committed to support URM students and advance their concerns within Grainger College and the Graduate College.

“Currently, there’s no clear and consistent way for students – in general, not just URM students – to share and compile their experiences in a manner that is constructive,” Clark said. “As students, how do we take our negative experiences and transform them into positive institutional change that can help those who come after us?”

Clark’s proposal also includes a training workshop called My Voice, My Story, which will be offered to graduate students and faculty in Grainger College. Developed by Cornell University, the workshop is designed to teach participants how to listen and understand how exclusion and inclusion can affect the learning and research environment.

“The My Voice, My Story training sessions are really geared towards teaching people how to listen and how to support each other without getting defensive,” Clark said. “Having conversations on di-

Jamie Clark

versity and inclusion with people who don’t have the same background as you can be difficult because they don’t have the same frame of reference to process the information that you’re giving them, and vice versa.”

At the end of the one-year project, a written report identifying specific concerns regarding campus climate for URM students will be shared with the college administrators in order to foster change at the institutional level – with the ultimate goal of increasing URM retention.

“I started at U of I with a good number of incoming URM graduate students,” Clark said. “Most have had at least one experience in which they felt singled out for being a minority – some felt so unsupported in their programs that they, initially intending to get their Ph.D., left with a master’s. I feel that retention efforts are equally, if not more, important than recruitment. The burden of improving the experience of URM students should not fall solely on the students themselves. It is a team effort that requires support from individuals at every level within the college of engineering.”

The other members of the project team are GEDI president Lonna Edwards (Electrical and Computer Engineering), GEDI vice president and treasurer Mickeal Key (Neuroscience), GEDI Executive Board member Sasha Yamada (Electrical and Computer Engineering), former NSBE

The burden of improving the experience of underrepresented minority students should not fall solely on the students themselves. It is a team effort that requires support from individuals at every level within the college of engineering.

president Eliza Wright (BS 2020, Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering) and current NSBE president Jaden Gladden (Technical Systems Management).

Clark’s project is funded by Grassroots Initiatives to Address Needs Together (GIANT) program, part of the Grainger College’s new Institute for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA Institute). The IDEA Institute was formed to “support scholarship, innovation, collaboration and leadership in the areas of inclusion, diversity, equity and access” for faculty, staff, students and the community. Under the direction of department of Electrical and Computer Engineering professor Lynford Goddard, the IDEA Institute seeks to support activities designed to foster a more inclusive campus.

“Diversity and inclusion are critical ingredients to a productive and collaborative university environment,” Goddard said. “They benefit our teaching and research missions in many direct and indirect ways.”

Goddard hopes that projects like Clark’s will enable the formation of a stronger university community with deeper mentoring relationships and avenues to share and embrace the vast knowledge and experiences of its students.

More information about the IDEA Institute, including other projects funded by the GIANT program, can be found at i idea.illinois.edu.

University, Carle Health team up to design and produce face shields for health care workers A team of engineers, physicians, researchers and designers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Carle Health has developed and launched production of a face shield for health professionals responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team includes professor Helen Nguyen, associate professor Jeremy Guest, and assistant professors Roland Cusick, Vishal Verma and Shelly Zhang, from the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

The design specifications and instructions for use have been made public, and can be downloaded at covidPPE.grainger. illinois.edu.

The face shield project is part of a larger Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) design initiative led jointly by The Grainger College of Engineering and the Carle Illinois College of Medicine’s Health Maker Lab, according to Martin Burke, Associate Dean for Research at Carle Illinois College of Medicine.

“The goal of the PPE initiative is to leverage the collective power of the Health Maker Lab to respond to the urgent need to help front-line healthcare workers,” Burke said. “Barrierless collaboration between experts in medical sciences, engineering and design, in partnership with physicians, nurses and community members, has enabled extraordinary innovation in a time of crisis.”

Over a three-week period, the team designed and fabricated face shield components, solicited feedback from healthcare workers in a clinical setting at Carle Foundation Hospital, and received guidance under the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to fabricate these devices, said Irfan Ahmad, Executive Director of the Health Maker Lab, Assistant Dean for Research, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, and Executive Director for Interdisciplinary Initiatives for the Grainger College of Engineering.

“The university plans to produce at least 2,000 face shields to support shortterm needs,” Ahmad said.

“We have conducted material availability research, and are partnering with local manufacturers like ShapeMaster, Inc., Wagner Machine Co. and others, and seeking grants for them to produce the face shields on a larger scale,” stated Lisa Bievenue, Director of Informatics Program and of the CU Community Fab Lab. “Our primary design criteria were all about the needs of health care workers, but we also wanted to enable rapid and cheap fabrication, easy assembly and reusable frames that can be quickly sanitized with a range of approved techniques,” said Guest, face shield team lead.

“The team is collaborating to design Continued on page 28

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Face shields Continued from page 27

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and test prototypes for other PPE products as well as sterilization technologies, including N95 respirators, disposable and reusable gowns, masks and caps, and mid- and small-scale sterilization technologies,” said Nguyen, lead PI on the PPE project. “Dozens of professionals, from engineers, physicians and researchers to costume designers, staff and students, and community members are contributing their expertise and talents on these projects.”

“With community spread of COVID-19 we are pursuing every option to keep our patients, staff and the community safe.

We must go beyond the traditional supply chain and develop and produce necessary equipment. We’re grateful to our colleagues at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who have quickly applied their expertise and capabilities to meet these needs,” said Carle Chief Medical Officer Charles Dennis.

The Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab (Illinois Informatics), Architecture Fabrication Studio, Rapid Prototyping Lab, Mechanical Engineering Lab, and Materials Research Laboratory facilitated prototyping of the Health Maker Lab face shield project.

Individuals, families and businesses, including University of Illinois alumni from across the globe, have made charitable donations to the PPE project. For information about supporting the project, please visit covidPPE.grainger.illinois.edu.

The Health Maker Lab is a network of maker labs and design spaces across the University of Illinois campus. Professionals, students and citizen scientists collaborate, ideate and create unique solutions to global health challenges by prototyping anything at any scale – from molecules to buildings.

Learn more about the Health Maker Lab at https://healthmakerlab.medicine. i illinois.edu.

New group works to engage young alumni

By K atie Bell (BS 07), YED Chair In 2018, University of Illinois CEE Alumni Association Board member Rich Sieracki (BS 74) wanted to create a vehicle for young graduates to connect with the department and their peers who were in similar stages of development in their professional careers. This group – which would eventually become the Young Engineers Division (YED) – would provide an environment where young alumni would have opportunities to develop and refine leadership and other skills that would enhance their abilities to advance in their careers.

In August 2018, the CEE department encouraged young alumni (35 years old and younger) to apply for a limited number of spots on the inaugural YED leadership team. This group would be responsible for developing the goals and charter of the group, as well as chairing specific committees within the YED. In November 2018, the leadership team was assembled, and they held their first meeting shortly thereafter. Leadership team members include: • Katie Bell (BS 07): Chair/Scholarship Committee Chair • Adam Blumstein (BS 13): Networking Committee Co-Chair • Christine Daul (BS 15): Networking Committee Co-Chair • Guillermo Díaz-Fañas (MS 14): Mentorship Committee Chair • Alex Lakocy (BS 14): Career Development Committee Co-Chair • Jill McClary (BS 13): Career Development Committee Co-Chair Now, nearly two years later, the group has an approved charter and has begun advancing all of their key initiatives related to scholarship, networking, career development and mentoring.

The YED provides an environment where young alumni have opportunities to develop and refine leadership and other skills that enhance their abilities to advance in their careers.

Blumstein

Bell

Scholarship The goal of the Scholarship Committee is to establish a means for young alumni to philanthropically support current students through a newly established YED scholarship fund. The fund has been created and is open to accept gifts through the CEE giving website cee.illinois.edu/make-gift-cee. Gifts to the fund are being accepted in the form of both one-time and recurring payments, and it is anticipated that scholarships will be awarded in $1,000 increments.

Networking The goal of the Networking Committee is to establish a group that YED members can use to share knowledge and information and establish contacts. This committee will host events to connect young graduates with the purpose of establishing long-term business relationships and identifying potential job opportunities. Their first event was held in November 2019 at Tapster in Lincoln Park (Chicago) where approximately 20 alumni gathered to watch the Illinois vs. Citadel men’s basketball game. Subsequent inperson events have currently been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the committee is looking to provide some virtual networking opportunities in the near future.

Career Development The goal of the Career Development Committee is to provide guidance to young alumni of both graduate and undergraduate programs regarding

continuing education and professional development. This committee will be compiling and disseminating useful information on licensure and certification requirements, and providing guidance on skill development for various career tracks. They will use feedback received from young alumni to develop blog-style posts and webinars with specific recommendations and resources for the Illinois CEE alumni community.

Mentoring The goal of the Mentorship Committee is to provide one-on-one mentoring to Illinois CEE alumni who have graduated within the last 5 years. These recent alumni will have an opportunity to apply to the program upon graduation with the objective of providing them with a resource to network and connect with more experienced alumni. Mentor/mentee pairs will be established based on matching experience and skills of the mentor with goals and needs of the mentee. Mentors will be expected to correspond with their mentee periodically during the mentorship cycle, providing them with guidance on their post-graduation pursuits with the expectation of a two-year period.

The YED will distribute a monthly enewsletter to young alumni, in which they will advertise upcoming events and provide information and how to become involved with the group and donate to the scholarship fund. Please look out for future news from YED, and we hope to i connect with you soon!

Daul

Díaz-Fañas

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CERL

Construction Engineering Research Laboratory

“The Corps of Engineers wishes to establish a construction materials research laboratory in the vicinity of the UrbanaChampaign campus. Its proximity will substantially benefit the educational and research activities of the University, particularly in the field of civil engineering.”

From the January 1968 University of Illinois Board of Trustees meeting minutes

CERL Celebrates 50 Years On August 28, 2019, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDCCERL) celebrated its 50th anniversary with a ceremony at the CERL facility in Champaign, Ill. The event featured remarks by several guests, including the ERDC Director, and past and present CERL directors.

During the ceremony, Louis R. “Dick” Shaffer (MS 57, PhD 61) was honored posthumously with the CERL Distinguished Employee Award. As a faculty member in the department of civil and environmental engineering, Shaffer obtained funding to establish CERL in Champaign,

the first attempt by the Department of Defense to partner directly with a university. Shaffer was appointed to the position of Deputy/Technical Director at CERL in 1969 and remained at CERL for 25 years.

Guided walking tours of CERL facilities and research areas were offered after the ceremony. Tours included up-close looks at a 3D printed concrete barracks hut and guard shack, the Triaxial Earthquake and Shock Simulator, and a series of displays featuring environmental sustainment and resource management research. The general public was invited to tour the CERL facilities during an Open House the following day.

The Office of the Chief of Engineers’ selection committee reviewed proposals from 20 universities before unanimously selecting the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as the location for the U.S. Army’s new laboratory. The quality and reputation of the civil engineering department was an important factor in the selection process.

In 1968, the University of Illinois Foundation purchased the land and facilities for the lab and leased it to the Army. CERL was dedicated on July 25, 1969.

The CERL headquarters building was dedicated as the “L.R. Shaffer Building” on December 13, 2017.

Left to right: ERDC Director David Pittman (left) and former CERL Director Lance Hansen announce the recipient of the first CERL Distinguished Employee ñ center, chats with CERL retiree and CEE alumnus Jerry Benson (BS 75) and alumna CarAward, Louis R. Shaffer (posthumous). Professor Benito Marinas, olyn Eberhard (BS 83), who worked with Benson at CERL in the early 1980s. A guided tour around the facilities included a stop at a 3D printed concrete guard shack.

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Louis R. Shaffer Louis Richard “Dick” Shaffer (MS 57, PhD 61) joined the CEE at Illinois faculty as an instructor in 1955, eventually advancing to professor and chair of the Construction Engineering group. During his tenure, Shaffer revamped the construction engineering and management curriculum so as to be based on more scientific principles associated with computer usage, namely operations research, systems engineering, linear program and queuing theory.

Shaffer was the first Deputy Director/Technical Director of CERL, appointed in 1969. The position of Deputy Director was designed to be held by a civilian to provide leadership continuity as military Directors rotated in and out. Shaffer fulfilled that goal admirably, remaining the senior civilian executive at CERL until his death in 1994. He remained as an adjunct professor in CEE throughout this time.

RESEARCH Some past and present CERL research projects involving CEE faculty and alumni include:

CENTRAL VEHICLE WASH FACILITY In response to concerns about water shortages and increasingly strict environmental standards in the 1970s, former CERL researchers and CEE alumni Jerry Benson (BS 75), pictured on previous page, and Joseph Matherly (MS 73) were part of a team that helped develop an improved system for washing military vehicles. The Central Vehicle Wash Facility (CVWF) reduced the amount of water needed to clean vehicles to mission-ready standards by 90 to 95 percent while requiring fewer people to do the washing. Additionally, a wastewater treatment system prevented the oily runoff from draining into streams and sewers. The team won the U.S. Army’s Research & Development Award in 1984 for the project and today the CVWF is a standard fixture on large Army installations.

DIGITAL OPACITY METHOD Professor Emeritus Mark J. Rood (left) and then-Adjunct Professor Byung Kim led a team that developed the Digital Optical Method, which uses off-the-shelf digital still cameras and modeling software to more easily and accurately measure atmospheric plume opacity. Project collaborators include professor Ke Du of the University of Calgary, CEE research scientist and instructor Sotiria Koloutsou-Vakakis and Michael Kemme of ERDC-CERL. The project won the 2013 Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science Grand Prize for University Research from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.

3D PRINTING WITH CONCRETE In response to a Department of Defense need to quickly build expeditionary structures (such as the barracks hut and guard shack pictured here and on the previous page) using locally-sourced materials, researchers began adapting 3D printing methodology to print with concrete. This method of additive construction has many advantages including the elimination of wood or metal forms, greatly reduced quantity of building materials required for shipping, lower manpower requirements and the capability to produce quickly designed, custom expeditionary structures.

The multi-lab team effort included preliminary work on non-destructive testing of 3D printed concrete by CEE professor John Popovics and alumna Michelle Helsel (MS 19).

EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND SHOCK TESTING The Triaxial Earthquake and Shock Simulator (TESS) at CERL is a “unique dual-mode shock and vibration test facility where engineers can assess the seismic vulnerabilities of their existing buildings.” A recent test simulated the motions caused by explosive charges on a nine-story scaled steel frame with non-linear dampers on the top two floors.

The same building model was then tested with C-4 charges, showing that TESS could be used to simulate the loading effects of blasts.

In the above photo, CEE Ph.D. student and CERL researcher Brian Eick, standing in front of the nine-story model, describes how finite element modeling can be used to predict structural response to motions such as earthquakes, blast shocks and vibration.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Summer 2020 31

2020 CEE Alumni Award Winners Every year, the CEE at Illinois Alumni Association bestows awards upon outstanding alumni in recognition of their achievements. The 2020 Alumni Award winners are Paul D. Kovacs, Nancy G. Love, William J. Nugent, Kevin L. Shafer and Xiang Liu.

Distinguished Alumni Awards Paul D. Kovacs

BS 84 Chief Engineering Officer, Illinois Tollway For outstanding commitment to the advancement and increased awareness of safety during maintenance and construction activities on the Illinois Tollway system; for extensive dedication to the implementation of sustainability for construction contracts; and for superior technical and administrative leadership as the Chief Engineering Officer of the Illinois Tollway during the execution of numerous major Illinois Tollway projects, including the system-wide conversion to Open Road Tolling, Rebuilding and Widening the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) and the new Illinois Route 390 Tollway.

Paul Kovacs is the chief engineering officer for the Illinois Tollway and is responsible for the policies, practices and procedures of the Engineering Department, which oversees all design and construction operations on the agency’s 294-mile system of roadways serving 1.6 million daily users in Northern Illinois. Currently, he is responsible for delivering the Illinois Tollway’s 15-year, $14 billion capital program, Move Illinois: The Illinois Tollway Driving the Future.

He joined the Illinois Tollway in 1999 and, prior to his appointment to chief engineer, he served as the open road tolling program manager and deputy chief of project implementation. In this role, he managed the conversion of 20 mainline plazas to open road tolling and improvements along the Tri-State (I-94/I294/I-80), Jane Addams Memorial (I-90) 32

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and Reagan Memorial (I-88) tollways. In his nearly 37 years of professional engineering experience, 17 were spent in the consulting industry.

Kovacs earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois and is a registered professional engineer in Illinois and Michigan.

Nancy G. Love

BS 85, MS 86 Professor, University of Michigan For outstanding leadership and pioneering contributions in assessing and advancing human and environmental health through water systems using chemical, biological, and systems analysis approaches; and for emerging work at the interface of water quality and children’s livelihoods across the globe.

Dr. Nancy G. Love is the Borchardt and Glysson Collegiate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University Michigan, and an adjunct Professor at the Institute of Biotechnology at Addis Ababa University. She has advised over 70 graduate students and post-doctoral research associates. Her research focuses at the interface of water, infrastructure and both environmental and public health. She and her students evaluate the fate, detection and treatment of chemical and biological contaminants in water systems, and advance technologies to establish the efficient management of nutrients, energy and water resources.

Their work is centered on identifying and translating fundamental understanding into practical solutions for water utilities and communities.

Love has co-authored over 100 peer reviewed papers, chapters and reports; over 250 conference presentations; and

a textbook on biological wastewater treatment. She has held leadership positions in multiple organizations, including with the Water Environment Federation, the International Water Association and the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors, and is a Fellow of all three organizations. Love is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Michigan and a Board Certified Environmental Engineer.

William J. Nugent

MS 77 President and CEO, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. For leading Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. to excellence by focusing on the firm’s long-term success in its mission to deliver better solutions to the world’s construction problems, fostering success leading to growth throughout the United States and internationally, building a culture of unprecedented trust and freedom, and setting a high personal standard of technical excellence, client service and contributions to the profession.

William Nugent joined Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE) in 1976 and has served as the company’s President and CEO since 1997. In that role, Nugent has helped WJE succeed and grow from about 250 employees in twelve U.S. offices in the late 1990s to more than 750 employees in twenty-nine locations in the U.S. and London today. His career at WJE has also included more than 800 projects involving problems with buildings and other structures. Among these have been structural failure investigations, structural and materials testing, wind and seismic damage assessments, and evaluation and repair of building facade, curtain wall and

Left to right: Distinguished Alumni Award winners Paul Kovacs, Nancy Love, William Nugent and Kevin Shafer, and Young Alumnus Achievement Award winner Xiang Liu. glass failures or serviceability issues. In addition, he has authored numerous reports and papers and presented lectures on a variety of structural, architectural and materials problems and repair techniques.

Nugent earned a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1973 and M.S. in structural engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1977. He is an active member of the Safety Glazing Certification Council Board of Directors, the American National Standards Institute Z97.1 Committee and the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering.

Kevin L. Shafer

BS 83 Executive Director, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District For being a local, national and international leader in the development and implementation of Green Infrastructure tools as the chief executive at of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District; for leading the initiative to reduce the energy footprint of District operations; and for providing engineering excellence in public service through innovation, creativity and collaboration in the protection of public health and the environment.

Kevin Shafer serves as Executive Director of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD). Since becoming executive director in 2002, Shafer has provided national and regional leadership in implementing grey and green infrastructure. He has advocated and implemented a regional flood management program, a renewable energy program and a private

property inflow and infiltration program.

Shafer’s 2035 Vision propelled MMSD forward with climate change adaptation through an aggressive program to convert to renewable fuels, install green infrastructure, and preserve floodplains.

His leadership has brought MMSD recognition from almost every major award in the industry, including the 2012 U.S. Water Prize.

Shafer has a B.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and M.S. from the University of Texas. He serves on numerous Boards and is the past president of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, past co-chair of the Water Research Foundation, co-chair of the US Water Alliance, and is a past member of the EPA’s Local Government Advisory Committee. He also serves on the boards of The Water Council, River Revitalization Foundation, Mequon Nature Preserve and Great Lakes Protection Fund. His many awards include The Water Council’s Water Warrior of the Year, Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters’ Fellows Recognition, Daily Reporter’s Newsmaker of the Year, Gathering Waters Policymaker of the Year, and American Academy of Environmental Engineers’ Edward J. Cleary Award.

Young Alumnus Achievement Award Xiang Liu

MS 11, PhD 13 Assistant Professor, Rutgers University For establishing a diverse, externally funded academic program in Railway Transportation Engineering, developing a curriculum

in rail engineering, attracting quality graduate students and being a prolific author of high-quality papers published in peer-reviewed journals; and for being one of the top-rated professors at Rutgers School of Engineering and Principal Investigator on several high-profile US DOT-sponsored research projects on railroad engineering.

Xiang Liu is currently the A. Walter Tyson Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rutgers University and Director of the Rutgers Rail and Transit Program. In this role, he leads a portfolio of rail-centric research, education, and workforce development initiatives. Liu’s research focuses on the application of artificial intelligence, big data and automation technologies to the improvement of rail operational safety and efficiency.

Liu has published over 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals and conferences.

He is currently the Associate Editor of the Journal of Rail Transport Planning & Management, and Journal of Smart and Resilient Transportation. He has received four “Best Paper” awards from the Transportation Research Board (TRB), and was named Educator of the Year 2017 and Researcher of the Year 2018 in New Jersey.

In 2018, he received a “Rising Star” award from the Progressive Railroading magazine.

Liu currently teaches several railroad courses at Rutgers. He received a B.S. (2008) from Shanghai Jiaotong University in China, and M.S. (2011) and Ph.D. (2013) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Illinois). At Illinois, his research centered on rail safety and risk management, at the Rail Transportation and Engineering Center.

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2020 CEE Student Awards A. Epstein Award in Civil Engineering Eamon Homedi Anna Lee and James T.P. Yao Scholarship Ruizhi Wang ASCE Award Outstanding Student Award Wessam Sadoun Bates and Rogers Scholarship Robert Cappello, Jonathan Garcia Benesch Engineering Scholarship Andrew Conwell Bernard Delbert Murphy Scholarship in Civil and Environmental Engineering Leah Courtney, Dale Robbennolt, Tyler Maxwell Bowman, Barrett and Associates Outstanding Scholar Award Angel Montero C.S. and Ruth Monnier Scholarship Stefany Boyas, Zachary Gold, David Kim, Robert Raszewski CEEAA Undergraduate Service Leadership Scholarship Julie Lorenzo, Michael Thon Charles E. DeLeuw Travel Award Ayush Pandey, Adrian Diaz de Rivera Chester P. Siess Award Kiseok Kim, Haoran Yu

Chicago Outer Belt Contractors Association Scholarship Julia Qian Civil Engineering Class of 1943 Undergraduate Leadership Award Claire Samojedny Clement C. Lee Outstanding Scholar Award in Honor of Houssam Mahmoud Karara Nathaniel Zipperich CN Railroad Transportation Scholarship Xinhao Liu Concrete Education and Research Foundation Scholarship Kevin Chen, William Kickert, David Kierpiec Crawford, Murphy & Tilly Inc. Scholarship Pablo Andres Hernandez, Francesca Salerno Dan and Mary Guill Scholarship Luke Ahern DFI Educational Trust Charles J. Berkel Memorial Scholarship Brandon Kim Donohue & Associates Scholarship David Rivera Duane Edward and Phyllis Ann Erickson Memorial Scholarship in Civil and Environmental Engineering Ryan Cook, Marie Hubbard, Ryan Moeller, Kaitlin Solak Earle J. Wheeler Scholarship Jack Allen Josephine Hoppenworth

Julie Lorenzo and Michael Thon, winners of the CEEAA Undergraduate Service Leadership Scholarship. Lorenzo finished the Spring 2020 semester in Palatine, Ill., and Thon is in Vernon Hills, Ill.

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Eli W. Cohen – Thornton Tomasetti Foundation Scholarship Bryar Lindenmeyer Engineering Visionary Scholarship Edgar Alvarado, Melissa Bayer, Anna Bogdanski, Andrew Bushnell, Julia Cima, Daniel Garcia-Rico, Trevor Gresham, Sakher Haris, Abigail Iuorio, Maksymilian Jasiak, Erika Jaszka, Ahmed Kahack, David Kim, Jack Knapp, Jonathan Kolweier, Matthew Kuechenberg, Ryan Lake, Eric Leanos, Matthew Lewandowski,

The Ira O. Baker Prize is one of the top awards given to seniors in civil engineering. At top, Lauren Excell, First Prize winner, finished the Spring 2020 semester in Hinsdale, Ill. Hui Yi Koh, Second Prize winner, finished the semester in Singapore.

Bryar Lindenmeyer, Marcello Mata, Maxwell McAvoy, Jared Mitchell, Christopher Nguyen, Dale Robbennolt, Therese Sobol, Jared Soucek, Cameron Tonkery In addition to general contributions to the CEE Visionary Scholarship fund, endowments for the following named EVS funds have been established in CEE: • Vernon E. Dotson CEE Visionary Scholarship • Charlie and Sarah Greer CEE Visionary Scholarship • Joshua L. Merritt CEE Visionary Scholarship • Richard H. Pao CEE Visionary Scholarship • Linda J. and Richard Sieracki CEE Visionary Scholarship • Larry M. and Rose Marie Sur CEE Visionary Scholarship • Wilson H. Tang CEE Visionary Scholarship • Wilson H. Tang Family CEE Visionary Scholarship • Thomas Thornburn CEE Visionary Scholarship • William H. Walker Memorial Engineering Visionary Scholarship

Eric J. Kerestes Memorial Scholarship Emily Ford Foster Research Scholarship Elizabeth Callis, Xuhuan Zhao George L. Farnsworth Jr. Scholarship Maggie Bono, Erika Jaszka, Joyce Li, Faith Maranion, Nathan Wisnionski Geotechnical Scholarship Gift Kelsey Tappendorf Grant W. Shaw Memorial Scholarship Sylvia Kierpiec, Jake Lewis, Brett Myskowski Harry K. and Carol A. Windland Endowed Scholarship in Memory of David A. Windland Jordan Judge, Jared Mitchell Henry T. Heald Award Christopher Meilinger, Shosuke Naokawa Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association Scholarship Elliott Wittmeyer, Javier Garcia Mainieri Illinois Association of County Engineers Award Allison Faulkner, Tanner Hasty, Avery Herndon, Jackson Poythress, Matthew Quinn Industry Advancement Foundation of Central Illinois Builders of the AGC Scholarship Daniel Gentile Ira O. Baker Memorial Scholarship Alfredo Guzman, Alexandra Kolar, Marcin Nieradka Ira O. Baker Prize Lauren Excell (First), Hui Yi Koh (Second) Jack and Kay Briscoe Scholarship Maddie Dearborn, Samantha Guagliardo

Jacobs Engineering Transportation Endowed Scholarship Robert Wiggins John B. Felmley Engineering Scholarship Johnson Nguyen John O. Fooks and William D. Fooks Scholarship Nicholas Marchak, Michael Molloy Joseph C. and Marianne J. Geagea Civil and Environmental Engineering Scholarship Daniel Garcia-Rico, Sammy Park, Pieter Svenson, Mengxiao Zhong Julian Rueda Geotechnical Engineering Scholarship Patricia Wendy Klein and Hoffman Inc. Scholarship In honor of Frank Klein Hannah Still Koch Scholarship in Civil and Environmental Engineering Mary Huffman Langan/Dennis J. Leary Memorial Scholarship Fund Maksymilian Jasiak Leigh F. Zerbee Scholarship John Kane, Michael Nelson, Adam Spitzer Loreta and Silvio Corsetti Memorial Scholarship and Fellowship Fund Salvatore Penachio Maren Somers Memorial Engineering Scholarship Emily Lin Maude E. Eide Memorial Scholarship Emily Eng, Gwendolyn Kramer, David Szeszko Max Whitman APWA Memorial Scholarship Nathan Smilak Melih T. Dural Undergraduate Research Prize Bugra Sahin Michael William Bartos Ed. D. Memorial Scholarship Jacob Doehring Moreland Herrin Scholarship Brandon Yates

Left: Jared Mitchell, a winner of the Harry K. and Carol A. Windland Endowed Scholarship in Memory of David A. Windland. Mitchell finished the Spring 2020 semester in Bloomington, Ill. Right: Pablo Andres Hernandez, a winner of the Crawford, Murphy & Tilly Inc. Scholarship, finished the semester in Brookfield, Ill.

Eamon Homedi, top, winner of the A. Epstein Award in Civil Engineering, given to the senior with the highest GPA (Homedi has a 4.0).

Homedi completed the Spring 2020 semester at his apartment in Champaign. Below, Claire Samojedny is the Civil Engineering Class of 1943 Undergraduate Leadership Award winner.

She finished the semester in Aurora, Ill.

Susan Douds Goertz and Jack L. Goertz Civil and Environmental Engineering Scholarship Steven Li Chen W. E. O’Neil Award Fouad Amer Walter Hanson Graduate Study Award Nathan Tomerlin Wayne C. Teng Scholarship Amber DeCarlo, Isaac Man, Michael Rivkin, Natalie Shulman, Tao Zang William A. Oliver Endowed Scholarship Julia Cima, Emily Recupido William C. Ackermann Sr. Civil Engineering Scholarship Lauren Schissler

Norman Carlson Scholarship Matthew Parkes

William John MacKay Award Abigail Cohen, Henry Doyle, Heather Gathman, Zhichao Sun, Jianqi Xue

RJN Foundation Civil Engineering Scholarship Eric Brenner

Wilson H. Tang CEE International Scholarship Tinghan Ye (Joe)

Shelby K. Willis Engineering Education Scholarship Ryan Day

Wilson H. Tang CEE Risk, Reliability and Decision Analysis Scholarship Yuhao Peng

Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Summer 2020 35

ALUMNI NEWS

Ernest J. Barenberg and Marshall R. Thompson Professorship Funding Program

2010s Amanda C. Bordelon (BS 05, MS 07, PhD 11) has received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor at Utah Valley University.

Ugwem I. Eneyo (BS 13) was selected for the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for co-founding SHYFT Power Solutions, which aims to combine IoT, big data analytics and proprietary software into a platform that enables remote monitoring and optimization of power sources.

2000s Marshall Thompson

Ernest J. Barenberg

By Professor Emeritus Barry Dempsey In March 2019 the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in The Grainger College of Engineering and the University of Illinois Foundation established gift funds to honor Professor Emeritus Ernest J. Barenberg (PhD 65) and Professor Emeritus Marshall R. Thompson (BS 60, MS 62, PhD 64). When the gift funds reach the minimum funding levels (presently $500,000) required for an endowed professorship, the funds will be used to support the Ernest J. Barenberg Professorship in PCC Pavement Design and Materials and the Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association Marshall R. Thompson Professorship in Asphalt Pavement Design and Materials.

At this time funding for both professorships is progressing fairly well.

The Barenberg funding level has about $350,000 in pledges with about $182,000 in paid funds. The Thompson funding level has about $250,000 in pledges with about $76,500 in paid funds. We have been given until December 31, 2024, to reach our funding goal for the professorship level.

If any CEE alumni are interested in

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contributing to our professorship funding initiative, please contact Ekaterina Trubitsyna (katia@illinois.edu) or Professor Emeritus Barry J. Dempsey (bjdemps@illinois.edu) for information on how to make your gift. All help to reach our funding goal will be greatly appreciated.

The professorship recognition serves our Transportation Engineering group in CEE in a number of ways. Foremost, it honors Ernie and Marshall for their many years of service to our students, the department and the pavement design and materials profession. Secondly, it helps to attract outstanding faculty who will conduct research and teach courses related to pavement design and materials in the transportation group far into the future.

The stipend generated by the professorship fund provides a faculty member financial support to conduct innovative research into new pavement design and materials areas, to develop new course content and to upgrade course content, and to interact with the pavement design and materials profession. The professorship helps to keep a faculty member at the forefront of their profession.

Please feel free to contact us at any time!

Kurt N. Bialobreski, P.E., PTOE (BS 01) an assistant vice president and the multimodal business development principal at Hanson Professional Services Inc., was named the Civil Engineer of the Year during the 95th Annual American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Central Illinois Section Meeting and Banquet.

Francina Dominguez (MS 03, PhD 07) will receive the 2019 Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award for her significant and fundamental contributions to the emerging field of terrestrial hydrometeorology, thereby significantly closing the gap between the atmospheric and hydrologic sciences, and for mentoring a new cadre of interdisciplinary scientists trained in the fundamentals of terrestrial hydrometeorology and its water management implications. Dominguez is an associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the Unversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Kevin M. Spitz (BS 08) has taken a new role as the Vice President of Aviation for CKL Engineers LLC, based in Chicago.

1990s Matthew A. Fletcher, P.E., S.E. (BS 94) has been named a senior vice president at Hanson Professional Services Inc., and the firm’s railway market principal. Fletcher will lead the company’s railroad market operations and business development efforts, serving as a client liaison.

Mark T. Heaton, P.E. (BS 98) senior transportation engineer, recently celebrated 10 years of service at Hanson Professional Services Inc.’s Chicago regional office. Heaton, who joined the company in 2010, has more than 20 years of experience in highway design for large, complex reconstruction and rehabilitation projects. He has led multidiscipline teams and successfully delivered projects using innovative delivery methods to meet accelerated project schedules.

1980s Jesus M. de la Garza (MS 84, PhD 88), Vecellio Professor of Construction Engineering and Management in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the title of Vecellio Professor Emeritus by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

ALUMNI NEWS LaFave is Associate Dean for Facilities and Capital Planning

Latham named one of Crain’s Notable Women in STEM Robert B. Gilbert (BS 87, MS 88, PhD 93), Department Chair at the University of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

James LaFave

James LaFave (BS 86, MS 87) resigned his position as CEE Associate Head for Undergraduate Studies in March to accept a position with The Grainger College of Engineering as the Associate Dean for Facilities and Capital Planning.

“We very much appreciate Jim’s substantial contributions to research and educational programs, academic management and, in particular, his past leadership of the CEE structural engineering program and contributions as Associate Head for Undergraduate Studies,” said Albert J. Valocchi, Professor and Interim Head. “We congratulate Jim on his new leadership role in the College.”

LaFave joined the CEE faculty in 1999 and was chair of the Structural Engineering Group from 2010-2014.

He had served as Associate Head since 2016.

SEND US YOUR NEWS To submit alumni news, please email Celeste Bock, celeste@illinois.edu or visit the CEE website to submit news and photos online. Visit cee.illinois.edu/alumni, and click on the gray box called “Share your news with us.”

Jerome A. Iltis (MS 82) was named as one of 15 distinguished members selected as the 2019 Water Environment Federation (WEF) Fellows recipients. This prestigious designation pays tribute to members’ noteworthy achievements and outstanding contributions to the water environment profession. WEF Fellows are recognized in various areas of expertise including, but not limited to design, education, operations, regulation, research, utility management and leadership.

James P. Messmore, P.E. (BS 85), senior vice president and infrastructure market principal, recently celebrated 25 years of service at Hanson Professional Services Inc. Messmore, who joined the company in 1995, develops and implements programs to achieve profitable growth, oversees staff, and develops and maintains relationships with clients for the infrastructure market.

Paul J. Pasko (BS 88), a Senior Professional Engineer and Principal with Short Elliott Hendrickson, was presented with the American Public Works Association (APWA) 2019 Professional Manager of the Year Award in the Engineering and Technology category.

Marilyn Tears (BS 80, MS 82), who is retired from ExxonMobil, won the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) 2019 Advocating Women in Engineering Award. The award honors individuals who have demonstrated professional excellence in their chosen STEM fields and have proven to be advocates of women in engineering and SWE’s objectives.

Daniel J. Whalen, P.E. (BS 84, MS 85), a senior vice president and principal of the power market at Hanson Professional Services Inc., recently celebrated a cumulative 30 years of service at the company. Whalen, who works at the Springfield, Ill., headquarters, was employed by Hanson from 1988 to 1998 before rejoining the firm in 1999. He previously managed Hanson’s materials testing and construction quality control department and the Kansas City metropolitan office. He was named a vice president and market principal in 2012 and promoted to senior vice president in 2014.

1970s Sergio (Satch) Pecori, P.E., F.ASCE (BS 73, MS 74) chairman and CEO of Hanson Professional Services, Inc., will be honored by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of five 2020 Outstanding Projects And Leaders (OPAL) leadership winners.

He is being honored in the Management category. This award recognizes Mr. Pecori’s accomplishments as an industry leader locally, nationally, and internationally due to his commitment to his profession and the community, and to inspiring others, and through his work as a CEO of Hanson Professional Services Inc.

Katherine Latham

Katherine Latham (BS 11), founder and managing partner of Talman Consultants, was named one of 32 Notable Women in STEM

by Crain's Chicago Business. The special section recognizes women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics for their success and accomplishments from the last 18 months.

"Being recognized with the other accomplished women featured in Crain's is both rewarding and humbling," Latham said. "I'm honored to be in the company of so many women who help their companies and communities encourage the influence and contributions of women in STEM in Chicago.

"While the number of women in STEM-based careers is increasing, which is great progress, there is still a large disparity for women entering these fields. My goal has always been to show women they are not alone in the field of engineering. It was my inspiration for starting my own firm and cultivating a culture that attracts, retains and promotes diversity in our industry."

Talman Consultants is a utility engineering design consulting firm.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Summer 2020 37

DEPARTMENT NEWS

Popovics, Elbanna receive named appointments Two civil and environmental engineering faculty members recently received named appointments from The Grainger College of Engineering. Professor John Popovics has been named a Caterpillar Faculty Scholar and associate professor Ahmed Elbanna has been named a Donald Biggar Willet Faculty Fellow.

Popovics, CEE’s Associate Head for Undergraduate Studies, joined the CEE at Illinois faculty in 2002. He serves as the chair of the Curriculum Committee, which has been leading the curriculum portion of the CEE Modernization Plan.

Popovics teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on materials properties, construction material corrosion and durability, concrete technology and nondestructive testing.

Ahmed Elbanna Elbanna, who has been on the CEE faculty since 2013, teaches undergraduate courses in structural engineering.

Caterpillar Faculty John Popovics Scholar awards are conferred upon faculty whose research interests closely align with Caterpillar's research and development needs. Donald Biggar Willett Faculty Fellowships are awarded to faculty members who excel in their contributions to the University.

The Willett Research Initiatives in Engineering funds professorships, student research and related research activity in honor of Donald Biggar Willett (18971981), who studied civil engineering at the University of Illinois from 19161921.

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CEE teachers ranked as excellent, fall 2019 The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign student chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) recently competed at the 17th Annual EERI Seismic Design Competition in San Diego, Calif. Team members Emma Sun, Chang Chen, Karl Eid, Keats Hua, Krishna Patel, Mandy Zhong, Patricia Wendy, Sammy Park, Shannon Chen and Woongchan Bang competed against more than 50 teams from universities around the world.

Two CEE graduate students advised by Assistant Professor Hadi Meidani won first place in a Data Challenge held in connection with the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting in January 2020. Students Xiyue Li and Mohammad Amin Nabian developed a computational tool designed to lower the risk of traffic accidents.

Ahmed Elbanna was promoted to associate professor with indefinite tenure.

Associate Professor Nora El-Gohary has received a 2020 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research. The Grainger College of Engineering presents the award annually to associate professors in recognition of outstanding research accomplishments during the past five years.

Rosa Espinosa-Marzal was promoted to full professor.

Rosa Espinosa-Marzal

Associate Professor Mani Golparvar-Fard has been placed on the list of Researchers To Know 2019 by the State of Illinois through the Illinois Science and Tech Coalition program, as COO and co-founder of Reconstruct Inc., a startup that has successfully commercialized software that produces visual data analytics at construction projects. He has also been elected to serve on the ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering editorial board.

Professor Emeritus William J. Hall was selected as an Honorary Member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI). One of the highest honors from the Institute, Honorary Membership is awarded to members who have made sustained and outstanding contributions to the field of earthquake engineering and to EERI. EJ Ignacio was chosen for an Engineering Council Outstanding Advising Award, which recognizes the top 10 percent of advisers in the College of Engineering.

EJ Ignacio

Megan Konar received a 2020 Campus Distinguished Promotion Award from the Provost. Nominated by the Campus Committee on Promotion and Tenure for her exceptional con-

Armando Duarte Riley Edwards Ahmed Elbanna Nora El-Gohary Khaled El-Rayes Larry Fahnestock Jeremy Guest German Gurfinkel EJ Egnacio Sotiria Koloutsou-Vakakis Megan Konar Praveen Kumar David Lange Scott Olson Yanfeng Ouyang John Popovics Conrad Ruppert Art Schmidt Bill Spencer Tim Stark Ashlynn Stillwell Al Valocchi Vishal Verma Brent Young Those listed in bold were ranked outstanding. tributions, the award is given in recognition of the scope, quality and impact of scholarship, teaching, service and engagement efforts. Konar is one of five scholars on campus promoted to Associate Professor who received the award. She joined the CEE faculty in 2013 and teaches Megan Konar courses in Water Resources Engineering. Among other honors, Konar is a William J. and Elaine F. Hall Faculty Fellow and recipient of a 2019 National Science Foundation CAREER award and the American Geophysical Union Hydrologic Sciences Section Early Career Award.

Megan Konar was promoted to associate professor with indefinite tenure.

Assistant Professor Eleftheria Kontou is a 2020-21 Levenick iSEE Teaching Sustainability Fellow. The Levenick iSEE Teaching Sustainability fellowship provides support to integrate sustainability into courses on everything from costume design to urban transportation.

Professor David A. Lange and CEE alumni Jacob D. Henschen (BS 07, MS 09, PhD 18) and Daniel I. Castaneda (MS

DEPARTMENT NEWS

Prunkard retires after 25 years 10, PhD 16) have won the American Concrete Institute’s (ACI) 2020 Wason Medal for Most Meritorious Paper. The award was conferred for their co-authored paper, “Formwork Pressure Model for Self-Consolidating Concrete Using Pressure Decay,” which appeared in the May 2018 ACI Materials Journal.

Professor David A. Lange retired in May after a 28-year career in the department.

Oscar Lopez-Pamies was promoted to full professor.

Professor Arif Masud was awarded the 2019 G. I. Taylor Medal, “for fundamental contributions to the theory of Stabilized and Variational Multiscale Oscar Lopez-Pamies Methods in Computational Fluid Dynamics and their widespread adoption and utilization in industry and at national laboratories.”

Professor Murugesu Sivapalan was named an Honorary Professor at Tsinghua University in Bejing, China.

Rebecca Stillwell was chosen for an Engineering Council Outstanding Advising Award, which recognizes the top 10 percent of advisers in the College of Engineering.

The Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) has awarded the 2020 Paul V. Roberts/AEESP Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award to postdoctoral researcher John Trimmer (PhD 19) for his dissertation, Resource Recovery from Sanitation to Amplify Development: Navigating Global and Local Possibilities. Trimmer is advised by associate professor Jeremy Guest. Beginning in September 2020, Trimmer will serve as the Research and Programs Manager for the Aquaya Institute, running their Nairobi office.

Rebecca Stillwell

Professor Erol Tutumluer has been selected by the ASCE Transportation and Development Institute to receive the 2020 James Laurie Prize for “career contributions to the advancement of transportation engineering in the field of transportation geotechnics, which provides key knowledge to building sustainable pavement and railroad track infrastructure.”

Professor and Head Al Valocchi’s groundwater curriculum/simulation project, “How Many People Can The Aquifer Support?” developed by Valocchi, students and the Office for Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, received an “Exemplary” rating from the National Association of Geoscience Teachers.

Tim Prunkard, CEE’s “I tease my wife that Technical Services Superthis was my first marriage visor, retired from the Uniand she was my second beversity of Illinois in Decemcause of the amount of time ber 2019 after nearly 25 and hours,” he said. “But I years in the department. love this place. This was my Prunkard led the team who home. I made this my casupported research by reer.” faculty and students with As the primary staff perskilled labor in the machine son in charge of CEE’s fashop, concrete lab, wood cilities, Prunkard has been Tim Prunkard shop and throughout the called on to respond to a department’s facilities. wide range of situations at At the time of Prunkard’s retirement, his all hours of the day and night, from building staff numbered eight people but over the occupants reporting that their offices were years had been as high as 12, depending too hot or too cold to health and safety on the amount and type of research being emergencies. When campus police found conducted in the department. The team a student practicing rock-climbing on the also occasionally did work for the Universi- strong wall in the Newmark crane bay late ty’s Facilities and Services division. A recent at night, Prunkard got the call. When an project involved building guard rails for aging retired professor went missing on the entrance ramp of a sorority house, skill- campus, Prunkard helped him get home. fully replicating the antique rails to match One of the accomplishments of which he the historic building. is most proud is having cultivated a repuRaised in the small Vermilion County tation for being approachable and doing town of Indianola, Ill., Prunkard joined the his best to respond to all issues quickly and department in 1995. He worked under six professionally, he said. department heads and through the plan“My daughter said, ‘The thing you’re ning and construction of both the M.T. going to miss is everybody needing you’,” Geoffrey Yeh Student Center and the cur- Prunkard said. rent project to build a Smart Bridge and Looking back, Prunkard said he has vallarge addition to the Hydrosystems Lab. ued the opportunity to work with world“It is an extreme amazement for me – class faculty, talented students and dedihumbling – that I’ve sat in on office meet- cated staff. ings with some of the most intelligent peo“I’m so fortunate to have had people ple in the world and that they cared about working with me every day who cared as my opinion,” Prunkard said. “It’s fascinating much about what we did as I did,” he said. for me that I got to play a part. I’ve worked Prunkard leaves with mixed feelings; with some of the most intelligent students although sad about the end of his time in in the world, and they have become my CEE, he doesn’t consider his career over. friends. They’re all over the world, so I feel He is still interested in applying his knowllike I could go anywhere in the world and edge of research testing environments and feel at home. I’m a guy who came from a would welcome the chance to work in that little town of 300 people, and wow, my field again – possibly as a consultant. eyes opened up when I came here!”

“I’m excited about having new opportuThe position has been a demanding nities; I just don’t know what those will be one, with long hours and frequent phone yet,” he said. “I’m going to treat this like gradcalls even during off hours. i uation. I still have a lot to offer.”

Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Summer 2020 39

CORPORATE PARTNERS PROGRAM PRINCIPAL PARTNERS

LEGACY PARTNERS

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Harvey W. Parker 1936-2020 Harvey Weston Parker (PhD 76), of Bellevue, Wash., died May 5, 2020.

Parker was born in Panama City, Panama, on December 23, 1936. He attended the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) graduating with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1957. He received his M.S. in Civil Engineering from Harvard in 1967 and his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a Minor in Geology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1976.

Parker made contributions to his field for more than 55 years, from his time as Chief Engineer of a U.S. Navy Destroyer, to his pioneering work on steel fiber shotcrete in 1972, to his innovative approaches to civil engineering projects. His notable projects include the Mount Baker Ridge Tunnel in Seattle, Wash. – the largest soil tunnel in the world.

Parker served as president of the International Tunneling Association & Underground Space Association (ITA) from 2004-2007. In 2019, the organization honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Parker is survived by his wife, Karen; son Neil (Diane) Parker of Tucson, Ariz., and daughter Erika (Chris) Price of Edmonds, Wash.; and four grandchildren: Ryan, Stephen, Sydney and Andrew.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his name to the University of Illinois, The Grainger College of Engineering, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, or EvergreenHealth Hospice Services.

1960s Robert N. Bruce (PhD 62) died March 21. He was 89. He spent 45 years teaching structural engineering at Tulane University, where he held the Catherine and Henry Boh Chair in Civil Engineering for 20 of those years. During his teaching career, Bruce served as a visiting faculty member at the University of Ghent, the University of Dundee, the Rangoon Institute of Technology, and the Technical University of Budapest.

John D. Mozer (MS 63) died August 23, 2019. He was 80. He taught Structural Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, then consulted for GAI Consultants in Pittsburgh for 35 years, and for DiGioia, Gray Consulting for several years.

Martin K. Payne (MS 60) died November 21, 2019. He was 84. He worked for Rust Engineering for more than 30 years.

1950s Howard Y. Fukuda (MS 55) died October 3, 2018. He was 91.

He served in the United States Army and went on to become a Structural Engineer with SSFM International.

Emory L. Kemp (BS 52) died January 20, 2020. He was 89.

As a structural engineer based in London, he worked on projects such as the construction of the roof of the Sydney Opera House. At West Virginia University, he was an associate professor of civil engineering specializing in structures and concrete.

He then served as chair of the Department of Civil Engineering. He established the program in the history of science and technology, and in 1989, the Institute for the History of Technology and Industrial Archaeology.

Raymond J. Kocol (BS 50) died June 27, 2019. He was 92. He worked for the City of Milwaukee for 33 years, where he designed structures that included water towers, bridges and the Lake Michigan bluff road leading to the North Avenue Water Tower. He served as Engineer-in-Charge of the Milwaukee waterworks, where he helped refine national standards for municipal purification, distribution and waste treatment.

John W. Witters (BS 53) died November 28, 2016.

1940s Harold Clinton (BS 43, MS 47) died December 14, 2019. He was 97.

John R. Coath (BS 49) died July 2. He was 94. He was the president of Coath and Goss Construction.

Harold R. Sandberg (BS 42, MS 47) died March 23. He was 100. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1944 and was assigned to the Civil Engineering Corps and ship repairs. In 1947, he was hired as the first employee of Alfred Benesch & Co. At age 86, he retired from the firm with 59 years of service, including 11 years as president and 21 years as chairman of the board.

IN MEMORIAM William J. Hall 1926-2020 Professor Emeritus William J. Hall, 94, died on June 9, 2020, in Urbana, Ill. Hall was born in Berkeley, Calif., on April 13, 1926, son of E. Raymond and Mary F. (Harkey) Hall. He was raised in Lafayette, Calif. After his freshman year at the University of California, Berkeley, he became a midshipman in the U.S. Merchant Marine Cadet Corps, 194445, serving mostly in the Pacific war zone, and a short period at Kings Point.

Following the war, he enrolled at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, where he received his B.S. degree in Civil Engineering in 1948. He married Elaine Frances Thalman on December 18, 1948.

During 1948-49 he worked as an engineer with the SOHIO Pipeline Company, St. Louis, Mo., and in September 1949 entered graduate school at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, majoring in Civil Engineering. He received his M.S. degree in 1951 and Ph.D. degree in 1954. Accepting a faculty position at the University of Illinois, he progressed through the ranks, becoming a Professor of Civil Engineering in 1959, and Head of the Department of Civil Engineering from 1984 to 1991. He retired as Professor Emeritus in 1993. Beginning in 1990, while he was Head, the department was ranked first nationally by U.S. News & World Report. In 1998 he was recalled to serve as Interim Director of the Research and Technology Management Office of the campus, dealing with patents, copyrights and intellectual property matters.

As an Illinois faculty member, Hall’s teaching and research centered on structural engineering and specifically structural dynamics as it relates to structural behavior under various types of loadings. Hall was highly respected in the field of earthquake engineering, both in academia and in his professional practice. He wrote more

than 200 formal publications and 150 major consulting reports.

Most rewarding to Hall was transferring his knowledge and experience to his students. During his time at the university he provided specialized advanced training to 120 of the graduate students that worked with him, including 30 who received their doctorates under his guidance. In 2004 he and Elaine established the William J. and Elaine F. Hall Endowed Professorship in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

His many major professional activities included: member of the design team for the Trans-Alaska petroleum pipeline; member of the group that upgraded provisions for earthquake resistant design in the United States; participant in development of seismic design criteria for nuclear power plants for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and service to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Among Hall’s honors were: election to the National Academy of Engineering, Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers; the Housner Award from the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute; National Honor Member of Chi Epsilon; and University of Kansas College of Engineering Distinguished Engineering Service Award. He was inaugural recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award by the University of Illinois Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association.

Hall was proud to be a World War II veteran. His participation in an Honor Flight for WWII veterans to Washington, Share your memories of Bill Hall at https://bit.ly/BillHallMemories We will publish all submissions online and a selection in the next issue of the CEE Magazine.

D.C., with his son, Jim, in 2012 was a highlight of his later years.

Hall loved spending time and taking trips with his immediate and extended family. As his children were growing up, summer vacations were spent in northern Minnesota fishing and enjoying the outdoors. Then in later years, the entire family would gather on the Monterey Peninsula, Calif., which was his and Elaine’s favorite vacation area.

Hall was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Urbana, where he was an ordained elder, trustee, and a Stephen Minister. A private graveside service will be held at a later time.

Hall is survived by his wife, Elaine, and their three children, Martha (Matt) Sigler of Dublin, Ohio; James (Melody) Hall of Thompson’s Station, Tenn.; and Carolyn (Larry) Vandendriessche of Bentleyville, Ohio; four grandchildren, Andy (Kaitlin), Laura (Tim), Helen (Josh) and Lynn (Tom); and two great-granddaughters, Olivia and Sophia. He was predeceased by his two brothers, Hubert H. Hall and Benjamin D. Hall.

Memorial contributions may be made to the William J. and Elaine F. Hall Endowment Fund in Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois Foundation, Harker Hall, 1305 W Green St, Urbana, IL, 61801, or to the First Presbyterian Church of Urbana, 602 W Green St, Urbana, IL 61801.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Summer 2020 41

AL HOLLENBECK Growing up in Glen Ellyn, Ill., Al Hollenbeck (BS 75, MS 77) was inspired by the first Earth Day, in 1970, to study civil and environmental engineering at the University of Illinois. After a 42-year career with RJN, he retired last year as President/CEO from the firm. He currently lives in Winfield, Ill. with his wife, Karen (BA 76). Here, Hollenbeck answers a few questions about his days as a student: Which CEE faculty members were most impactful?

From a learning perspective, Dr. Engelbrecht, Dr. Snoeyink and Dr. Pfeffer. All were renowned in their fields, and all took their time with undergraduates. But first and foremost, Dr. Liebman. He developed the first self-paced class in the department: CEE 241 Air and Water Quality. Developing this class was a big risk because something like that had never been done. So he took a big risk and it was very successful.

I was Dr. Liebman’s first teaching assistant and helped him develop some of the course materials. I was not always the most dedicated student, but he took a chance on me. It was a great opportunity for me and gave me a lot of responsibility. I learned an awful lot from him.

If you would like to share your University of Illinois memories for the CEE Magazine, contact Celeste Bock (celeste@illinois.edu) for details.

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What did you do outside of class?

Some of the best summers of my life were spent down here. I had a painting company with four buddies of mine and we painted several of the homes of professors in the civil engineering department. We had a great time and got to know some of the professors better, but I also learned a tremendous amount about how to run a business. Sales, cash flow, customer service, logistics, working around weather and recommendations… all those things. And that’s what I ended up doing for 25 years, running the company [RJN].

I enjoyed sports. For $50 you could play unlimited golf for the whole summer because nobody was on campus, so we would get up at dawn and go play golf, then paint houses. One of my roommates was in ROTC and I always liked to go with him on his practice flights. And we got to go to some great concerts at Assembly Hall, like Rolling Stones and Jethro Tull. I was also ASCE student chapter president, which was a great experience.

What advice would you give to current students?

Life flies by. Don’t waste a day.

Photo: Punit Singhvi

ASPHALT CONCRETE BROWNIE WITH HOT ASPHALT FUDGE

With this photo, alumnus and current Ph.D. student Punit Singhvi (MS 16) won third place in the Image of Research photo competition presented by the Graduate College each year. He offers this description: Highways to driveways, airports to parking lots, we are all surrounded by asphalt pavements. Ideally, we wish for smooth rides, however, with every year we experience an increase in potholes and cracking in our asphalt roads, right? United States’ roadway infrastructure is aging and has a backlog of $420 billion in repairs of our existing highways. Addressing these challenges and improving pavement conditions economically motivates me to de-

sign and develop asphalt materials that last long. Asphalt concrete is a mixture, primarily composed of asphalt binder and crushed aggregates. It also incorporates fibers and other additives to enhance its performance. Design of asphalt concrete is like a recipe, unique for every geographical location, traffic, drainage and available materials. It requires the right proportion of each of its ingredients (binder, aggregates, modifiers) to

ensure the highest performance. The image reflects an asphalt concrete brownie topped with asphalt binder, sprinkle of yellow sulfur pellets and white Sasobit (additive), garnish of polymer fibers on the top and hint of bio-based oil (modifier). The image is an abstract depiction of how asphalt concrete can be made with perfection by choosing the right ingredients, to overcome the poor pavement conditions.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Summer 2020 43

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering The Grainger College of Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory MC-250 205 North Mathews Avenue Urbana, Illinois 61801

Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 75 Champaign, IL 61820