2022 CEIE Annual Report

On the cover: The EFID team cools off in the community waterfall after installing drinking water piping. Back row left to right: Matt Doyle EFID director, Fernando Rodriguez (CEIE ’25). Front row left to right: Musanna Nasher, (CEIE ’23), Ingrid Davis-Colato EFID advisor, Eliana Miller (ME ’24), and Aya Zabara (CEIE ’23).

Dear alumni and friends,

With the start of 2023, we reflect on the accomplishments of our students, staff, and faculty. Several highlights appear on the following pages.

We are grateful to Sam Salem, former department chair, who led us through the challenges of 2022 in returning to in-person learning and helping us to forge new paths forward in uncertain times. The start of the new year brings excitement about the future. The Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering (CEIE) is looking forward to launching several new initiatives.

The outcomes of a series of ongoing faculty visioning sessions will guide these initiatives. They involve civil engineering education, outreach, and the identification of niche research areas. In our sessions, we recognize a world with many challenges but a wave of technological changes that enable a future advanced by increasingly intelligent civil infrastructure and infrastructure systems.

We acknowledge that incoming STEM students are more well versed in technology than we, as faculty, were when we were students. We recognize that they crave a more computer and data science-based engineering education.

Also, coming this year is a distinguished speaker series gratefully supported by our Civil Engineering Institute (CEI) and additional efforts to celebrate the life of Sid Dewberry. Sid’s passing in 2022 leaves us with a deep void but his memory moves us forward.

With my added role as Interim Department Chair, I am excited to work with our faculty and partners to co-develop this vision for The Future of Civil Engineering at Mason.

Sincerely,

Elise Miller-Hooks, PhD, Professor and Interim Department Chair

Bill and Eleanor Hazel Endowed Chair in Infrastructure Engineering

Dear members and friends,

As the pandemic restrictions have lifted, it has been great to be out and about meeting in person once again. So, with gratitude, I would like to welcome students, faculty, and industry partners to the George Mason University Civil Engineering Institute. We are a group of civil engineering and construction industry partners who are invested in the next generation We have the privilege of working with Mason faculty to advise on the programs and investments most needed to support our future civil engineering workforce.

In my over ten years on the CEI board of directors, I have taught two classes as an adjunct professor, mentored and coached students, been a guest lecturer, helped raise funds for a soils and materials lab, supported ABET accreditation work, provided input on student curriculum, raised funds for student scholarships, awarded funds to civil engineering student organizations, and learned so much from partners in the organization I serve. This is the type of meaningful engagement that allows me to give back to the industry I love and value.

At this year’s luncheon, we honor Jamie Bain Hedges for her exemplary work in the industry. Jamie is the General Manager of Fairfax Water and has served Fairfax and its citizens for more than 30 years. Before becoming General Manager, she was Director of Planning and Engineering. She has had numerous key roles in strategic initiatives at Fairfax Water.

Whether you are a recent graduate or a retired civil engineer, we need your help. If you are interested in supporting or joining the Civil Engineering Institute, please contact us. We would be happy to answer your questions and discuss how you can make a positive contribution to the future civil engineering workforce. I hope you enjoy reading this report and learning more about our efforts.

Sincerely,

Terry A. Suehr, PE, PMP, DBIA Chair, Civil Engineering Institute Board of Directors

LETTER FROM THE CIVIL ENGINEERING INSTITUTE CHAIR

LETTER

2022 Student Notable Achievements

CEIE students take on challenges in and out of the classroom. They build bridges for hikers in forests and develop tools to forecast coastal flood hazards. Their novel approaches to engineering problems have won wide recognition.

 Sandarva Sharma won one of the department’s 2022 Outstanding GTA awards. He completed his BSc in Civil Engineering from Nepal Engineering College in 2013. He practiced civil engineering in earthquake-damaged areas of Nepal as an infrastructure engineer working on rehabilitation and reconstruction. In 2018, he completed his MSc in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Idaho, Moscow. He graduated in December 2022 with a PhD in Civil and Infrastructure Engineering.

 Immanuel John Samuel won the other 2022 Outstanding GTA award. He is a PhD candidate, and his research focuses on Infrastructure Asset Management by proposing a framework to collect less subjective asset condition information that will be used to manage assets effectively. He is using modern technologies and techniques like Building Information Management (BIM), Augmented Reality (AR), and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) for his research.

 Adriana Valentina Farias, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering and a Presidential Scholar at George Mason University, was selected for the 2022 WTS-DC scholarship. WTS stands for Women’s Transportation Seminar, an international organization with more than 6500 members (including women and men) and 79 chapters. This merit-based scholarship is part of WTS’s effort to shape the future of transportation for the public good through the global advancement of women. Valentina, whose research focuses on the efficiency, equity, and sustainability of express toll roads in the context of a multimodal transportation network, is among the few scholarship recipients and was recognized during the WTS-DC annual holiday event in December.

 The Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) student chapter team won the 2022 CMAA National Capital Chapter student competition. The scope of the competition was to showcase their school’s architecture/engineering/ construction program with a written presentation. In other words, “Why George Mason?” Mason’s student team consisted of Ryah Nadjafi, Kheira Bekkadja, Sofia da Silva, and Seif Ali.

 Mehrdad Ghyabi, PhD candidate, was named UTC CIAMTIS (Center for Integrated Asset Management for Multimodal Transportation Infrastructure Systems) student of the year. His work on vision-based measurements to quantify bridge deformations was featured at a special banquet during the Transportation Review Board annual meeting in 2023.

 Soelem Aafnan Bhuiyan, PhD candidate, was awarded an Institute for Digital InnovAtion predoctoral fellowship for his work on developing a data assimilation technique to improve the monitoring and forecasting of coastal hazards.

 Mason’s Engineers for International Development (EfID) team was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the U.S. Forest Service for their work on the Shawl Gap Trail Bridge. Working as Forest Service volunteers, the Mason engineering students took the lead on planning and designing the bridge with assistance from Forest Service engineering staff and the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. g

Valentina (first from the right) with other WTS-DC Scholarship recipients recognized at the annual WTS-DC Holiday Party in December 2022.

Students at George Mason University’s College of Engineering and Computing are dedicated to their fields, hardworking, and goal-oriented. That kind of work ethic and enthusiasm likewise exists within the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) – Mason chapter. This year, two Mason ASCE teams won first place in the Region 2 Mid-Atlantic West Symposium competitions for their steel bridge and sustainable solutions projects. The newly formed surveying team placed second.

“It’s the practical side. We provide students with the resources and support to develop them professionally, help them progress well towards their career, gain skills to be able to find a job, to speak about themselves, and build on their soft skills,” says Doaa Bondok, faculty advisor for ASCE and assistant professor in the department.

1STEEL BRIDGE TEAM

Seif Ali, leader of the steel bridge team, says his goal from day one was for his team to win nationals.

“I just wanted to make sure that everyone understands that we’re not just here to compete but to learn,” Ali says. He joined the Mason chapter of ASCE in the fall and immediately signed up for the open leadership spot on the steel bridge team, becoming the leader in October. He notes there were few opportunities to join student organizations during the pandemic, and joining this organization provided a chance to try something different.

Ali’s team built a bridge with plates and members, using the fabrication method to weld and join metal parts to create the bridge. A local engineering firm, Nasir and Associates, provided supplies and gave the team valuable experience-based recommendations.

Mason Scores Sustainable Wins

2 SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS TEAM

The cancellation of his former team landed Nicholo Gadiana in the leadership role of the sustainable solutions team. “I built the team three months before the competition,” Nicholo says. Faced with time constraints and deadlines, Gadiana ensured his team followed the rules in building their project. He says the hardest part of leading his team was maintaining communication between members and finding meeting locations.

This year’s sustainable solutions competition theme was the “Tiny House Challenge.” Gadiana’s team had to create a model of 10 sustainable tiny homes, each containing a loft bed, bathroom, kitchen, and living and dining area. The competition rules also required the houses to be 400 square feet each, and all fit on 1.07 acres of land. The team used 3D modeling software to sketch and design the house layouts. For the sustainable part of the project, the plans included a rainwater soil system, which absorbs the water and lessens the need for managing rainfall runoff.

3

SURVEYING COMPETITION TEAM

Another award from the ASCE Region 2 MidAtlantic West Symposium went to Mason’s surveying competition team, who won second place in their competition. Team members were Nikolas Hawley (Survey Party Chief), Christian Harar (Assistant Survey Party Chief), Kai Barner (Survey TechnicianInstrument Man), Margaret Freeman (Survey Technician-Chain Man), and Siddarth Achar (Survey Technician-Rod Man). g

Mason’s Steel Bridge team welds and joins metal parts to create their bridge.

China Brown’s Advice for Building a Strong Future? Take Your Time

Civil engineering student China Brown says being an engineer isn’t about knowing all the math and physics in the world.

“Being an engineer is coming together with men and women of all backgrounds, experiences, and diversities to share our ideas, to inspire each other as a team, to better our society,” says Brown.

After graduation she plans to start full time at Shirley Construction. Brown has had a professional vocation since childhood, when her favorite TV show was Bob the Builder.

“I was always hands-on...I’d want to build stuff. I wore a little hard hat,” she says. But even with a clear vision of what she wanted, Brown faced significant challenges on her way to becoming an engineer.

“I came from a single-parent household,” she explains. “We do not have the best financial circumstances, but I came to Mason to pursue my lifelong dream and finally can represent as a firstgeneration [college graduate], African American, woman civil engineer.”

Brown started at George Mason University in 2017 amidst a massive personal challenge that resulted in a sexual assault court case scheduled on her birthday, December 8 — coinciding with her first spate of final exams. In addition, test anxiety led Brown to Mason’s disability services; after filing paperwork, she was able to find a testing environment that worked for her. She credits the support of her family, friends, coworkers, and professors for helping her reach her goals as a student, noting especially that her mother and sister’s support allowed her to study, travel, and participate in enriching extracurricular activities.

Brown’s enthusiasm for her work affirms her pursuit of engineering. When it comes to the job hunt, Brown advises fellow engineering students, “Don’t only focus on the amount of money you want to receive from a company, but choose a place that will respect you and what you bring to the company. Go somewhere that you are comfortable and that will allow you to grow and enhance your educational opportunities.”

“Shirley [Construction] gave me a chance at an internship...even though I didn’t have the greatest GPA,” she says. “Being there in the field and…asking questions…helped [me] so much [to] understand what it is to be an engineer.”

When asked what advice she had for prospective Mason engineering students, Brown emphasized the importance of patience and balance: “You don’t have to be perfect, and your timing is your own. I started in 2017, and I’m graduating now, about five years [later].”

Brown also stresses the importance of persevering through difficult schoolwork: “Don’t be hard on yourself. Sometimes things may not come to you as easily as to others, but that doesn’t mean you are not capable of being successful.”

In a few years, Brown plans to return to Mason for a business degree and ultimately open her own residential building company. Someday she may be hiring Mason interns of her own! g

After graduating, China Brown will be a civil engineer at Shirley Construction. Inset: Brown as a young girl.

I was always hands-on...I’d want to build stuff. I wore a little hard hat.

Benjamin Atsem Wins Prestigious Fellowship, Again

George Mason University doctoral candidate

Benjamin Atsem’s passion is to make an impact in transportation engineering. His drive has led him to win the U.S. Department of Transportation Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program award not once, but twice

“When you have a passion to do something, you put in all your best to reflect in your work quality and commitment,” says Atsem, who won the fellowship award for the first time in 2018. “I feel humbled by the award, which challenges me to work harder than before.”

Through the fellowship award, Atsem received a grant of $35,500 towards completing his dissertation work. His research focuses on environmental justice and economic equity issues regarding emerging modes of transportation, such as micromobility, which includes lightweight and smaller vehicles, bicycles, and scooters.

Atsem works closely with Professor Mohan Venigalla in George Mason’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering.

“I feel proud working with Professor Venigalla through my research to make sure bikeshare and scooter share systems have equal spread and access in all major urbanized communities, especially in underserved communities,” says Atsem. “Receiving this [award] has given me the launch pad to succeed in my educational and professional career.”

The Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program awards students pursuing degrees in transportation-related disciplines. The program aims to attract and retain the nation’s brightest minds to the field of transportation, particularly encouraging future transportation professionals to seek advanced degrees.

The Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program Grant is the highest honor I have received in my entire academic life,” says Atsem. “I thank Professor Venigalla for his unwavering support without which this would not have been possible. This grant fellowship has encouraged me to work harder and learn more and appreciate how valuable it is to work with top researchers at Mason and other industry players. g

Atsem’s research focuses on micromobility of bikes and scooters.

PhD student Benjamin Atsem is a two-time award winner of the U.S. Department of Transportation Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program.

In the remote hamlet of San Pablo de Amali in Ecuador, access to clean water is challenging due to various political and environmental issues. Without this vital access, the rural community’s farming and everyday life are under threat of drying up.

But with the help of Engineers for International Development at George Mason (EfID-GMU), a water distribution project is in place for San Pablo de Amali residents to get the water they need.

“With COVID-19 it was difficult to travel to Ecuador during 2020 and 2021,” says civil engineering student Camille Fulton, president of EfID-GMU. “In 2023 we have plans to return to San Pablo de Amali for phase three of the water distribution project.”

The EfID-GMU group has a great connection with the San Pablo de Amali community, which has about 200 people, according to Fulton. In preparation for travel, the group will work to buy and secure the necessary equipment and take stock of any vaccines or travel documents they may require as well as any travel restrictions they may face.

During their weeklong stay, the group will focus on meeting with the community and local water board, doing water pressure checks within homes, conducting safe water information sessions for the community, and gathering general data to see what needs to be done for their next trip during the summer.

Project Continues to Confront Clean Water Challenge in Ecuador

“The community understandably does not have a positive view of their water system and we hope to change and fix that,” says Fulton.

Her interest in EfID-GMU started back when she first joined Mason. She was immediately interested in the work EfID does and likened it to Doctors Without Borders, except with engineers.

“I am immensely proud of the club’s involvement,” she says. “Although we haven’t been able to provide students with international development work in the past couple years due to COVID-19, I’m happy everyone is coming back and ready to go this year.”

Mason engineering professor Mathew Doyle oversees the water sustainability project. EfID-GMU exists for students to participate in community-driven development programs worldwide through the design and implementation of sustainable engineering projects while fostering responsible leadership. g

Mechanical engineering student, Eliana Miller collects a water sample from the San Pablo River to be tested for bacteria and turbidity. Inset: EfID team poses for a photo near San Pablo River.

PhD Students Get Their Feet Wet in SMAPVEX 2022 Field Campaign

Most folks with indoor plants may simply touch the soil to see how dry or wet it is. But measuring soil moisture on a larger scale is a crucial process that can detect drought, unlikely weather patterns, ideal planting times, and forest fires.

NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission is an orbiting observatory (including several satellites) measuring the amount of water on soil surfaces.

George Mason doctoral students Soelem Bhuiyan and Ishrat Dollan participated in the SMAPVEX 2022 summer field campaign to measure soil moisture under forest canopies.

“SMAPVEX22 was designed to collect validation samples of soil moisture,” says Dollan. “The samples will help us better understand SMAP’s soil moisture retrieval capability.”

The field campaign occurred in Millbrook, New York, and Harvard Forest, Massachusetts. Bhuiyam and Dollan were part of the Millbrook team and spent most of their time collecting soil samples for data analysis on the forest floor.

Previously a water resources engineering undergraduate, Dollan was curious about the changing hydrological cycle.

“It is critical to accurately estimate each cycle element and comprehend the uncertainties,” she says. “I am grateful to have been assigned to a team of dedicated and energetic individuals to collect massive amounts of data that will help in answering science questions in the coming years.”

A typical day started around 5 a.m., as the field campaign group prepared to foray into the forest. Armed with testing supplies, water, food, and backpacks, the group collected the first sample around 6 a.m. before moving on to other selected locations in the forest, collecting samples along the way.

It was challenging physical work, according to Bhuiyan, but a fulfilling professional and personal experience.

“It was great to see the measure of intricate detail that goes into satellite measurement and meet students from across the U.S.,” he says. “We had a chance to do happy hours and explore the Millbrook area on our own after the day’s work.”

He advises students to grab any kind of field campaign experience they can. Even if it’s not directly related to their field of study, the effort and participation will pay off.

“Whatever experiences like this you can get will help you professionally, especially with getting to know new people, networking, and building relationships,” he says. “Get out there and get going!” g

SMAPVEX22’s team in Millbrook, New York.

For as long as she can remember, Dayana Cespedes-Mendoza has had an interest in architecture.

“Whenever my family would go on drives, I’d look at different houses, buildings, and bridges, just to admire them,” she says. “I was always intrigued with how those things were built.”

Add her skills in math and physics, and the incoming freshman at George Mason University says she could not imagine majoring in anything other than civil, environmental, and infrastructure engineering — especially considering her goal of building houses for her mother and father in their home countries of Peru and Bolivia, respectively.

“If I become a civil engineer or an architect, I can do that,” Cespedes-Mendoza says.

Cespedes-Mendoza has been familiar with Mason for more than five years through her participation in Mason’s Early Identification Program (EIP) for firstgeneration college-bound students. Her mother urged Cespedes-Mendoza to join the program as an eighth grader at Williamsburg Middle School in Arlington, Virginia.

“Thanks to EIP, I had a smoother process when it came to college applications,” says Cespedes-

This First-generation Student Plans to Give Back in a Unique Way

Mendoza, who is a member of Mason’s Honors College and a University Scholar. “The program has helped me with things that my parents wouldn’t have known, so I’m extremely grateful.”

Keiry Chicas, an academic success coach and senior transition specialist for EIP, praised CespedesMendoza’s hard work and dedication. The EIP supports more than 700 Mason students annually.

“Since the first day I met her, she was always attentive and persistent with her work, which has allowed her to keep moving beyond what is expected,” Chicas says. “I can’t wait to see what the future holds for her.”

In high school, Cespedes-Mendoza completed an internship with a house remodeling company in Arlington.

“I got to go onto an actual house site and talk to the workers, and they would teach me what they were doing,” she says. “This opportunity allowed me to have more insight into construction and the environment it holds.”

Her father, who works in construction, also taught her how to fix things around the house while growing up, she says. “I loved to help him out.” g

Dayana Cespedes-Mendoza in her cap and gown.

2022 Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Graduates

FALL 2022

Bachelor of Science

Tozhar A. Ahmed

Seif Yasser Ali

Shady W. Attalla

Maram Ayasou

Joshua Baca

China Nicole Brown

Fabricio Efrain Campoverde Pacheco

Gerald Bernard Cope Jr.

Todd Curtis

Sofia Valentina Da Silva Marin

Lucas Dantas Mendonca

Miraj K. Devani

Beverly A. Duran

Isaiah R. Epps

Hannah N. Goldberg

Christian Harar

Alissa Hill

Handan Karaman

Julian N. Klein

Frank Lackey

Imranul Maruf

Philipus Gerson Monim

Jhois E. Moya

Blake Anthony Newberry

Oscar Park

Bryan Pierola

Andres Ramirez Meneses

Woods Rogers Raynor

Nasima Sadr

Rodrigo W. Salas Hidalgo

Gurfateh Singh

Trajan G. Smeeth

Nicolas Matthew Morales Tenorio

Sudarshan Thapa

Anthony Christopher Vecchio

Kelly C. Watson

John Phillip Wingard III

Darius Zorin

Master of Science

Siva Pirashaanth Arunachalam

Sivakumar

Monica Paulina Benavides

Frank Hupp Cook

Moises Fabricio Koodsi-Sotelo

Mustafa Mahmoodzada

Sai Yaswitha Reddy Meruva

Allan Justine Rowley

Sijan Shrestha

Yurii Stets

Doctor of Philosophy

Gustavo de Almeida Coelho

Pouya Gholizadeh

Sandarva Murti Sharma

Richard Weisman

SPRING 2022

Bachelor of Science

Majd Abo Daher

Rob Aboulmouna

Joshua Abreu

Sabbir Ahmed

Ibraheem Al Ani

Mahammad Aliyev

Maeen Aljaieed

Amro Aljamal

Mikah Betterton

Charles Cunningham

Taylor Dadig

Lindsey Davis

Joseph Dombroski

Jonathan Dries

Amjad El Tahir

Madonna Gadelseed

Aldana Garcia

Jonathan Garcia-Ramos

Ivan Gonzales-Maguina

Justin Graziani

Nader Hamad

Caleb Hanneman

Britton Helou

Jayden Henson

Sarah Jonuzaj

Michael King

Sloan Lafroth

Abdulrahman Leila

Shaheer Malik

Andrew Manzilla

Ahmad Masjidi

Alexander Miller

Philipus Monim

Omar Moussa

Yossma Nasir

Noah Parquette

Jean Polo

Kevin Reyes Salinas

Matthew Ritzo

Sundeep Ruprai

Usman Samim

Jason Sanchez-Navarrete

Hyung Chan Seo

Rahul Sharma

Rachel Smith

Zainab Syed

Meron Tariku

Marjorie Trinidad

John Tsaousis

Josh Umbrell

Angelo Valdez

Audrey Weisberg

William Zach

Ziya Zulfugarov

Master of Science

Bereket Workalemahu Demissie

Dylan James Nixon

Elias Eid

Himal Chand

Jirius S Abdallah

John Joseph Keenan

Lucius Kyollo

Moh Walid Wahidi

Rachel Katherine Meacham

Rifki Alfrianto

Taylor Redmond Carroll

Yonatan Sahle Sisay

Yusef M Abughannam

Doctor of Philosophy

Olugbemi Mosunmola Aroke

William Christopher Graves

Mostafa Tajic Hesarkuchak

Jeremy Johnston

GRADUATES

SPRING

Collaborative Study: More Than Skin Deep

Law enforcement and legal professionals often rely on the accuracy and interpretation of injury documentation to inform their decisions; however, current bruise assessments provide little reliable data.

Researchers in Mason’s College of Public Health and the College of Engineering and Computing received a $988,559 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, for a three-year study pairing forensic bruise analysis with machine learning.

“Image analysis using deep learning, which is a subdomain of machine learning, demonstrates significant benefits in accuracy and reliability within health care, yet few studies have applied these techniques to the forensic analysis of injuries,” says Associate Professor in the College of Public Health, Katherine Scafide, a forensic nurse and the principal investigator.

The study seeks to use deep learning to help improve our understanding of how bruises appear over time on diverse skin tones. The results will broadly affect forensic clinical practice, criminal justice response, and future research.

Associate Professor David Lattanzi brings to the research team his expertise in using deep machine learning and image analysis to track damage to civil infrastructure. “It’s exciting to take what we’ve learned from analyzing damage to infrastructure and apply it in a way that deepens the societal impact of our work,” says Lattanzi.

“This project would not exist without Dave,” says Scafide. He brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in artificial intelligence when it comes to analyzing images. It’s fairly groundbreaking. It’s a massive component of this particular project, and he is leading that effort.”

The team will develop a new, quantitative approach to identify the age of a bruise using deep learning models while determining its reliability and accuracy. Additionally, the team will develop a secure, searchable platform to store digital bruise images providing a comprehensive look at the healing process across diverse skin tones. The platform will integrate deep learning modeling and support future research and collaboration within the forensic science community.

“There is great potential for machine learning to support and improve forensic nursing techniques and reporting. Machine learning helps solve complex problems, and in forensic nursing, it can aid in the understanding of bruise tones over time,” says Director of the Machine Learning and Inference Laboratory Janusz Wojtusiak

“This new grant from the Justice Department exemplifies how we were able to turn a multidisciplinary and collaborative research-learning experience for undergraduates into a federally-funded and impactful research project that can benefit the health and wellbeing of vulnerable populations,” says Scafide. g

School of Nursing Associate Professor Katherine Scafide, Director of the Machine Learning and Inference Laboratory Janusz Wojtusiak, and Associate Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering David Lattanzi are continuing their work on forensic bruise analysis on diverse skin tones with this grant.

Associate Professor Girum Urgessa began studying what happens when things explode as a graduate student at the University of New Mexico. He says his line of research is one of the coolest things around and jokes that it was great fun to take things out to the desert and blow them up. Of course, exploding buildings and bridges in real time is costly and disruptive to the environment, so mathematical modeling is a valuable substitute.

Since coming to Mason, Urgessa has moved from studying air blasts to examining underwater explosions. He is now part of an interdisciplinary team looking at these explosions and their effects on civil engineering infrastructure (specifically bridge piers) with the support of a $1.5 million grant from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

“There is a demand for experts capable of conducting blast-structure interactions and structural integrity assessments. At Mason, we continue to mentor exceptional post-doctoral research scholars and graduate students needed to address these complex physics and engineering problems,” he says.

Lingquan Li, a postdoctoral research fellow, works alongside Urgessa, Rainald Löhner of the College of Science, PhD student Facundo Airaudo, and master’s student Jacob Sanders are also on the team. Urgessa and Löhner are the co-principal investigators on the project.

DoD Funds Mason Research on Underwater Explosions

“The sophisticated phenomenon in underwater explosions is important for government agencies interested in protective design,” says Li, who specializes in computational fluid dynamics and mathematics.

The team ran more than 100 test cases to study the structural response and damage due to explosions. The resulting pressures and flow fields for different explosive yields and standoff distances are provided to the Department of Defense.

“[Girum] took more the structural part on it, and Lingquan and I did more the fluid part,” says Löhner, director of Mason’s Center for Computational Fluid Dynamics, where the team conducts these experiments. “So, we did the explosion in the water, and he did what happens when the shock wave hits the structure and how the structure [reacts].”

“We not only developed new numerical methods and new algorithms in order to compute these explosions, but we also delivered more than 120 results for different geometries, different loads, and different standoff distances,” says Löhner. “It has been extremely successful.” g

Front row: Lingquan Li, Facudo Airaudo. Back row: Rainald Löhner, Girum Urgessa. Missing: Jacob Sanders.

2022 Faculty Notable Achievements

Our faculty are known for their contributions to the changing landscape of education, innovation, and leadership.

 George Mason University President Gregory Washington announced the recipients of the 2022 Presidential Awards for Faculty Excellence, honoring nine Mason faculty members for their work on behalf of the university, students, and the broader community. Girum Urgessa, associate professor, won the John Toups Presidential Medal for Faculty Excellence in Teaching. Urgessa came to Mason in 2007 tasked with developing a curriculum in structural engineering, directing the program, teaching most of the classes in it, and promoting its enrollment growth. He has developed a passionate following among CEIE students, who describe him as a clear, stimulating, engaging instructor who takes time to know them as individuals. He has also made a point of involving both graduate and undergraduate students in his own research projects and has co-authored publications with many of them. He received the Professor of the Year award from Mason’s Student Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (2008), the University Teaching Excellence Award (2015),

By the Numbers

and the Chi Epsilon Cumberland District James M. Robbins Excellence in Teaching Award (2020). He wrote two textbooks on licensure preparation, has presented scholarship on the lack of diversity among faculty in his field, taught curriculum development to faculty abroad, and is supporting efforts to advance the role of diversity, equity and inclusion in workforce development in structural engineering. He received $10,000 toward his research efforts.

 Researchers in Mason’s College of Health and Human Services and College of Engineering and Computing received a $988,559 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, for a three-year study pairing forensic bruise analysis with machine learning. David Lattanzi, associate professor, brings his expertise using deep machine learning and image analysis to track damage to civil infrastructure to the research team.

 Burak Tanyu, associate professor, was voted into the Director of Academic Outreach position on the ASCE National Capital GeoInstitute Board. The Geo-Institute (G-I) is a membership organization focused on geoprofessionals and the geo-industry. It was created by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as a specialty institute. g

100% increase

in out-of-state MS students compared to 2021

17% increase

in underrepresented minority student population in the CEIE undergraduate program compared to 2021

27% of the CEIE

undergraduate population are first-generation college students

94% retention

rate of transfer students

17% increase

in civil engineering degrees awarded compared to 2021

Full-time Faculty Adjunct Faculty

Our faculty members — who combine practical experience with in-depth scholarly studies — instruct students, guide them, and make them partners in advanced research projects.

David Binning, PE, Instructor/ Director, Assessment and Accreditation. MS, University of Delaware. Expertise: water resources engineering.

Doaa Bondok, Assistant Professor. PhD, University of MissouriColumbia. Expertise: structural engineering.

Celso Ferreira, PE, Associate Professor. PhD, Texas A&M University. Expertise: water resources and coastal engineering; storm surge inundation prediction; geographic information systems.

Kirin Furst, Assistant Professor. PhD, Stanford University. Expertise: environmental chemistry; water quality engineering; human exposure analysis.

Lucas Henneman, Assistant Professor. PhD, Georgia Tech. Expertise: air pollution modeling; health effects of air quality interventions; environmental policy.

Wenying Ji, Assistant Professor. PhD, University of Alberta. Expertise: construction engineering; construction simulation.

Laura Kosoglu, Associate Department Chair and Associate Professor. PhD, Virginia Tech. Expertise: geotechnical engineering.

David Lattanzi, PE, Associate Professor. PhD, University of Washington. Expertise: structural engineering; structural health monitoring; computer vision.

Viviana Maggioni, Associate Professor. PhD, University of Connecticut. Expertise: environmental engineering; remote sensing; hydrometeorology.

Elise Miller-Hooks, Professor, Bill and Eleanor Hazel Chair in Infrastructure Engineering. PhD, University of TexasAustin. Expertise: transportation engineering; civil infrastructure systems; stochastic and dynamic network algorithms.

Sam Salem, PE, Professor, CPC, LEED AP. PhD, University of Alberta. Expertise: construction engineering; lean and green construction; life cycle analysis.

Burak Tanyu, Associate Professor. PhD, University of WisconsinMadison. Expertise: geotechnical engineering; engineering geology; geo-environmental engineering.

Kuo Tian, Assistant Professor. PhD, University of WisconsinMadison. Expertise: geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering.

Girum Urgessa, PE, FASCE, Associate Professor. PhD, University of New Mexico. Expertise: structural engineering; computational mechanics; composite materials.

Mohan Venigalla, PE, FASCE, Professor. PhD, University of Tennessee. Expertise: transportation engineering; transportation planning; transportation air quality.

Ken Walsh, Vice President and Chief of Staff. PhD, Arizona State University. Expertise: construction engineering and management.

Shanjiang Zhu, Associate Professor. PhD, University of Minnesota. Expertise: transportation engineering; transportation economics; route choice and optimization.

We recognize and thank the following professionals for their assistance to the department as practitioner adjunct faculty.

Asma Ali, PE, T3 Design Corporation

Rich Benton, PE, SR Benton & Associates, LLC

Barbara Chastel de Boinville

Cerasela Cristei, PhD, PE, EXP U.S. Services

Matthew Doyle, PE, Fairfax County Dept. of Public Works & Environmental Services

Rafic El-Helou, PhD, FHWA, Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center

Amr El-Sayed, PhD, EIT, Lane Construction

Alex Faghri, PhD, Virginia Department of Transportation

Erol Guler, PhD, Visiting Scholar, Bogazici University

Zach Haber, PhD, FHWA TurnerFairbank Highway Research Center

Shahin Hajilar, PhD, PE, Stantec

Matthew Hardy, PhD, AASHTO

Joseph Hartmann, PhD, PE, Federal Highway Administration

Sean Kennedy, PE, Kennedy Structural Engineers, PLLC

Kaustubh Khanvilkar, PE, Parsons

Richard Lindenberg, PE, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.

Michael Loulakis, Esq, Capital Project Strategies

Joe D. Manous, PhD, PE, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Christopher Reseigh, PE, Consultant (Ret Parsons Brinckerhoff)

Harold Rodriguez, PE, William H. Gordon & Associates

Sajjad Roudsari, PhD, Forensics Company

Joseph Schroedel, PhD, PE, Society of American Military Engineers

Velmurugan (Vel) Subramanian, PhD, PE, Atkins

Eric Teitelman, PE, Fairfax County Department of Transportation

Richard Thoesen, PE, City of Fairfax

Tuonglinh (Linh) Warren, PE, Federal Highway Administration

Chris Woods, PE, Densification, Inc.

Mohamed Younis, PE, Aldea Services, LLC

CEI Board of Directors and Members

The Civil Engineering Institute (CEI) Board of Directors meets regularly to conduct its business, interact with the department, and report on committee activity. Directors are elected by the CEI membership and serve three-year staggered terms. The board elects its officers from among its ranks.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Chair: Terry Suehr, PE, PMP, DBIA

— City of Alexandria

Vice Chair: George Guszca, CCM

— Michael Baker International

Treasurer: Brian Chromey, PE — WSSI

Executive Director: Elise MillerHooks, PhD — George Mason University

TERM EXPIRING DECEMBER

2025 (Proposed)

Cerasela Cristei, PhD, PE — EXP U.S. Services

George Guszcza, CCM — Michael Baker International

Hardeep Rana, PE — Washington Gas (Ret)

Terry Suehr, PE — City of Alexandria

Cathy Trent, PE — Washington Gas

Carmen Bere, PE — Dewberry

Ingrid Davis-Colato — Michael Baker International

John F. Roddy — William A. Hazel Incorporated

TERM EXPIRING DECEMBER 2024

S. Richard Benton, PE, FASCE, DBIA — SR Benton & Associates LLC

Helman Castro, PE — Fairfax County

Jamie Bain Hedges, PE — Fairfax Water

Michael E. Post — Shirley Contracting Company LLC

Christopher Reseigh, PE — WSP (Ret)

Doug Kennedy — Pennoni

TERM EXPIRING DECEMBER 2023

Brian Chromey, PE — Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc.

Lieutenant General Henry Hatch, PE, USA (Ret)

Bill Haight, PhD, PE — WSP

Joe Manous, PE — USACE

Kurt Thompson, PE — Dewberry

Kelsey Ryan, PE — Gordon

Gilberto Rosado, PE, ENV SP — Alpha Corporation

EMERITUS MEMBERS

Michael S. Bronzini, PE

Charlie C. Crowder Jr.

Sidney O. Dewberry, PE, LS

William Fry, PE

H.S. Hulme Jr., PE

CEIE FACULTY EX OFFICIO

David Binning, PE

Doaa Bondok

Celso Ferreira, PE

Kirin Furst

Lucas Henneman

Wenying Ji

Laura Kosoglu

David Lattanzi, PE

Viviana Maggioni

Elise Miller-Hooks

Burak Tanyu

Kuo Tian

Girum Urgessa, PE

Mohan Venigalla, PE

Ken Walsh

Shanjiang Zhu

MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS AND REPRESENTATIVES

Alpha Corporation –– Lara Hegler

Balfour Beatty Construction — David Laib

BL Halbert International ––Daniel Hogan

Bowman — Brad Gladfelter

City of Alexandria — Terry Suehr

Dewberry — Kurt Thompson

ECS Mid-Atlantic, LLC –– Melissa McGarry

EXP U.S. Services — Cerasela

Cristei

Fairfax County — Helman Castro

Fairfax Water — Jamie Bain Hedges

Gordon –– Kelsey Ryan

Michael Baker International —

George Guszcza

Pennoni — Douglas Kennedy

Shirley Contracting Company, LLC

–– Michael E. Post

Tri-tek, Inc. –– Kevin Murray

Washington Gas — Cathy Trent

Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc.

— Brian Chromey

William A. Hazel Inc. — John

Roddy

WSP — Bill Haight

INDIVIDUALS

Richard Benton, PE, FASCE, DBIA

Abdul Hammadi, PE

Hank Hatch, PE

Stephen D. Lisse, PE

Joe Manous, PE

Hardeep Rana, PE

Christopher Reseigh, PE

Joseph Schroedel, BG, PE, FSAME, USA (Ret)

Joseph Vilseck, PE

Donors Make it Possible

LUNCHEON HISTORY AND PREVIOUS AWARDEES

The CEI Luncheon serves as the institute’s annual meeting and award ceremony. The valuable work that Mason and our partners produce across disciplines to reimagine tomorrow is fueled by the generous contributions of gracious donors.

The CEI is a nonprofit organization chartered in 1989, with the purpose of assisting the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering program of George Mason University. The objectives of the CEI include:

• Advising on curricula changes to keep the program on the leading edge of the professional practice;

• Providing a liaison with the business community for teaching and advising;

• Assisting in internship and co–op placement for students;

• Assisting in securing nationally recognized faculty by raising private eminent scholars’ endowments;

• Fundraising for scholarships, student activity support, and academic program assistance to supplement that which is provided by the university.

By participating in a variety of CEI activities — academic, leadership, educational, and social — companies and individuals become integrated into the most quickly advancing civil engineering program in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:

In recognition of Exceptional Leadership, Outstanding Lifetime Achievement, and Significant Contribution to the Profession of Civil Engineering

2006 – Carl Strock, Chief of Engineers, Lt. Gen. US Army (Ret)

2007 – Patricia D. Galloway, PhD, president, American Society of Civil Engineers (Ret)

2008 – The Hon. Thomas Rust, Virginia delegate and chairman of Patton, Harris, Rust, and Associates

2009 – Sidney O. Dewberry, founder and chairman of the Dewberry Companies

2010 – Henry J. Hatch, chief of engineers, Lt. Gen. US Army (Ret)

2011 – Joseph Hartman, PhD, bridge and tunnel team leader, Federal Highway Administration

2012 – Milton V. Peterson, founder and chairman, The Peterson Companies

2013 – Sean T. Connaughton, Secretary of Transportation, Commonwealth of Virginia

2014 – John T. (Til) Hazel, Jr., Reed, Smith, Hazel, and Thomas (Ret)

2015 – Bob Chase, Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance

2016 – Wayne Clough, PhD, PE, Honorary Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, National Academy of Engineering, secretary emeritus, The Smithsonian Institution

2017 – Stephen T. Ayers, AFIA, certified construction manager, LEED AP, the architect of the Capitol

2018 – Gerald E. Galloway, PhD, PE, Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland and faculty fellow of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study Texas A&M University

2019 – James Patteson, PE, manager, countywide strategic planning, Fairfax County government

2020 – Paul Wiedefeld, PE, general manager and chief executive officer, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (awarded in 2021)

2022 Engineering Excellence in Leadership Award

Jamie Bain Hedges is the General Manager of Fairfax Water, Virginia’s largest water utility, producing water of exceptional quality for over two million residents of Northern Virginia. Hedges leads a workforce of 475 to directly serve over one million residents of Fairfax County and the Cities of Falls Church and Fairfax, indirectly serving an additional one million residents in neighboring jurisdictions through seven wholesale utility partners. She is responsible for the efficient operation and stewardship of Fairfax Water’s $2 billion infrastructure, which includes two treatment plants with a combined capacity of 345 million gallons per day and a distribution system composed of over 4,000 miles of water mains. Fairfax Water’s rates are among the lowest in the region, and it maintains a triple-A rating from all three major bond rating agencies.

Hedges has more than 30 years of experience in the drinking water industry. Before becoming General Manager, she

served as Fairfax Water’s Deputy General Manager and Director of Planning and Engineering. She has had key roles in strategic initiatives at Fairfax Water, including the acquisition and integration of the former City of Falls Church and City of Fairfax water systems, the development of future water supply storage by repurposing a rock quarry, water treatment plant expansions, and the development of asset management programs.

Hedges received a BS in Civil Engineering and an MBA from Virginia Tech and is a licensed professional engineer in Virginia. She is a member of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, the American Water Works Association, and the American Society of Civil Engineers. She is the vice president of the Virginia Municipal Drinking Water Association and has served on several regulatory advisory panels for the Virginia Department of Health. Hedges has been on the Board of Directors for George Mason University’s Civil Engineers Institute for over a decade and was previously an adjunct professor at Mason in professional practice and management. g

Sidney O. Dewberry, a longtime friend and benefactor of the College of Engineering and Computing, died at his home in Arlington, Virginia, of natural causes on July 16, 2022. Dewberry co-founded his professional services firm in 1956. Since then, the firm grew from a single-office, six-person civil engineering and surveying practice based in Northern Virginia to a nationwide consulting enterprise with more than 2,000 employees and 50 offices throughout the U.S.

“Sid was a visionary and a leader in the engineering field in Northern Virginia, but to the college, he was also a dear friend. His sense of community and generosity has had a tremendous impact establishing programs, supporting faculty, and inspiring students,” says College of Engineering and Computing Dean Ken Ball. “We will miss him greatly.”

Dewberry’s association with the college began in the late 1980s when he led efforts to form the CEC’s Urban Systems Engineering Institute, now known as the Civil Engineering Institute. The institute remains an active and engaged volunteer board that raises money, lends expertise, and supports student and faculty endeavors.

In 2012, the college’s civil engineering department was named the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering in honor of the Dewberrys’ extensive contributions to establishing and supporting the department. He was instrumental in establishing two faculty endowments for professorships, the first bearing his name in 2009 and the second honoring his long-time friends Bill and Eleanor Hazel in 2014.

Remembering Sid Dewberry’s Contributions to Mason

“Sid will be remembered for so many years to come by the Mason community, especially our department, which has been privileged by being named after Sid and his late wife, Reva,” says the department’s former chair, Sam Salem.

Dewberry received multiple awards honoring his civic, charitable, and academic endeavors as well as his professional leadership, including the CEC’s first lifetime achievement award and the George Mason University Mason Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the university. He was rector emeritus of the George Mason University Board of Visitors, after serving an eight-year term as visitor, the last four as rector with a term ending June 2007.

Dewberry was preceded in death by his wife of 72 years, Reva, and his son, Michael Sidney Dewberry. He is survived by his son Barry K. Dewberry and wife Arlene Evans; daughter Karen S. Grand Pré and husband Bruce; son Thomas L. Dewberry and wife Christine; daughterin-law Stephanie A. Dewberry; grandchildren Candace and Suzanne Grand Pré, and Michael, Katie, John, Kelly, Quinn, and Reagan Dewberry; his multiple greatgrandchildren; and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews. g