2020
SID AND REVA DEWBERRY DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND
INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING + CIVIL ENGINEERING INSTITUTE
experience + teamwork
Students from the award-winning steel bridge design team, show off their construction in front of the Nguyen Engineering Building on the Fairfax Campus.
Table of Contents
Letter from the Chair of the Civil Engineering Institute...........................................2 Message from the Chair of the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil,
Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering......................................................3 SUSTAINABILITY ......................................................................................................4
Examining Byproducts Formed During Water Treatment.......................................6 Field Performance of Drainage Systems in Highways
Next to Recycled Concrete.................................................................................... 8 Evaluation of Liner Systems Used in Salt Bearing Detention Ponds....................10 Improving Stormwater Infrastructure in Northern Virginia.....................................12 Leading the Fight for a Sustainable Future...........................................................16 HEALTH + MEDICINE .............................................................................................18
Supporting Hospital Response to COVID-19....................................................... 20 Professor Develops Strategies for a Safe In-Person Lab
Experience During the Pandemic........................................................................ 24 Investigating Air Pollution’s Impact on Health..................................................... 26 QUALITY OF LIFE...................................................................................................28
Chief of Staff and Civil Engineer Ken Walsh Brings Diverse
Background to His Job.........................................................................................30 Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Alumna Finds
Creative Ways to Give Back.................................................................................34 Civil Engineering Institute Chair Living Her Dream as Mentor to Students..........36 Student-athlete Steps Up to the Plate to Inspire Women in STEM.......................38 Veteran Takes on New Normal.............................................................................39 Civil Engineering by the Numbers........................................................................40 Full-time Faculty....................................................................................................41 Adjunct Faculty.....................................................................................................42 CEI Board of Directors and Current Members......................................................43
Letter from the Chair of the Civil Engineering Institute Dear members and friends of the Civil Engineering Institute (CEI), The CEI Board of Directors continues to support and advance the mission of the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering (CEIE). On behalf of the board, I am presenting a series of accomplishments that we achieved during the challenging year of 2020. After the world entered a deadly pandemic, our activities within and outside Mason continued, mostly virtually. On February 5, we hosted our last in-person event before the pandemic lockdown. This membership event was hosted at the Science and Technology Campus, and the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Northern Virginia District Administrator Helen Cuervo and the Northern Virginia District Environmental Compliance team presented information on environmental needs and compliance in the area.
We recruited two new members for the institute and are looking for more members. There are many benefits to being part of CEI. Our members have access to cutting-edge research and technology developed by the faculty, get opportunities to share their knowledge of industry through classroom presentations, and can collaborate with talented faculty on projects. Our directors support the department in various capacities: • bringing our knowledge of the industry to future engineers as adjunct professors and guest speakers;
At the March board meeting, we reviewed the latest technology for virtual meetings and continued supporting the university via cloud-based video conferencing during the pandemic.
• advancing the CEI board’s mission as committee members;
We held our first virtual annual luncheon in September 2020 and selected the year’s engineering excellence and leadership award winner–Paul J. Wiedefeld, general manager and CEO of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. He will receive the award during this Spring’s Annual Luncheon, on March 25, 2021 being held virtually. This award is presented in recognition of Exceptional Leadership, Outstanding Lifetime Achievement, and significant contribution to the profession of civil engineering.
• working with the faculty to weave the materials taught in the undergraduate courses with the skills required to successfully integrate new graduates in industry.
We continued to support the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) concrete canoe and steel bridge activities conducted during the 2
pandemic and provided necessary funding for the innovative projects of the Engineers for International Development (EfID). It’s encouraging that the students, while observing all safety regulations, continued to employ their innovative thinking in solving engineering problems outside the classroom.
• supporting the department chair’s new academic initiative in creating a Construction Management Program;
The board of directors invites you to read the 2020 Annual Report to discover more about the department’s accomplishments. Our diverse membership will continue its mission to serve George Mason University students and faculty. g Sincerely, Cerasela M. Cristei, PhD, PE Chair, Civil Engineering Institute
Message from the Chair of the Sid and Reva Dewberry
Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering Dear alumni and friends, For all of us, 2020 was a year to remember, reflect upon, and learn from. Although the year was full of challenges due to the global pandemic, the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering (CEIE) succeeded in adapting and adjusting without compromising the quality of our teaching, research, and service. I am deeply thankful to our faculty and staff for their dedication and hard work, to our students for their patience and understanding, and to our CEI and Advisory Board members for their continued support. I am proud of our success in overcoming so many obstacles, rising to the challenges, and experiencing another productive and successful year. Our challenges included finding a way to provide our students with lab and hands-on learning experience without compromising their health and safety or quality of education, maintaining our research growth momentum, as well as continuing valuable student organizations engagement and activities. Our faculty was so innovative in adapting to and excelling in offering their classes and labs online and hybrid in a very short time. On the research side, our research productivity and funding continued to grow substantially. In fact, during 2020 our research expenditures rose by more than 26 percent from 2019 to $2.4 million. We recruited and hired two outstanding new faculty from Stanford and Harvard universities in the important research areas of water quality, air quality, and public health and Ken Walsh who has a background in construction engineering and serves as the chief of staff for our new university president joined our ranks.
I am especially proud of our students’ accomplishments at the state and national level. In 2020, our Engineers for International Development participated in the American Water Works Association annual conference. Nearly 2,000 water and wastewater professionals attended this virtual event, and three sponsor-provided competitions were heavily attended by many universities. Our students competed in all three competitions, Digital Knowledge, Poster, and the 17th Annual AWWA Student Water Challenge and won first place in all three events. No university has ever completed this hat-trick. I am also proud of our Construction Management Association of America student chapter, which won two national scholarships in its first year of existence. These are only a few of the year’s highlights. I invite you to read this 2020 annual report to learn more about our students and faculty accomplishments during last year. g With my best wishes for safe and healthy years ahead of you, Sam Salem, PhD, PE, CPC, LEED AP Dewberry Professor and Department Chair Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering
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sustainability Whether rebuilding roads and bridges, planning cities for the future, or studying the impact of floods on coastal cities, Volgenau’s students and scholars seek solutions to environmental problems that matter.
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high-quality drinking water 6
Assistant Professor Kirin Emlet Furst is researching new methods to evaluate household exposure to hundreds of disinfection byproducts.
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rinking water in the United States is disinfected to prevent illnesses from
Examining Byproducts Formed During Water Treatment
pathogens, but byproducts
Overall, most large water
Besides evaluating household
pose a health risk, a Mason
York City, San Francisco, and
byproducts, Furst is developing
formed during disinfection might Engineering researcher says. Civil Engineering Assistant
Professor Kirin Emlet Furst
is researching new methods to evaluate household exposure
systems, such as those in New Fairfax County, provide high-
quality drinking water, but smaller communities often don’t have the resources to treat water to the same level, she says.
to hundreds of disinfection
Exposure to some disinfection
concerned about a subset
cancer, colorectal cancers, and
byproducts. “I’m especially of them that can form when
drinking water is contaminated with wastewater. They contain nitrogen and have not been
studied as much as regulated byproducts,” she says.
Municipal wastewater (sewage), which includes fecal matter,
byproducts is linked to bladder reproductive health problems,
which is why some are regulated in the United States. But it isn’t clear whether the regulated
byproducts are the cause of health problems, especially
because they aren’t very toxic, she says.
beauty products, and anything
Civil engineering associate
discharged into rivers and
says, “Kirin’s research work
else put down drains, is usually lakes, Those same water bodies can be used by communities
downstream as drinking water, Furst says.
exposure to disinfection
new approaches to minimize their formation during water treatment. In the end, she’ll be able to work with epidemiologists to identify which byproducts are most
harmful and design affordable
engineering strategies to prevent them from forming.
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I’m especially concerned about a subset of byproducts that can form when drinking water is contaminated with wastewater.
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professor Viviana Maggioni
“We want even more people to
is extremely timely, given the
against viral and bacterial
current pandemic crises and
the increased use of sanitizing products. Exploring the
health impacts of disinfection
byproducts is crucial to regulate
disinfect their water to protect infections, so it is important
to minimize new health risks
introduced by the disinfection process,” she says. g
and develop safe processes to treat our waters.”
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recycled materials 8
ABOVE: Associate Professor Burak F. Tanyu welding a geomembrane to create a hydraulic barrier between the recycled materials and natural ground at the research site that his team constructed with VDOT. RIGHT: Tanyu stands on a pile of Recycled Concrete Aggregate (RCA) at the Luckstone Quarry. The pile is waiting to be processed and turned in to aggregates.
Field Performance of Drainage Systems in Highways Next to Recycled Concrete
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any roads, building
concrete that is obtained from
retaining structures are
and roads for a number of years.
foundations, and
constructed with aggregates,
aged buildings, curbs, gutters,
which is a mixture of broken
Tanyu’s research is funded
soil particles.
of Transportation (VDOT) as
rock pieces and smaller sized
There are several advantages to creating aggregates using recycled materials as opposed to using natural resources. Creating aggregates from natural
rocks not only results in extensive carbon emission and is costly,
but the process also destroys the nature that could otherwise be a habitat to many living creatures. One way to minimize the impact
on nature is to consider creating aggregates from materials that can be recycled.
Civil Engineering Associate Professor Burak Tanyu
and his post-doctoral fellow
Aiyoub Abbaspour have been investigating aggregates from
by the Virginia Department the agency is interested in
potential practical applications and benefits of using recycled concrete aggregate in road construction. The research conducted by Tanyu and
In the summer of 2020, Tanyu
suitability of the recycled
the research to construct a field
Abbaspour will confirm the concrete aggregate for the
intended engineering application without unexpected/unintended consequences that may occur in the future.
The first phase of their
initiated the second phase of
test site with recycled concrete
aggregate (RCA). This will allow validation of the findings from
the laboratory phase of the study before wider application of RCA in Virginia highways.
investigation was conducted
If the field study confirms the
Infrastructure (SGI) Laboratory,
study, Tanyu is optimistic that
in the Sustainable Geo
which examined the physical and chemical properties of the recycled concrete and
experimentation of the formation
of tufa from concrete aggregates. The laboratory findings from
findings from the laboratory
VDOT and other state agencies will implement this approach
more broadly across the United States to preserve our natural resources. g
the first phase are publicly
available through VDOT’s website (virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_ reports/pdf/21-R12.pdf).
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practical cooperation 10
ABOVE: Kuo Tian (blue hat), Burak Tanyu (black hat), and Lewis Lloyd from Vehicle Research and Test Center (VRTC) examine the soil. RIGHT: Assistant Professor Kuo Tian and Associate Professor Burak Tanyu in their lab on the Fairfax Campus.
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he Sustainable GeoInfrastructure (SGI) research team completed
a research project on the evaluation of liner systems used in salt bearing detention ponds with support from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in 2020. Civil Engineering
Evaluation of Liner Systems Used in Salt Bearing Detention Ponds The long-term service life of GM in contact with saline water is of particular importance because leakage from salt ponds will result in environmental consequences.
Assistant Professor Kuo Tian
The team visited six salt ponds
Professor Burak Tanyu led
polypropylene (APP) GM was
and Civil Engineering Associate
and found that the atactic
the project. Sandarva Sharma
the most common liner materials
conducted this research project
used in the field. The team
for his PhD study.
conducted two laboratory aging tests to investigate the effect of
VDOT has voluntarily constructed
solar/UV radiations and chemical
more than 200 salt ponds to
on the deterioration of APP GM.
collect saline water in the salt
Combining the field survey results
storage and distribution facilities
and laboratory aging test, a
to prevent subsurface water
model was proposed to predict
contamination. A salt storage
the degradation of APP GM as
facility includes a salt dome
a function of service time. The
to store deicing salt, staging
model can be helpful to the VDOT
area to distribute salt, and salt
staff in determining the time to
pond to collect precipitation
replace the APP GM used as liner
from staging area. The salt
in salt ponds. A final report was
ponds were typically built using
submitted to VDOT for review.
polymer modified bituminous
For more information about the
geomembranes (GMs) as liner
SGI Lab go to geotrans.vse.
material to prevent leakage of
gmu.edu. g
saline water to surroundings.
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precipitation – flooding
ABOVE: 12 Associate Professor Celso Ferreira (right) and graduate students research wetlands and coastal flooding. Ferreira’s team focuses on developing and promoting innovative water resources and coastal engineering ideas aimed at restoring and improving urban infrastructure and resilience against flood hazards. The team studies waters of the National Capital Region, the Chesapeake Bay, and beyond. RIGHT: Associate Professors Viviana Maggioni (top) and Celso Ferreira and two of their PhD students, became involved in the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Thriving Earth Exchange project.
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Improving Stormwater Infrastructure in Northern Virginia
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ason Engineering researchers are studying ways to shore up the stormwater infrastructure in Northern Virginia to protect the region against flooding in the future. The area is growing fast in terms of urbanization and population, and it’s near the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay, which makes it vulnerable to flooding, says Civil Engineering Associate Professor Viviana Maggioni.
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We are looking at how the precipitation is going to change in the next 30 to 50 years and what parts of the area are vulnerable to flooding.
”
Stormwater infrastructure is critical for carrying water through an urban area during extreme precipitation events. It includes curbs, gutters, drains, piping, and collection systems such as basins and reservoirs.
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We are developing insights to help decisionmakers build resilient stormwater infrastructure that is still safe under future conditions.
”
“The designs for those systems are usually based on historical climate conditions, but we can’t just rely on the past to design stormwater infrastructure anymore because climate variability may be affecting the desired performance of this infrastructure in the future,” says Associate Professor Celso Ferreira. Maggioni, Ferreira and two of their PhD students, as well as several other Mason researchers and regional experts, got involved in the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Thriving Earth Exchange project, initiated by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC), which
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My contribution to this project is to provide reliable, detailed precipitation estimates at a onekilometer resolution that will be used as input to generate flooding scenarios.
”
wanted to collaborate with local
“We will take the precipitation
regional vulnerability scenarios
stormwater infrastructure needs
scientists to better understand to flooding.
For their part of the project,
Maggioni and her PhD student
data to determine how the
to be adapted so the region
can become more resilient to flooding,” Coelho says.
Ishrat Jahan Dollan are
“We will think about multiple
They are looking at precipitation
basins, and channels—and
analyzing precipitation data. patterns to determine if the intensity and frequency of storms in the region have
been changing over time. “Precipitation is the driving force
solutions—stormwater systems, advise the planners and
engineers on how they can make the region more prepared to mitigate flooding impacts,” he says.
and the main cause of floods,
Researchers and local planners
rainfall, we can predict such
scientific knowledge into
and by correctly characterizing extreme events,” Maggioni says. Then, Ferreira and PhD student
are collaborating to advance decision-making tools, Dollan says.
Gustavo Coelho will use their
The next generation of
the stormwater infrastructure and
stormwater infrastructure that
hydrologic models to evaluate
create flood maps and compare them with the flood maps they currently have.
engineers will need to design is resilient under future and
yet unknown conditions but is still cost-effective with current
resources, Ferreira says. “This interdisciplinary project is
exploring how to do just that.” g
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stormwater infrastructure LEFT: PhD student Ishrat Jahan Dollant (top) is analyzing precipitation data. PhD student Gustavo Coelho is using their hydrologic models to evaluate the stormwater infrastructure. ABOVE: Tyler Miesse (left) with Associate Professor Celso Ferreira (right) lift equipment out of the water near Mason’s Potomac Science Center.
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environmental study Students explore the flora and fauna of the Shenandoah River watershed. The river’s water has been impacted negatively by a nearby superfund site and significant agricultural operations.
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Leading Fight for a Sustainable Future
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ason Engineering senior and civil and infrastructure engineering major Jon Parker is adding his voice to the climate change cause, urging people to look close to home and make changes in their own lifestyles to help protect our planet. “There are so many easy things people could do if they just knew about it,” he says. “There are so many things, like reducing meat, or changing some products you use, that can help in the long run,” he says. In his own life, Parker stopped consuming meat a couple of years ago because of the environmental impact. “Meat production contributes to deforestation. It requires a large amount of water and a lot of crops grown in the United States go directly to feeding cattle,” says Parker. His interest in the environment was triggered when he watched the documentary Before the Flood, and after that, he dove
deeper into how our everyday lives affect the environment. “The documentary was what opened my eyes, and the more I learned, the more I cared,” says Parker.
A transfer from Northern Virginia Community College, Jon Parker decided to major in civil and infrastructure engineering because of the connection to environmental engineering. He also quickly got involved with student groups once arriving at Mason. Currently, he serves as student chapter president of Engineers for International Development (EfID), which has taken several trips to a village in Ecuador to build a water distribution system. “EfID focuses on helping people and providing a better life for them. That is what sparked my interest in it when I came to Mason. I want to leave the world better than I found it,” says Parker.
While EfID didn’t take their typical trip this January to Ecuador, Parker and the rest of the executive board are working on coordinating safe, socially distanced events like tree planting at local schools. After Mason, Parker plans on pursuing his master’s degree in environmental engineering to continue following his passion. “I eventually want to start my own company to help corporations abide by government regulations on the environment,” he says. He also hopes to have a sector that fights for legislation that protects the environment. “There’s a lot of regulation that needs to be implemented to put us on the right track to protect our planet,” says Parker. “We only get one of these, one planet, and it is extremely important that we protect it for the next generation.” g
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health + medicine Engineers work with doctors, therapists and researchers to develop systems, equipment, and devices to provide health care solutions.
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collaborate w/ informed models Professor Elise Miller-Hooks, pictured in front of the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C., has led the effort to launch a web portal that will help hospitals plan their pandemic responses.
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Supporting Hospital Response to COVID-19
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eorge Mason University Professor Elise
Miller-Hooks and her
team have been studying and modeling the flow of patients
through American hospitals in
Miller-Hooks began incorporating personal protective equipment, ventilators, and COVID-19
patients with their care paths into the models.
times of crisis since 2014.
“We’re working as fast as we can
Now, in the face of the COVID-19
and the crisis is enormous. This
pandemic, they are collaborating with Mersedeh Tariverdi, a
senior data scientist in the Health,
Nutrition, and Population Group at the World Bank, to launch a web portal—the MASH-Pandemics
portal—that will support models that aid hospital responses to the pandemic.
The team’s work supports
evidence-based decision making,
informed by the models, to rethink and facilitate hospital operations in utilizing limited critical
resources as demand surges.
because the need is so urgent
effort is about health care worker safety and helping the hospitals cope with the pandemic,” says
Miller-Hooks. “It’s about saving
lives, as well as the efficient and
equitable allocation of resources.” The work can help hospitals to best cope with surge demand in spite of limited resources.
It can aid decision makers in
regional response and hospital
collaboration planning with health care facilities that offer various levels of care (e.g., primary health care).
Only hours after President
It can also inform decisions
national emergency on March 13,
supplies, supplemental space,
Donald Trump declared a
graduate students working with
While working as a PhD student under Elise Miller-Hooks’s supervision, Mersedeh Tariverdi (above) developed key models that now serve as the backbone for the portal.
on the mobilization of critical and the dispatch of frontline
health care workers and other first responders to where they are needed the most.
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p Hospital administrators and others working in an official capacity can request runs of the MASH-Pandemics models through the portal to help them with decision making tailored for their hospitals.
Hospital administrators and
Miller-Hooks says their models
capacity can request runs of
“If you look at most other hospital
others working in an official
the MASH-Pandemics models
through the portal to help them with decision making tailored
for their hospitals or a group of
hospitals working in collaboration. This effort builds on previously developed sophisticated
discrete-event simulation models to replicate operations in the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. MASH-Pandemics was developed on a patient-based, resource-
constrained, multiunit hospital model originally designed for
assessing hospital preparedness to serve emergency patients in
surge, pandemic, mass-casualty incident, and disaster events.
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are unique for several reasons.
models…they generally focus on
single key units and are designed for routine operations,” she says.
“Our model tracks patients along their entire care path, along with physical resources and staff
through 10 essential units. The models are very detailed…to
capture the complexities of their operations. We do not know of
other models that have considered mass casualty incidents at this
level.” The effort is supported by
the National Science Foundation. For more information about the
project go to mash-pandemics. g
patient-based multiunit hospitals
Health care teams rely on data to plan patient care and evaluate hospital staffing and equipment needs.
pandemic strategies
To meet the university’s guidelines for preventing the spread of COVID-19, students in CEIE 636: Sources of Geotechnical Data, were physically distanced from each other during a lecture portion of the class.
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Professor Develops Strategies for a Safe In-Person Lab Experience During the Pandemic
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hen Civil Engineering Associate Professor Burak Tanyu faced the challenge of teaching an in-person laboratory class in the fall during the pandemic, he developed several strategies to meet the university’s guidelines for preventing the spread of COVID-19.
even though we may just call them clays or sands. Therefore, students need to have hands-on experience in our laboratory that would not be possible to achieve through virtual learning.”
In the three-credit graduate course, Sources of Geotechnical Data, students get direct experience in quantifying and assessing the properties of soils with a series of handson laboratory tests throughout the semester. The properties of the soils, obtained from the tests conducted in this course, are key factors in designing engineered infrastructures such as foundations, embankments, and earth-retaining structures, as well as assessing the stability of slopes, Tanyu says.
To help the class run smoothly and efficiently, Tanyu taught the course with co-instructor Aiyoub Abbaspour. Abbaspour has taken this class from Tanyu in the past, which created a unique opportunity as both instructors were very familiar with the content and the way to handle conducting the experiments in the laboratory.
“Soils are produced from the weathering of rocks based on the geological processes that take place over a long time,” Tanyu says. “No soil type is the same,
In this course, students had the opportunity to be in the laboratory every week.
They divided the 12 students into groups. While one group learned the background and theory associated with a specific test, another group watched how to set up the tests demonstrated by the instructor via a projector and then implemented their learning by conducting the tests one by one as they rotated in the laboratory. Once the test results became available, the rotations also included a group of students discussing their findings and the interpretation of the data.
While in the laboratory, each student stood at designated spaces that are marked on the floors with an X. The three workstations were sanitized with alcohol between students’ rotations. While in the lecture hall, students sat at least six feet apart from each other.
The plan paid off. Tanyu says, The students completed the class without getting COVID-19. I am very grateful to the students for following the mask and hygiene rules while still being engaged and interactive.
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“Splitting the teaching responsibilities for the course with my post-doc Aiyoub Abbaspour gave significant hands-on time for the students to complete many complex tests in our laboratory and then have the opportunity to discuss their results and observation without rushing. I hope we have the opportunity to teach this class with two instructors in the future.” g
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improving health
Assistant Professor Lucas Henneman is studying the impact of air pollution on health.
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nvironmental researcher Lucas Henneman is investigating air pollution’s impact on health. He uses large datasets and computer models to track pollution after it’s emitted from sources such as automobiles, coal power plants, and natural gas plants. The models help identify which people in nearby communities breathe in pollution. “Each source leaves its air pollution fingerprint on the surrounding area, and we use those fingerprints to study how each source has impacted air quality over time and how that has affected people’s health,” says Henneman, an assistant professor in the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering (CEIE). His research is funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the non-profit Health Effects Institute. He has found that emission reductions from power plants and automobiles over the last 20 years have reduced the incidence of some health problems including cardiovascular and respiratory conditions.
Investigating Air Pollution’s Impact on Health Overall, the air quality is better in the United States now than it was 10, 20, and 50 years ago, he says. “I like that my research starts with a success story. We’ve made impressive strides to clean our air, but there’s more work to be done to keep people healthy.”
“
Each source leaves its air pollution fingerprint on the surrounding area, and we use those fingerprints to study how each source has impacted air quality over time and how that has affected people’s health.
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Some estimates suggest that more than 100,000 Americans die each year from illnesses caused by air pollution, Henneman says. “We are developing models and devising new analytical techniques to create evidence for continued improvements in environmental policy. We’re looking at where to make emissions reductions, so we get the best return on our investment moving forward.”
Henneman is also part of a group of experts looking at air pollution in China, which has made progress in recent years but still experiences unhealthy levels of air pollution, he says. Associate Chair Laura Kosoglu, of CEIE, says, “Improving air quality is one of those goals where it’s not a question of if we should do it. The question is how to improve air quality efficiently and effectively, and Lucas’s research directly considers the impacts on public health. We are excited to have Lucas join our department.” g
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quality of life Mason students, faculty, and staff integrate their studies in ways that improve their lives and the lives of others.
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change the world Chief of Staff and civil engineer Ken Walsh says he’s impressed with the strength and resilience of the Mason community.
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ason Presidential Chief of Staff Ken Walsh is about building bridges. The story of the Brooklyn Bridge inspired him as a freshman engineering student, work on the soil for a bridge over the Salt River near Tempe, Arizona, kept him in graduate school, and his work in higher education has built bridges for students and communities around the world. “When I started my engineering studies at Arizona State University, I joined the student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE),” says Walsh. “All new members received a copy of David McCullough’s book, The Great Bridge.” Being a history buff, he read the book in a weekend and it changed the way he thought about engineering. “After reading the book, I realized that changes to the built environment can change the world. The people who built that bridge made history,” he says. “The idea that I could be a part of history through engineering practice inspired me.”
Chief of Staff and Civil Engineer Ken Walsh Brings Diverse Background to His Job After graduating with his degree in civil engineering, Walsh got a job with a local company and worked on projects around Phoenix. “I loved driving around town and seeing the finished buildings that we had constructed,” he says. Walsh started taking night classes and says that he planned to take courses to improve his engineering practice. But another bridge, this one closer to home in Tempe, across the Salt River, led him to pursue his PhD. “During graduate school, I ended up working on a soil investigation project related to a freeway bridge over the Salt River. The soils exhibited unusual behaviors and while I was studying them my advisor asked me to apply for a National Science Foundation fellowship which would pay for the PhD,” says Walsh. While in graduate school, Walsh continued working, but the small family-owned business that he had been working for changed ownership and the culture changed. This led him to look for a change of his own.
Walsh saw an ad for a job at Arizona State University teaching construction engineering and decided to take a chance. “At the time I didn’t see it as a long-term thing, but I stuck with it until I got tenure,” he says.
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Teaching allowed me to be part of even more projects, and my student’s advancement and accomplishments gave me great pleasure.
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When San Diego State University started its program in construction engineering in 2002, Walsh bridged the gap between teaching and administration. Serving as the director of the program allowed him to have an impact on more students and faculty.
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For more than one hundred years, the Brooklyn Bridge has carried people from Manhattan to Brooklyn and back. George Mason University’s Chief of Staff Ken Walsh credits the bridge with keeping him in engineering. Building this program led to his involvement in building a new STEM-focused campus in Tbilisi, Georgia. The project involved every aspect of running a campus. His team built the program from the ground up, dealt with curriculum, accreditation, and fundraising, but Walsh says the most rewarding aspect of all was witnessing the potential transformation in people’s lives. “I saw the power of higher education, not just STEM,” says Walsh. After the experience in Georgia, he was looking for a place to return home to and the job working as Chief of Staff with President Gregory Washington at the Samueli School of Engineering at UC Irvine looked
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like a good fit. When Washington moved to Mason last summer, Walsh came along to fill the position of Chief of Staff. It’s been a challenge starting a new job with the pandemic, but Walsh says he’s impressed with the strength and resilience of the Mason community. It has a supremely balanced perspective,” says Walsh. “Teaching, learning, and personal growth are all done here more thoughtfully.” He sees a level of understanding of the impact of higher education that you don’t see everywhere. g
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teaching, learning, + personal growth
Ken Walsh, a student of history, credits his reading of David McCullough’s book The Great Bridge for sparking his interest in engineering.
translator problem-solver Water resource engineer and Mason Engineering alumna Ingrid Davis-Colato was a technical advisor to the Engineers for International Development on their trip to Ecuador before COVID-19. The group built a new clean water system for people in a small, agricultural community.
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T
he way alumna Ingrid Davis-Colato sees it, Mason Engineering’s faculty helped her build a rewarding career as a water resource engineer. She’s determined to do the same for others. “I want to pay back a little of what Mason gave me,” says DavisColato, BS Civil and Infrastructure Engineering ’16, MS Civil and Infrastructure Engineering ’19. Her career journey began when she moved to the United States from El Salvador at age 19, learned to speak English, and earned associate degrees in engineering and business administration from Northern Virginia Community College. She came to Mason unsure of the next steps on her path. “My father has a bachelor’s degree in business administration, but he told me his dream was to become an engineer because engineers are experts at problem-solving.” That motivated her to explore engineering opportunities. When she took several water resource classes in the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering (CEIE), she found her passion.
Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Alumna Finds Creative Ways to Give Back She works at Michael Baker International, helping construction companies, municipalities, and government agencies avoid flooding when they build roads, parking lots, or buildings. “I make sure the water that is leaving the developing site is clean, so it won’t pollute streams, rivers, or bays,” she says. To give back to Mason, she returns every semester to do guest lectures for civil engineering classes. She also serves as a technical advisor for Mason’s Engineers for International Development. In January of 2020, she accompanied the group to Ecuador, where they built a new clean water system for a small, poverty-stricken community. “The students designed the whole system. I was able to be in the trenches with these students, laying pipes with them, translating between the students and the people in the community,” she says. “We provided water for a dozen houses that have never had potable water in their lives.”
“
My father has a bachelor’s degree in business administration, but he told me his dream was to become an engineer because engineers are experts at problem-solving.
”
One day, Davis-Colato would like to earn a doctorate from Mason and return as an adjunct professor. “I like teaching, but I don’t see myself leaving industry to become a full-time professor. I want to help students in the same ways that my professors helped me.” g
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student’s enthusiasm
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RIGHT: Civil engineer Cerasela Cristei, MS Civil and Infrastructure Engineering ’05, PhD Civil and Infrastructure Engineering ’10, says what she loves most about her career in civil engineering is that she serves others.
Civil Engineering Institute Chair Living Her Dream as Mentor to Students
W
hen civil engineering
Cristei, director of design at EXP,
Cristei was growing
Institute (CEI) board and a CEIE
alumna Cerasela
up in Romania, she considered becoming a professional
ballet dancer like her mother,
is chair of the Civil Engineering adjunct professor in charge of the senior design class.
father, and sister—or a teacher
Her goal with the board is to
love to instruct and mentor
that promote the civil engineering
because she thought she would younger people.
“My path to civil engineering was sinuous because I was born in
a family of artists and imagined I would follow that path,” says
Cristei, MS Civil and Infrastructure
engage members in activities
department as well as attract new members. And she wants to work with the department’s faculty to make sure graduates possess
the skills and knowledge they will need to launch into their jobs.
Engineering ’05, PhD Civil and
Cristei teaches a three-hour
But her grand jeté landed her in
every week. She guides teams
Infrastructure Engineering ’10.
a different career. “I was good at
math and physics so engineering was the right field for me.”
She immigrated to the United States in 1996 at age 31 with a five-year degree in civil
senior design class for CEIE of students as they develop
solutions for a transportation
problem in the area. This year,
the students proposed options to replace a one-lane bridge in an increasingly congested area.
engineering. She enrolled at
She wants students to be
and later a PhD in civil and
skills. “With some, I encourage
Mason to earn a MS degree infrastructure engineering from the Sid and Reva
Dewberry Department of Civil,
Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering (CEIE).
successful and stretch their them saying, ‘Can you do
better?’ That’s going to help
them because that’s what we
“The best civil engineering
students are the ones who take
ownership of their projects, who learn the scope of the project, the standards that apply, and who constantly ask questions
about how to do things better,” she says.
As she suspected long ago, Cristei loves teaching.
“
It’s unbelievable how happy I am and how much energy I have after I teach the classes. My husband said to me, ‘You enjoy teaching’ and I do. g
”
do in industry. The first solution you come up with is not always the best.
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Studentathlete Steps Up to the Plate to Inspire Women in STEM Taylor Dadig’s hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, otherwise known as the “City of Bridges,” inspired her to pursue civil engineering, and now as a junior at Mason, she hopes to inspire other women to join the field. “Bridges are all over the city, and I was always curious about how they worked,” says Dadig. “But I didn’t know there would be such a difference between the number of men and women in the field.” Dadig, a member of Mason’s softball team, has pushed herself to excel on the field and in the classroom to show other women and girls that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to. “Women bring a new perspective to problemsolving that is important in engineering. We have different
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experiences, different ideas, and we can do it just as well as men,” says Dadig. At Mason, she sees the disparity in her classes. “While about half of my professors in civil engineering at Mason are women, which is inspiring, most of my classmates are still men,” she says. For the past two summers, Dadig has also worked as an intern at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). “I was the only woman in my internship program, sometimes the only one in the room,” she says. But Dadig doesn’t let the lack of representation negatively affect her. “I was fortunate enough that growing up I was pushed to take those higher-level math and science courses. And now, even though there is definitely a gap for women in STEM, I don’t want to focus on that difference. I want to look ahead.”
Last February, Dadig was honored with fellow studentathletes as a Peter N. Stearns Provost Scholar Athlete, which means she has earned at least 38 credit hours at Mason and has achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or better. “Playing softball at Mason is a big plus, I came here for engineering, but I’m glad I’m able to play,” she says. Dadig connects her success on the field to her success in the classroom and at her internship. “Sports have definitely prepared me for a career in engineering. Teamwork is key to success in softball and in engineering. You have to work together to win, and you have to work together to make sure structures are safe, or projects are completed.” g
Veteran Takes on New Normal Veterans are used to tackling new challenges, so when James Carsner, a veteran/ Mason Engineering student, was faced with the challenge of virtual learning, he was ready to take it on using his unique experiences.
A 20-year Navy veteran and civil and infrastructure engineering major, Carsner is no stranger to online courses. He earned his MBA online through the University of Phoenix while serving in the Navy, so the change this past spring wasn’t a huge leap for him. “It was mainly a shift to balancing my time and no longer having to go onto campus. I had to figure out how to not let time slip away,” says Carsner.
Carsner says the approach faculty took online benefited him. “The professors kept the classes on the same schedule and made it live, which was great. If we didn’t still have the lectures then it would’ve been more of a struggle.” Carsner’s wife, who is still an active duty member of the Army, and their three children don’t live far from the Fairfax Campus, but the time that Carsner has gained by cutting his commute gave him more time to focus on the virtual learning. “It takes planning and maturity. You have to keep up with deadlines, double-check them, and be organized,” says Carsner. g
“
The professors
kept the classes on the same schedule and made it live, which was great. If we didn’t still have the lectures then it would’ve been more of
”
a struggle.
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27% of all CEIE majors are women, which exceeds the national average.
1/3 19%
50% 27%
Civil Engineering by the Numbers 40
More than 50% of CEIE undergrads are from minority populations.
One third of CEIE undergrads are transfer students. Civil and Infrastructure Engineering is one of the selected fields of study available to students in the MasonNOVA ADVANCE partnership.
CEIE PhD enrollment for new students experienced growth of 19% even during the pandemic.
Full-time 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.
Wenying Ji, Assistant Professor. PhD, University of Alberta. Expertise: construction engineering; construction simulation.
Doaa Bondok, Assistant Professor. PhD, University of Missouri-Columbia. Expertise: structural engineering.
Laura Kosoglu, Associate Department Chair and Associate Professor. PhD, Virginia Tech. Expertise: geotechnical engineering.
Behzad Esmaeili, Assistant Professor. PhD, University of Colorado-Boulder. Expertise: construction engineering; construction safety. 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.
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, Department Chair and 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 Wisconsin-Madison. Expertise: geotechnical engineering; engineering geology; geoenvironmental engineering. Kuo Tian, Assistant Professor. PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Expertise: geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering. Girum Urgessa, PE, Associate Professor. PhD, University of New Mexico. Expertise: structural engineering; computational mechanics; composite materials. Mohan Venigalla, PE, F.ASCE., 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.
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Aiyoub Abbaspour, PhD, George Mason University Ahmed Abdel-Rahim, PhD, University of Idaho Rich Benton, PE, SR Benton & Associates, LLC Barbara Chastel de Boinville
Amy Richardson, PE, Northern Virginia Community College Harold Rodriguez, PE, William H. Gordon & Associates
Cerasela Cristei, PhD, PE, EXP U.S. Services
Joseph Schroedel, PhD, PE, Society of American Military Engineers
Matthew Doyle, PE, Fairfax County Dept. of Public Works & Environmental Services
Velmurugan (Vel) Subramanian, PhD, PE, Atkins
Amr El-Sayed, PhD, EIT, Lane Construction John (Jay) Evans, PE, RSG Alex Faghri, PhD, Virginia Department of Transportation Erol Guler, PhD, Visiting Scholar, Bogazici University Zach Haber, PhD, FHWA Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center Joseph Hartmann, PhD, PE, Federal Highway Administration Sean Kennedy, PE, BEI Structural Engineers Richard Lindenberg, PE, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. Joe D. Manous, PhD, PE, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
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Christopher Reseigh, PE, Consultant (Ret Parsons Brinckerhoff)
Eric Teitelman, PE, Fairfax County Department of Transportation Tuonglinh (Linh) Warren, PE, Federal Highway Administration Chris Woods, PE, Densification, Inc. Mohamed Younis, PE, Aldea Services, LLC
CEI Board of Directors + Current Members
Adjunct Faculty
We recognize and thank the following professionals for their assistance to the department as practitioner adjunct faculty.
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.
TERM EXPIRING DEC 2023 Brian Chromey, PE–Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc. Hank Hatch, PE Bill Haight, PE
Joe Manous, PE Peter Rigby, PE
Howell Simmons, PE, PS
Kurt Thompson, PE–Dewberry TERM EXPIRING DEC 2022
Ryan Anderson, PE–The Christman Company Cerasela Cristei, PE–EXP
George Guszcza–Michael Baker International David Laib, PE–Balfour Beatty Construction
Michael S. Bronzini, PE
EXP U.S. Services– Cerasela Cristei
Sidney O. Dewberry, PE, LS
Fairfax Water–Jamie Bain Hedges
EMERITUS MEMBERS Charlie C. Crowder Jr.
Fairfax County–Helman Castro
William Fry, PE
The Lane Construction Corporation– Richard McDonough
H.S. Hulme Jr., PE CEI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Sam Salem, PE
CEIE FACULTY EX OFFICIO David Binning, PE Doaa Bondok
Behzad Esmaeili
Celso Ferreira, PE Kirin Furst
Lucas Henneman
Hardeep Rana, PE
Wenying Ji
Terry Suehr, PE–City of Alexandria
David Lattanzi, PE
Harold Rodriguez, PE
Laura Kosoglu
Cathy Trent, PE–Washington Gas
Viviana Maggioni
TERM EXPIRING DEC 2021
Burak Tanyu
Elise Miller-Hooks
S. Richard Benton, PE, F.ASCE, DBIA–SR Benton & Associates LLC
Kuo Tian
Helman Castro, PE–Fairfax County
Mohan Venigalla, PE
Jamie Bain Hedges, PE–Fairfax Water Michael E. Post–Shirley Contracting Company LLC Christopher Reseigh, PE Doug Kennedy–Pennoni
Girum Urgessa, PE Ken Walsh
Shanjiang Zhu MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS AND REPRESENTATIVES AECOM–Stuart Harrison
Balfour Beatty Construction– David Laib
Michael Baker International– George Guszcza Pennoni–Douglas Kennedy
Shirley Contracting Company LLC– Michael E. Post The Christman Company– Ryan Anderson Tri-Tek Engineering Inc.– Kevin Murray
Washington Gas–Cathy Trent
Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc.– Brian Chromey William A. Hazel Inc.–Mike King INDIVIDUALS
Richard Benton, PE, F.ASCE, DBIA William Fry, PE Bill Haight, PE
Hank Hatch, PE
Hardeep Rana, PE
Gilberto Rosado, PE, ENV SP Kelsey Ryan, PE Joe Manous, PE
Christopher Reseigh, PE Peter Rigby, PE
Joseph Schroedel, BG, PE, F.SAME, USA (Ret) Howell Simmons, PE, LS Joseph Vilseck, PE
BL Halbert International– Daniel Hogan
City of Alexandria–Terry Suehr Dewberry–Kurt Thompson
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SID AND REVA DEWBERRY DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING + CIVIL ENGINEERING INSTITUTE George Mason University Nguyen Engineering Building, Suite 1300 4400 University Drive, MS 6C1 Fairfax, Virginia 22030 703-993-1675 ceie@gmu.edu civil.gmu.edu
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