CEE Review 2018 · 2020-01-29 · Research Expenditures in . Fiscal Year 2018. $9,396,477. Student to Faculty Ratio. 41 . Faculty Members. Master’s Students PhD Students. Undergraduate

CEE Review FALL 2018

OFF CAMPUS ENGINEERS IN SERVICE TO SOCIETY

TABLE OF CONTENTS RESEARCH

News

10 12 14

FACULTY News

3 FACULTY HONORS

4 NEW

FACULTY

STUDENT News

22 RECENT GRADS

24 STUDENT HONORS

26 STUDENT GROUPS

ALUMNI News

31 CEEFA

PRESIDENT

32 ALUMNI AWARDS

33 AWARDS BANQUET

STAFF News

34 NEW STAFF

35 STAFF

AWARDS

DEPARTMENT News

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Cover Photo: Levi Hutmacher/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing

Civil and Environmental Engineering | cee.engin.umich.edu

WELCOME BACK

It has been a year since I assumed the role of department chair and it has been an exhilarating experience to lead such an inspired and talented community. As we tackle some of the most complex and challenging problems facing our society today, I am constantly reminded of the core values of our profession – we are devoting our talents to make the world a better place! Our community of researchers and students go well beyond their laboratories and classrooms to study problems in situ and implement solutions at-scale, thereby having a direct impact on communities. Tis newsletter highlights our growing portfolio of research and education initiatives being conducted “of campus” with stakeholders across the globe - from Benton Harbor, Michigan to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - reafrming our core identity as engineers in service to society.

Looking back over the past year, I am proud to report that we planted a number of seeds that will ensure our department remains at the vanguard of technology development, while inspiring a new generation of students to come into civil and environmental engineering for their professional pursuits. First, we launched a strategic planning process to redefne our priorities to ensure we remain global thought-leaders in the feld, identifying fve exciting directions that aim to address some of the most important questions facing our profession: sustainable human-centered habitats; reshaping resource fows; adaptive resilience; automation of infrastructure services; and smart infrastructure fnancing. In the coming months we will be publicly revealing the strategic plan, so stay tuned!

We continue to work tirelessly to enhance the learning experience for our students. During the past year, we have successfully recruited two new lecturers to our faculty: Dr. Enrica Bernardini to the civil infrastructure systems engineering (CISE) program and Dr. Lissa MacVean (B.S.C.E. 1999, M.S.C.E. 2000)

to the environmental and water resources engineering (EWRE) program. We are excited to welcome Enrica and Lissa to the team and look forward to their contributions to our curriculum and their impact on our student community. Our classrooms in G. G. Brown have also been retroftted with cutting-edge learning technologies and reconfgurable furniture, to better serve our students in academic and co-curricular activities. We have also welcomed four new members to our staf who support our research and teaching activities including Ethan Kennedy (Electronics Technician), Christine Kropelnyckyj (Research Process Coordinator), Jessica Petras (Marketing and Communications Specialist) and Stacey Stites (Graduate Coordinator).

Tis academic year is already proving to be another impactful year for our community. We will release our strategic plan this winter and just launched our new website that ofers users a more visual experience; I invite you to check it out (https://cee.engin. umich.edu). We are working on a new research center termed the Center for Smart Infrastructure Finance led by Prof. Peter Adriaens, where industrial stakeholders will support fundamental and applied research in the use of data and smart infrastructure technologies to create new fnancing mechanisms to close the infrastructure fnance gap our country is currently facing. A team of faculty in environmental engineering led by Prof. Lut Raskin has also secured funding through the College of Engineering Blue Sky program. Tis $2.5 million multidisciplinary research efort will study the role of microbial biomes in linking natural waters, infrastructure and human health.

We remain unwavering in our commitment to creating and supporting an inclusive and diverse CEE community. We are establishing the Pelham Scholars Program named in honor of Frederick Pelham (B.S.C.E. 1887), the pioneering frst African American graduate of the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan who graduated at the very top of his class in 1887. Tis bold and daring program aims to recruit a diverse group of domestic students into our Master’s degree programs by ofering scholarships coupled with a wealth of professional development activities.

I look forward to working with our vibrant CEE family of faculty, students, staf and alumni this year—Go Blue!

Jerome P. Lynch, PhD Professor and Donald Malloure Department Chair [email protected] 734•764•8495

2018 By the Numbers

DEPARTMENT News

41 Faculty Members

181 Years as a

Department –Since 1837

6:1 Student to Faculty Ratio

Research Expenditures in Fiscal Year 2018

$9,396,477

80 PhD Students

116 Master’s Students

Undergraduate Students 225

National Rankings – U.S. News and World Report

#7 #6 #3 #7

Civil and Environmental Engineering | cee.engin.umich.edu cee.engin.umich.edu | Civil and Environmental Engineering

Environmental Civil Environmental Civil Engineering Engineering Engineering Engineering

Undergraduate Undergraduate Graduate Graduate Program Program Program Program

FACULTY News

FACULTY HONORS Sherif El-Tawil Antoine E. Naaman Collegiate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Evgueni Filipov Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Young Faculty Award

Herek Clack Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association Outstanding Reviewer Award

Roman Hryciw ASTM International Hogentogler Award

Vineet Kamat ASCE Collingwood Prize

SangHyun Lee Global Organization of Ergonomics Tom Waters Award

Victor Li James R. Rice Distinguished University Professor of Engineering

Jason McCormick Arthur P. Turnau Professor

Carol Menassa CEEFA Faculty Award

Lutgarde Raskin Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors Distinguished Lecturer Award

Seymour Spence John F. Ullrich Education Excellence Award

NSF CAREER Award

Krista Wigginton CEE Excellence Award

Dimitrios Zekkos Shamsher Prakash Research Award

EMERITUS Richard Woods Edward Law Emeritus/Emerita Outstanding Service Award

Steve Wright Institute of Civil Engineers Telford Premium

Branko Kerkez ASCE Faculty of the Year Award Excellence in Teaching Award, Chi Epsilon NAE Gilbreth Lecturer NSF CAREER Award

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FACULTY News

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering welcomed Dr. Enrica Bernardini and Dr. Lissa MacVean to the faculty in September 2018.

Could you describe your interests in civil and environmental engineering?

What brought you to CEE at the University of Michigan?

What developments in your feld are you excited about?

Enrica Bernardini Civil Infrastructure Systems

Education • PhD in Civil Engineering and Innovative Materials (2012), University of Perugia• MS in Civil Engineering with structural emphasis (2008), University of Perugia• BS in Civil Engineering (2005), University of Perugia

Previous Positions • 2016-2018: Lecturer I, University of Michigan, Department of Civil and

Environmental Engineering• 2012-2014: Adjunct Research Assistant Professor, Visiting Research Assistant

Professor and Adjunct Instructor at the University of Notre Dame, Departmentof Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences

I have a strong background in structural engineering, with particular emphasis on solid mechanics, wind engineering and structural dynamics. My research activities focused on developing probabilistic frameworks for the wind-resistant design of high-rise structures through the integration of analytical and experimental methods. I also have experience working as a structural engineer, in particular in conducting seismic vulnerability assessment of structures and structural rehabilitation of historical buildings.

As a graduate student in Italy, later at the University of Notre Dame and lastly here at Michigan, I taught several diferent courses in the felds of structural analysis, solid mechanics and geotechnical engineering at various levels.

Over the past two years I have had the fantastic opportunity of being a Lecturer I in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Tis experience made me truly understand how rewarding and fulflling teaching can be. Now I have the chance to continue along this path in the same department, and I am really excited at the prospect of truly making a lasting impact on the lives of many future engineers!

Teaching is so much more than just transferring technical knowledge. In a classroom there are many diverse students, and teaching in a way that is efective for each one of them, while sparking curiosity and promoting independent thinking, is a real challenge.

Today’s students will be called to contribute to the development of new directions in civil engineering, which go beyond building taller buildings or longer bridges, to designing more resilient communities, fnding the most efective ways to use resources in order to enhance the performance of the built environment and maintain existing infrastructure. As an educator, I will do my best to make sure the students are excited by, and ready to tackle, these new challenges.

Lissa MacVean Environmental and Water Resources

Education • PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering, with a focus on Environmental

Fluid Mechanics (2010), University of California, Berkeley• MSE in Civil and Environmental Engineering (2000), University of Michigan• BSE in Civil and Environmental Engineering (1999), University of Michigan

Previous Positions • 2016-2018: Environmental Scientist, San Francisco Estuary Institute• 2015-2016: Researcher, University of California, Berkeley• 2015-2016: Instructor, Stanford University• 2013-2015: Instructor, University of California, Berkeley• 2010-2013: Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow, U.S. Geological Survey, Santa Cruz

I am interested in the physics of fow, sediment, salt and contaminants in estuarine and shallow coastal systems. I study how tides, waves, sediment and salt interact to create and destroy turbulence, and how sediment is suspended from the sea foor and transported throughout the estuary. My research also explores how the shallow environments along the perimeter of the estuary or coast afect the fow of water and the dispersion of salt and contaminants, and how those regions are shaped by sediment erosion and deposition.

I earned my BSE and MSE from U-M CEE years ago, and it was the CEE community here that inspired me to pursue a PhD in environmental fuid mechanics. After studying coastal systems on the West Coast, I am delighted to have the opportunity to return to the department and bring my research into the classroom. I am excited to explore the theory with students and to collaborate with them on the analysis and interpretation of real world data!

FACULTY News

I am excited about the role of environmental fuid mechanics in helping humans navigate a changing world. As sea levels and weather patterns change, the physical framework underlying ecosystems changes as well, forcing the system to adjust. Environmental fuid mechanics can help us understand problems as diverse as food risk, ecosystem productivity and the fate and transport of contaminants. Te challenges and opportunities lie within the need for cross-disciplinary collaboration and a research approach that allows each discipline to be informed by the others in real time.

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Going beyond the classroom and the lab with feld work, deployments and collaborations

STORIES BYSTORIES BYRRoberobert Coeliust CoeliusJJames Lames LynchynchAllison LAllison Lyyons ons JJessica Pessica Petrasetras

GGallup Pallup PararkkPPhoto: Jhoto: James M Rames M Rotz/Motz/Michigan Eichigan Engineering, Communications & Mngineering, Communications & Mararketingketing

STORIES BY Robert Coelius James Lynch Allison Lyons Jessica Petras

Gallup Park Photo: James M Rotz/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing

Civil and environmental engineers have a long and proud history serving as stewards of the public good. At the University of Michigan, we take that commitment to society very seriously. To be true agents of change in the profession, our community of scholars is increasingly fnding it essential to get off campus to work with stakeholders under real-world conditions to implement solutions at-scale. Our faculty and students partner with our local, national, and global communities on projects that have a direct impact on people’s lives.The stories that follow are just a small sample of the many ways that we’re quite literally “getting off campus” to fulfll our mission of serving society.


FLOODPROOFING CITIES

Flooding is the leading cause of fatalities that occur during major weather events, and the damage it causes can be severe. Estimates of the impact of hurricanes Harvey and Irma in fall 2017 have reached as high as $200 billion, a staggering number.

Costly food damage is not limited to the coastal areas targeted by hurricanes. In August 2014, Warren, Michigan’s storm systems were overwhelmed when 5.2 inches of rain fell on the city in 13 hours. Te result: more than 18,000 homes damaged, mostly through basement fooding, 1,000 vehicles stranded by water, and an estimated $1.2 billion in overall damage.

Te fx for such communities would be to replace their old infrastructure, which in many cases is long past its original intended lifespan. But the expense of putting in new pipelines is a nonstarter for many cities.

Branko Kerkez, CEE Assistant Professor, proposed an alternate approach: enhance the existing infrastructure with sensors and autonomous technology. In doing so, he can unlock extra system capacity to handle large storm events.

“Instead of saying new and expensive construction is our only option, can we use what we have in a better way?” Kerkez said.

Under the National Science Foundation’s Smart & Connected Communities program, Kerkez is leading a national team of researchers from three other institutions to investigate how “smart” stormwater systems—outftted with autonomous sensors and valves—can reconfgure urban watersheds in real-time to reduce

Photo: Robert Coelius/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing

fooding and improve water quality. “Tere is an unprecedented opportunity now to combine

everything we know about water with all of these new advances in technology and create solutions that bring the two together in a meaningful way,” Kerkez said. “And I think these smart stormwater systems are going to be one example of that. It’s really an exciting time for smart cities.”

Working with social and computer scientists, engineers, and local ofcials and residents from four communities, Kerkez is looking to bolster the ability to withstand and limit the damage from severe weather. Participating communities are Ann Arbor; South Bend, Ind.; Charlottesville, Va.; and Knoxville, Tenn.

Currently, Ann Arbor is serving as an experimental smart watershed. Te researchers are cooperating with city and Washtenaw County ofcials. Te stormwater system features between 10 and 20 sensors per square mile in its system, and testing is already underway. Sensors measure the quality of the water, as well as how much of it is fowing through the system at any given time, and other variables.

“Tese measurements reveal how your system is functioning,” Kerkez said. “Is it overburdened? If it is, where are the open opportunities for improvement?”

Te autonomous smart technologies that Kerkez and his team are developing will help lessen the impacts of fooding—potentially saving lives and billions of dollars in property damage.

MANAGING STORMWATER AROUND THE WORLD Managing stormwater in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has become increasingly difcult as the city experiences rapid expansion. CEE Assistant Professor Branko Kerkez works with CEE Professor Nancy Love, Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning and Natural Resources Larissa Larsen, and faculty at Addis Ababa University to deploy of-grid sensor nodes in Addis Ababa. Part of a National Science Foundation International Research Experience for Students project, this deployment is designed to demonstrate a method for controlling stormwater by improving existing infrastructure rather than developing new infrastructure.

Travis Dantzer (CEE junior) from the Kerkez open-storm team and Zerihun Bekele (CEE PhD student) from the Love research group deploy a sensor node in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Photo: Nancy Love

Photo: Will Huang

FOR A CLEANER CREEK Sensors aren’t just for stormwater systems and the monitoring of water quantity in a watershed. Along with CEE Assistant Professor Branko Kerkez, CEE Professor Avery Demond has installed sensors along Ox Creek in Benton Harbor, Michigan, to gain insights that could help improve the water quality in this heavily polluted creek.

Although chemical pollutants from nearby industrial operations are a problem for Ox Creek, the biggest detriments to water quality are stormwater runof and sediment from irrigation of local farms, which deposit a high volume of solid particles in the creek. Tese particles get kicked up from the creek bed as the creek fows; the more water in the creek, the faster it fows – disturbing even more sediment.

By using sensors to monitor water levels, Demond and Kerkez hope to fnd out what incidents trigger high fow rates. Since the creek originates in farm lands east of the city, it’s likely that some of the high fow rates are triggered by farmers draining their felds.

“Our eventual goal is to work with the farmers to regulate the fow of water to the creek,” said Demond. “We want to learn more about their current process and see if we can work together to fnd a way to improve water quality downstream.”

Right now, these sensors are used solely for tracking water levels. But Demond and Kerkez’s team plan to expand their use to remotely control the drains that farmers use to regulate irrigation in their felds. Tese “smart” drains would allow farmers to release water from their felds gradually, at a low fow rate that would not disturb the sediment in Ox Creek.

Gerardo Longoria (Mechanical Engineering senior and CEE student worker) checks a sensor on Ox Creek in Benton Harbor, MI.

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GREEN LIGHT RED LIGHT,


TRANSPORTATION INNOVATION

“RECALCULATING...” Photo: Robert Coelius/

Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing

Dramatic changes are happening in transportation. With innovations in connectivity and automation, the way we get around is evolving at a rapid pace. CEE is on the cutting edge of transportation research, with projects that directly address real-world problems such as road congestion, safety and security.

Photo: Levi Hutmacher/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing

Photo: Marcin Szczepanski/ Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing

We’ve all been there – stuck in a long line of cars at a red light with no cross trafc in sight. Te frst electric trafc signal was installed in 1914. Over 100 years later, why does it seem like we still don’t know how to use them as well as we could?

Te short answer is lack of information. To gather data about trafc, engineers traditionally install sensors at intersections in the form of cameras, underground sensors called hoop detectors or radar. But those systems are costly to install and maintain.

Professor Henry Liu took a diferent approach to this problem. Rather than having a stationary sensor at an intersection, what if there were thousands of mobile sensors zipping along with trafc? Sounds ambitious, but in fact, these sensors already exist in the form of mobility services such as Uber and Lyft.

“Tese services are already tracking this data for other reasons, to pay the driver for instance,” said Liu. “But that data can also be leveraged to study trafc performance and optimize trafc fow.”

Liu has developed software that optimizes vehicle trajectory data to help with trafc management. Working with Chinese mobility company DiDi Chuxing, he has already implemented this software in 1300 intersections in 20 cities in China.

Liu believes that in the coming years, mobile sensors in the form of vehicles will make stationary sensors obsolete by providing more complete data to help government agencies improve trafc fow. Better trafc fow would also mean less congestion and less time spent on the road, and potentially reduced pollution from exhaust fumes.

Liu added, “I truly believe we are leading the world in this transition.”

While Professor Henry Liu’s plan is ideal for studying trafc in big cities with lots of shared mobility vehicles, other CEE faculty are examining trafc in diferent environments that present diferent challenges and opportunities.

Gabor Orosz, CEE Associate Professor and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is working with Ford Motor Company to fnd a better way to report trafc data to drivers in real time. Right now, many people rely on apps or web services to predict trafc and help them fnd the fastest route to their destination. Te main problem with these services is that they rely on aggregate data, which causes a delay in reporting.

“Tese services have to collect data from users’ devices, map that data, and relay it back to other users,” said Orosz. “By the time you see it on your phone, the trafc delay may be over. You see a red line on your map, but trafc is moving quickly in the real world.”

Orosz and his team piloted an alternative program on roads near Ann Arbor, Michigan. Tey leveraged sensors along the road that could communicate with connected vehicles, eliminating the need for aggregate data. Since the sensors connect directly to the vehicle, there is no delay in the information drivers are getting. Ten sensors were used in this pilot program, and the goal is to expand to hundreds of sensors to obtain better coverage.

In developing this system, Orosz started by talking to drivers to understand their needs, how they drive and how they would want such a system to function.

“Te technology is ultimately there to serve humans,” he said. “If we want it to help people, we need to get out there and talk to those people.”

But that doesn’t mean that this information is only useful for human-driven vehicles; it could also help automated vehicles improve their travel time and fuel economy. In fact, automated vehicles may make more efcient use of this information than human drivers. Automated vehicles responding to real-time trafc information would also help clear up trafc congestion, allowing all drivers to beneft from improved overall trafc fow.

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KEEPING SMART TRANSPORTATION SECURE

Te possibilities for connectivity and automation in vehicles and transportation infrastructure are tremendously exciting. But with this new technology comes the potential that these systems could be vulnerable to cyberattacks.

In the realm of autonomous and connected vehicles, a cyberattack could have far-reaching consequences. An autonomous and connected vehicle plans its trajectory based on the information collected through its sensors as well as information received from other connected vehicles and roadside sensors. If a vehicle cannot detect a cyberattack, not only would it impact the vehicle’s own trajectory but also the trajectory of other vehicles who are messages per second. She introduces multiple types of attacks into connected to it, either directly or through sensors embedded in this data to refne models that are best at identifying these attacks. infrastructure. Te intent of an attack could range from a vehicle Tese models use a combination of machine learning techniques taking advantage of this connectivity to selfshly keep the trafc (such as Convolutional Neural Networks and Support Vector light green for its individual beneft, or an adversary trying to bring Machines) and flters (such as Kalman Filters) to detect an attack, the trafc to a halt or even causing a vehicle to crash. identify the faulty or attacked sensors and fuse the data from

Neda Masoud, CEE Assistant Professor, models connected healthy sensors to generate accurate information that compensates vehicle systems to study the cybersecurity implications of this for the missing data from the faulty or attacked sensors. disruptive technology. In general, more sensors equal better cybersecurity – with

“When you have a connected system, if one sensor is hacked redundant sensors, there are more copies of the same piece of data and or has faulty information, that information will propagate through less risk of generating faulty information. But this also means more the network,” Masoud explained. “Te goal with cybersecurity is data to process, more power consumption and more costly vehicles. to detect that anomaly or attack, identify the source and determine “It’s about balance, about fnding the best combination of how to stop the spread of faulty information.” sensors to maximize safety and cybersecurity while minimizing

Masoud uses sensor data collected in the Safety Pilot Model power consumption in the vehicle,” said Masoud. Deployment project conducted at the University of Michigan As autonomous and connected vehicles become more Transportation Research Institute. In this project, drivers volunteer commonplace, consumers will start to consider cybersecurity to have wireless devices installed in their vehicles to test how well features right alongside airbag performance and gas mileage. connected vehicle safety technologies and systems work in a real- Future vehicles will need to incorporate cybersecurity models like world environment. Masoud’s in order to keep their passengers and other road users safe.

Te data that Masoud receives comes from GPS devices, speedometers and accelerometers, collected at a frequency of ten


RESEARCH News

DEMOCRATIZING SENSORS FOR COMMUNITIES One of the challenges faced by cities adopting smart technologies is how to best utilize the array of exciting new sensing technologies available. While sensing can ofer insight to urban processes previously unobservable, their deployments require thoughtful consideration of how sensors can be used, what kind of data is collected and how data will be used. City ofcials are typically the ones leading the decision to add sensors to their streets, without direct consultation with the community. With communities seeking to have a stronger voice in how sensors are deployed, CEE faculty are working to put these powerful technologies in the hands of citizens themselves. Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing

SENSORS IN A SHOEBOX In collaboration with School of Education Dean Elizabeth Birr “Te goal is really twofold,” said Lynch. “We want these Moje, CEE Professor Jerome Lynch has developed “Sensors in sensor kits to provide data to community members about their a Shoebox” to empower community members to collect and neighborhoods to help them develop solutions to problems they’re analyze their own smart city data. Each shoebox-sized sensor facing. But we also want to empower the next generation of can be installed in the urban environment to allow communities engineers to identify and address problems down the road.” to measure the world around them, including environmental Moje commented, “It is a terrifc example of how partnering parameters, noise, vibrations and motion. Tis project is funded by within the University and with the community can lead to a Knight Cities Challenge award from the Knight Foundation. innovations that have a real impact on people’s lives.”

Other community uses include measuring neighborhood air quality, exploring usage of city parks and public spaces and anonymously observing residents’ mobility choices. Te shoebox allows users to wirelessly stream data automatically from solar-powered sensors to the Internet. Community members access a user-friendly data portal to gain unique insights about how their neighborhoods operate, while empowering community-based decision-making.

Lynch and his students have already worked with middle- and high school students from Detroit public charter schools to install sensors on the Detroit riverfront and in city parks to gather information about how community members use the space. Teir work has been used to assess pedestrian utilization of public spaces, a measure that can help calculate the walkability of a city looking to increase its population.

Te team has also deployed a small network of sensors in southwest and downtown Detroit to collect data on air quality. Especially in southwest Detroit, community members with chronic health issues such as asthma are eager to have more direct access to data pertaining to air quality. To make data accessible, Lynch and his students created a Twitter interface that tweets air readings to CEE PhD student Katherine Flanigan works with Eddie Bassett, the community. Jr., then a freshman at Detroit’s Voyageur Academy, to set up a

sensor on the Detroit waterfront.

Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing

RESEARCH News

EMPOWERING THE ELDERLY Te U.S. elderly population continues to rapidly grow. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, people aged 65 years and older are projected to outnumber children for the frst time in U.S. history by 2035. Among this aging population, mobility has an important impact on their health and social engagement.

Yet the way we design, construct and maintain our built environment hasn’t been recalibrated to accommodate such demographic changes. Further, one of the challenges of implementing smart infrastructure is making sure that disadvantaged groups, like the elderly, derive maximum beneft from these infrastructure improvements. Too often, though, they are not the focus of conversations around smart infrastructure.

SangHyun Lee, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, wants to change that. In collaboration with Clark East Tower, a senior residential community in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, he recently completed a pilot project examining where elderly populations experience stress when interacting with infrastructure, and what interventions could alleviate that stress. Stress has a negative impact on quality of life, and may even reduce

The way we design, construct and maintain our built environment

hasn’t been recalibrated to accommodate

demographic changes.

life expectancy; lessening stress could help seniors live happier lives, and maybe even live longer.

Using wearable sensors in the form of a wristband, Lee can pinpoint exactly when and where these seniors experience stress as measured by physiological responses such as heart rate and electrodermal responses, which indicate activity in the nervous system. He frst used these wearable sensors in a more traditional civil engineering setting, measuring stress among construction workers. But he quickly realized that the same technologies could be applied in a diferent, understudied arena.

For the seniors participating in this study, stress can be triggered by a location, such as places on their route to a hospital or shopping mall, or by a situation, such as encountering broken pavement on the sidewalk. Of course, stress could also be unrelated to infrastructure or the immediate environment. To avoid confounding by unrelated factors, Lee’s team uses “collective” sensing, meaning physiological responses from multiple people rather than individuals. If many people experience stress at a particular location, it is safe to assume that there is something about that location that is causing the stress. Tis is where wearable sensors really shine – because they are relatively cheap and widely deployable, Lee’s team can collect data from many people.

Uneven sidewalks could be a source of stress for the aging population as they navigate local infrastructure.

“Tis data can help us recommend interventions,” said Lee. “If we fnd that broken pavement is stressful, we can recommend other similar routes, but with better sidewalks. Or if it is serious enough, the municipality can just fx it. At the community level, if you see that many people are going to the grocery store at the same time and experiencing stress during the commute, you could organize a shuttle that will take everyone together.”

With the pilot phase complete, Lee has moved on to the next phase of the study, which involves tracking participants for two weeks during each of the four seasons. In this study phase, supported by the University of Michigan Exercise and Sport Science Initiative and the CEE-led Urban Collaboratory, Lee is collaborating with Research Professor Philippa Clarke of the University of Michigan School of Public Health and Institute for Social Research.

“Te pilot participants were very excited,” Lee said. “Tey really want to monitor and control stress for themselves. Most people from the pilot have come back for the second study.”

At the conclusion of the study in the summer of 2019, Lee and his team will recommend infrastructure improvements to Ypsilanti Township based on their fndings. Clark East Tower will also be able to use this data to implement community-related improvements such as shuttle arrangements. In the future, Lee’s team plans to expand this research to other disadvantaged groups, such as those with disabilities.

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TO TREAT WATER Communications & Marketing

THE POWER OF MICROORGANISMS A NEW AUTHORITY

IN WATER Photo: Robert Coelius/ Michigan Engineering,

Bacteria in drinking water are not necessarily a bad thing. Drinking water treatment plants actually use bacteria to help remove chemical contaminants from water. Our bodies need bacteria to keep us healthy, and drinking water may provide some of these benefcial bacteria to our gut.

Some bacteria present in drinking water have the potential to cause disease in people with compromised immune systems. Scientists often refer to those bacteria as opportunistic pathogens. Evidence increasingly suggests that certain disinfectants used in drinking water treatment can be selective in killing some bacteria while allowing others to survive.

CEE Professor Lutgarde Raskin and Associate Professor Terese M. Olson are working with the Ann Arbor Water Treatment Plantto investigate ways to reduce this selection pressure in drinkingwater systems without impacting fltration performance. Teirhypothesis is that reducing the amount of disinfectant used toclean flters will promote a more diverse bacterial community withfewer opportunistic pathogens.

“We think that by allowing for a more diverse microbial community, you’ll allow for other microbes to exist that efectively outcompete the pathogens,” said Raskin. “Tis has important

implications for public health.” Tis project is currently running as a pilot-scale investigation

at the Ann Arbor drinking water treatment plant, with a full-scale phase planned later, pending results from the pilot. Dr. Q. Melina Bautista, CEE Research Fellow, is the day-to-day lead of this pilot-scale study. She is assisted by City of Ann Arbor personnel, PhD student Katherine Dowdell, master’s student Meghna Prasad and undergraduate student Michael Mata.

“Tis has truly been a collaborative efort,” said Olson. “It’s particularly important for our students to have these opportunities to interact with members of the community, and to see how their research can directly impact water treatment practice.”

Although the pilot-scale study is located in Ann Arbor, it has applications far beyond the city limits. Tis research can apply to other water utilities that use biofltration, which has become a popular drinking water treatment technology.

Te research is supported by a Tailored Collaboration grant provided by the Water Research Foundation and cost sharing by the City of Ann Arbor and the CEE-led Urban Collaboratory, a cross-campus institute focused on conducting applied research in cities.

The research team in front of their pilot-scale system at the Ann Arbor drinking water treatment plant.

From left to right: John Danielson, Environmental Lab Analyst (City of Ann Arbor); Brian Steglitz, Manager, Water Treatment Services (City of Ann Arbor); Q. Melina Bautista, Research Fellow (University of Michigan); Lutgarde Raskin, Professor (University of Michigan); Terese Olson, Professor (University of Michigan); Sarah Page, Drinking Water Quality Manager (City of Ann Arbor); Meghna Prasad, master s student (University of Michigan); Katherine Dowdell, PhD student (University of Michigan); Michael Mata, undergraduate student (University of Michigan).

Photo: Q. Melina Bautista

Te Great Lakes make up the largest freshwater system on the planet, and here in Michigan we’re understandably proud of that fact. But we have another Great Lakes system to be proud of: the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), one of largest water and wastewater utilities in the country.

Launched on January 1, 2016, the GLWA is a regional water and sewer authority servicing almost 40 percent of the water customers in the state of Michigan. It was formed when GLWA signed a 40-year lease for control over the Detroit Water and Sewer Department treatment plants, major water transmission mains, sewage interceptors and related facilities. Funds from this lease are used for capital improvement of the City of Detroit retail water system and to repair Detroit’s aging water infrastructure.

Te GLWA is focused on research and innovation to improve services and optimize operations. Partnerships with the University of Michigan, as well as Wayne State University and Michigan State University, help them explore and implement new solutions.

Glen Daigger, CEE Professor of Engineering Practice, works with the GLWA to better characterize how phosphorus is removed from used water prior to discharge to the Detroit River, and how the process could be improved. Te ultimate goal is to move toward a resource recovery model, where resources extracted from wastewater during treatment could be sold to ofset the cost of water treatment. Tis model also reduces the amount of waste released into the environment.

“Phosphorus can be turned into fertilizer,” said Daigger. “So it’s not just about removing unwanted materials from the water – it’s about fnding a use for those extracted resources.”

Other CEE faculty are also working with the GLWA. Branko Kerkez, CEE Assistant Professor, is using modern data mining techniques to better understand how water fows through the system. His group is developing new algorithms that will be used by GLWA operators to control the combined system using distributed pumps, gates and valves. By optimizing existing assets in real-time, this is expected to reduce sewer overfows and save money by reducing the need for new construction.

Professor Jerome Lynch is starting work on a similar project to explore the supply side of the system. He’ll use sensors and data mining to make recommendations on which sections of the system need to be repaired or replaced. Tis can ofer GLWA major savings in future upkeep and maintenance needs thereby ensuring safe operations while reducing water costs.

Te Department is working to develop additional research projects with the GLWA in the future.

“One of the interesting things about water is we’re never done,” said Daigger. “Tere are always ways to improve.”

GETTING SMART ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE Financing improvements to water infrastructure systems is challenging. Along with colleagues in CEE, the Ross School of Business and the U-M Law and Policy Schools, CEE Professor Peter Adriaens is leading an initiative to explore innovative ways to close the infrastructure fnance gap through data-driven business and fnancial models.

As part of the Center for Smart Infrastructure Finance, Adriaens and colleagues look at how to monetize data generated by sensors in infrastructure systems by selling it in third-party markets such as hedge funds, insurance companies or through derivatives contracts. Bringing infrastructure fnance into the data economy has the potential to unlock private market investment in public infrastructure, including municipal water systems (with applications such as the water concerns in Detroit schools), stormwater management systems, and agricultural drainage.

Karun Joseph, CEE MSE Student, places a sensor on a test pipe.

Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing

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NON-PROPRIETARY FORMULA FOR ULTRA-HIGH

PERFORMANCE CONCRETE

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Passing beneath a crumbling overpass or rumbling over a pothole-riddled street in almost any U.S. city, it’s hard not to wonder: why don’t they make these out of something that lasts longer?

Stronger and more durable concrete – known as ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) – has been on the market for a while under a small handful of brand names. But high prices and specialized mixing and production requirements have kept it out of widespread use by local, state, and federal governments.

As a result, governments instead repeatedly fx and replace aging infrastructure, leading to a backlog of roughly $500 billion in critically needed road and bridge repairs.

At the request of Michigan’s Department of Transportation (MDOT), CEE Professor Sherif El-Tawil and his team have concocted a non-proprietary blend of UHPC that comes with a drastically-reduced cost. Tat concrete is currently in use on a bridge in St. Clair County, and the formula is being made available for free.

“Regular concrete will have a strength of about 4,000 pounds per square inch (psi)… that’s maybe the weight of an SUV on every

square inch,” said El-Tawil. “However, UHPC can support at least 22,000 psi, or six times as much.”

In addition to strength, El-Tawil’s research team is boosting concrete durability – a property measured in freeze-thaw cycles. Ordinary concrete tested in the lab showed deterioration at 28 freeze-thaw cycles. Te team’s UHPC blend showed virtually no deterioration after 90 cycles.

“Our UHPC brings down the cost of long-term maintenance.”

THE BRAND NAME STUFF IS REALLY EXPENSIVE are a key A municipality looking to replace a bridge or rebuild a crumbling ingredient road, might spend $100 to $120 per cubic yard of regular concrete. in UHPC. To upgrade to a brand-name UHPC, that same local government would be looking at paying $3,000 – $4,000 per cubic yard.

In 2016, Michigan’s Department of Transportation outlined the problem with commercially-available brands of UHPC in a research publication.

Steel fbers

RESEARCH News

“While the durability properties of UHPC are very attractive… mixes are currently prohibitively expensive for widespread use and require specialized equipment and curing practices…,” MDOT’s research report stated. “But if costs were reduced…(it) could have potential…including thin overlays for decks that now need to be replaced every few decades.”

MICHIGAN’S MIX Reaching that extreme level of strength and durability requires modifcation to the traditional concrete recipe. Te formula for regular concrete contains some fairly simple ingredients – cement, gravel, sand and water. To get UHPC, El-Tawil removed the gravel in favor of diferent types of sand. Using ideas from the pharmaceutical industry, the particle sizes of the sands are carefully selected so that the resulting UHPC mixture has a structure that is densely packed.

Higher density leads to fewer voids inside, reducing the opportunities for water to penetrate and cause problems during the freeze-thaw process. Te dense packing is also the reason why UHPC is so strong.

Cement production requires extremely high temperatures to heat limestone and other materials, releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide from both the limestone and the fuel consumed to generate heat. To reduce the carbon footprint of the material, a by-product of the steelmaking industry (ground slag) is used to replace a signifcant portion of the cement and, at the same time, help increase the packing density.

SHORT HAIR-LIKE FIBERS A key ingredient in UHPC that is not in regular concrete is steel fbers. Isaya Miyata, a recent civil engineering graduate, was among those making sample batches of UHPC in a mixing lab on U-M’s North Campus last winter.

“Steel fbers add strain-hardening properties to the concrete,” he said. “So basically, once it cracks, the concrete will take a lot more load before it ultimately fails…”

While the fbers themselves are small, roughly a half-inch in length, they have an outsize impact on both the performance and the fnal price of UHPC. Tey come from chopped up thin wires such as those used in steel-belted tires.

El-Tawil’s work builds on a long history of departmental research on fber-reinforced concrete, going back to the mid-1980s with work by now-Emeritus Professor Antoine E. Naaman. In the early 2000s, Professor James K. Wight looked at structural applications of Naaman’s research to design coupling beams that would better withstand earthquakes. Currently, six buildings in the Seattle area use high performance steel fber reinforced concrete in the design of coupling beams.

REDUCING MAINTENANCE COSTS Because of the fbers, the UHPC created at U-M by El-Tawil and his team is still more expensive than regular concrete. But it represents a 70 percent price drop from the UHPC brands currently on the market. And as the cost of steel fbers drops with increasing demand, the cost of the U-M concrete would also fall.

“Our UHPC brings down the cost of long-term maintenance,” El-Tawil said. “It’s still more expensive than regular concrete, but if you consider the efect over the lifetime of a bridge, then the cost becomes very competitive. Our estimates show that UHPC will give you a cost savings of approximately 50 percent over a 100-year period.

“If you have a concrete deck on a bridge that lives for 100–200 years with little to no maintenance … imagine the cost savings.”

Photo: Sherif El-Tawil

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YOU’RE NEVER TOO YOUNG TO BUILD A BRIDGE

Photos: Jason McCormick

When you think of second-graders building bridges, the image that springs to mind likely involves brightly-colored wooden blocks. With all due respect to blocks, students at Bates Elementary in Dexter, Michigan, get to play with something much cooler.

Every year since 2008, Jason McCormick, CEE Associate Professor, has visited Bates Elementary with a group of undergraduate and graduate students as part of the “Building Bridges” program. After a short talk and video about engineering and trusses, each undergraduate and graduate student is paired with two to four second-grade students to design bridges using the West Point Bridge Designer software.

“We’re trying to introduce the basic idea that engineering is using math and science to solve real-world problems,” McCormick said. “We connect it to shapes for them – like how a triangle is a better shape for a bridge than a square.”

“Usually the design portion becomes a friendly competition and the kids really enjoy it.”

In addition to introducing kids to engineering at a young age, the program also provides a chance for graduate students to practice communicating about their work to a diferent audience, a skill that will serve them well in their future careers.

“I always like working with and teaching young kids,” said Ahmed Abdelhady, graduate student in civil and environmental engineering who participated in the program this summer. “Tey are awesome…very excited and interactive.”

COACHING THE NEXT (SCIENCE) OLYMPIANS

Every school year, students from kindergarten through twelfth water-propelled rockets from recycled two-liter bottles and other grade prepare to participate in Science Olympiad, a non-proft basic materials. At the ofcial competition, rockets are judged on how organization that aims to increase interest in science by sponsoring long they are able to stay afoat with the student-crafted parachutes. tournaments and other events.

In 2013 when CEE PhD candidate Elizabeth Agee heard that the Science Olympiad team at A2STEAM Elementary had a shortage of volunteer coaches, she knew what she had to do.

“I participated in Science Olympiad at the high school level and had a very positive experience,” Agee said. “Events like Science Olympiad really solidifed my love of science and engineering and encouraged me to pursue it as a career. I couldn’t let these kids, who were willing and able to participate in science, miss an opportunity to do so!”

Agee has been coaching third- through eighth-grade students ever since, guiding them through topics ranging from general ecology to water rockets, where students work together to design and build

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Besides the obvious benefts of getting to launch water rockets, Agee says that volunteering as a Science Olympiad coach has also helped her to be a better engineer.

“Coaching Science Olympiad has made me think a lot about how to communicate in more efective and accessible ways,” said Agee. “Te same skills that I utilize in teaching the students difcult concepts can be used to communicate my research to broad audiences, increasing the impact of the work I’m doing here at the University of Michigan.”

Agee’s research at the University of Michigan focuses on ecohydrology, the interactions between the hydrosphere and the biosphere and how they change across space and time. Her dissertation work examines the contributions of tree root systems to drought resilience in the Amazon rainforest.

FROM FRANCE TO ECUADOR: ENGINEERING CLEAN WATER SOLUTIONS

Photo: Rohan Chandran

In the summer of 2017, a group of University of Michigan students took a course in Sustainable Engineering as part of a study abroad program in France. Some of those students found themselves particularly interested in the clean water portion of the course – so interested, in fact, that when they returned to campus in the fall, they reconnected to apply what they had learned to real-world problems.

Te result is Team Aquador, a student organization focused on creating a sustainable water treatment system to clean contaminated fresh water sources in several regions of Ecuador, particularly the coastal regions that were heavily afected by the 2016 earthquake.

Team Aquador includes CEE undergraduate students Rohan Chandran (Class of 2020) and Jill Porretta (Class of 2019), both of whom have taken courses on sustainable and environmental engineering principles to give them a solid knowledge base for approaching the problem. What they learned in this course helped them decide on a slow sand flter as a means of fltering the water. But their education didn’t stop once they left the classroom.

“Being a part of Team Aquador has allowed me to gain a lot of hands-on experience that I wouldn’t have been able to obtain in a classroom setting,” Porretta said. “Constructing the actual slow sand flter, for example, taught me a lot about problem solving and adjusting the design to accommodate for any problems that may arise.”

In the summer of 2018 the team traveled to Ecuador to perform a site assessment and talk to members of the communities they wanted to help. Teir goal is to implement a system that will be easy for local communities to use and maintain, with a design that incorporates material found in the area so that community members can continue making their own water treatment systems.

“We were able to immerse ourselves in the culture and talk to people all over the country about what they were looking for in a water fltration and purifcation system,” said Porretta. “We plan to use their suggestions to further develop our design this year.”

Te team continues to refne their design and plans to return to Ecuador in the future.

“With a year of trial and error on our flters and our frst trip to Ecuador complete, I’m excited to see what we’ll be able to do next year,” Chandran said.

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cee.engin.umich.edu | Civil and Environmental Engineering

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PELHAM SCHOLARS PROGRAM Excellence through Diversity

Story by Jessica Petras

In academic year 2019, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering will launch the Pelham Scholars Program, named in honor of CEE alumnus Frederick Pelham. Tis master’s degree program is designed to enhance the placement and early career success of our diverse domestic students in industry and will welcome students to start in Fall 2019.

For many potential students, the cost of obtaining a master’s degree is a major impediment. Te Pelham Scholars Program addresses this by ofering tuition scholarships. To be considered for admission, students must have an exemplary academic record and meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Come from an educational, cultural or geographicbackground that is underrepresented in graduate study inCEE in the U.S.;

• Have demonstrated a sustained commitment to diversityin the academic, professional, or civic realm;

• Have experienced fnancial hardship as a result of familyeconomic circumstances;

• Be frst-generation U.S. citizens or the frst generation in theirfamilies to graduate from a four-year college.

Mentorship is a key part of this program. Pelham Scholars will mentor undergraduate CEE students, and will in turn receive mentorship from industry professionals. Tese mentorship relationships will build a stronger CEE community, help fll a pipeline for future Pelham Scholars and increase the likelihood of success within both undergraduate and graduate programs.

Tis program is designed to align with industry needs. Direct interaction with students gives industry partners exclusive access to

a high-caliber talent pool that is highly diverse. Students will have opportunities to learn more about diferent companies and their values, and be better positioned for success through mentorship. Funds for the program will come from industry partnerships and from the University of Michigan.

If you are interested in becoming an industry partner or otherwise supporting the Pelham Scholars Program, please contact Melanie Zauel ([email protected]).

Photo of Frederick B. Pelham; Gibson Photography, Ann Arbor; University of Michigan Student Portraits; Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

Who was Frederick Pelham? Story by Randy Milgrom

Frederick Blackburn Pelham was the frst African-American to receive an engineering degree from the University of Michigan. An excellent student who would become president of his graduating class, Pelham earned a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering in 1887.

Pelham graduated from Detroit High School with highest honors, and at Michigan, he graduated at the head of his class. He was said to be “quiet and gentlemanly,” and earned the admiration and respect of his classmates.

Pelham was hired by the Michigan Central Railroad in 1887 and he remained at the railroad until his death from pneumonia in 1895.

Pelham’s employment with the Michigan Central Railroad – though brief – was prolifc. He is credited with designing andbuilding approximately 18 to 20 bridges throughout Michigan.Pelham’s structures have held up well for more than a century,spanning roads and rivers between Detroit and Chicago andproviding safe passage for hundreds of thousands of trains –including the Amtrak passenger cars that continue to pass through

Ann Arbor at least twice every day. Among the more famous and unusual of Pelham’s creations

is the so-called “skew arch” bridge located in Dexter, Michigan, just northwest of Ann Arbor. Te skew arch (a design used when bridges are not perpendicular to crossings) passes over Dexter-Pinckney Road at the northwest edge of town and has a narrow, one-lane opening, originally built to accommodate pedestrians and horse-drawn buggies.

Over the 2017-18 school year, fourth grade students at Dexter’s Wylie Elementary School raised funds to purchase a sign honoring Pelham, which has been placed in Mill Creek Park, near the skew arch bridge.

Sources include: Te Michigan Manual of Freedmens Progress (John M. Green, 1915); Historic Highway Bridges of Michigan (Charles K. Hyde, 1993); Michigan railroad bridges bear U-M graduate s stamp (Ann Arbor News 2000); African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945 (edited by Dreck Spurlock Wilson, 2004); Te Dexter Underpass (Ann Arbor Observer, Community Observer, Spring 2007); and 4th graders raise money for sign honoring UM’s frst black engineering grad (MLive 2018).

BACK TO CLASS

Civil Engineering students inside Professor Roman D. Hryciw’s class at GG Brown lab 1021 determine sheer strength parameters of sand using direct sheer apparatus.

Photo: Robert Coelius/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing 20

mailto:[email protected]

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STUDENT News

Photo: Levi Hutmacher/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing

cee.engin.umich.edu | Civil and Environmental Engineering

FALL 2017 Ayush Atriwal — Structural Engineering MEng Avery Carlson — Environmental Engineering MSE Ryan Carpus — Civil Engineering MSE Matt Chambers — Civil Engineering MSE Baixu Chen — Civil Engineering MSE Peijia Ding — Civil Engineering MSE Yakun Dong — Construction Eng & Mgt MSE William Greenwood — Civil Engineering MSE Alesha Jackson — Civil Engineering MSE Priti Dilip Kamat — Civil Engineering MSE Daeho Kim — Construction Eng & Mgt MSE Fangzhu Li — Environmental Engineering MSE Wantao Lin — Civil Engineering MSE Jay Makwana — Construction Eng & Mgt MSE Shreyas Mishra — Construction Eng & Mgt MSE Sarah Mohr — Structural Engineering MEng Ha Nguyen — Civil Engineering PhD Yueqiang Ni — Civil Engineering MSE Motohiro Ohno — Civil Engineering PhD Margarita Otero-Diaz — Environmental Engineering PhD Ankit Pagariya — Construction Eng & Mgt MSE

Grace Rodriguez — Environmental Engineering MSE Brett Wagner — Environmental Engineering MSE Zixian Wang — Environmental Engineering MSE Madeleine Wax — Environmental Engineering MSE Brandon Wong — Civil Engineering PhD Jinxin Yang — Civil Engineering MSE Liu Yang — Construction Eng & Mgt MSE Shumeng Yang — Civil Engineering MSE Si Qi Yao — Environmental Engineering MSE Danni Zeng — Construction Eng & Mgt MSE Kun Zhang — Civil Engineering MSE Zhao Zhang — Civil Engineering MSE

WINTER 2018 Andrew Burton — Civil Engineering PhD Byungjoo Choi — Civil Engineering PhD Trevor Chou — Civil Engineering MSE William Davids — Civil Engineering MSE Alyssa Desimone — Civil Engineering MSE Timothy Fairley — Environmental Engineering MSE Wenjia Fan — Environmental Engineering PhD Kevin Fries — Civil Engineering PhD Hang Gao — Civil Engineering MSE Jiayi Gao — Civil Engineering MSE Alec Gordon — Structural Engineering MEng Goldie Gunawan — Civil Engineering MSE Yulin Guo — Civil Engineering MSE Gwendolyn Hubbard — Civil Engineering MSE Marcele Joseph — Structural Engineering MEng Abby Kleinheksel — Environmental Engineering MSE Kathryn Langenfeld — Environmental Engineering MSE Ryan Lawson — Structural Engineering MEng Yiwei Liu — Construction Eng & Mgt MEng Bharadwaj Mantha — Civil Engineering PhD Ryan Mazurek — Structural Engineering MEng Abraham Naim — Construction Eng & Mgt MEng Dan Qiao — Civil Engineering MSE Enrique Rodriguez — Environmental Engineering MSE Maurren Teresia — Civil Engineering MSE

STUDENT News

Shelby Ties — Environmental Engineering MSE Mingyan Tian — Environmental Engineering MSE Zheyi Tian — Environmental Engineering MSE Stacey Valentine — Civil Engineering MSE Jue Wang — Civil Engineering MSE Yuehan Wu — Environmental Engineering MSE Tongyan Xu — Environmental Engineering MSE Jin Yan — Environmental Engineering MSE Cheng Yang — Environmental Engineering MSE Ting Yang — Construction Eng & Mgt MSE Yang Yang — Environmental Engineering MSE Muzamille Yarrow — Construction Eng & Mgt MEng Kate Yuhas — Environmental Engineering MSE Weina Zhang — Environmental Engineering MSE Bowen Zhou — Environmental Engineering MSE

SUMMER 2018 Andrea McFarland — Environmental Engineering MSE Esteban Infante Merheg — Construction Eng & Mgt MSE


STUDENT News STUDENT News

STUDENT HONORS September 2017 - August 2018

Jubilee Adeoye Environmental Eng. PhD

Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship

Kidus Admassu Civil Eng. MSE

Dow Sustainability Fellow

Matthew Bartos Civil Eng. PhD

J. Robert BeysterComputationalInnovation GraduateFellowship

Byungjoo Choi Civil Eng. PhD

Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Prize for DistinguishedAcademic Achievement

Sampurna Datta Civil Eng. PhD

Barbour Centennial Award

Katherine Dowdell Environmental Eng. PhD

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) American Water Works Association Fellowship

Gabriel Draughon Civil Eng. MSE

Bridge to PhD Fellowship

Chase Dwelle Environmental Eng. PhD

Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) Award from Rackham

Wenyu Gu Environmental Eng. PhD

ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award

Claire Husselbee Environmental Eng. SUGS

Distinguished Achievement Award

Ivan Jayawan Environmental Eng. PhD

ASCE GSI of the Year Award

Houtan Jebelli Civil Eng. PhD

Engineering Graduate Symposium Award Winner

Daeho Kim Civil Eng. PhD

Engineering Graduate Symposium Award Winner

Paige Kohrs-Herwig Civil Eng. SUGS

Distinguished Achievement Award

Meiyin Liu Civil Eng. PhD

Creativeness in Ergonomics Student of the Year Award

Kurt Lundeen Civil Eng. PhD


Ernesto Martinez Paz Environmental Eng. MSE

Dow Sustainability Fellow

Anne Menefee Environmental Eng. PhD

Department of Energy Ofce of Science Graduate Student Research Award

Dowon Park Civil Eng. PhD


Michelle Pawlow Environmental Eng. UG

Distinguished Leadership Award

Maria Redoutey Civil Eng. UG

Distinguished Leadership Award

Caroline Van Steendam Environmental Eng. PhD


Steven Woodruff Civil Eng. PhD

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

Yinyin Ye Environmental Eng. PhD

Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Prize for DistinguishedAcademic Achievement

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STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing


Michigan Concrete Canoe

Team (MCCT) Faculty Advisor – Will Hansen

Yes, it actually foats! In the Michigan Concrete Canoe team (MCCT), we use our

unique civil engineering knowledge to design, build and compete with a fully functional canoe made entirely of concrete. Each year, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) releases detailed rules for canoe teams across the nation and we devote our time to improving the mix design, hull design and aesthetics of the canoe to compete at an annual competition under ASCE rules.

Te theme of the canoe in 2018 focused on the vital importance of honey bees to an industrialized society. Inspired by honey bees’ determined teamwork, attention to detail and symbiotic relationship with the environment, the 2018 canoe MAJESTY was constructed with efcient collaboration and with sustainability in mind.

Tanks to the dedicated eforts of the team and the generous support of our sponsors, we placed frst in oral presentation, frst in fnal product and second in technical paper. Tis year, we were thrilled to win our frst ever regional competition in the 25 year history of the program. We placed 19th overall in our frst appearance at national competition and enjoyed learning from groups around the world and growing as a team.

Contact: [email protected] Website: http://concretecanoe.engin.umich.edu

Geo-Institute (G-I)

Graduate Student

Organization Faculty Advisor – Adda Athanasopoulos-Zekkos

Te Geo-Institute (G-I) Graduate Student Organization is in its eighth year at the University of Michigan. G-I is one of nine specialty organizations within the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Te goal of G-I is to provide support for career development and promote collaboration among geotechnical engineers. As a graduate student organization, G-I at U-M holds community-building events for geotechnical engineering graduate students and promotes the benefts provided by G-I membership. Fall welcome picnic is one of the annual activities held by the U-M chapter of G-I for geotechnical engineering faculty and graduate students. Our chapter is also involved in sponsoring one to two seminars per year from the weekly geotechnical engineering seminar series in the department. Tis year, we were pleased to host the 2017-18 Cross-USA Lecture given by Dr. Andrew J. Whittle, the Edmund K. Turner Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT. Te Cross-USA Lecture is one of four honor lectures bestowed annually by G-I.

Our chapter is also involved in forming and preparing a team consisting of graduate and undergraduate students to participate in the Geo-Wall competition held by Geo-Institute at the annual ASCE G-I conference. Tis competition is about designing and building a model Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) retaining wall using paper as reinforcement. Tis year’s G-I annual conference will be in Philadelphia, PA. Please contact us if you are interested in joining the team.

Graduate students interested in geotechnical engineering are welcome to join G-I. Membership to G-I through ASCE is free. Any questions about G-I should be directed to the G-I ofcers ([email protected]) or the faculty advisor Adda Athanasopoulos-Zekkos ([email protected]).

Chi Epsilon Faculty Advisor – Adda Athanasopoulos-Zekkos

Chi Epsilon, the National Honor Society for Civil and Environmental Engineers, honors students who exemplify scholarship, character, practicality and sociability within the profession. During the 2017-2018 academic year, the University of Michigan chapter inducted two new pledge classes and had many successes.

With two new groups of initiates, our membership was bolstered to include students of many diferent disciplines and interests within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Tese were refected in our biweekly speaker meetings, where invited guests spoke to our organization about their exciting research in various felds such as transportation system modeling, intelligent stormwater management systems, and even hurricane food protection and social accountability as an engineer. Guest speakers included distinguished professors and graduate researchers from both within and outside the department, allowing our members to network with professionals from across the university.

In addition to our meetings, members also engage in service activities each semester within the Ann Arbor area. Tis year, Chi Epsilon partook in Circle K’s National Service Day, where we volunteered with parents and teachers at Slauson Middle School to help with various small construction projects. New pledges also participated, showing their willingness to serve their community and demonstrating the character required to become a member of Chi Epsilon.

Each semester concluded with the induction of our newest initiates, where their accomplishments and those of the current members of Chi Epsilon were recognized at our formal banquet. In attendance were faculty members of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, as well as our faculty advisor Dr. Adda Athanasopoulos-Zekkos and past faculty advisor Dr. Steven Wright. Te chapter is excited to continue collaborating with Dr. Adda Athanasopoulos-Zekkos in future semesters.

To learn more about Chi Epsilon, please contact our ofcers at [email protected].

Fall 2017 Chi Epsilon inductees

STUDENT News

Steel Bridge Team (SBT) Faculty Advisor – Jason McCormick

Each year the Steel Bridge Team designs, fabricates and constructs a 1:10 scale bridge according to the rules set by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Institute of Steel Construction.

Tis year, the Steel Bridge Team looked to continue our success, following a successful run at nationals last year. We recruited many new members who were able to get involved right away in design and fabrication. Te rules specify material, dimensional and construction requirements that led us to iterate through countless designs in RISA-3D and SAP2000, two diferent structural modeling software programs, to develop the most efcient, rules-compliant bridge possible.

Our fnal bridge design is a stacked beam design with no over truss. Tis was a new challenge for the team as we have been building over truss bridges for the last few years. After we modeled our simple 36-piece design in Solidworks, we spent the second half of the year focusing on fabrication and construction. We fabricate nearly the entire bridge ourselves on the mills, lathes and welders in the Wilson Student Team Project Center, and we are proud of the advances we have made in the quality of fabrication over the past couple of years. Tis year we were able to fabricate the whole bridge in only fve and a half weeks which is a recent record for our team. We successfully passed the load test on the frst try and had almost two full months to practice assembling the bridge.

In April, the team attended the North Central Regional Conference at Western Michigan University. We placed frst overall, frst in aesthetics, frst in construction speed and frst in construction economy, qualifying us for the National Competition held at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. At Nationals, we placed frst in display, fourth in lightness, sixth in construction economy, eighth in construction speed and thirteenth overall. We are very proud of our performance this year and look forward to building on this success next year. If you are interested in learning more about the SBT team please contact us at [email protected].

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http://concretecanoe.engin.umich.edu



STUDENT News

American Society of Civil

Engineers (ASCE) Faculty Advisor – Carol Menassa

Te University of Michigan’s student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) seeks to unite the community of civil and environmental engineers at U-M and to connect students with diverse professionals in the engineering feld. With faculty advisor Carol Menassa, we have pursued our goals to maintain and build upon the uniquely strong community of students and faculty which continues to characterize the CEE student experience.

Troughout the year, we hosted speaker meetings and company sessions on an almost weekly basis, totaling 22 diferent presenters covering diverse topics across the civil and environmental engineering feld. Students benefted from receiving help in selecting their concentration and expanding their realm of potential career opportunities. Tis year, presenters from industry and academia spoke about topics covering construction management, transportation, structural, environmental, urban planning, ofshore structures and water resources. We also held numerous social and community service events such as our pancake breakfast and our departmental food drive to foster relationships and perhaps some healthy competition between faculty and students in the CEE department.

Our annual ASCE Career Fair was held in mid-October and attracted almost 50 companies and over 200 students. Te Fall 2018 Career Fair will be sponsored by the College of Engineering and will be held at around the same time. Te weekend trip to Chicago brought together alumni and students for various networking opportunities. Te 50 students who attended the trip enjoyed alumni-led tours of the ArcelorMittal Steel Mill, One Bennett Park and a W Sheridan residential building. Overall it has been another successful year for the ASCE board, and we look forward to another one!

For questions about events or involvement, please contact us at [email protected].

ASCE/CEEFA banquet attendees

and Students (GrEENPEAS)

Graduate Environmental

Engineering Network of

Professionals, Educators

Faculty Advisor – Lutgarde Raskin

GrEENPEAS is a graduate environmental engineering network of professionals, educators and students. Its purpose is to promote professional relationships among graduate students, staf, faculty and alumni of the Environment and Water Resources Engineering (EWRE) program. In addition, the organization serves to promote academic exchange between members of the environmental engineering and environmental sciences communities through collaboration with the School of Public Health, Medical School and the School for Environment and Sustainability.

Within the CEE department, GrEENPEAS serves to grow the sense of community of the EWRE program through the sponsorship of social activities and provides a voice to advocate for the individual and collective needs of graduate students within the EWRE program.

Tis year GrEENPEAS hosted monthly happy hours to network with EWRE Seminar speakers and to get to know other graduate students better. We also partnered with GSAC, the CEE graduate student advisory council, to host a very successful CEE-wide happy hour. After seeing the success of this event, we collaborated with other departments across the College of Engineering to host a graduate student bar crawl. Our monthly Free Bagel Fridays continued to be popular and promoted camaraderie in all of CEE. We also worked to make the weekly EWRE Seminar a zero-waste event by providing reusable cofee mugs and compostable cofee supplies. In addition, we organized a fall welcome event (hosted by Professor Glen Daigger) to welcome new and returning EWRE students, an interactive “learn to homebrew beer” event (taught by guest brewer Assistant Professor Brian Ellis), a holiday party at Cobblestone Farms to ring in the end of fall semester, and we helped organize the traditional end of year spring party. Tanks to everyone who came out and made these events a success!

Earthquake Engineering

Research Institute (EERI) Faculty Advisor – Seymour Spence

Te EERI student chapter at the University of Michigan aims to promote learning and research in the earthquake engineering feld and provide outreach to the local community.

EERI members participated in the “Building Bridges” outreach program with second-grade classes at Bates Elementary School in Dexter. Te program promotes engineering through an interactive, hands-on experience. After being taught about bridges and truss bridge design concepts, the students worked with undergraduate and graduate students from EERI on computer software to design and test their own bridges. EERI members also participated in the CEE workshop “How Much Will Your Bridge Hold,” which is part of the University of Michigan’s Xplore Engineering Program. Te event is designed for children entering ffth through eighth grade to explore the engineering and scientifc concepts behind bridge design.

In the coming year, we are working toward bringing a speaker to campus through EERI’s Freidman Family Visiting Professionals Program and to organize an undergraduate student seismic design competition team. Graduate students will also be encouraged to submit to the annual EERI National Student Paper Competition.

Any questions on how to get involved with the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute can be directed to eeri-ofcers@ umich.edu.

STUDENT News

Michigan Transportation

Student Organization

(MiTSO) Faculty Advisor – Tierra Bills

Michigan Transportation Student Organization, MiTSO, was formed in the 2017-18 academic year with the mission to provide students interested in transportation with profound experiences that will further their personal and professional interests. MiTSO seeks to bring together students from diferent majors to learn more about transportation and provide appropriate networking opportunities. Like all CEE student organizations, MiTSO is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

MiTSO has been involved in organizing a series of distinguished speakers and social events in the last year, as well as an Mcity tour. Our 2017-18 speaker series guests included Shawn Leight (2017 International President, Institute of Transportation Engineers; Vice President; CBB Transportation Engineers and Planners; Adjunct Professor, Washington University in St. Louis), Pat Wingate (Director of Transportation, OHM Advisors) and Richard Beaubien (Managing Director, BeaubienEngineering; 1990 International President, Institute of Transportation Engineers; Chair, Metro Detroit Regional Transportation Systems Operations Coordinating Committee). We also attended several conferences, including the Institute of Transportation Engineers Student Leadership Summit in West Lafayette, Ind., and the Annual Transportation Research Board Conference in Washington, DC.

Given last year’s successful gatherings, we are looking forward to the continuation and expansion of these programs in the future to expose our students to new advancements in our feld. To learn more about MiTSO, please contact [email protected].

Environmental Engineering Student Association (EESA) Faculty Advisor – Terese Olson

Te Environmental Engineering Student Association (EESA) is an undergraduate organization that seeks to further the advancement of the environmental engineering profession through technical projects, professional skill development activities, community service and social events. Membership in EESA is open to any student with an interest in environmental engineering. We work closely with the ASCE student chapter by helping to recruit employers to ASCE’s annual Career Fair and engage speakers for the ASCE weekly seminar. With the help of corporate volunteers this year, EESA students are organizing a Resume Critique event prior to the ASCE Career Fair to help students develop professional resumes. EESA also works closely with the Graduate

Environmental Engineering Network of Professionals, Educators and Students (GrEENPEAS) to co-host research seminars. To further student professional development, we organized a winter semester GIS Workshop last year for our members and plan to continue this ofering again this year.

As service activities EESA volunteers will participate in the Fall Huron River Watershed’s “River Roundup” events. EESA students also assist the Department in student recruitment events. We are also exploring opportunities to participate in international service organizations. Tose interested in joining EESA can contact [email protected].

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https://umich.edu



Eugene A. Glysson Receives Posthumous Award of Excellence

Story by Jessica Petras Professor Emeritus Eugene A. Glysson was posthumously awarded the Abel Wolman Award of Excellence from the American Water Works Association (AWWA) during the 2018 AWWA Annual Conference & Exposition, June 11–14, 2018.

Tis award recognizes those whose careers in the water works industry exemplify vision, creativity and excellence, and who have had recognizable impact on the professionalism of the industry.

Professor Glysson passed away in 2014. During his career, he taught and performed research on solid waste disposal and management, municipal engineering, and water, wastes, and solid wastes engineering.

He was a consultant to the National Science Foundation, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Michigan Department of Health. He also spent one term as a commissioned ofcer in the U.S. Public Health Service assigned to the Land Protection Branch Ofce of Solid Wastes.

Te American Water Works Association is an international, nonproft, scientifc and educational society dedicated to providing water solutions to assure the efective management of water. Teir nearly 50,000 total memberships represent the full spectrum of the water community: public water and wastewater systems, environmental advocates, scientists and academicians.

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

CEEFA ALUMNI News

Dear CEE Alumni, Students and Friends,

Greetings once again. So far it has been a busy and exciting year for the Civil and Environmental Engineering Friends Association (CEEFA) Board of Directors and the Department. At the April meeting of the Board of Directors the terms of two of our Board members expired: Ken Loh and Steve Guidos. We expressed our thanks to them for their great service to the Department and their contributions to our meetings. Te Board elected two new members to fll these seats: Dr. Domenico Grasso and Joe Aristeo. Both are U-M CEE Alums. Domenico has been appointed the next Chancellor of U-M Dearborn and Joe is the CEO of Aristeo Construction, a successful Michigan-based full-service general contractor. We welcome Domenico and Joe to the Board and look forward to their experience and insight!

At our spring meeting, the Board also named Carol Menassa as the recipient of the 2018 CEEFA Faculty award. Each year the CEEFA Board bestows the Faculty Award to recognize “teaching which has proven most valuable to alumni throughout their careers.” Carol teaches in the Construction Engineering and Management area at both the undergraduate and graduates levels and advises the ASCE student chapter. Te award was presented at the annual ASCE banquet held at the Michigan League. It was a great event and provided the opportunity to spend time with students.

At the September meeting of the Board of Directors, we once again followed the format of a day-long meeting with the morning session devoted to discussions with faculty on department updates, strategies and planning as well as meeting with CEE student groups on various topics. Te afternoon session was devoted to Board business. I am pleased to report that this year the Department once again held a CEE football tailgate event for the SMU game on Saturday, September 15. Yes, it is true – SMU hails from Texas, the state of my residence - but fear not, I was an unwavering supporter for the Maize & Blue! Tese gatherings provide a great opportunity to network with other alumni, faculty and the students, as well as get updates from the Department faculty in attendance. Tis year the venue was the U-M golf course, just across the street from “ground zero.” During my travels I am always amazed at the large number of Michigan alums I meet regardless of my destination. Wearing my Michigan gear, I am inevitably greeted with the familiar chants of “GO BLUE.” It’s a real treat to know there are so many of us out there. Te University has an enormous alumni

population and the CEE Department does as well. I want to encourage all to look for opportunities to engage with your alumni and the Department. With family and our professional career, we all have signifcant demands on time and it is not always easy to break free. I can assure you, however, that if you do manage to spend some time with your fellow alums, you will be glad you did!

Te Department is doing some amazing things these days in many exciting areas. New technology, new process, new practice, new education forums to name but a few. Our Department Chair, Jerome Lynch, and his team are producing some innovative and outstanding strategic plans to drive outcomes that will position our CEE group to ensure our Michigan engineers are prepared to excel in the existing, and new emerging areas, of civil and environmental engineering. Exciting times to be sure. As the University enters its third century, I encourage you to learn more by reaching out to the Department or the CEEFA Board. We are always on the lookout for alums willing to contribute their time and expertise to help ensure our CEE Department continues to excel!

Te Board is continuing to look for opportunities to facilitate engagement of our alumni both inside and outside the state of Michigan. We hope to be able to host a regional event for CEE alumni at some point in 2019. In terms of networking with each other, and with students, I want to encourage all to leverage the LinkedIn platform for this purpose. You can use LinkedIn’s search flters to connect with our students and alumni fltering by location, company, industry, etc. Te more alums in the mix the better the potential results, so get engaged if you are not already. Tis is a great platform and there are already well in excess of 1,000 CEE alumni and students participating. Also be sure to join the University of Michigan Civil & Environmental Engineering Alumni & Friends LinkedIn group. You can reach this group from the links on the CEE Department’s website.

Our Board is always on the lookout for alumni interested in participating in CEEFA, whether it be sponsoring alumni get-togethers, networking with students and recent alumni in your areas, or giving the Board insight on issues you feel are important for the Department and our profession. Please do not hesitate to reach out and contact us in that regard.

Hope to see you around campus. GO BLUE!

Jim Jacobi, PE Senior Principal Chief Information Ofcer, WALTER P MOORE [email protected]

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ALUMNI News

A Champion for STEM Diversity

Story by Katherine Johnson

Tarolyn Buckles with Tia Sutton (Chair of the Michigan Engineering Alumni Board) and Dean Alec D. Gallimore

Photo: Eric Bronson/Michigan Photography

U-M Civil and Environmental Engineering alumna Tarolyn Buckles was selected as the recipient of the 2017 College of Engineering Distinguished Service Award for the extraordinary contributions she has made to the city of Detroit, the civil engineering industry and the University of Michigan community.

“Tis award exceeds all of my other awards, as it comes from my alma mater. U-M prepared me with the professional and technical ability necessary to do the work, and was the springboard for my success,” says Buckles.

Tis award is presented to individuals that have generously given their time and talents to further the College’s projects ‘paying it forward’ in my push for diversity, making sure all young and activities. Buckles has served on the College’s Multicultural people have access to an excellent education.” Engineering Program Ofce Advisory Board and the Civil and A love for STEM (which stands for Science, Technology, Environmental Engineering Friends Association Board, where she Engineering and Math) started early for Buckles. “My interest in has championed student and alumni collaborations and promoted engineering began as early as 12 years old. I knew I wanted to go diversity within the student population. Buckles has also joined the into a technical feld. I chose engineering in high school because of Michigan Engineering Alumni Board, where she helps spearhead my love of math and science,” she said. the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) student alumni While studying at U-M, Buckles said the department of Civil engagement eforts. and Environmental Engineering prepared her well for her career.

A champion of diversity, equity and inclusion, Buckles is the “Te curriculum at CEE had a practical component to it that I was former National Diversity Manager for ARCADIS US, Inc. and able to use immediately in the professional feld, everything from has conducted two diversity conferences for the American Society structures to materials to hydraulics,” said Buckles. of Civil Engineers in Detroit. She has been a mentor to countless Buckles is the President and CEO of Onyx Enterprises, a students over the years. A tireless community volunteer, Buckles certifed woman and minority-owned small business headquartered has been involved with the Water Access Volunteer Efort for over in Detroit. Onyx provides engineering consulting, project 14 years, which provides assistance to low-income families during management and construction management services to local, state, a crisis by ensuring uninterrupted access to safe drinking water and federal government, engineering consulting frms, and contractors. sanitation services. Buckles is very proud of the success of Onyx, having grown the

“Te reason why I am so involved as an alumni is because of my company in size and revenue by 50 percent each year. true passion for diversity and inclusion,” says Buckles. “Now I am

James G. Fausone Honored Story by Jessica Petras

James G. Fausone (BSE ’76) received the 2017 Civil and Environmental Engineering Department Merit Award, which recognizes distinction at the department level. Fausone is a founding partner at the law frm of Fausone Bohn, LLP in Northville, Michigan. He uses his background in civil engineering for litigation and providing business advice for locally owned companies. Fausone is a past chairman of the College’s Alumni Society Board and in 2005 funded the James G. and Carol Ann Fausone Endowed Scholarship Fund. In 2007, he received the College of Engineering’s Distinguished Service Award. Jim Fausone with Tia Sutton (Chair of the

Michigan Engineering Alumni Board) and CEE Department Chair Jerome P. Lynch

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ALUMNI News

ASCE-CEEFA Awards Banquet

Te annual ASCE-CEEFA banquet, held on April 13, honored several CEE members. Te American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapter hosted the event which brings together current students and members of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Friends Association (CEEFA) for a social evening and awards banquet.

Te event consists of presentations by the CEE Department Chair, CEEFA Board of Directors and various

student organizations, as the ofcers wrap up the academic year and transition members for the next year. ASCE members and the CEEFA board also select recipients for awards honoring faculty, graduate student instructors (GSI) and staf.

ASCE chose Branko Kerkez as the faculty member of the year, Ivan Jayawan as GSI of the year and Matt Blank as staf member of the year. CEEFA presented Carol Menassa with the faculty member of the year award.

CEEFA Faculty Award

Carol Menassa ASCE Faculty of the Year Award

Branko Kerkez

GSI of the Year Award

Ivan Jayawan Staff Member of the Year Award

Matt Blank

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STAFF News

NEW STAFF

Electronics Technician

Ethan Kennedy

Ethan provides technical support to the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, primarily with matters pertaining to Electrical, Instrumentation and Control Equipment. He designs and implements Data Acquisition and Control schemes for CEE research projects, including troubleshooting and repair of electrical lab equipment. He also provides supervision and technical guidance to undergraduate labs.

Christine Kropelnyckyj Research Process Coordinator

Chris is a member of the Financial Team and works with grants and proposals. She also assists with the fnancial management of these accounts, including reconciliation. Chris is also available to purchase items needed, and to create and monitor purchase orders and requisitions including M-marketsite carts.

Graduate Coordinator

Stacey Stites

Stacey assists with administrative tasks associated with graduate student services. Tis includes our graduate recruiting weekend, graduate workshops, preliminary exams, PhD defenses, handling the admission process for master’s and PhD applications, degree audits, planning orientation for incoming grad students, and working with the GSAC Committee and the Grad Committee throughout the year to assist with events and/or issues.

Marketing Communications Specialist

Jessica Petras

Jessica creates printed and digital pieces promoting the work of the entire CEE community. She maintains the CEE website, manages social media accounts, coordinates media coverage, takes photographs and writes news stories highlighting research and events in the department.

STAFF News

STAFF AWARDS

Stories by Jessica Petras

Sherry Brueger Receives College of Engineering Staff Excellence Award Te College of Engineering has selected Faculty Support and Human Resource Assistant Sherry Brueger to receive a Staf Excellence Award.

Te Staf Excellence program was created to recognize the vital contributions that staf make to the College’s success. Recipients demonstrate sustained excellence in service and have made signifcant contributions to promote the College’s overall mission. Awardees are nominated by their department or unit and are selected on a competitive basis.

Sherry has served the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering since 2008, and she has been with the University of Michigan since 1993. She has proven to be a special staf member who is most deserving of this prestigious College of Engineering staf award due to her exemplary work performance, her commitment to helping students, faculty and staf, and her proactivity in providing creative solutions to challenges faced by others in the department.

Sherry was recognized at the College of Engineering Staf Excellence Awards Program on Tursday, May 17 in the Chrysler Center Chesebrough Auditorium.

Sherry Brueger with CEE Department Chair Jerome P. Lynch and Dean Alec D. Gallimore

Steve Donajkowski Receives CEE Staff Excellence Award Senior Mechanical Technician Steve Donajkowski received the annual Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Staf Excellence Award in recognition of his excellence in fulflling the responsibilities of his job.

Te CEE Staf Excellence Award is presented based upon feedback from faculty and staf in areas of professionalism and reliability, communication, teamwork, job knowledge and work quality, initiative, problem-solving and decision-making, planning and organizing, and leadership.

Steve joined the CEE staf in March of 2017 and truly hit the ground running. He exceeded expectations over the past year, developing strong working relationships with faculty and students as he fabricated research instrumentation or rebuilt, repaired, and modifed equipment.Steve Donajkowski with CEE Department Chair

Jerome P. Lynch

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In Memoriam

Distinguished U-M CEE alum, Feyyaz Berker, passes Berker (MSC CE ’48) passed on August 22, 2017. He was a prolifc entrepreneur and pioneer in the Turkish construction engineering industry.

Story by Katherine Johnson

Feyyaz Berker was born in Mersin, Turkey in 1925. After fnishing his primary school education there, he went to American College in Tarsus, then on to Robert College, an independent private high school in Istanbul. He completed his secondary education at Robert College in 1942, then began studying construction engineering at Robert College Engineering School, graduating in 1946. At this point, Berker went to America to study civil engineering at the University of Michigan.

Berker earned his Master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1948. He stayed in America to practice for a while, working for a construction engineering frm in California. He returned to Turkey in 1949.

After completing his military service as a reserve ofcer in Ankara between 1949-1950, he started to work as construction supervisor in the construction of Esenboğa Airport. After the work in Esenboğa was completed and the construction site was closed, he was appointed as the head of the laboratory and research department in the main ofce.

Following a construction boom, after Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Berker founded Feyyaz-Nihat Consultancy Company with his Robert College and University of Michigan classmate, Nihat Gökyiğit. (MSE CE ’48) Berker and Gökyiğit had been friends since frst grade.

Te two men went on to form a sister company, Tekfen Construction Limited in 1957, adding construction services to their consulting activities. Tekfen continued to expand its pipeline construction operations, then branched into refnery construction. Tekfen also began producing light bulbs, garnering one third of Turkey’s light bulb market, to hedge against inconsistencies in the construction industry.

At present, Tekfen Holding Company is a reputable international contractor in Turkey, Eastern and Central Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Tekfen is one of the 225 largest contractors in the world, contracting more than one billion dollars a year.

Feyyaz Berker and his associates handed over the management entirely, after the restructuring of Tekfen Holding in 2000. Berker continued to serve as Chairman of the Board of Tekfen Holding until his retirement in 2014.

Berker had an active role in the establishment of TÜSİAD, Turkey’s top industry and business association, and served as Chairman of the Board for nine years until 1980. TÜSİAD supports independent research and policy discussions on important social and economic issues in Turkey and abroad. In 1975, Berker met with U.S. President Gerald Ford, both U-M alumni, about

lifting an arms embargo to improve the external trade relations of Turkey and Cyprus.

In 2013, Feyyaz Berker and his U-M classmate and longtime business associate, Nihat Gokyigit, were awarded the Alumni Medal Award from the College of Engineering. Tis honor is awarded to alumni that have achieved extraordinary success in their feld. Tis is the highest honor awarded by the College of Engineering Alumni Board.

Fayyaz Berker passed on August 22, 2017 at the age of 92. His death caused great sadness throughout the Turkish business world.

Berker was buried in the Aşiyan Cemetery in Turkey followed by a memorial ceremony held at Tekfen Holding.

Alev Berker, Berker’s wife, said of him after his passing, “Feyyaz worked very hard all his life for his family, his country and his company Tekfen Holding. We, I as his wife, his two daughters, his grandson and granddaughter are very proud of him and love him dearly. We will miss him very much.”

IN MEMORIAM In order by year of graduation

Mitchell J. Zolik BSECE ‘41 08/31/2017

John J. Studnicka BSECE ‘46 06/14/2018

Maxwell T. Huf MSE ‘47 03/08/2018

Roland L. Sharpe BSECE ‘47, MSE ‘49 03/15/2018

Harry M. Baxter BSECE ‘48 10/05/2017

Feyyaz Berker MSE ‘48 08/22/2017

Jal N. Bharucha MSE ‘48 01/16/2018

Edward P. Gazur BSECE ‘48 03/09/2013

Max Jafe MSE ‘48 05/21/2018

Leo H. Barbour BSECE ‘49 12/20/2017

Aris G. Grammatikas MSE ‘49 04/30/2018

Marlin L. Sheridan MSE ‘49, PhD ‘53 09/02/2017

Paul R. Fontana BSECE ‘50 09/27/2005

John S. Gooding BSECE ‘51 09/03/2016

William L. Green BSECE ‘51 06/17/2018

Paul D. Hodges BSECE ‘51, MSE ‘54 09/16/2017

Philip B. McCallister BSECE ‘51 01/16/2017

Arthur L. Bergey BSECE ‘52 09/04/2017

Edward J. Glaza BSECE ‘52, MSE ‘55 04/01/2018

Russell D. Harrison BSECE ‘52 01/24/2018

Alex E. Mansour BSECE ‘52, MSE ‘56 09/20/2017

John D. Willison BSECE ‘52 01/20/2018

Baldefrid J. Hanisch MSE ‘53 12/14/2010

C.J. Huang MSE ‘53 10/30/2012

Robert A. Lander BSECE ‘53 06/21/2006

Melvin L. Peden BSECE ‘53 10/31/2017

Edward L. Maier MSE ‘54 04/22/2018

Paul E. VanCleve BSECE ‘54 02/04/2018

Roger G. Zeef BSECE ‘54 03/25/2018

Gerald D. Pruder BSECE ‘55 08/30/2017

William M. Glazier MSE ‘56 05/21/2018

Abu J. Hasan MSE ‘56, CE ‘66 05/31/2018

Merrill W. Nelson BSECE ‘56 09/01/2017

Eugene L. Pickett MSE ‘56 10/19/2017

Vincent P. Traina MSE ‘56 08/11/2018

Alexander M. Yourshaw MSE ‘56 05/16/2018

John C. Kreger BSECE ‘58 02/05/2018

Richard E. Anderson MSE ‘59 10/22/2017

Phillip L. Andreas BSECE ‘60 10/19/2017

Donald T. Check BSECE ‘60 10/30/2017

Robert D. Jarrett BSECE ‘60 03/21/2018

Donald L. Mills BSECE ‘60 04/01/2018

George L. Harlow MSE ‘62 04/11/2018

James A. Fox BSECE ‘64 07/13/2018

Neal A. Gehring BSECE ‘66 01/14/2018

David W. Kurtz BSECE ‘66 05/31/2018

David L. Simpson BSECE ‘66 09/09/2017

James R. Grant BSECE ‘67 04/10/2018

Lloyd E. Krivanek MSE ‘73 02/18/2017

Michael J. Vukelich BSECE ‘73 10/29/2017

Allan W. Johnson MSE ‘74 07/17/2018

Gary R. Madison BSECE ‘75 02/12/2018

William J. Engle BSECE ‘78, MBA ‘85 08/25/2017

Patrick J. Meyers BSECE ‘79 08/28/2017

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Documents

CEE Review 2018 · 2020-01-29 · Research Expenditures in . Fiscal Year 2018. $9,396,477. Student to Faculty Ratio. 41 . Faculty Members. Master’s Students PhD Students. Undergraduate