carsonjo, Author at School of Civil and Construction Engineering

Floating offshore wind energy is quickly becoming a viable source of affordable, renewable energy in the U.S., however, offshore wind turbines are susceptible to damage from high winds and waves.

Researchers at Oregon State University, received $1.25 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to simulate the combined and complex effects of wind and wave forces on turbines by conducting physical experiments and numerical models. Barbara Simpson, assistant professor of structural engineering, is the principal investigator. Her colleagues on the project include Bryony DuPont, associate professor of mechanical engineering and the Boeing Professor of Mechanical Engineering Design, Bryson Robertson, associate professor of coastal and ocean engineering and co-director of the Pacific Marine Energy Center, Pedro Lomónaco, director of the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory, and Ted Brekken, professor of electrical and computer engineering

“There is a considerable need to develop open-source, flexible, modular frameworks that expand the capacities of physical testing facilities to accelerate the development of the U.S. floating offshore wind industry.” said Simpson. “In this simulation, the physical and numerical portions interact through sensors and actuators to represent the response of a floating-offshore wind turbine to combined wind and wave loading, where the wave is simulated physically at the multidirectional wave basin at OSU and the wind is simulated numerically.”

The physical experiments will be conducted at the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory, which is the largest nearshore experimental facility at an academic institution in the U.S.

The Oregon State project is one of 13 selected by the DOE to receive a total of $28 million to advance wind energy nationwide. While utility-scale, land-based wind energy in the United States has grown to 96 gigawatts, significant opportunities for cost reductions remain, especially in the areas of offshore wind, distributed wind, and tall wind.

New first-year cohort program works to increase student retention, success

Students meet with a faculty mentor at cafe. — First-year students meet with their faculty mentor, Judy Liu, professor of structural engineering, at a cafe off campus.

“The mission of the first-year cohort program is to strengthen the school community from the first year through graduation and into professional practice,” said Whitney Korthauer, head academic advisor. “Through regular cohort meetings with faculty mentors, students are learning more about the school, engaging with faculty and staff, and getting to know fellow students.”

Activities include meetings with mentors at coffee shops or other locations outside the traditional academic atmosphere. There is no homework or credit. Rather, the sessions are about conversation and connection. Mentors are encouraged to organize outings based on their own interests, such as hiking, cycling, and attending concerts.

To encourage participation, prizes are awarded to cohorts based on points accrued by attending a meeting, posting selfies with the Oregon State mascot Benny Beaver, and answering quizzes about school news.

“Four-year graduation rates increase dramatically when students are engaged in an extracurricular activity and can work with faculty members who care about their success,” said Jason Weiss, school head and Miles Lowell and Margaret Watt Edwards Distinguished Chair in Engineering, citing a recent Gallup study.

In June, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio visited Oregon State to learn about recent advances in improving the health of transportation infrastructure, reducing carbon emissions, and enhancing traffic safety.

Jason Weiss, school head and the Miles Lowell and Margaret Watt Edwards Distinguished Chair in Engineering and Burkan Isgor, professor of infrastructure materials and the John and Jean Loosley Faculty Fellow, presented a portfolio of projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions in the built infrastructure. This includes work with Solidia, a startup company that has developed a cement that captures carbon from the atmosphere during a process of carbonation curing instead of the traditional hydration curing.

Additionally, Oregon State received $1.3 million in funding from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy to develop computational tools to evaluate the feasibility of using industrial byproduct materials to make low-energy cements.

During his visit, DeFazio said he learned a lot from the presentations and a tour of the Driving and Bicycling Simulator Laboratory, and that Oregon State researchers could be resources to him as chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Oregon State researchers talk with Rep. DeFazio in a campus infrastructure materials lab. — Jason Weiss, school head and the Miles Lowell and Margaret Watt Edwards Distinguished Chair in Engineering and Scott Ashford, Kearney Professor and dean of the College of Engineering talk with Rep. Peter DeFazio in the Kiewit Materials Performance Lab.

Rep. Peter DeFazio tours the Driving and Bicycling Simulator Laboratory with director David Hurwitz, associate professor of transportation engineering, and graduate students in the Hurwitz Research Program.

Alumni at tables talking with students in Kearney Hall. — Kelly Aust (’10 B.S., Construction Engineering Management) and Jay Culbertson (’72 B.S., Business Administration and Management) speak with students in Kearney Hall.

Congratulations to Oregon Stater Awards honorees Kelly Aust (’10 B.S., Construction Engineering Management), Jay Culbertson (’72 B.S., Business Administration and Management), and Tim Sissel (’97 B.S., Construction Engineering Management), who are making profound impacts on their professions and our world.

This year, Aust entered the Council of Early Career Engineers. As a project manager at Skanska, Aust oversees the execution of multimillion-dollar building projects for a broad range of clients, including Crestline Elementary School, Clark College STEM Building, PDX Concourse E Extension, and Oregon Health & Science University. “I make a difference every day,” Aust said. “We improve neighborhoods and communities. I love being a part of that impact.”

Culbertson was named to the Academy of Distinguished Engineers. For 30 years, he used strategic planning, engineering, and solid financial acumen to differentiate his company, Temp Control Mechanical, from the competition and grow it into one of the largest mechanical contractors in the Pacific Northwest, before it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Southland Industries in 2014.

Sissel entered the Council of Early Career Engineers. His company, Fortis Construction Inc., founded in 2003, has experienced significant success. He says the key to that success is the culture. “We believe our culture is unique in our industry,” Sissel said. “It’s a culture founded on freedom, responsibility, and hiring razor-sharp people. We are a flat organization, and really try to stay away from titles.”

Women sitting and tables and talking in Kearney Hall. — Students have breakfast at a Women in CCE event in Kearney Hall.

While CCE has made great strides in increasing the number of female faculty members, the school continues its work in encouraging women to pursue degrees in civil and construction engineering. Erica Fischer, assistant professor of structural engineering, developed a new program, Women in CCE, to support that effort.

“The goal is to build a community within CCE so we can engage and support all of our students a little bit better,”
Fischer said.

The program kicked off with a dinner in the Kearney Hall atrium, followed by a breakfast and industry panel. The first step in the program was for faculty members to introduce themselves to students in an informal setting – and introduce students to one another.

“I teach seniors,” Fischer said. “In my first term at Oregon State, a student said, ‘You’re the first female faculty member that I’ve had in four years,’ and this made me sad.”

“Students want to see examples of themselves as they go through their career, and having a female faculty member at the front of the classroom gives them that example,” Fischer said. “But if that’s what it’s going to take to retain students, then having my class at the senior level is too late.”

The program events are open to all students – of any gender – and all faculty members, so students have more opportunities to connect and develop mentors. About 50 students participated regularly in the events and the school will conduct a survey on climate and culture annually to identify what’s working well and what isn’t.

“I’m sure we’re already doing a great job building community but we can always do a little bit better,” Fischer said.

We could not do our work without our community behind us. CCE is pleased to welcome new members to the Construction Education Foundation (CEF) and the Industry Advisory Board (IAB) whose participation strengthens our programs.

New CEF members include:

Paul Harding, Granite Construction
Dave Hays, Pence Construction
Kerry Kuenzi, K&E Excavating Inc.
Jeff Petersen, Kiewit – NorCal District
John Ward, R&H Construction

New IAB members include:

Miki Hipp, Swinerton
Kathleen Mannion, Carollo Engineers
Brian Price, Andersen Construction.

View all foundation and advisory board members at cce.oregonstate.edu/content/industry-partners.

Attendees at tables listen to speakers. — ODOT Director Matthew Garrett (second from right) listens to members of the Oregon Work Zone Executive Strategy Session Committee at a meeting held at Oregon State.

Regional organizations are working together to reduce the frequency and severity of crashes in work zones. In winter, Oregon State hosted the Oregon Work Zone Executive Strategy Session Committee with participants from the American Automobile Association, Associated General Contractors Oregon-Columbia Chapter, Oregon Trucking Associations, Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), and the Oregon State Police. Chaired by ODOT Director Matthew Garrett, the committee works to ensure safety and maintain mobility within work zones.

“Oregon State participates in the discussion by adding input based on our work zone safety research,” said John Gambatese, professor of construction engineering and OEG Faculty Fellow. “For example, last fall we ran experiments on case study projects to determine the effects of flashing blue lights on traffic speeds and recently reported the results to ODOT.”

By collaborating with fellow committee members, Oregon State researchers can demonstrate capabilities and contribute statewide on improving work zone safety.

“This significant multifaceted collaboration is uncommon in other states,” said David Hurwitz, associate professor of transportation engineering and committee member.

Dylan Horne, a doctoral student in transportation engineering. — Dylan Horne

Doctoral student Dylan Horne is one of 20 graduate students in the nation to be selected by the Eno Center for Transportation (Eno) to attend the Eno Future Leaders Development Conference in Washington D.C. as an Eno Fellow.

“The conference is the next step in my journey as a transportation leader, advancing my understanding of national transportation decision makers and policy,” Horne said. “In Corvallis, I’m advocating for Vision Zero, a transportation policy that sets the safety of all road users as the highest priority for our transportation systems by striving for zero road fatalities or serious injuries.”

In Washingon D.C., the conference will include a week of meetings with federal officials and leaders of business and non-profit organizations and will provide graduate students with a first-hand look at developing national policies.

Locally, Horne leads the Benton County Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund committee, which is tasked with developing a framework to allocate new transit funding across the county.

“My leadership and innovative ideas are helping to create a data-driven process for new investment,” Horne said.

Additionally, Horne chairs the Corvallis Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board, a citizen group advising the city council on active issues.

“My vision for a safer, healthier, sustainable transportation future is clear, and the Eno Conference will extend this conversation that I am having locally to a national forum,” Horne said.

About Eno

William Phelps Eno (1859-1945), a pioneer in his field in the U.S. and Europe, founded Eno in 1921. Mr. Eno promoted safe mobility by ensuring that traffic control became an accepted role of government and traffic engineering a recognized professional discipline.

Eno focuses on all modes, with the mission of cultivating creative and visionary leadership for the sector. It pursues this mission by supporting activities in three areas: professional development programs, policy forums, and publications.

Three new faculty members in CCE expand expertise in the school.

Bryson Robertson, associate professor of coastal and ocean engineering and director of the Pacific Marine Energy Center, joined Oregon State in October. Previously, he managed the Pacific Institute for Marine Energy Discovery and 2060 Project within the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems at the University of Victoria, Canada. Robertson’s research interests are wind, tidal and offshore wind energy systems, coastal engineering, energy systems analyses, and oceanography.

Barbara Simpson, assistant professor of structural engineering, joined Oregon State after receiving her doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley.

“My goal is to build innovative, optimized, and resilient structural systems that improve building performance and reduce the effects of natural hazards on the built environment,” Simpson said.

Simpson is also interested in the growing frontier of new, visual technology.

“I would like to utilize this technology, especially as related to advanced computational and experimental methods, to better understand structural response and uncertainty,” Simpson said.

After earning her doctorate from the University of New Hampshire and conducting research in the Netherlands as a Fulbright scholar, Meagan Wengrove joined Oregon State as an assistant professor of coastal and
ocean engineering.

“My research works to understand best practices for marsh and sand dune restoration to increase coastal community resilience,” Wengrove said. “I am interested in many aspects of how our coasts and beaches will change into the future – for example, how small-scale sand ripples can feed larger morphologic change which is relevant to how often we need to dredge our inlets to keep ports open for ship navigation.”

NSF Seafloor Instrumentation Workshop 2018 — John Selker, professor of biological and ecological engineering and Chris Parrish, associate professor of geomatics and Eric H.I. and Janice Hoffman Faculty Scholar at the seafloor instrumentation workshop in July 2018.

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Oregon State hosted a seafloor instrumentation workshop, “Integrating Science Needs with Advanced Seafloor Sensor Engineering to Provide Early Warning of Geohazards: Visioning Workshop and Roadmap for the Future,” which integrated the expertise of leading scientists and engineers to advance seafloor sensor development and widespread deployment.

Integrating autonomous marine vehicles, computer science, geotechnical engineering, marine geomatics, robotics, and more, the two-day workshop charted the future for instrumenting the seafloor to provide real-time data. One key focus was to develop strategies to enable early warning of geohazards. Participants explored the development of sensors to measure seafloor deformation, temperature, and fluid flow with high resolution over broad areas, strategies for transmitting the data to land quickly and efficiently, and methods for obtaining energy from the environment.

Erica Fischer, assistant professor of structural engineering, is working on a project funded by the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center to evaluate which types of industrial facilities are vulnerable to collapse in fires that occur after earthquakes.

Traditional design approaches allow for the movement and bending of buildings but do not require fire suppression systems to be operable after an earthquake. This design method leaves many structures susceptible to fires after earthquakes because they do not have functional automatic fire suppression systems.

By varying ground accelerations under experimental settings and using Open System for Earthquake Engineering Simulation software for simulating the seismic response of structural and geotechnical systems, Fischer and her research group will quantify how much additional damage is caused by fire compared to the motion of the ground during an earthquake.

This project will identify vulnerable components of facilities and potential improvements by integrating seismological, multi-hazard, and socio-economical aspects of earthquake and fire engineering. Ultimately, Fischer is working to improve emergency management practice and help communities plan for their recovery after a disaster.

Oregon State University President Ed Ray and David Hurwitz, associate professor of transportation engineering. — Oregon State University President Ed Ray and David Hurwitz, associate professor of transportation engineering at the 2018 University Day awards dinner.

Oregon State University kicked off the new academic year with University Day, an event which reunites campus colleagues, provides informative and fun activities, and recognizes faculty and staff for their exemplary efforts and achievements.

David Hurwitz, associate professor of transportation engineering received the OSU Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, which honors unusually significant and meritorious achievement in teaching and scholarship that enhances effective instruction.

“There are many faculty members at Oregon State University who epitomize teaching excellence in the classroom,” said Hurwitz. “I am genuinely humbled to be recognized as one among many.”

Hurwitz received the award in recognition of his use of current research in engineering education to improve classroom instruction, his unique and innovative technical courses, and his use of state-of-the-art research equipment – including the Driving and Bicycling Simulator – in the classroom. Students use the driving simulator to study driver responses to a wide range of situations and conditions. Since the simulator is one of only a small few of its kind in the U.S., Hurwitz’ students have unique abilities to connect road and signal design and traffic conditions to traffic safety and efficiency.

A colleague said, “Dr. Hurwitz’s enthusiasm for transportation engineering is contagious. He actively engages all the students in a lively and active classroom. He doesn’t lecture he teaches! He is truly a master teacher. But more than that he is a role model for graduate students who aspire to be educators. Dr. Hurwitz is mentoring Ph.D. students who will be the next generation of professors in the U.S. and abroad.”

A former student added, “To me, Dr. Hurwitz has been more than a teacher or an adviser, he has been a role model. I had always been interested in pursuing a teaching position but it was only after I met Dr. Hurwitz that I firmly decided to be a teacher. His passion for teaching, his enthusiasm for dealing with students and his capabilities and skills in delivering materials at the highest quality, made me want to follow him in every single step.”

Earlier in 2018, Hurwitz received the Sponsored Student Organization Advisor of the Year award for his work advising the OSU ITE Student Chapter. The award recognizes faculty and staff who take extra time to ensure their respective club/organization has success and develops a team atmosphere.

Congratulations, David Hurwitz and thank you for your dedication and many contributions to student success at Oregon State.

CCE students took home top honors at regional competitions and conferences throughout Spring 2018:

At the Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting, Ellie Simpson, Hisham Jashami, Zach Barlow, and Scott Logan-Deeter earned second place nationally in the Traffic Control Device Challenge; Alireza Mostafizi received the PacTrans 2017 Michael Kyte Student of the Year award; and Kayla Fleskes received the PacTrans Student of the Year award.

At the ASC Regions 6 & 7 2018 Student Competition, the OSU mixed use team took first place, and the project management and mechanical teams earned third place finishes. Additionally, Aaron Bowen received first place in alternate team, Michael Jones best presenter in the alternates competition, Ryan Wager best presenter in the mechanical competition, Jack Powers best presenter in the pre construction competition, and Dallas Thompson best presenter in the electrical competition.

Awarded to only a few chapters nationally, the OSU ASCE Student Chapter received a 2018 Letter of Recognition for Community Service from ASCE for its exemplary community service benefiting others outside of their ASCE Student Chapter.

Professor Emeritus Hal Pritchett received the AGC Hal Pritchett Distinguished Service Award. The award, which was created by AGC Oregon Columbia Chapter President Brian Gray of Knife River and the chapter Executive Committee, is presented to an individual who embodies the attributes of Professor Pritchett. This individual’s loyalty, passion, and lifetime of distinguished leadership and service to the construction industry help to shape generations of construction professionals for years to come.
David Hurwitz, associate professor of transportation engineering was named the OSU Honors College Thomas and Margaret Meehan Eminent Mentor and received the OSU Outreach and Engagement Award for Excellence.
Matt Evans, associate professor of geotechnical engineering was named the Associate Editor of the Year by the ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering.
Burkan Isgor, professor of infrastructure materials was named the Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.
Keith Kaufman, Knife River, faculty advisor was named the Prestress 2018 PCI Fellow.
Jason Weiss, head of the School of Civil and Construction Engineering, Miles Lowell and Margaret Watt Edwards Distinguished Chair in Engineering, Director of the Kiewit Center for Infrastructure and Transportation Research received the American Concrete Institute 2018 Robert E. Philleo Award.

CCE launched Beavers Build, a new feature that shares recent alumni projects.

The Franklin High School project by Skanska USA featured seven CCE alumni and involved a 287,000-square-foot renovation with historical components and approximately 144,000-square-feet of new construction. It included a new stand-alone gymnasium, performing arts center with 497-seat theater, student commons, cafeteria, and industrial technology building.

Held at Reser Stadium, the 47th annual Contractors Night hosted 400 guests and featured presentations from Ronald Fedrick, chairman and chief executive officer of Nova Group Inc. and chairman of the Trustees of the Beavers Charitable Trust, and Matthew L. Garrett, director of the Oregon Department of Transportation. Additionally, School Head Jason Weiss introduced the Complex for Resilient Infrastructure and Safety (CRIS), a revolutionary new 40,000-square-foot facility, which will further enable groundbreaking research. With the goal of developing major improvements in worker safety, the lab will provide a virtual construction environment that replicates real-world job sites and more. Learn more and view a video on CRIS at cce.oregonstate.edu/CRIS.

Rachel Adams, recent graduate of the School of Civil and Construction Engineering, examines a structure in Nepal, following the 2015 Gorkha earthquake.

Earthquake Spectra, a leading journal on geotechnical engineering, recently published an article by Ben Mason, associate professor of geotechnical engineering in Oregon State University’s College of Engineering, recent graduate Rachel Adams, and colleagues from Caltech and Nepal. The article, Observations and simulations of basin effects in the Kathmandu Valley during the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake sequence, describes the Kathmandu Valley geology, analyzes motion from the initial earthquake and aftershocks, and identifies different factors responsible for the unusual ground motion that occurred in the region.

While publishing as a co-author is an accomplishment on its own, Adams had other notable achievements while at Oregon State.

During her graduate work, Adams accompanied Mason, her major advisor, on two research trips to Nepal. Their first trip occurred on the one-year anniversary of the Gorkha earthquake where Adams and Mason attended a workshop – with attendees from throughout the world – focused on reconstruction efforts. Through the gathering, they connected with Nepalese engineering professionals from government, academia, and industry who were eager to stay up to date on the best practices for their field.

“There is a large desire to improve education for engineering students and professionals, and consequently make improvements to infrastructure design and construction,” said Adams.

Through connections made with Nepalese colleagues, Mason and Adams identified topics for an earthquake engineering workshop, aimed at sharing current best practices on U.S. geotechnical engineering methods. In September of 2016, Mason, Adams, and researchers from other U.S. universities, presented the workshop at the National Society for Earthquake Technology – Nepal in Kathmandu.

“It was so valuable to interact with the engineering professionals in Nepal, and see their unique challenges for site investigations and construction in the very dense Kathmandu Valley,” said Adams. “We were there not only to teach and help to improve conditions, but to learn from them as well.”

Adams, who was an Evans Fellow in Oregon State’s Humanitarian Engineering program, participated in the Nepal activities with funding from the Evans Family Fellowship. The program supports research and travel for graduate work in humanitarian engineering through a generous donation from Dick and Gretchen Evans.

Much of the research in the Earthquake Spectra article employed data from previous trips to Nepal by Mason and the article’s lead author, Domniki Asimaki of Caltech. Together, they collected perishable data immediately following the earthquake – in an activity known as earthquake reconnaissance. As part of her graduate research, Adams worked with Mason and Asimaki on processing and reducing the data and making subsequent observations and interpretations. Essentially, the team investigated how the geology of the Kathmandu Valley changed the recorded earthquake motions, which is particularly relevant for the Willamette Valley of Oregon.

For Adams, who began her academic career at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon, the quest for knowledge and helping others took her to unexpected places.

“It was amazing to be able to be submerged in a culture so different from the U.S., but also discover that the people there had many of the same goals as us,” said Adams. “They have proved to be an extremely resilient community, which is a great example for the Pacific Northwest with the impending Cascadia Subduction Zone event.”

Earthquake Spectra, the professional journal of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), is published quarterly in both printed and online editions in February, May, August, and November. EERI established Earthquake Spectra with the purpose of improving the practice of earthquake hazards mitigation, preparedness, and recovery.

In September 2017, the School of Civil and Construction Engineering recognized three faculty members for their contributions to students and the greater school.

Meghna Babbar-Sebens, associate professor of water resources engineering received the CCE Award for Excellence in Partnering, Andre Barbosa, assistant professor of structural engineering, the CCE Award for Research Excellence, and Kenny Martin, senior instructor, the CCE Award for Teaching Excellence.

Babbar-Sebens leads a $1.5 million project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The grant is part of the new NSF-USDA INFEWS program focused on accelerating discovery and innovation at the nexus of food, energy, and water systems. The project is a collaboration between Oregon State and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis IUPUI and at OSU, Babbar-Sebens collaborates with Ganti Murthy, associate professor in biological and ecological engineering, Jenna Tilt, assistant professor in geography, and Jeff Reimer, associate professor of applied economics. At IUPUI, Babbar-Sebens is working with Snehasis Mukhopadhyay and Arjan Durresi, both professors of computer and information science.

In summer 2017, Barbosa along with Oregon State colleagues and researchers from partner universities put an innovative two-story structure made of cross-laminated timber (known as CLT) panels through a series of seismic tests to determine how it would perform in an earthquake. The tests were conducted at the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure at University of California San Diego (NEHRI@UCSD) site, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. Through the tests, they produced data that can be used in the design of a new generation of wood-frame high-rises, such as a four-story parking structure designed for Springfield, Oregon, and the 12-story Framework building in Portland. Scheduled to open in 2018, the 90,000-square-foot Framework structure will be the tallest mass-timber building in the United States.

Martin teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in engineering mechanics and structural engineering. In addition to teaching courses in statics, wood design, and temporary structures, Martin serves as a mentor and advisor to a number of graduate students, who appreciate his efforts greatly. “I really like Kenny Martin,” said student Alyssa Martin. “I had him for statics and he was one of the ones that really worked with me, just to kind of make sure I understood the whole concept of statics – and that you carry with you.”

These three faculty members are working to establish OSU as the partner of choice, lead research that will change the world, and provide a transformational experience for students – and ultimately create a better future.

Congratulations! The Oregon State University student team of Nathan Jones and Alessandra Hossley took first place, earning the Mohr-Circle Award in the 2017 GeoPrediction competition at the annual meeting of the ASCE Geo-Institute. Oregon State has won first place three out of the past four years in the competition, taking home the first place trophy in 2014, 2016, and 2017.

The objective of the GeoPrediction competition is for student teams to develop an accurate prediction of geotechnical behavior given detailed information regarding subsurface, boundary, and initial conditions, as well as the geotechnical, structural, and hydraulic loading. After developing their prediction, student teams present their methodology and findings to a panel of judges comprised of geotechnical practitioners and faculty.

2017 GeoPrediction Competition — The student team of Nathan Jones and Alessandra Hossley took first place, earning the Mohr-Circle Award in the 2017 GeoPrediction competition at the annual meeting of the ASCE Geo-Institute.

“The 2017 GeoPrediction challenged student teams, consisting of one graduate and one undergraduate student, to predict the time-settlement performance and lateral deformation of a highway embankment constructed over soft, compressible clays, using surcharge pre-loading and prefabricated vertical drains,” said Jones, a master’s student in geotechnical engineering. “Estimates of embankment settlement were made at 10, 20, and 30 days after construction began, while lateral displacements of the embankment toe were made to 50-feet below the existing ground surface.”

Advised by Armin Stuedlein, associate professor in geotechnical engineering, Jones and fellow team member Hossley, who is pursuing a dual bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and forest engineering, began working on their prediction in September 2016 and submitted their detailed report in January. OSU was one of eight teams selected to attend the conference and compete for the Mohr-Circle Award.

“This was my first time participating in the GeoPrediction competition and I enjoyed the experience of synthesizing a variety of data for the prediction as well as the overall experience of presenting at a professional conference,” said Hossley.

University of Texas at Arlington placed second and the Middle Eastern Technical University of Ankara, Turkey placed third.

View the student team research poster.

Congratulations to transportation engineering graduate students Jason Anderson and Masoud Ghodrat Abadi. The Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (Pactrans) formally recognized Anderson as an Outstanding Student of the Year and Abadi as the winner of the Michael Kyte Award at the Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting.

Anderson is a graduate research assistant in the School of Civil and Construction Engineering. Previously, he completed his bachelor of science and master of science at Oregon State and is now in the first year of his doctoral studies. Anderson’s current research interests include transportation safety through use of behavior modeling and network design and resiliency using operations research methods.

“Jason’s determination and skill have contributed to the success of many of the projects that he has worked on,” said David Hurwitz, associate professor of transportation engineering. “For example, in a recent study, he implemented statistical techniques to determine where large-truck crashes were likely to occur in their relation to existing parking facilities on U.S. 97.”

Ghodrat Abadi is a third year transportation engineering Ph.D. student and currently serves as a graduate research assistant in the Driving and Bicycling Research Laboratory.

“Masoud embodies all of the characteristics expected in a recipient of this prestigious award,” said Hurwitz. “The Michael Kyte award places a particular emphasis on contributions to transportation engineering education, and he has repeatedly demonstrated exemplary performance leading individual lectures in civil engineering classes.”

Since joining Hurwitz’s research group, Ghodrat Abadi has served as the lead graduate student on three significant research projects including an NSF-funded study to develop conceptual traffic signal questions founded in qualitative engineering education research methods, an ODOT-funded study to design an improved red light extension system for isolated signalized intersections, and a PacTrans-funded study to evaluate conflicts between trucks and bikes in loading zones in urban environments.

Ghodrat Abadi is a current member of the TRB Committee on Transportation Education and Training, vice president of the OSU ITE Student Chapter, and served as a co-chair for the 2015 Region X Student conference.

PacTrans, of which Oregon State is a member, is a consortium of transportation professionals and educators from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho and is the Regional University Transportation Center (UTC) for Federal Region 10. Through the UTC program, the USDOT awards grants to universities across the U.S. to advance state-of-the-art transportation research and develop the next generation of transportation professionals – of which Anderson and Ghodrat Abadi are well on their way to becoming.

The Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans), of which Oregon State University is a member, was awarded $14.35 million over 5 years from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to fund research toward improving the mobility of people and goods across the Pacific Northwest.

PacTrans is a consortium of transportation professionals and educators from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho and is the Regional University Transportation Center (UTC) for Federal Region 10. Through the UTC program, the USDOT awards grants to universities across the U.S. to advance state-of-the-art transportation research and develop the next generation of transportation professionals. PacTrans focuses on using technological advances to develop data-driven, sustainable solutions for the diverse transportation needs of the region.

“This new grant will serve as a force multiplier for the impact of transportation mobility research currently taking place at Oregon State University,” said David Hurwitz, associate professor of transportation engineering and associate director at Oregon State for PacTrans. “The traveling public in Oregon – and the Pacific Northwest more broadly – will benefit directly from these efforts.”

“Through this grant, Oregon State will conduct further world-class research toward increasing mobility and accessibility,” said Jason Weiss, professor and head of the School of Civil and Construction Engineering at Oregon State’s College of Engineering. “Our region presents diverse challenges and this award will contribute to optimizing freight and passenger movement, connecting rural and urban communities, and more.”

Previous research at Oregon State funded through PacTrans includes improving cyclist safety by considering levels of stress, evaluating the potential to perform bridge inspections with unmanned aerial vehicles, preventing accidents during the construction of transportation infrastructure, and reducing the occurrence of lane departure crashes.

The University of Washington leads PacTrans. Other university partners include Boise State University, Gonzaga University, Oregon State University, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Idaho, and Washington State University.

During October, 22 graduate students in transportation engineering traveled to Washington where they participated in two conferences. On Friday, Oct. 14, they attended the PacTrans Annual Meeting on the University of Washington campus and on Saturday, Oct. 15 the Region 10 University Transportation Center (UTC) student conference. At both events, students gained professional experience by attending technical sessions, networking with regional transportation professionals, and presenting in hybrid poster sessions.

PacTrans is a consortium of transportation professionals and educators from five universities located around the Pacific Northwest. It focuses on using technological advances to develop data-driven, sustainable solutions for the diverse transportation needs of the region. This year, Haizhong Wang, assistant professor in transportation engineering served as the OSU representative on the organizing committee for the annual meeting, which had 217 registered participants plus additional attendees joining throughout the day.

Through the UTC program, the U.S. Department of Transportation awards grants to universities across the U.S. to advance the state-of-the-art in transportation research and develop the next generation of transportation professionals.

The Region 10 UTC student conference is unique in that it is planned entirely for students, by students. The goal is to provide a conference geared toward students’ needs, particularly those who plan to enter engineering practice following graduation. Zachary Barlow, a second year master’s student working with David Hurwitz, associate professor of transportation engineering and associate director of PacTrans, served on the conference organizing committee. OSU ITE student chapter members – led by graduate student David Covey, second year master’s student working with Erdem Coleri, assistant professor in infrastructure materials and transportation engineering – also contributed to the success of the trip by coordinating travel logistics for the large group.

OSU earned high marks at the student conference with Hisham Jashami, a second-year PhD student in transportation engineering who also works with Hurwitz, receiving first place in the student poster competition. The awards were determined by a voting committee comprised of Washington State Department of Transportation employees and student participants.

Thanks to events such as these, OSU students have impactful, experiential learning opportunities, which contribute to their success while in school – and beyond.

Merrick Haller, professor of coastal and ocean engineering and associate head of graduate affairs, has been awarded a 5-year, $1.4 million research grant from the Office of Naval Research to investigate hazardous tidal currents in coastal inlets. Under the grant, “MINERS: Multiple Inlet & Estuary Remote Sensing,” Haller and David Honegger, postdoctoral scholar in the Nearshore Remote Sensing Group, will collect radar observations at seven inlets and estuaries across the U.S. for the purpose of better understanding the dynamic current fronts that develop on the ebbing and flooding tides and how they impact the U.S. Navy’s undersea acoustics operations.

“This is an exciting project for us for several reasons,” said Haller. “Navigational inlets are dynamic places that are often dangerous for fishing boats and cargo ships, so our observations will contribute to improved maritime safety. The U.S. Navy is also interested in these data because they show how fresh water coming out of the estuaries interacts with the salty ocean water forming internal tidal bores. These highly turbulent features are hazards to underwater vehicles and disrupt underwater acoustic communication systems.”

Haller joined Oregon State in 2001. He teaches hydraulics, coastal engineering, and ocean wave mechanics. His research program centers around the remote sensing of waves and currents in the nearshore ocean in order to better understand and forecast coastal hazards such as rip currents and breaking waves. Other efforts relate to the interaction between waves and wave energy converters and quantifying the downstream effects of wave energy arrays.

At the August 2016 Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) international annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif., four members of the ITE University Transportation Curriculum Project (UTCP) including David Hurwitz, associate professor in transportation engineering, received the Transportation Education Council Innovation in Education award. Hurwitz, along with project members Kristen Sanford Bernhardt, Rod Turochy, and Rhonda Young received the national honor in recognition of their innovative work over the last seven years on challenges related to undergraduate transportation engineering education.

The group tackled their project by identifying barriers to the adoption of improved and innovative teaching methods, developing course materials, and building of a community of practice for transportation educators throughout the country. The group received their award not only for their innovative methods but also for their perseverance in absence of a funding stream.

“It has been a personally and professionally rewarding experience working with my colleagues, Drs. Young, Turochy, and Sanford Bernhardt, to produce an educational impact worthy of national recognition,” said Hurwitz.

University-based transportation engineering education plays an important role in the recruitment and development of transportation professionals. Through their efforts, the UTCP is working to attract and retain undergraduate transportation engineering students and better prepare them for practice or graduate school.

Oregon State University earned third place among competitors throughout North America at the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Big Beam Contest. The contest objective is for student teams to fabricate and test a precast/prestressed concrete beam with the help of local PCI members. The beam must be made primarily of concrete without any trusses, arches, or other non-flexural members. Prizes are awarded to the top 20 performers in consideration of efficient design, highest load capacity, and other categories.

The Oregon State team from the College of Engineering’s School of Civil and Construction Engineering was comprised of Tyler Oathes, Cody Tibbits, Neil Schweitzer, Taylor Kiefel, Anh Nguyen, and Jonathan Kopp with faculty advisor Keith Kaufman, and PCI producer Knife River – Prestress of Harrisburg, Ore.

Congratulations to the students on an outstanding performance and thank you to PCI producer Knife River for your continued support of student learning at Oregon State.

Oregon State University is pleased to host the 2017 ASCE/AISC National Student Steel Bridge Competition (NSSBC), May 26-27, 2017. The event, which began in the 1980s as a competition between three universities, is a cooperative effort between the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). In advance of the national event, 18 ASCE student chapters host conference competitions with approximately 200 schools from throughout North America participating. The top teams from the conference competitions advance to the national competition.

This national competition provides students with:

design and management experience
the opportunity to learn fabrication processes
the excitement of networking with and competing against teams from other colleges and universities

At the NSSBC, student teams erect and test bridges that they have designed and fabricated to meet client specifications while optimizing performance and economy. Steel Bridge teams compete to be the best in aesthetics, lightness, stiffness, construction speed, construction economy, and structural efficiency. As the national host school, Oregon State students will lead the event planning and work with faculty advisors on fundraising, recruitment of judges, publicity, facilities and contracts, program, technical set-up, registration, and volunteer coordination.

Student Directors

Chelsea Farnsworth and Oscar Gayet

ASCE Student Chapter Faculty Advisor

Tom Miller

OSU NSSBC Faculty Advisor

Judy Liu

In his research, Assistant Professor Erdem Coleri explores sustainable pavement materials, energy-efficient pavement design strategies, and infrastructure health monitoring using wireless sensor networks – research that has immediate and practical applications and results in savings for road users and governmental agencies.

Coleri, who received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis, joined Oregon State University in September 2014 after working as a postdoctoral scholar and a project scientist at the University of California Pavement Research Center and as a consultant for a wireless traffic detection system provider. Coleri credits the encouragement of others for placing him on his career path. “I was inspired to pursue engineering by my sister Sinem Coleri Ergen who is also a professor at Koc University now” said Coleri. “She is an accomplished electrical engineer and was my role model as I began my studies in college.”

Coleri earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. It was during an internship at University of California, Berkeley that another role model, Dr. Carl Monismith – known to many as the grandfather of pavement engineering – encouraged Coleri to obtain his Ph.D. in that field. “Prior to working with Dr. Carl Monismith and Dr. Bor-Wen Tsai at UC Pavement Research Center, I had not planned on a career in research and academia, but my experience with them inspired me to pursue my doctorate.”

In his current research, Coleri is in phase two of a project for the California Department of Transportation, where he is modeling the effects of different pavement types on vehicle fuel economy under a sub award from UC Davis. Ultimately, their research could lead to improved roads and improved fuel economy.

In another recent project, Coleri and his research group are working with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to develop low cost methods to improve tack coat performance for highway structures. Tack coat is a critical layer of adhesive that is applied between the layers of a road. There are major budget implications for improperly applying tack coats during construction – a road that is expected to last 20 years may only last seven. To assist in the road construction process, Coleri developed a user-friendly smartphone app in collaboration with a student from the OSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The app predicts the tack coat set time after the user enters the temperature, emulsion type, rate, and wind speed. Coleri and his research group also recently developed two field test devices, the Oregon Field Tack Coat Tester and Oregon Field Toque Tester, which evaluate the long-term performance and bond strength of tack coats without destructively removing core samples from the roadway. Additionally, in their newly relocated and updated pavement lab, Coleri and his group are working on two ODOT projects to improve performance of recycled asphalt pavements and reduce cracking of pavement structures.

Prior to his current research, Coleri worked toward developing a wireless sensor network that estimates the weight of moving vehicles from the pavement vibrations caused by vehicular motion. To classify the vehicles and estimate weights, a server processes wireless output from a network of sensors that measure pavement vibration and vehicle speed.

Through these and other efforts, Coleri’s research is helping to increase efficiency and safety in the fields of pavements, transportation, and materials. In recognition of his work, Coleri was named the OSU John and Jean Loosely Faculty Fellow in 2016 – and is on his way to becoming a role model for early career engineers.

Two CCE graduate students in transportation engineering have been named to standing committees of the Transportation Research Board (TRB). Ph.D. student Masoud Ghodrat Abadi is a member of the Committee on Education and Training and M.S. student Zach Barlow is a member of the Committee on Transportation History.

“Attaining formal membership on a standing committee sponsored by the Transportation Research Board is a significant recognition for any transportation professional,” said Associate Professor David Hurwitz. “The recent appointment of the two students is indicative of the strength of their early career performance.”

The mission of the TRB is to promote innovation and progress in transportation through research. Standing committees identify research needs and priorities, review papers, encourage the incorporation of research findings into practice, and develop special programs such as conferences and workshops.

The Committee on Transportation History promotes the importance of preserving important historical archives among transportation professionals. It also serves as a forum for historians, curators, and governmental archivists to exchange information and advance the preservation of transportation history.

“It is a privilege to work alongside professionals with diverse talents who are all committed to preserving and documenting transportation history for future generations,” said Barlow. “As the youngest member of the committee, I am excited to learn from the more experienced members and gain a greater appreciation for the multi-disciplinary nature of the transportation industry.”

The Committee on Education and Training works to improve communications among the academic community, the private and public sectors, and governmental agencies and works to develop improved educational offerings at all academic levels.

“It is a great honor to serve as a young member on the committee,” said Abadi. “It is also a tremendous opportunity for me to gain valuable experience through active collaboration with experts and professionals in the field of transportation education.”

Abadi and Barlow are advised by Hurwitz and are part of the Hurwitz Research Group in the School of Civil and Construction Engineering.

As an engineering professional who spent five years in private practice prior to earning his Ph.D., Associate Professor Shane Brown knows first-hand about the skills, concepts, and qualities needed to thrive as a practicing engineer. In his research, Brown aims to identify new ways to help students understand the fundamental concepts they will need to succeed in the engineering workplace.

Brown, who earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Oregon State, joined CCE in 2014 after teaching at Washington State University and managing projects at private firms. His research examines why particular engineering concepts are harder to learn than others and how educational institutions can develop environments that facilitate understanding, particularly within solid and fluid mechanics and transportation. He also explores differences in ways of knowing and how core concepts are used in engineering practice.

Currently, Brown is working with 20 researchers and engineering instructors from different colleges and universities to discover new teaching approaches for the course Mechanics of Materials. Specifically, the project will help students acquire a deeper understanding of fundamental engineering concepts such as stress, strain, and equilibrium – concepts that play a vital role in the safety of the built environment. “Theoretical contributions related to learning fundamental engineering concepts and the link between education and practice are vital to preparing students for an innovative and creative workforce,” said Brown.

In another effort to enhance instruction, Brown serves as co-principal investigator for ESTEME@OSU, a project supported by the Nation Science Foundation which is working to broadly implement innovative evidence-based instructional practices – specifically, interactive engagement in lecture and formal cooperative learning – into core biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, and physics undergraduate courses. Last year, Brown also led the development of a new Engineering Education research program in CCE. Engineering Education offers master of science, master of engineering, and doctoral degrees and focuses on understanding and improving student learning in engineering and better aligning engineering education with engineering practice.

In recognition of these many contributions to student learning, Brown received the OSU Faculty Teaching Excellence Award in September 2015. Among the reasons he was selected for the honor include his exceptional effort to ensure the quality of the students’ classroom experience and his direct and significant impact upon and involvement with students.

In addition to obtaining a thorough understanding of the fundamental concepts of their field, Brown said, “I recommend that students meet professionals. Ask them what they do to be successful. Be an advocate for yourself.”

Assistant Professor Daniel Borello joined the structural engineering program at CCE in 2014 after earning his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“Since I am the product of two teachers, I have always had a passion for education,” said Borello. “I entered college with the goal of becoming a physics teacher, however, my career path changed when I was inspired by the application of physics in structural engineering.”

Today, Borello combines experimental testing and numerical simulations to study the behavior of large structures, particularly steel buildings. “I’ve always been drawn to large structures,” said Borello. His other research interests are in sustainable infrastructure and mitigating the impact of earthquakes through innovative, replaceable structural systems including steel plate shear walls, self-centering systems, and supplemental energy dissipation devices. “By facilitating economical yet resilient materials and systems, I aim to enhance the life cycle and safety of large structures while improving access to such structures in developing countries,” he added.

Borello also aims to enhance access to critical information in the event of a natural disaster. Last year, he served as the primary investigator on a project funded by the Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium which proposes to develop a low-cost wireless sensor to assess the condition of bridges following a natural hazard. Using off-the-shelf hardware, Borello will configure sensors to measure structural demands and develop models that will predict damage based on the measurements. The sensor could be widely deployed throughout the Pacific Northwest to provide first responders immediate information on the state of major transportation routes.

In addition to conducting research, Borello teaches Design of Steel Structures to junior and senior students and Advanced Steel Design at the graduate level. Recalling his own first term of his master’s program, Borello advises students to “enjoy the opportunity to spend undivided attention on your research – don’t waste it!”

Borello also encourages undergraduates to get involved with activities and to “reach out to faculty if you need it. We’re here to help you succeed.”

CCE faculty members Andre Barbosa and Christopher Higgins are participating in structural testing of a wood lateral-force resisting system, as part of the Framework Project, an anticipated 12-story tall wood building designed by Lever Architecture of Portland. Read more.

A familiar presence in every corner of campus, Associate School Head Chris Bell’s 35-year career at Oregon State has taken him from CCE to the College of Engineering to INTO OSU – and even to Reser Stadium, where he serves as chief marshal of the annual commencement ceremony.

Originally from England, Bell received his Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham. “I’ve been a transportation fanatic since I was eight years old,” said Bell. After earning his doctoral degree, he served as a lecturer at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.

“My Ph.D. research was sponsored by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers on the permanent deformation of asphalt pavements,” said Bell. “At the time, the research was more sought after in the U.S. than in the U.K., and through my advisor, I had an opportunity to connect with Gary Hicks at OSU.”

In 1981, Bell joined OSU as a visiting professor in CCE, specializing in highway and transportation engineering. In 1983, he was hired as a regular assistant professor.

After earning a promotion to professor and directing the Transportation Research Institute for six years, Bell transitioned to the College of Engineering in 1997 as an associate dean, where he managed internships, awards, and international programs as well as graduate studies and industry relations. Following 11 years in that role, Bell became the director of academic programs for INTO OSU, an initiative that began in 2008 with a mission to increase the number of international students and to improve the overall level of service for that population. Not long after completing his three-year tenure, INTO OSU succeeded in more than doubling the number of international students, exceeding the university’s goals.

“My job was to take the lead on the academic programs for the INTO OSU program,” said Bell. “It was a gratifying project to work on and it was a really good thing for OSU.”

In 2011, Bell returned to CCE as associate school head, with research interests in pavement materials and design, pavement-vehicle interaction, and truck operations and safety. Soon after his return, OSU was invited to join the Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans) – one of 10 Regional University Transportation Centers nationwide – which was established in 2012 with an initial grant of $3.5 million from the US Department of Transportation. Bell is now finishing his term as the PI for OSU’s PacTrans efforts and as a member of the board of directors. “The universities in the PacTrans consortium have contributed heavily in safety and environmental sustainability research to address both regional and national transportation issues,” said Bell.

The current PacTrans project portfolio at OSU spans a variety of focus areas, not just transportation engineering. Examples of this research are the use of mobile lidar to identify potential landslide locations and drones to perform highway bridge inspections.

“I’m excited about what we do in this school – a lot of our research plays into transportation and to making major contributions in civil engineering as a whole,” said Bell.

Through his various roles on campus, Bell will leave a long legacy of outstanding contributions to our students and the university. As he retires in June 2016, be sure to see him one last time as chief marshal, when he leads the commencement procession for thousands of graduates, which in his own words, “is an amazing day with everyone so excited and upbeat about graduating.”

CCE student teams won first place in two competitions at the Geotechnical and Structural Engineering Congress held February 14-17, 2016 in Phoenix, Ariz.

Mentored by faculty member Ben Mason, the GeoVideo student team of Youssef Bougataya, David Bailey, Rachel Adams, and Sharoo Shrestha placed first for their video, “Soil Structure Interaction During Earthquakes.” The GeoVideo competition received 10 entries with six invited to present at the congress.

“During earthquake shaking, buildings interact with the soil they sit atop, and the soil interacts with the buildings it supports, which is a phenomenon called seismic soil-structure interaction. During many seismic design scenarios, the potential effects of seismic soil-structure interaction, regardless of whether the effects are beneficial, neutral, or detrimental, are ignored,” said Mason. “The students did an excellent job communicating why seismic soil-structure interaction effects are important using a table top demonstration. I look forward to showing their video during my classes.”

In the GeoPrediction competition, the CCE team of Bougataya and Nathan Jones won first place out of nine presenting teams and 18 international submissions. For the competition, teams were required to predict the deflection profile of a 90-foot-deep, tied-back excavation in downtown Seattle, constructed in 2004. In scoring, the prediction and documentation in the report was worth 75 percent and the presentation of the work was worth 25 percent. The team was advised by CCE faculty member Armin W. Stuedlein and three geotechnical practitioners and professors scored the presentations. Each team had 5 to 10 minutes to present their work and answered technical questions for 5 minutes following presentations. Arizona State University took second place and Middle East Technical University of Ankara, Turkey placed third.

“The students faced tough competition, but worked diligently to study the difficult geology of Seattle and how the history of glaciation impacted the strength and stiffness of the soil being excavated,” said Stuedlein. “According to the lead designer of the deep excavation, OSU’s team produced a better lateral displacement profile than their own models, calibrated with 40 years of experience in that geology!”

The congress was unique this year in that the Geo-Institute (G-I) and Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) came together to create the first-of-its-kind congress by combining both institutes’ annual conferences into one event.

Congratulations to the teams on an excellent job well done!

CCE is pleased to announce the new Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program, which will provide approximately 10 fellowships to support hands-on research toward increasing community resilience in response to Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquakes and tsunamis. During the seven-week program, students will participate in a specific project related to CSZ hazards, learn about engineering for natural hazards resilience, and develop research skills to increase graduate school opportunities.

Application deadline: Friday, Mar. 11, 2016, 1 p.m.

Learn more and apply: cce.oregonstate.edu/surf2016

In December, CCE student Andy Truong was named a recipient of the 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Leadership Award. Out of the 328 ASCE student chapters, 12 Student Leadership Awards were awarded – 10 domestic and two international – based on the strength of the nomination form, without regard to region.

The ASCE Student Leadership Award is granted to an ASCE student member who has demonstrated leadership in a chapter through various activities such as serving as an officer, leading special events, and interacting with university administration. During the past three years, Andy has served the chapter in three key officer positions and as co-captain and captain of the ASCE concrete canoe team. In the role of captain, Andy not only introduced an innovative construction technique but also initiated new methods of team communication and organization.

Congratulations to Andy on this outstanding achievement!

Associate Professor Jason H. Ideker has been appointed to the editorial board of Cement and Concrete Research, a leading journal which aims to publish the best research on cement, cement composites, concrete, and other allied materials that incorporate cement.

The journal is designed to reflect current developments and advances being made in the general field of cement-concrete composites technology and in the production, use, and performance of cement-based construction materials.

“As a long-time reviewer for CCR, I am really excited to be appointed to the editorial board. It represents a great challenge but also an opportunity to shape the quality and content of our technical publications in the field of cement and concrete science and engineering,” said Ideker.

Ideker is the second representative from Oregon State on the editorial board; School Head Jason Weiss also serves as a member.

Ideker’s research interests are in the area of early-age volumetric change of cement-based materials and concrete durability. His research group investigates ways to reduce early-age cracking in high performance concrete and to understand volumetric change in alternative cementitious systems. As an internationally recognized expert in alkali-silica reaction (ASR), Ideker and his team explore ways to improve and develop new ASR test methods that accurately reflect field performance.

After earning her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Washington State University, School of Civil and Construction Engineering Instructor Amber Berger worked for eight years in private industry, earning her Professional Engineer license in 2010. As a structural engineer in Seattle, Berger developed structural plans and coordinated comprehensive building designs for a variety of projects including the Nintendo of America corporate headquarters.

Following her time in Washington, Berger worked at NuScale Power in Corvallis as a civil structural engineer, writing and reviewing nuclear building design criteria. “Working on nuclear projects at NuScale was a totally different ballgame than my previous experience,” said Berger. NuScale designs small modular reactor nuclear plants; a technology initially developed at the Oregon State University.

After gaining experience in private industry, Berger returned to academia in 2014, completing a Master of Science in Civil Engineering with Professor Shane Brown. In her research, Berger studied whether or not engineering students understand critical concepts in their field, with a thesis titled “Student Misconceptions in Axial, Bending, and Torsional Load Cases.”

Today, Berger teaches students – and works to help them understand the concepts they need to know for their careers – in CEM 383 Structures and Orange LEAP. “I like to connect the classroom to the field and use real-world examples of applications rather than just math in my instruction,” said Berger.

Orange LEAP is new to CCE this fall and is a series of classes aimed at increasing the number and diversity of engineering graduates. The courses are designed for students with less math experience than traditional engineering students and features application-oriented, hands-on approaches that teach the most relevant math used in core engineering courses.

Through both her personal teaching style and the new Orange LEAP curriculum, Berger plays an important role in increasing the number of motivated and successful CCE graduates.

This year, Associate Professor of Geomatics Michael Olsen was named editor-in-chief of the ASCE Journal of Surveying Engineering. The Journal of Surveying Engineering is the leading journal in the field and covers the broad spectrum of surveying and mapping activities encountered in modern practice as well the role of surveying engineering professionals in an information society.

“I am honored by this opportunity to serve as editor of the prestigious Journal of Surveying Engineering,” said Olsen. “I am excited to help the journal continue to advance and incorporate the latest innovative research in geomatics and its important role and impacts throughout engineering and many other fields.”

Olsen’s current areas of research include terrestrial laser scanning, remote sensing, GIS, earthquake engineering, hazard mapping, and 3D visualization. He teaches geomatics engineering courses at OSU where he has developed innovative courses in 3D laser scanning, Digital Terrain Modeling, and Building Information Modeling.

While completing her undergraduate studies in pulp and paper engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology – Roorkee, India, CCE Assistant Professor Meghna Babbar-Sebens became keenly aware of water management issues and identified her interest in water resources and environmental systems analysis.

“My undergraduate studies triggered a passion to pursue a career that would address issues related to sustainable management of water in our environment,” said Babbar-Sebens.

Throughout her studies, Babbar-Sebens excelled in courses that employed mathematics and computational thinking in solving engineering problems. After completing her bachelor’s degree, she was motivated to learn more and decided to pursue graduate school. She joined the Master of Science degree program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she used interdisciplinary optimization techniques based on evolutionary principles to solve complex groundwater management problems. Her research gave her the opportunity to consider original and creative ideas that were based on concepts she had learned in mathematics, computer science, operations research, and water resources engineering. Following her master’s, Babbar-Sebens continued to conduct further research at the University of Illinois on groundwater contamination and monitoring issues, earning a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2006.

As a postdoctoral research associate at Texas A&M University, Babbar-Sebens expanded her research to surface-water and water quality issues, applying a variety of modeling techniques to simulate aquatic contaminants at the scale of streams and watersheds.

Today, Babbar-Sebens examines how innovations in computer science and information technology can address the critical water challenges of our times. Babbar-Sebens and her collaborators have developed a web tool, Watershed REstoration using Spatio-Temporal Optimization of Resources (WRESTORE), which enables stakeholders to view and design various conservation options – such as wetlands and buffer strips – in a simulated watershed environment. Using interactive optimization methods, WRESTORE presents the best possible solutions that users will most likely prefer, based on their feedback within the web tool.

Babbar-Sebens and her research group are also examining the effectiveness of green infrastructure practices in mitigating flooding and improving urban water quality. At the OSU-Benton County Green Stormwater Infrastructure Research Facility, Babbar-Sebens and her team are identifying how a network of sensors can be used to rapidly assess site-scale performance of bioswale designs. Her team is also monitoring and examining site-scale practices to develop better prediction models for watershed-scale processes.

Through interdisciplinary approaches, Babbar-Sebens is conducting research that will assist communities in their efforts to design more resilient watershed landscapes.

Assistant Professor Andre Barbosa, who joined the CCE structural program in December 2011, is pursuing a variety of research interests that will contribute to a safer and more resilient built environment. Through research, outreach, and advocacy, Barbosa aims to increase overall community resilience.

Prior to earning his Ph.D. at the University of California San Diego, Barbosa worked for seven years in private industry, designing buildings and bridges – and much of that experience serves as the foundation for his current research that spans reinforced concrete, steel, and timber.

“What I’m most excited about today is CLT (cross-laminated timber) and its potential in Oregon and in the U.S.,” said Barbosa.

Presently, Barbosa is conducting research on CLT as an alternative to other building materials such as steel or concrete. More commonly used in Europe, CLT is beginning to be adopted in the U.S. because it features considerable savings in cost and construction time and is renewable as compared to traditional materials, especially for mid-rise building construction. CLT is formed by adhering panels of wood under high pressure and is assembled in perpendicular layers to prefabricated specifications. As one of the world’s premier timber producing regions, Oregon could benefit economically from an increase in CLT as a popular building material.

Barbosa’s research also focuses on performance-based engineering (PBE), a concept in which structures can be designed to not only withstand a major hazard such an earthquake, but also remain functional immediately following the event. Many structures built to contemporary standards withstand hazards with life-safety as a primary concern; yet the structures can suffer immense damage that makes them uninhabitable after an extreme event. “After a major event, we want the community and their activities to continue,” said Barbosa. Barbosa plans to provide engineers with continued education on PBE tools and techniques geared towards improving structural performance and resilience.

Currently, Barbosa is working on improving local resilience by assisting a Corvallis community group in their efforts to retrofit existing structures to withstand earthquakes. The majority of U.S. structures are privately owned and have not been retrofitted appropriately, thus efforts to increase awareness of the importance of retrofitting is vital for communities. With the same goal of improving community resilience to extreme hazards, Barbosa is developing research as a co-PI in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Risk-based Community Resilience Center of Excellence.

In addition to his local efforts, Barbosa has conducted international research, including a recent trip to Nepal as part of a National Science Foundation-Rapid Response Research team that he led this summer. The team assessed the damage of reinforced concrete structures with masonry infills as well as masonry buildings by acquiring structural data through ambient vibration testing, ground-based LiDAR, and other more traditional damage assessment methods. In collecting the data, Barbosa provided valuable information to assist the local rebuilding efforts in Nepal and also acquired pertinent data that will be used to assess current US guidelines on existing structures.

Through all of Barbosa’s efforts he seeks to increase the resilience of local, regional, and international communities through a combination of research, outreach, and advocacy.

: School Head Jason Weiss (left front), alumnus Tom Skoro (second from right, front), and members of the Industry Advisory Board (IAB).

: Dean Scott Ashford recognizes alumnus Tom Skoro for his upcoming alumni award at the IAB reception on Friday, Oct. 23, 2015.

: School Head Jason Weiss and Tom Skoro.

: Tom Skoro and Jay McCrae at the IAB reception.

: Professor David Trejo and CCE Tom Skoro at the Kiewit Materials Performance Laboratory.

As part of its Homecoming festivities, the Oregon State University Alumni Association will recognize CCE alumnus Tom Skoro as an alumni fellow on October 23. Skoro was one of six alumni to receive the distinguished honor.

After graduating from Oregon State in 1981 with a bachelor’s in construction engineering management, Skoro worked continuously in the heavy construction industry, primarily with Kiewit Construction Group. Inc. He has varied construction experience but has specialized in bridge construction, including high-tech segmental construction. Skoro resides in Vancouver, Wash., and is a senior vice president of Kiewit Corporation.

The OSUAA established the alumni fellows program in 1988 to help OSU colleges recognize their eminent alumni. Honorees have distinguished themselves in their professions and communities.

After earning her Ph.D. in civil engineering from North Carolina State University, Assistant Professor Ingrid Arocho joined the School of Civil and Construction Engineering in January 2015.

Prior to OSU, Arocho conducted research on construction site emissions from diesel powered equipment. In her work, she studied how contractors can use different equipment combinations and project schedules to reduce total emissions and environmental impact from construction projects.

Currently, Arocho is conducting safety research with Professor Chris Lee on transportation construction-related accidents. In their work, Arocho and Lee are using the method of fault tree analysis to understand how accidents occur and to identify the best ways to prevent them.

“I am pleased to take part in research that will promote safer workplaces,” said Arocho. “I also look forward to continuing research on equipment fleet management and construction site sustainability.”

Arocho teaches Project Management for Construction CEM 443/543 and is a member of the Transportation Research Board.

Senior Lecturer Tracy Arras joined the School of Civil and Construction Engineering in 2011 and today serves as an ESTEM@OSU Action Research Fellow. Arras’ research is centered on strengthening problem-based learning in undergraduate education, which she applies in all of her courses but the ESTEM@OSU fellowship is primarily focused on the class Engineering Graphics and Design CCE 201.

For many students in CCE 201, the course is the first opportunity to apply their engineering training to a real-world problem. For their term project, students work in teams to retrofit a city block for the implementation of greenwater infrastructure devices. Throughout the course, the teams design and develop their proposal which includes a thorough cover letter that describes their proposed plan as well as set of engineering drawings, known as a sheet set.

“For their professional development, I recommend students participate in as many hands-on, experiential learning opportunities that they can and develop a portfolio of their projects,” said Arras.

Arras’ technical interests are principally in the area of geographical information systems (GIS), water resources and the integration of GIS for water resource applications. Her technical interests also include the development of innovative and effective pedagogic approaches to engage freshman and sophomore students.

Arras holds a Ph.D. in water resources engineering from OSU and previously served as an associate professor in the School of Engineering at the University of Alaska Anchorage.