Spring 2022 - Civil & Environmental Engineering @CMU

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The Evolution of CEE Preparing a New Generation of Engineers and Problem Solvers

Spring 2022

CEE NEWS Spring 2022

Editor & Designer Mireille Mobley Contributors Aaron Aupperlee Daniel Carroll Rachel Mohr Handel Mireille Mobley Georgia Schumacher For more news and information about CEE please visit us at: cmu.edu/cee

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Dear Alumni and Friends, CEE@CMU has advanced in important ways this academic year, as we work to adapt our education, research, and service programs to stay ahead of the ever-evolving challenges and opportunities for civil and environmental engineering. We have been engaged in strategic planning for more than a year, beginning with revisiting and updating our Mission, Vision, and Values statements. The framework for our path forward is provided by these statements, which were completed at the end of 2021 with input from our entire community, including our Alumni Advisory Council. In Fall 2021 we also welcomed our first cohort of students in our new BS Environmental Engineering (EnvE) program, as well as Assistant Teaching Professor Fethiye Ozis.

In Fall 2021 we were also proud to announce the appointment of Professor Costa Samaras as Principal Assistant Director for Energy and Chief Advisor for Energy Policy in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

Work is getting underway in our Autonomous Infrastructure Systems Lab space, part of the newly renovated Advanced Infrastructure Systems Lab complex. This highly visible lab along a main corridor provides passersby with a look into our students’ real time experiments, research, results, and data collection. A group of CEE students stepped up to a challenge from Assistant Professor Katherine Flanigan to develop a compelling group of initial experiments and displays in the space.

And we’re excited to share a number of success stories for our senior class, including Carnegie Scholar recognition for Greta Markey and Andrew Thompson. Markey was also awarded a highly-competitive, prestigious Marshall Scholarship. Kelby Kramer received the American Bridge Leadership, the top student award from the ASCE Pittsburgh Section.

Professors Sean Qian and Laszlo Jeni began work with Fujitsu Limited to develop social digital twin technology that simulates situations to create a decision-making environment to help solve diverse and complex social issues. Assistant Professor Corey Harper, with PhD student Zhufeng Fan, led a study that investigated reducing traffic congestion by replacing short, private vehicle trips with e-bikes.

After nine years as CEE Head and 34 years as a faculty member, I will be stepping down as Head and also moving to emeritus faculty status at the end of June. It has been a privilege to lead CEE, and to work with such an outstanding, hard-working, and innovative group of faculty, students, and staff. We have achieved much together. A national search for our next department head has been in progress; my successor will be announced soon by Dean Bill Sanders.

The faculty, students, and staff of CEE thank all of our loyal and generous alumni who support the Department in so many and much appreciated ways. We send our best wishes to all of you.

Dave Dzombak Hamerschlag University Professor and Department Head

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SAMARAS SERVES IN BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION IN WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY Professor Costa Samaras has been appointed to serve in the Biden-Harris Administration in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) as Principal Assistant Director for Energy and OSTP Chief Advisor for Energy Policy in OSTP’s first-ever Energy Division.

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CMU AND FUJITSU COLLABORATE TO DEVELOP SOCIAL DIGITAL TWIN CMU researchers recently annoucned an exciting collaboration with Fujitsu Limited to develop social digital twin technology.

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COVER STORY

THE EVOLUTION OF CEE

MICROMOBILITY MODES COULD REPLACE 1/5 OF SHORT CAR TRIPS Professor Corey Harper led a study that simulated the efficacy of an e-bike fleet which found ebikes could replace up to 18 percent of short, private vehicle trips.

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As the challenges facing our society evolve and shift, so must our Department’s programs as we

YAM’S GLOBAL EDUCATION LEADS TO SINGAPORE’S MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT

strive to prepare engineers who can not only respond to a changing field but help to shape it.

Singapore native Denise Yam (CiVE/EPP ’13) longed to explore the world before returning home to build her career.

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4

CEE’s latest initiatives have included the launch of an Environmental Engineering bachelor’s

NEW SCHOLARSHIP FUND HONORS ACCOMPLISHED ALUMS DIGIOIA AND GRAY

program, new lab courses for Civil Engineering undergraduates, a stronger emphasis on

In 1952, Carnegie Tech Civil Engineering classmates Anthony DiGioia Jr. (BS ‘56, MS ‘57, PhD ‘60) and Richard Gray (BS ‘56) teamed up as lab partners. Seventy years later, their partnership is still going strong.

sensors in design courses, and a growing focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Our Faculty & Research

2022 Program Rankings * CIVIL

ENVIRONMENTAL

9th - GRAD

8th - GRAD

12th - UG

8th - UG

* Source: U.S. News and World Report

Enrollment AY 2021-2022 Bachelors Masters Doctoral

94 145 87

13 4 7

Full Professors Associate Professors Assistant Professors

$6.54M Annual Externally F unded Sponsored Research in FY21

48% of CEE Students Are Women 59% UG Women // 44% GRAD Women

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THE EVOLUTION OF CEE PREPARING A NEW GENERATION OF ENGINEERS AND PROBLEM SOLVERS As the challenges facing our society evolve and shift, so must our Department’s programs as we strive to prepare engineers who can not only respond to a changing field but help to shape it.

CEE’s latest initiatives have included the launch of an Environmental Engineering bachelor’s program, new lab courses for Civil Engineering undergraduates, a stronger emphasis on sensors in design courses, and a growing focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Overseen by Department Head Dave Dzombak, our faculty and staff are equipping students to become skilled problem-solvers, critical thinkers, and industry leaders who apply a deep understanding of CEE principles, technology, and tools to make Environmental Engineering Lab

communities around the world safer, more equitable, and more inclusive for all.

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Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL) at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

“Our professors care a lot about us not only learning the material, but also learning the applications.”

Katrina D’Arms (EnvE ‘24)

The Start of a New Era for Environmental Engineering in CEE Environmental engineering has long been a mainstay of CEE’s undergraduate curriculum, and the November 2020 announcement of a new BS in Environmental Engineering (EnvE) program reflected expanded commitment to preparing graduates to make an impact in this critical field.

Now, our first cohort of EnvE majors have begun the program’s curriculum, including completing a new Environmental Chemistry and Thermodynamics course and Environmental Chemistry lab in the fall.

“We’ve already started to talk about realworld solutions,” EnvE sophomore Nico Bosquet shares. “What I had learned in chemistry in the past was built upon and given real-world environmental context. It’s nice to see how what we’re learning is used by professional environmental engineers.”

Katrina D’Arms, another EnvE sophomore, agrees. “Our professors care a lot about us not only learning the material, but also learning the applications.” D’Arms also appreciates that, beyond simply talking about sustainability, CEE faculty and staff put their beliefs into practice. “There’s a

point-of-use drinking water treatment system inside the department that was designed by a student, and composting is also really encouraged,” she says. “It’s cool to be in a place that has the same values I do.”

students and environmental engineers who follow in their footsteps.

For D’Arms and Bosquet, another important program feature is that the EnvE students share several courses with their CivE peers, including the four-year project course sequence.

Between these classes and the shared departmental space, both groups interact frequently and the department has maintained its strong sense of community.

A new lab course sequence for Civil Engineering undergraduates is underway, designed to bolster students’ understanding of real-world applications and problem-solving.

While the current EnvE students still have two years before graduation, the future is already on their minds. D’Arma did research last summer modeling energy decarbonization scenarios-and recently she’s become interested in learning about sustainable building design in upcoming courses. With a Global Engineering minor, Bosquet hopes to become an environmental engineer in Europe. Having interned with a solar company this summer, he may maintain a focus on energy, but he also developed an interest in water quality during the fall Environmental Chemistry course.

Wherever they decide to make their marks, Bosquet, D’Arms, and their fellow EnvE classmates are all on track to set a strong standard for the next CEE

New Labs Prepare CivE Students for Practice & Problem-Solving

First up among the new labs is the sophomore CEE Infrastructure Systems in Action lab. This lab combined short lectures with local field trips, including tours of active construction sites and of the Carnegie Mellon steam tunnels that house heating and cooling systems, water lines, and other underground infrastructure. Off-campus, students visited Phipps Conservatory to learn about its sustainable building features.

“The goal is for students to get acquainted with different civil infrastructure systems in person, such that when they are designing these systems, they have a better awareness of what they look like and a more intuitive feel for them,” explains professor David Rounce.

The class also discussed issues of equity and social justice in engineering, including the impacts of redlining and how climate change is exacerbating existing problems. Armed with redlining SPRING 2022 5

maps, the group then traveled to the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh and took a walk along the district lines. At times, the difference in infrastructure investment was glaring, giving students an eyeopening perspective on how redlining that happened almost a century ago still leaves marks today. Their trip ended in the newly built Liberty Green Park, home to innovative green infrastructure.

“Liberty Green Park is an excellent example of how we can reinvest in areas and support green spaces that have not only stormwater benefits but all sorts of health benefits,” says Rounce. “Our conversation at the park was about what we can do as engineers moving forward to create change and be part of the solution.”

In addition, two other CivE labs have been introduced, both focused on sensing. In Sensing and Data Acquisition for Engineering Systems, sophomores learn about the array of tools available to engineers, including when and how they can be used to solve problems.

As juniors, CivE students will practice applying this knowledge in the Experimental & Sensing Systems Design and Computation for Infrastructure Systems lab.

“There are many new tools out there that we as engineers should be able to understand and use,” says professor Sarah Christian, who co-teaches the sophomore sensing lab with professor Fethiye Ozis. “There are opportunities for us to improve and innovate and we want our engineers to be the people who do that. We want them to be the leaders. Our hope is that, with this new sequence, we teach students a process of inquiry and how to work through that process to solve problems in our cities and communities.”

“Liber ty Green Park is an excellent example of how we can reinvest in areas and suppor t green spaces that have not only stormwater benefits but all sor ts of health benefits.”

Professor David Rounce

Students Utilize Sensing Technologies in CEE Project Courses Across the four CEE project courses, students gain hands-on experience solving complex problems while facing uncertainty, risk, and constraints that mirror the challenges they’ll face as professional engineers. Along the way, they become increasingly skilled at applying the knowledge and tools essential to the field—including the ability to use sensing and computing to design, construct, operate, and maintain individual and interdependent infrastructure systems.

CEE undergraduates first encounter the topic of sensing in the first-year project course that introduces them to the domain of civil and environmental engineering. As sophomores, students explore computing and sensing in greater depth in CEE Challenges: Design in a Changing World.

Taught by professor Katherine Flanigan, this year’s sophomore sensing project was focused on structural health monitoring (SHM), which requires gathering accurate, timely information about structural condition and performance.

Each student team had to create, calibrate, and validate a SHM design. To do so, each group designed a scale using a cantilever beam strain gauge, conditioning circuits, and an Arduino Uno data collection unit. The teams then competed to see who could Professor

most accurately weigh the given load— in this case, a toy dolphin dressed as a pirate, clenching a bag full of pirate booty.

The project introduced the technology, methods, and challenges of stress monitoring for bridges, buildings, and other large structures. It also encouraged students to consider how sensing is used to plan and design maintenance activities, increase safety, verify hypotheses, reduce uncertainty, and widen general knowledge about a given structure.

Later project courses offer more opportunities to apply sensing knowledge and skills. In this year’s junior project course, students utilized sensing systems to monitor space usage and traffic congestion in a busy area of Porter Hall. In the senior capstone course, one group designed a proposal for a park water feature with water-level sensors that inform decisions about retaining or draining water.

Katherine Flannigan helps students in the structural health monitoring lab

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“It’s an exciting time to be in CEE. Civil and environmental engineers are being asked to lead in devising solutions to problems related to massive global challenges,” says Flanigan, referencing aging infrastructure, population growth, and climate change. “Our department is strategically keeping pace with the changing CEE landscape by teaching advanced interdisciplinary analytical skills that enable our graduates to be technological leaders, using tools and technologies from across fields for the analysis, design, and optimization of critical infrastructure systems.”

CEE Classes Tackle Topics of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Engineering Our CEE faculty are united in the goal of developing socially conscious engineers who understand how their decisions impact communities and individuals.

Across the curriculum, courses examine issues like inequitable pollution, resource access, climate impacts, and community displacements through historical and current lenses, while also emphasizing the skills needed to identify potential problems, address existing injustices, and design more equitable infrastructure in the future.

Conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) start right away for first-year students in Exploring CEE: Infrastructure and Environment in a Changing World, which highlights engineers’ roles and responsibilities in creating equitable and just infrastructure systems. As one of many examples, students learn about the historical connections between racism, traffic congestion, and infrastructure.

This thread expands and evolves throughout the rest of the program.

Students studying computation and data science, for example, encounter the disparate impacts of common image compression algorithms for different skin tones and hair colors. “In the hands of an engineer who is actually developing and deploying systems in the real world, even seemingly esoteric

“As engineers, it is absolutely critical that we understand how to draw the lines that connect our bedrock of technical rigor with the DEI outcomes of our work.”

Professor Jerry Wang mathematical principles can have tremendous DEI implications, for better or for worse,” explains professor Jerry Wang. “As engineers, it is absolutely critical that we understand how to draw the lines that connect our bedrock of technical rigor with the DEI outcomes of our work.”

In the Environmental Engineering class, water chemistry is oriented in the context of the Flint water crisis, highlighting the subject’s realworld relevance and links between infrastructure decisions and social and environmental justice. “Students need to know chemistry and how to solve quantitative water system problems, but before we make decisions based on science and engineering, we need to account for the people our decisions affect,” says professor Joe Moore.

“People are at the heart of everything engineers do.”

For our senior project course, professors Sarah Christian and David Rounce worked with CMU’s Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation to establish a more inclusive, community-supported design process. As students set out to improve amenities for a local park and design infrastructure to reduce urban runoff, they interacted with community members to learn about their needs and past stormwater problems and mitigation efforts. As the course progressed, students used community feedback to finalize designs and physical models that could effectively meet the citizens’ needs.

Some CEE students delve even deeper into DEI topics through research, with several undergraduates recently working with professor Destenie Nock to assess the social impacts of various decarbonization scenarios. Likewise, many graduate students, supported by Nock and other faculty, are studying DEI topics.

CEE’s DEI efforts have also drawn outside attention and inspired similar initiatives at other schools, including through a recent presentation detailing CEE’s approach to academic leaders in the American Society of Civil Engineers.

“The things you’re exposed to in your undergraduate training will leave an indelible mark. You will think in and solve problems using those frameworks for the rest of your life,” professor Wang emphasizes. “If we want to make progress on vital DEI challenges, students need to be exposed early and often to this way of thinking. It’s a big task, but there are a lot of people here working hard on this front, people who really care. That’s something our department is proud of.”

Students present their proposed final designs via Zoom in the senior project course SPRING 2022 7

OZIS JOINS CEE AS ASSISTANT TEACHING PROFESSOR Fethiye Ozis recently joined CEE as an Assistant Teaching Professor. She brings to the department teaching expertise as well as research experience in sustainable cities, biotechnology for air pollution control, and sustainable methods of water treatment. Prior to moving to Pittsburgh, Ozis taught at Northern Arizona University where she was named a 2021 Educator of Influence and a 2020 Teacher of the Year.

Ozis’ PhD research at the University of Southern California involved use of biofilters to remove volatile organic compounds from the air. She chose to utilize biofilters because they’re a more sustainable means of air pollution management. “I was fascinated by the fact that we can train and use bacteria to remove some air pollutants,” Ozis adds. She’s also served as a research

mentor for undergraduate students— focused on novel biotechnologies for water and wastewater to recover Cadmium and Yttrium by using corncobs and algae.

She describes her teaching style as “learner-centered” and encourages students to become self-regulated learners. “I use content to balance my students’ need to discover with what I need to share. I’m clear about my teaching philosophy, which helps students develop as lifelong learners.”

“Fethiye Ozis brings impressive breadth of professional experience and outstanding skills as a teacher to CEE,” said Dave Dzombak, Hamerschlag University Professor and Department Head. “We are fortunate to have an ASCE ExCEEd (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) program instructor – a teacher of teachers – join our faculty.”

Ozis asserts that within her classes, each student has a voice and a role. She works to create team-based learning that’s active, engaging, and respectful.

“I tell my students that I am a learner as well, and that I learn from them every

semester,” she states.

Ozis is focused on supporting and working with underrepresented groups in engineering, and has served as the faculty mentor for NAU Chapter of The Society of Women Engineers for the past six years. She also has close ties with Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, O-STEM, American Indian Science and Engineering Society, SACNAS, and the National Society of Black Engineers. She conducts research related to engineering classrooms and innovative pedagogical strategies to broaden participation in the field.

She earned a PhD and MS in Environmental Engineering from USC and a BS in Environmental Engineering from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. As she gets to know Pittsburgh—she’s never lived in the eastern United States before—she’s excited to kayak, bike, and hike with her husband and two teenage sons.

Ozis will be teaching courses in the CEE undergraduate programs in Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering, as well as CEE graduate courses.

CEE UPDATES MISSION, VISION, AND VALUES STATEMENTS CEE has a long tradition of educating students to critically evaluate situations and propose innovative solutions that will stand the test of time. And the department’s updated Mission, Vision, and Values statements (bit.ly/cee-mvv) follow that tradition in assessing the past while acknowledging what needs to be done to achieve the department’s future goals.

The new statements will guide the department in identifying, prioritizing, and continually evaluating activities, according to Professor Burcu Akinci.

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CEE’s previous strategic plan, completed in 2015, was intended to last for five years. Due to the pandemic, new planning was put on hold for much of 2020 as the department responded to the pandemic. Co-chairs Akinci and CEE Department Head Dave Dzombak restarted the effort in 2021.

“We decided to take a non-traditional approach to strategic planning. We are utilizing an organic model, which enables us to evaluate our goals, priorities, and activities on a yearly basis and modify as needed,” adds

Akinci. This organic approach takes into account the “expect the unexpected” philosophy that’s been an underlying theme for the past two years.

The revised Mission, Vision, and Values statements were developed with input from faculty, staff, students, and the alumni council. Akincki states that the concepts of DEI were deeply ingrained in the process. “This truly demonstrates how great of a community we have and how we seriously take inclusivity, diversity, equity, and belonging in every activity that we do. And I am very proud to be part of such a community.”

SAMARAS SERVES IN BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION IN WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY Professor Costa Samaras has been appointed to serve in the Biden-Harris Administration in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) as Principal Assistant Director for Energy and OSTP Chief Advisor for Energy Policy in OSTP’s first-ever Energy Division. In this role, he is working with the President’s Science Advisor and OSTP Director, the OSTP Deputy Director for Energy, and other White House Senior Officials in coordinating Federal activities on energy research and policy to ensure a transition to a clean, equitable, affordable, and resilient energy system and advance American technological leadership in clean energy solutions.

Samaras is providing senior-level policy advice to the Director, Deputy Director, and OSTP senior staff to analyze, recommend, and implement the energy technologies needed to meet the BidenHarris Administration’s climate goals of a net-zero emissions clean energy economy no later than 2050.

Samaras is formulating policy initiatives, assemble policy teams, briefing Administration leaders,

providing leadership on interagency science policy activities in energy-related sciences and policy, and identifing opportunities for clean energy research, development, deployment, and demonstration initiatives. Samaras is working closely with the head of OSTP’s firstever Energy Division, Dr. Sally Benson, to lead a team of OSTP colleagues to rapidly mobilize the President’s ambitious climate goals.

He is helping to accelerate deployment of existing clean energy technology, remove barriers to seamless and equitable integration of new technologies into the energy system, and scale up energy innovation that will grow good-paying jobs and reduce costs. OSTP’s Energy Division also works with colleagues to advance and contribute to Federal government-wide

Photo: François-Philippe Champagne

initiatives to further diversity, equity, and inclusion of the U.S. scientific and energy sector workforce.

Samaras was one of the Lead Author contributors to the Global Energy Assessment, was a contributor to the 4th U.S. National Climate Assessment, and has served on several National Academies Committees evaluating energy innovation and climate systems research. At Carnegie Mellon, he is the Director of the Power Sector Carbon Index and a Fellow in the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation.

Students were invited to provide feedback of the draft version of the updated Vision, Mission, and Values statements SPRING 2022 9

CMU AND FUJITSU COLLABORATE TO DEVELOP SOCIAL DIGITAL TWIN TECHNOLOGY FOR SMART CITIES

Carnegie Mellon University researchers recently announced an exciting collaboration with Fujitsu Limited, a leading Japanese information and communication technology company, to develop social digital twin technology, with an emphasis on exploring practical applications for the work.

A social digital twin digitally reproduces the relationships and connections between people, goods, the economy and society to offer a simulation, prediction and decision-making environment for solving diverse and complex social issues. This research is the first attempt between Fujitsu and CMU to explore future applications of social digital twins in global communities.

Sean Qian

A project through CMU’s Mobility Data Analytics Center (MAC) will leverage real world data, including input of traffic regulations and the movement of vehicles, to evaluate the effectiveness of measures designed to dynamically estimate and control traffic flow. Another project with CMU’s Computational Behavior Lab in the School of Computer Science’s Robotics Institute will extend current capabilities in 3D modeling of pedestrians and forecasting their behavior over time in urban environments. This technology can be used to monitor activity on streets and determine where issues or accidents may be taking place.

CMU’s efforts will be led by robotics professor Laszlo Jeni, director of the Computational Behavior Lab, and CEE/Heinz professor Sean Qian, director of the MAC. Fujitsu and CMU will draw on the findings of these projects to create foundational technologies for social digital twins that will simulate traffic networks and movement patterns of people in real-time. That work will build on the deployment of the researchers’ projects with CMU’s transportation research institute, Traffic21.

Laszlo Jeni

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The researchers anticipate that the social digital twin technology will play an active role in improving efforts to ease congestion, positively influence

Outline of Joint Research for the Construction of a Social Digital Twin

travel behavior, and ultimately help to create safer, more sustainable cities in the future.

interventions can be reflected in advance to optimize outcomes of urban planning and policy.

Within this project, Fujitsu and CMU Fujitsu and CMU’s research will initially will leverage so-called “converging focus on developing advanced sensing technologies,” advanced technologies that combine The researchers aim to develop a new computer sciences and knowledge from the humanities plat form that delivers a broad set of and social sciences. These technologies work to solve solutions for a variety of social issues diverse and complex issues faced by cities working toward based on highly accurate simulations of the realization of a sustainable society. the movements of people and vehicles, The researchers aim to develop a new platform that delivers a broad set of solutions for a variety of social issues based on highly accurate simulations of the movements of people and vehicles, which will help them visualize and predict future actions and possible risks based on human behavior.

By using the newly developed social digital twin platform to analyze and predict the behavior of people and movements of vehicles, the effects and potential risks of proposed

The research will include a social digital twin model based on real-time traffic data from road networks that can dynamically understand a city’s daily changing traffic demand. Researchers can then use the digital models to test solutions to adjust traffic regulations and toll systems to improve traffic flow.

which will help them visualize and predict future actions and possible risks based on human behavior.

technology to better understand people’s movements; improve behavior forecasting through artificial intelligence; and create social digital twin models to simulate how people interact with goods, the economy and society.

In addition to the analysis of traffic congestion and ways to deliver economic efficiency, Fujitsu and CMU will further leverage the social digital twin platform to promote the verification of detailed measures to solve environmental issues, including the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and improving urban transportation networks.

The researchers will additionally continue their efforts to contribute to the realization of safe and sustainable next-generation smart cities by promoting measures to mitigate pandemics and ensure the flexible, efficient allocation of medical resources while driving economic growth.

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MICROMOBILITY MODES COULD REPLACE 1/5 OF SHORT CAR TRIPS Research shows micromobility modes like e-bikes could significantly reduce urban congestion and costs, but will have to be augmented by other emissions-reduction methods to achieve climate goals.

In the United States, transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. It will require investments and innovations across many domains to achieve the White House’s goals for emissions reductions, including micromobility platforms like fleets of e-bikes or e-scooters.

Corey Harper, assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and in the Heinz College, led a study that simulated the efficacy of an e-bike fleet in Seattle, which found that up to 18 percent of short, private vehicle trips of up to three miles could be replaced with e-bikes. Harper’s results indicated that micromobility could reduce congestion on crowded corridors and that wide-scale bike lane deployment can maximize congestion benefits.

However, the impacts to energy use and emissions are disproportionately low, and other measures such as vehicle electrification are needed to meet climate change emissions targets.

Micromobility modes are defined as single passenger vehicles weighing less 12 CEE NEWS

than 1,100 pounds, with a top speed no greater than 28 miles per hour, and lacking an internal combustion engine.

This includes small self-propelled or electrically-powered vehicles like bikes, e-bikes, scooters, and e-scooters.

Their short range makes them ideal for condensed urban areas, especially when supported with dedicated infrastructure like bike lanes. These short trips make up 50 percent of all private vehicle trips in most urban areas.

Harper and his team used household travel survey and weather data from Seattle in 2014, to estimate the upper bound of private vehicle trips that could be replaced with micromobility modes.

They considered multiple trip factors, including a person’s age, trip purpose, time of day, and weather, which Harper noted may vary from city to city. A city could increase the number of replaced short trips—from 18 up to 29 percent in Seattle, for example—by deploying cargo bikes with storage for tasks like grocery shopping.

Harper and his co-author Zhufeng Fan, a PhD student in CEE, also believe that as micromobility modes become more accessible and people become more reliant on them for daily commuting, they will become better adapted and resilient to moderately inclement conditions like rain or cold. Regular usage could also bring significant public

health benefits.

While micromobility could have a major impact on urban congestion, travel speeds, and associated costs, it will have to be partnered with solutions elsewhere for reducing emissions.

Due to the miles traveled, a majority of emissions come from long distance trips. Harper points to investments needed in electric vehicle deployment across public, private, and commercial sectors; investment in commuter transit; and using micromobility modes for last-mile parcel delivery.

“Replacing short trips is good for public health and congestion, but micromobility can only decrease emissions by two to three percent,” he said. “We need things like vehicle electrification, commuter buses, and charging infrastructure. We’re going to need to do a lot more to reduce a significant amount of emissions.”

In Pittsburgh, Harper works in collaboration with the public bike share system Healthy Ride. He’s helping by creating tools to predict where bike stations are most needed and to ensure they are distributed equitably. He hopes the benefits of micromobility will be matched by investments in bicycle infrastructure and cleaner transportation to help cities accomplish the White House’s climate goals.

Real-world Engineering Solutions Exhibited in New Autonomous Infrastructure Systems Lab Research is underway in new Autonomous Infrastructure Systems Lab in Porter Hall giving visitors a look into real time experiments, research, results, and data collection.

“The projects in the Autonomous Infrastructure Systems Lab area will give students a clear understanding of how the theoretical and fundamental knowledge they are learning interfaces with, and enables, real-world engineering solutions,” says professor Katherine Flanigan. She adds that it highlights the importance of the interdisciplinary skills students are being asked to develop.

To kick off the opening of the space, Flanagan challenged her students to create proposals describing how they’d use the lab’s space and monitors.

The new space not only challenges students and showcases their research—it also shows visitors how CEE

is at the forefront of changing the industry landscape.

“Stakeholders will be able to better understand the Pengkun Liu, Ying Shi, and Ruoxin Xiong research being conducted in our department, and the impacts of water treatment plant inspection and this research, by being able to directly operation, and canal inspection. interact with it,” says Flanagan. “At the The team’s project will “expand visitor’s end of the day, we want people to be understanding of human-machine able to derive benefit from the projects intelligence integration while gaining displayed in this space, regardless insight into deep learning, remote of their background or existing sensing, and domain knowledge for knowledge.” civil infrastructure inspection and The student team of Pengkun Liu, operation.”

Ruoxin Xiong, and Ying Shi submitted Their project will utilize multiple media the winning proposal, “Integrating formats including prepared slides, Human-Machine Intelligence for images, videos, point clouds, and Reliable Civil Infrastructure Inspection BIM models to demonstrate research and Operation.” results. Visitors will be able to interact Their proposed project demonstrates with the project by wearing virtual integrating human-machine intelligence eyeglasses that track eye movements, for reliable civil infrastructure inspection simulating the process of identifying and operation using bridge inspection, different bridge defects.

100 YEARS! Carnegie Mellon University will be celebrating its centennial ASCE anniversary this year. That’s right, our Student Chapter was established in 1922! Here is a look at some of the groups over the years and our current executive board.

1932

1980

1949

1922 Historical images provided by Carnegie Mellon University Archives & Special Collections

1968

2022

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Markey and Thompson Choi Awarded Smith Graduate Fellowship Named Andrew PhD student Carnegie Scholars Byeongseong CivE/EPP senior Greta Markey’s love of research inspires her to seek out projects aligned with her interests. in environmental engineering, policy and social justice.

She served as ASCE student chapter president and partnered with members of the CEE DEI Committee to create a popular monthly book club. She spent her summer as a program director for the Environmental Science and Sustainability and Energy section of the National Student Leadership Conference, designing sustainability curriculum. She also completed an internship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Andrew Thompson, CivE/EPP senior, is a dynamic leader. Thompson served as the Vice President of the ASCE student chapter and is an active member of the CEE DEI committee.

Thompson also helped lead First-Year Orientation as a Head Orientation Counselor and served as a Tartan Scholar Ambassador.

He has gained professional experience as an intern analyst for Accenture and as an emerging technologies intern for the Department of Energy.

He also spent a summer conducting research and contributed to the NSF paper “Collaborative Characterizing 21st Century Extremes for Engineering and Evaluating Robust Infrastructure Design.”

14 CEE NEWS

Choi was recently awarded the Bradford and Diane Smith Graduate Fellowship.

Choi earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Seoul National University, Korea.

Advised by professors Matteo Pozzi and Mario Bergés, he has developed probabilistic models to describe nearsurface temperature to assess the heatinduced risk of an urban area.

Ariss Awarded Ellegood Fellowship PhD candidate Rami Ariss has been awarded the Julia and Michael Ellegood Strategic Doctoral Fellowship.

Ariss earned his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering and master’s in Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of California, Berkeley.

Advised by professor Matteo Pozzi, Ariss’ research looks to identify opportunities to improve controls and planning decisions that are complicated by interdependencies among civil systems. His research explores applications of sequential decision making, reinforcement learning, and optimization methods to contemporary energytransportation problems. In particular, he develops co-optimal fleet design

and route planning for electric delivery vehicles providing vehicleto-grid services, electric vehicle policies operating across energy and transportation markets, and controls for multi-agent electric bus fleets for equitable ridepooling.

Wang Awarded Liang Ji-Dan Fellowship PhD student Yanyu Wang has recently been awarded a 2022 Liang JiDan Fellowship.

Before coming to CMU, Wang graduated with honors from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China. She received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in construction management and a minor degree in law.

Wang’s research is focused on simulating airport ground operations based on historical data and improving operational efficiency and safety levels through artificial intelligence. With her advisor, professor Pingbo Tang, she explores data analytics and information modeling technology to support spatiotemporal analyses needed for the predictive management of constructed facilities and civil infrastructure systems.

Xiong Awarded Smith Graduate Fellowship PhD candidate Ruoxin Xiong was recently awarded the Bradford and Diane Smith Graduate Fellowship.

Xiong earned his undergraduate degree in Transportation Equipment and Control Engineering

from Central South University and a master’s degree in Transportation Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

in Civil Engineering as well as Bachelor of Arts in Plan II, a liberal arts honors program, at University of Texas at Austin.

Advised by professor Pingbo Tang, his research focuses on developing intelligent human-automation collaboration for supporting reliable and adaptive civil infrastructure management systems, such as buildings, bridges, and air traffic systems.

Co-advised by professors Jeanne VanBriesen and Costa Samaras, Lyle is assessing climate risk to water distribution systems, including quantifying changes to infrastructure reliability, analyzing effects on water utility operations and finances, and developing general climate adaptation strategies.

Naghibzadeh Awarded Bushnell Fellowship PhD student Kiana Naghibzadeh was awarded the Neil and Jo Bushnell Fellowship in Engineering.

Naghibzadeh earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology.

Advised by Professor Kaushik Dayal, Naghibzadeh’s research focuses on multi-scale mathematical and computational modeling of the growth and evolution of materials.

This includes electrode-electrolyte interface evolution in electrochemical devices, material accretion in additive manufacturing, microstructure evolution in polycrystalline materials, and solidification of water in glaciers.

Lyle Awarded Fok Presidential Fellowship PhD candidate Zia Lyle has been awarded the Thomas and Maria Fok Presidential Fellowship.

Lyle earned her Bachelor of Science

Lee Awarded Miller Presidential Fellowship PhD candidate Daryn Lee has recently been awarded a Ruth Furman Miller and David H. Miller Presidential Fellowship in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from the College of Engineering and the University.

Lee graduated from University of California, Berkeley with degrees in Civil Engineering. Currently she is working with professor Costa Samaras leveraging real-time vehicle data to improve analysis of accessibility and reliability of public transportation systems.

Guarda Awarded TCS Presidential Fellowship PhD candidate Pablo Guarda has recently been awarded a Tata Consultancy Services Presidential Fellowship.

Guarda graduated from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile with a degree in Industrial Engineering. Currently he is working with professor Sean Qian bridging travel behavior and transportation network models with modern datadriven approaches and machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques.

Recent PhD Theses

Renewable Energy Resources.

Advisors: Samaras, Matthews

GARRET BLAND - Chemical Fingerprinting for the Detection, Classification, and Transformation of Engineered and Incidental Nanomaterials in Environmental Systems.

Advisor: Lowry

RICK GRAHN - Evaluating and Optimizing Shared Mobility Services to Improve Public Transit Efficiency, Accessibility, and Reliability.

Advisors: Qian, Hendrickson

ANA CACERES - Hydropower Vulnerability in a Changing Climate: Characterizing Future Risks in the Global South.

Advisor: Jaramillo

VARUN KASIREDDY - Point Cloud-based Unsupervised Spall Classification in Bridges.

Advisor: Akinci

KSHITEEJ DESHMUKH - Multiband Homogenization for Electronic Structure and Mechanical Metamaterials.

Advisor: Dayal

ANKIT SHRIVASTAVA - Elucidating the Connection Between Heterogeneous Stresses in Granular and Microstructured Materials Using Data Science Methods.

Advisors: Dayal, Noh

RESHMI GHOSH - Data-driven Stochastic Reliability Assessment of the US Electricity Grid Under Large Penetration of Variable

YUJIE WEI - Detecting As-built Information Model Errors Using Unstructured Images.

Advisor: Akinci SPRING 2022 15

Markey Earns Marshall Scholarship

Senior Greta Markey (CiVE/EPP ‘22) has been named a recipient of the highly competitive Marshall Scholarship, which is awarded to fewer than 50 Americans each year to fund graduate education in the United Kingdom. She is the fifth CMU student to receive the award since 1955.

Markey, a senior double majoring in the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy, will study environmental and international development at the University of East Anglia and its Water Security Research Center.

The Marshall Scholarship is a step toward Markey’s goals to earn a Ph.D. in environmental engineering and become a professor. Her career inspiration comes from mentorship from CEE Professor Kelvin Gregory — who helped her to discover a passion for water sourcing and research — and EPP Professor Daniel Armanios — who suggested she apply for the award as well as helped guide Markey on her path to becoming an independent and social equity-focused engineering researcher.

“CEE is proud of Greta, that she will take her passion, knowledge and ability to work across disciplines to the U.K. as a Marshall Scholar,” says Dave Dzombak, Hamerschlag University Professor and CEE department head. “Her motivation to improve quality of life for people through civil and environmental engineering exemplifies the leadership for which the scholarship recipients are renowned.”

Markey said that her interdisciplinary education at CMU gave her the opportunity to combine her interests in social justice, international relations and engineering.

Markey also participated in the Washington, D.C., Semester Program, working on policy research that allowed her to better understand the political process. Because the Marshall Scholarship is focused on U.S.-U.K. relationships and leadership, her realworld experience helped set her apart from other applicants.

Looking forward to her time in the U.K., Markey said she plans to build upon her interest in equitable water systems engineering while gaining a historic, international and interdisciplinary contextualization of the engineering environment — including gaining the perspectives of indigenous communities.

Kramer Awarded American Bridge Leadership Award CEE/EPP Senior Kelby Kramer was recently awarded the American Bridge Leadership Award by The Pittsburgh Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in recognition of his leadership accomplishments and community impact.

Kramer has distinguished himself not only academically but also as a leader among his peers. He routinely spends time during lab sessions helping his peers work through difficulties they were encountering on the assigned problems and stepping up as a leader in group assignments.

“Kelby is the kind of student who--week in and week out--elevates classroom discussions with thoughtful questions, intellectual energy, and effusive engagement,” says professor Jerry Wang.

16 CEE NEWS

Kramer worked on a research project under the supervision of professor Wang which focused on using particlebased simulation methods to assess the impact of social distancing in pedestrian flows. As a result, he wrote a paper and later presented his findings at the Division of Fluid Dynamics Conference organized by the American Physical Society (APS) in November 2020.

“This level of research accomplishment, in under a year of effort, would be commendable for a PhD student; it is altogether astonishing for an undergraduate,” says Wang.

He has served as captain of the university’s water polo team and president of the Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering honor society. He is an active member of the student chapter of ASCE, served as a student

representative for the CMU Alumni Association Board, and was a team build-design lead for Engineers Without Borders.

The American Bridge Award is a highly competitive award open to all civil engineering students in the region covered by the ASCE Pittsburgh Section, and includes a cash prize.

Denise Yam’s Global Education Leads to Singapore’s Ministry of Transport

Singapore native Denise Yam (CiVE/EPP ’13) longed to explore the world before returning home to build her career. A strong believer in challenging herself and broadening her world view, Yam’s passion for international exploration led her to Carnegie Mellon. She was attracted by the university’s focus on interdisciplinary learning—and what she calls the “softer aspects” of CMU (Spring Carnival in particular). Yam adds that the values instilled by the school—curiosity, creativity, and a cando attitude to tackling hard problems— helped her immeasurably as she continued her world travels and started her career.

Following her CMU graduation, she went on to complete her Master of Science in Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis & Management from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. She then returned to Singapore, beginning an active career in public policy. In just six years, she’s worked for the Ministry of Communications and Information, Land Transport Authority, and Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment.

“I’ve gotten to work on exciting public policy issues in the past few years, from climate change to carbon pricing and cybersecurity,” she says.

Today, she’s the Senior Assistant Director at the Futures &

Transformation Division, Ministry of Transport (MOT). Yam describes her work as being dynamic, fast-paced, and involving close collaborations with many public agencies and companies.

She states that her interdisciplinary studies at CMU “cemented [her] interest to work at the interface of technology and society.”

says that her education at CMU and CEE provided the strong engineering, technology, and interdisciplinary studies foundation that she needed to build upon her undergraduate studies.

“I double majored in Engineering and Public Policy, which complemented my primary engineering program and broadened my perspectives on solving real world problems from early on.”

Singapore’s Futures & Transformation Division at MOT works to develop She recalls her senior design project strategies and watching for future how each team “I appreciated working opportunities approached the in the transport same engineering through the whole process. sectors. problem with “These include different solutions.

Because at the end of the coordinating, day, even in a course project, “I appreciated incubating, and working through driving policies for it is a real person taking that the whole process. emerging areas, Because at the end cutting across of the day, even in step on the beam, ladder, or air, land and sea a course project, transport,” she it is a real person bridge that you built.” says. taking that step on To support the beam, ladder, or that mission, Yam is part of a team bridge that you built.” focused on accelerating electric vehicle Now settled back in Singapore, Yam adoption. She’s studying issues from acknowledges the importance of her the end-of-life management of electric world travel and experiences in North vehicles to communications and America and Europe. She strongly outreach with the public. recommends that current students take “We want to ensure that we take a on new challenges to build their own holistic and sustainable approach to the life experience. transition to electric vehicles,” she adds.

“Explore! This will mean different things Yam also works with partner agencies to each of us, but don’t be afraid to on advanced air mobility developments, step out of your comfort zone and try bringing together technical, economic, something new.” safety, and security considerations. She

SPRING 2022 17

Mentoring Program Matches Undergrads with CEE Alums CEE alums have so much insight to offer when it comes to engineering school and industry experience. And who better to share it with than current CEE students?

The Alumni/Undergraduate Mentor Program, which welcomed its first cohort in the fall of 2021, matched 21 student-alumni pairs with the goal to develop deeper connections between participants.

Mentors, who volunteer their time, connect with today’s students while giving back to CEE in a meaningful way.

Akinci notes that the graduates also take pride in helping students to gain career knowledge, confidence, and marketability.

Cindy Weng (BS ‘18), a CEE graduate now working toward a PhD in Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, says that she was compelled to become a mentor because of her positive experiences at Carnegie Mellon University.

“I wanted to continue helping to foster the community at CEE.”

The program provides benefits for both mentors and mentees, says professor Burcu Akinci, who developed the initial idea for the mentor Plans for the Alumni/ pairings. Students Undergraduate Mentor Cindy Weng obtain insight into Program began nearly different career two years ago but were paths that can begin at CEE. They also sidetracked by the pandemic. It was develop confidence in transitioning inspired by successful programs that from student to practicing engineer.

Akinci saw at other schools.

“They learn the differences between the Simultaneously, students were reaching make-up of the workforce versus the out to CEE’s career services staff, asking undergraduate student population,” for mentorship opportunities. Akinci she adds.

worked closely with CEE staff, faculty, students, and the alumni council to develop the program and gauge interest. “We surveyed our recent alumni and got very positive feedback.”

Weng adds that building a relationship with her mentee has helped to maintain her own connection to CEE. “An unexpected benefit of this experience is that it has allowed me to think more critically about the contributing factors that led me to be a successful undergraduate student. One of the best parts of the experience is hearing about how my mentee’s time at CMU is going.”

The inaugural Mentor Program group contains five seniors, nine juniors, and seven sophomores. Akinci hopes that the connections built through the program could lead to mutually beneficial happy endings. “The mentors have direct access to a great talent pool—all while making a difference in the lives of future engineers.”

If you would like to develop a mentoring relationship with a current CEE student, please contact Heather Cain at hcain@andrew.cmu.edu.

THERE’S NOTHING WE LOVE MORE THAN SHARING YOUR GOOD NEWS AND ACHIEVEMENTS Submit your news. Help our recent graduates find jobs within your organization. Update your contact information so we can send you the latest news and updates.

We want to hear from you!

Contact Heather Cain at hcain@andrew.cmu.edu.

18 CEE NEWS

Rumor has it the Baker/Porter hallway was sloped to be able to function as a factory, but is that the real reason?

Find out in this video: bit.ly/ceesloped

CEE GIVING NEW SCHOLARSHIP FUND HONORS ACCOMPLISHED ALUMS DIGIOIA AND GRAY Anthony DiGioia Jr. In 1952, Carnegie Tech Civil Engineering classmates Anthony DiGioia Jr. (BS ‘56, MS ‘57, PhD ‘60) and Richard Gray (BS ‘56) teamed up as lab partners. Seventy years later, their partnership is still going strong, currently through DiGioia Gray & Associates, an engineering consulting firm the pair co-founded in 2004.

For decades, DiGioia and Gray have been renowned in civil and geotechnical engineering. Now, the Anthony M. DiGioia Jr. and Richard E. Gray Engineering Scholarship will honor their partnership and many accomplishments—among which they both are a Distinguished Members of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Carnegie Mellon Alumni Achievement Award recipients.

The scholarship will support CEE undergraduates in pursuing their degrees, as DiGioia and Gray attribute much of their own success to the strong academic foundation and relationships forged at Carnegie Tech.

“We had excellent faculty members who had tremendous influence on our lives,” says DiGioia. Among them was Dr. Elio D’Appolonia (affectionately known as D’App), who employed both students part-time. “D’App was an unbelievably kind, wonderful person,” DiGioia recalls.

“He taught us a lot, especially about how to use the knowledge that we gained through class in practice.”

Richard Gray DiGioia and Gray worked with D’Appolonia during their undergraduate and graduate studies, gaining invaluable experience, connections, and mentorship. He encouraged them to join associations like ASCE and supported them attending meetings and trainings nationwide, where they learned from the industry’s smartest minds.

Eventually, DiGioia and Gray started their own firm, General Analytics Incorporated (now GAI Consultants).

Through their professional success and increasing involvement and leadership in industry organizations, the pair rapidly gained acclaim in their fields.

After decades of growth, DiGioia and Gray retired from GAI in the early 2000s, but their clients weren’t ready for them to stop consulting.

Soon, DiGioia Gray & Associates was born, offering civil, electrical, geotechnical, and structural engineering services. A commitment to engineering education and mentorship was a pillar for the firm.

“We saw how D’App treated us and helped us. He was a great mentor,” says Gray. “We learned from him, and we’re just following his example.”

“We’re carrying it forward. It’s important to pass it on to the next generation,” adds DiGioia, who previously served as a CEE adjunct professor and a member

of the CEE Advisory Council. In addition to staying in close contact with the CEE department, both DiGioia and Gray have been active in the CMU Alumni Association and class reunions for years.

DiGioia Gray & Associates representatives also regularly attend Carnegie Mellon career fairs, and multiple alumni are among their staff, including DiGioia’s daughter, Paula DiGioia Deasy (TPR ‘88). Counting Deasy, four of DiGioia’s eight children, and two of his grandchildren, have attended Carnegie Mellon. His grandson Gideon is currently a firstyear student at CMU. Deasy and her older brother, Tony DiGioia III (CivE ‘79, BME ‘82), initiated the Anthony M. DiGioia Jr. and Richard E. Gray Engineering Scholarship Fund for undergraduates to honor their father and his business partner. The scholarship was initially endowed with contributions from family members and from the firm, DiGioia Gray & Associates.

“The firm is built on their value of mentoring people and teaching best practices that push the industry forward,” says Deasy. ”This fund matches those values and these two are a great example of what Carnegie Mellon graduates can do.”

SPRING 2022 19

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CEE STUDENT ACTIVITIES FUND From poster sessions to professional speakers to department-wide meet-ups over breakfast and lunch, the CEE Department is known for sponsoring activities and events that not only develop valuable engineering knowledge and skills but also foster community and connection. Now you can support such events and activities directly through the CEE Student Activities Fund.

“You’ll have the ability to designate precisely what you would like your gift to go towards, for example, a particular activity or project course,” explains Heather Cain, CEE Alumni Relations and Events Manager. “We’re excited because this is a completely new type of fund for CEE. It’s an opportunity to give back to things that you participated in while you were at CMU and to make a really direct and immediate impact on students.”

Your gift to the student activities fund can offset the cost of a variety of student activities such as the following: Research Poster Sessions Student Organization Events (ASCE, EWRI, Chi Ep) 12-401 Project Course Department-wide student focused events

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If you’d like to support a specific activity, please contact Heather Cain (hcain@andrew.cmu.edu) to ensure your gift is properly allocated.