CEE News

ANNUAL NEWS FROM THE

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING Spring 2016

CEE NEWS

TECO Energy President/CEO and Civil Engineering Alumnus, John Ramil, Receives Honorary Doctorate John Ramil (Bachelors,‘78 and Masters, ‘00) has been actively involved with the community serving on the boards of directors of the Edison Electric Institute, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, the Florida Council of 100, the Tampa Bay Partnership, Enterprise Florida, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Tampa

for several innovative achievements. In 2000, Tampa Electric was the first to reach a consent decree with EPA, which paved the way for $1.2 billion in emission reduction investments, including converting the coal-fired Gannon station to the natural gas-fired H.L. Culbreath Bayside Power Station. In 2008, Tampa Electric

TECO Energy,” Ramil said as he accepted his doctorate at the USF Sun Dome on May 7, 2016.

“But that doesn’t mean I stopped learning upon graduation. I had the good fortune throughout my career to have been guided and coached into a mode of lifelong learning…it helped me move through assignments not only in engineering, but

Bay Performing Arts Center. He has also been the chair of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, and the annual Hillsborough County Great American Teach-In. Under John Ramil’s leadership, TECO Energy has been recognized

was recognized for its carbon reductions by the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX). “Earning my Bachelor of Science and then my Master of Science in Engineering at USF gave me the tools I needed to start and advance my career at

such areas as planning, operations, finance and customer service.”

School Children Enjoy Engineers’ Week EXPO Engagement Odelkys Marquez, a USF senior in civil engineering who ran the balsa bridge competition, which is in its 24th year, said USF Expo gives students the chance to explore their passion for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. “It allows them to get a taste of what we do,” she said. “It’s not exactly what we do, but its a taste at least to their level.”

Roland Park K-8 Magnet School’s Eighth Graders were pleased when their balsa bridge was stress tested at USF’s EXPO (From Andy Jones/

Students were notified of the competition in August, and many began coming up with design plans in the fall, Marquez said. “It takes a lot of time,” she said. “The glue has to dry, you have to design it. It takes time.”

Tampa Tribune, February 21, 2016).

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Message from the Chair Greetings from Tampa Bay! We have completed another remarkable academic year at the University of South Florida’s (USF) Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) department.

Directors of the Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors (AEESP). Dr. Sarina Ergas was designated a prestigious 2015 Water Environment Federation Fellow.

At the beginning of this academic year two outstanding transportation academics joined the department; Dr. Fred Mannering, former Department Chair and Charles Pankow Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue University and Dr. Xiaopeng Li, NSF CAREER Award winner from Mississippi State University. In addition, Dr. Robert Bertini, former Deputy Administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) at the U.S. Department of Transportation is expected to join USF as Director of the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) and Professor in the department.

In addition, several graduate students won national recognition over the past year. Gregory Hinds (CEE MS graduate), won the 2016 American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists William Brewster Snow award. Matthew Verbyla (Ph.D. Environmental Engineering graduate) won the 2016 W. Wesley Eckenfelder Graduate Research Award given annually by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES).

It is my pleasure to announce the appointment of Dr. James Mihelcic, Florida 21st Century World Scholar as the Julia M. and Samuel L. Flom Endowed Chair in the department.

A number of our faculty members were also recognized nationally for their outstanding achievements. Dr. Gray Mullins received the ASCE 2015 Charles Pankow Award for Innovation.

Dr. Maya A. Trotz was elected to a three-year term on the Board of

I acknowledge the efforts of Ms. Barbara Johnson, Administrative Assistant of the CEE dept. for her collection of news items and Mr. Ryan Wakefield, Communications and Marketing Department of the College of Engineering for his efforts in publishing this newsletter.

Finally, as a recently designated emerging pre-eminent university in Florida, we are excited about the imminent prospects of being elevated in the near future to the ranks of America’s most preeminent universities.

Manjriker Gunaratne, Ph.D., P.E. Professor and Chairman 2

CEE News

Two Prominent Transportation Faculty Join the Department Dr. Fred Mannering, formerly Civil Engineering Department Chair and Charles Pankow Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue University, joined USF as Professor of Civil Engineering. He has authored more than 100 refereed publications in prestigious journals in the caliber of Transportation Research (Parts A, B and C) and the Journal of Accident Analysis and Prevention. He has also authored a widely used textbook, Principles of Highway Engineering and Traffic Analysis. In addition, he is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Analytic Methods in Accident Research and Associate Editor and former Editor-inChief of the journal of Transportation Research Part B (Methodological) and an Associate Editor of Transportation Research Part A (Policy and Practice).

He also serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Accident Analysis and Prevention and Transportation Research Part C (Emerging Technologies). While at Purdue, he won the Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, Purdue University’s highest undergraduate teaching honor. Moreover, he has been funded by a number of agencies such as the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) and Departments of Transportation in Pennsylvania, Washington and Indiana. Dr. Mannering has advanced the state of the art of statistical and econometric analysis and modeling, key techniques essential for researchers and students in the field of transportation engineering.

Dr. Xiaopeng Li joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as assistant professor. Prior to joining USF, he worked as an assistant professor at the Mississippi State University. He had also worked for Caterpillar Inc. as a logistics research analyst. He holds a B.Eng. in Civil Engineering with a computer engineering minor (Tsinghua University, Beijing, 2006), a M.S. in Civil Engineering (the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), 2007), a M.S. in Applied Mathematics (UIUC, 2010), and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (UIUC, 2011). He is a recipient of a 2015 NSF CAREER award. Dr. Li has also been the recipient of a number of awards such as the Best Doctoral Dissertation Presentation Award in the Travel Analysis Section of the 90th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board in DC, Dwight David Eisenhower Graduate Fellowship, Federal Highway Administration, USDOT, and Chester P. Siess Award for Scholarly Achievement and Promise for Research, UIUC. Dr. Li has published over 20 research papers in peer-reviewed journals and served as the PI and a co-PI for several research projects funded by multiple federal (e.g., NSF, FHWA) and local agencies.

Dr. Fred Mannering

Dr. Xiaopeng Li

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Dr. James Mihelcic, Receives the Julia M. and Samuel L. Flom Endowed Chair

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Dr. James Mihelcic, Professor, State of Florida 21st

his recent research endeavors, he was awarded USF’s

Century World class Scholar and Director, Peace Corps

2014 Outstanding Research Award. Dr. Mihelcic

Master’s International Program becomes the second

has acted as the Foundation Board Member of the

recipient of the Julia M. and Samuel L. Flom Endowed

Association of Environmental Engineering & Science

Chair in the Department of Civil and Environmental

Professors (AEESP) during the term of 2013-2016 and

Engineering. Dr. Mihelcic is also the Director of the USF-

Chartered Science Advisory Board member of the U.S.

based EPA National Research Center for Reinventing

Environmental Protection Agency during the term of

Aging Infrastructure for Nutrient Management, a

2010-2016. In 2010, he also served as an Executive

global partnership. In addition, he leads USF’s NSF

member of the Education and Awards Committee of

Partnership for International Research and Education

the Board of Trustees of the American Academy of

(PIRE) project titled “Context Sensitive Implementation

Environmental Engineers & Scientists. Dr. Mihelcic

of Synergistic Water-Energy Systems.” In recognizing

received the honor of delivering a keynote speech at

CEE News

the ASCE Global Engineering Conference in Panama

100 peer reviewed articles and 11 book chapters,

City, Panama 2014 on “Envisioning a Better World;

he has made an indelible mark in the environmental

The Making of Community and Globally Impactful

engineering literature. Dr. Mihelcic, an excellent mentor

Engineers.” In recognition of the global involvement, he

of students and junior faculty, has also won many

received USF’s Global Achievement Award in 2015. He

accolades for constantly promoting minorities and

has authored a widely used textbook; Mihelcic, J.R., J.B.

underrepresented groups in research and educational

Zimmerman, Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals,

activities.

Sustainability, Design, John Wiley & Son. With nearly

Graduate Students, Mostfa Al Azzawi and Philip Hopkins, making preparations for conducting on-site pull-off testing on the Friendship Trail Bridge.

Structures Faculty Engaged in Innovative Projects Friendship Trail Bridge The Friendship Trail Bridge was the venue for four

agencies including NCHRP’s prestigious IDEA program.

separate field demonstration projects undertaken

The Friendship Trail Bridge project was supported by

by Drs. Rajan Sen and Gray Mullins for evaluating

American Bridge Company, Speedy Concrete, City of

the application of fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) for

Tampa and Hillsborough County (see picture above).

repairing corroding piles. The studies, conducted between 2003 and 2010, were funded by multiple CEE News

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National Student Awards DFI Student Paper Competition Winner Kevin Johnson (CEE Ph.D. student) won the Deep Foundation Institute’s (DFI) 2015 Student Paper Competition awarded by the Deep Foundations Institute’s Educational Trust with his paper on “Analyzing Thermal Integrity Profiling Data for Drilled Shaft Evaluation,” presented at the 40th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations, Oakland, CA, October 2015. See more at: http://www.dfi.org/news.asp?id=100. His major advisor is Dr. Gray Mullins.

UCLA Conference on Grand Challenges in Construction Materials - Poster Winner Natalya Shanahan (CEE Ph.D. student) was awarded the Excellence Certificate at the 2016 UCLA International Conference on Grand Challenges in Construction Materials poster session. She is advised by Dr. Abla Zayed.

NACE International (The Corrosion Society) – Poster Winner Leonidas Emmenegger, (CEE MS -2015), won the 2nd Place Harvey Herro Applied Corrosion Technology Best Student Poster prize at the Corrosion/2015 Annual Meeting of NACE International (The Corrosion Society) in Dallas. The poster was entitled “Contactless Electrode for Fast Survey of Concrete Reinforcement Corrosion”.

He was advised by Dr. Alberto Sagues.

William Brewster Snow Award Gregory Hinds (CEE MS graduate), has won the 2016 American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists William Brewster Snow award which recognizes an outstanding environmental engineering graduate student who has made significant accomplishments in an employment or academic engineering project. He is advised by Dr. Sarina Ergas.

W. Wesley Eckenfelder Graduate Research Award Matthew Verbyla (Env Enrgrg. Ph.D. graduate) has won the 2016 W. Wesley Eckenfelder Graduate Research Award. This award is given annually by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) and is co-sponsored by HDR Inc. to recognize a student whose research contributes to the knowledge pool of wastewater management. The award selection is based on original, innovative research of publishable quality and other factors that include academic program performance, professional or community service, and engineering project accomplishment. He is advised by Dr. James Mihelcic.

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CEE News

National/International Recognition of our Students Diaz receives Fulbright Award Ph.D. Student, Pacia Diaz, has been awarded a Fulbright Research Grant to Spain to continue her research examining the climate conditions impacting water supply and water management strategies within two river basins in central Spain. Pacia is one of only 24 students to receive a full grant to Spain under the Fulbright program this year. Pacia’s research will explore climate impacts on water supply and infrastructure within these river basins in the Iberian Peninsula as this location is among those most likely to be affected by climate change in Europe. This research can provide valuable lessons toward climate resilience for cities following similar trajectories of water scarcity. The research will be performed through the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona under the guidance of Dr. Joan David Tábara. Pacia’s major advisor is Dr. Daniel Yeh.

Erin Morrison selected for ASCE Scholarship MSEV student, Erin Morrison, was selected for ASCE’s Trent R. Dames and William W. Moore Fellowship. According to the ASCE web site, “The Trent R. Dames and William W. Moore Fellowship may be presented annually to two practicing engineers or earth scientists, professors or graduate students, who will use the fellowship for graduate study.” Erin is the latest in a succession of our Environmental Engineering graduate students (Cynthia Schafer, Sarah Ness, Maureen Kinyua, and John Trimmer) who have won national awards. She is advised by Dr. Jeffrey Cunningham.

Suzanne Boxman receives Fellowship Ph.D. student, Suzanne Boxman, has been awarded the US-Israel BARD (Binational Agricultural Research and Development) Fund Post-Doctoral Fellowship to continue her multi-trophic aquaculture systems research at the National Center for Mariculture in Eilat, Israel. The BARD fellowship will allow Suzanne to continue learning about integrated multi-trophic aquaculture systems while working with top professionals in the industry to help solve some of the major issues concerning aquaculture production. While in Israel, Suzanne will visit the diverse landscapes spread across the country—from desert ecosystems in the south to mountains in the north, and a Mediterranean climate in the west. More specifically, Suzanne will be able to learn more about how the arid country of Israel manages its water resources. She hopes to bring back that information to the U.S. to help deal with water scarcity issues that are becoming more prominent in the U.S. Her major advisors are Dr. Sarina Ergas and Dr. Maya Trotz.

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The structures/foundations research group designed, prototyped and tested a new prestressed concrete pile splice which increases drive-ability of spliced piles. The Florida Department of Transportation funded study culminated with a field demonstration where a 100ft long, 24in square spliced pile was driven to refusal as if it were a one-piece, unspliced pile.

At the end of drive (with pile being 100ft in the ground), wooden pile cushion ignites into flames from hard driving.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Advisory Committee Dr. Melvin Anderson

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Mr. Larry Jones

FDOT

Dr. James Chastain, Jr. Chastain-Skillman

Mr. Mark McLaughlin

Skanska USA Building

Mr. Mark Hammond

Ms. Nancy Metzger

Metzger & Willard, Inc.

Mr. Kenneth Hartmann HNTB

Ms. Sandra Piccirilli

City of Tampa

Mr. Charlie Herndon

HNTB

Mr. Chris Roberts

BCC Engineering

Ms. Terri Holcomb

HDR Engineering, Inc.

Ms. Whitney Stevens

Ardaman & Asspcoates

Mr. Henri Jean

Tierra, Inc.

Mr. Ryan Toth

Beck Engineering Group

CEE News

USF, Professor Emeritus

SWFMD

PhD Candidate Receives Fiber Composites from NASA In summer 2015, Ph.D. candidate Philip Hopkins working under Dr. Rajan Sen, acquired advanced composite materials from the NASA Kennedy Space Center. These materials, donated

by NASA’s Materials Science Division under the StevensonWydler Technology Innovation Act, are frozen pre-impregnated (prepreg) fiber composites which have exceeded their shelf lives.

With these prepreg products, Philip is currently investigating any mechanical similarities between various proprietary systems after expiration. Finding common behaviors can indirectly lead to an Ph.D. candidate, Philip Hopkins, poses at the Kennedy Space Center.

expansion of the supply chain, and thus reduce industrial waste from expired prepregs.

COE Professional Development Barbara Johnson, Shivali Vyas, and Camille Mourant received certificates of completion for their participation in the COE Professional Development program.

From Left: Dean Robert H. Bishop, Barbara Johnson,

From Left: Dean Robert H. Bishop, Shivali Vyas, and Tim Miller.

and Tim Miller.

From Left: Dean Robert H. Bishop, Camille Mourant, and Tim Miller.

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National Recognition of our Faculty Dr. Maya Trotz Elected to Board of Directors of the Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors (AEESP) Dr. Maya A. Trotz was elected through a competitive national election of her academic and practitioner peers to a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors (AEESP). AEESP was founded in 1963 and has members in universities throughout the world. Dr. Trotz is the 2014 winner of the AEESP Award for Outstanding Contribution to Environmental Engineering & Science Education and also served as the co-chair for the 2011 AEESP Education and Research Conference that was held in Tampa. Dr. Trotz has research and education interests that are situated at the nexus of geochemistry/water quality and global/community sustainability. Her interests are interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, applied and seek to forge non-traditional university partnerships with local and international entities, especially those in the Caribbean.

Dr. Gray Mullins wins the ASCE 2015 Charles Pankow Award for Innovation.

Originally developed at the University of South Florida by Dr. Gray Mullins and Dr. Stan Kranc, the Thermal Integrity Profiler (TIP) technology is now applied in industry. TIP is based on a technique that uses the heat generated by curing cement (hydration energy) to evaluate the integrity of cast-in-place concrete foundations such as drilled shafts, bored piles, micropiles, augered cast-in-place piles, continuous flight auger piles, and drilled displacement piles. TIP technology also can evaluate the shape of slurry walls, for example, in addition to other concrete structures. The new test culminated into ASTM D7949 “Standard Test Method for Thermal Integrity Profiling of Concrete Deep Foundations.”

See more at: http://bit.ly/249fujy

Dr. Sarina Ergas Named a Recipient of the Prestigious 2015 Water Environment Federation Fellows Dr. Sarina Ergas was named as a recipient of the prestigious 2015 Water Environment Federation Fellows designation, which recognizes WEF members’ achievements, stature, and contributions in the water profession. WEF Fellows are recognized in various areas of expertise including, but not limited to design, education, operations, regulation, research, utility management and leadership. “The Fellows designation denotes significant professional accomplishment and contribution to the water environment field” said WEF

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CEE News

Executive Director Eileen O’Neill. “These outstanding individuals have devoted careers in service to clean water and are being recognized by WEF for the substance of their impact in their chosen discipline. Dr. Ergas’ research is focused on biological treatment processes, including wastewater treatment and reuse, biological air pollution control, production of biofuels from waste resources and bioremediation. She teaches classes in Biological Principles, Air Pollution Control and Environmental/Water Resources Capstone Design. Dr. Ergas is a registered professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We are also proud to announce Dr. Ergas’ selection as the runner-up for the 2015 Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor Award.

Dr. Rajan Sen made Numerous Invited Presentations during this Academic Year.

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“Developments in the Durability of FRP-Concrete bond”, TRB Committee AFF80, Washington DC, January 2016.

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“Advances in FRP Composite in Transportation Infrastructure”, FHWA Domestic Scan 13- 03, Tallahassee FL June 2015.

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“Recent Advances in the Durability of FRP-Concrete Bond”, ASC 2016, 31st Technical Conference and ASTM Committee D30 Meeting, , Williamsburg, VA, September 2016.

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Keynote Speech, Conference on Innovative and Technological Challenges for Sustainable Built Environment, Chennai, India, October 2016.

Dr. Abdul Pinjari’s Paper, Selected as one of the best papers, Presented at Transportation Planning Applications Conference Dr. Abdul Pinjari’s invited paper “Kamali, M., A. Ermagun, K. Viswanathan, and A.R. Pinjari (2016) Development of Truck Route Choice Data Using GPS”, was listed among the four best papers from the 15th Transportation Research Board (TRB) Transportation Planning Applications conference, a special session of the TRB Annual Meeting at Washington D.C. January 2016. This paper was also invited for early publication in Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board.

Dr. Yu Zhang was Elected President of Chinese Overseas Transportation Association (COTA) Dr. Yu Zhang was elected president of Chinese Overseas Transportation Association (COTA), an international non-profit professional organization with more than a thousand members and friends worldwide. Please refer to http://www.cota-home.org for more information of COTA.

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Department of Civil & COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA Environmental Engineering 4202 E. Fowler Ave. ENB 118 University of South Florida Tampa, FL 33620

4202 East Fowler Ave., ENB 118 Tampa, FL 33620

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