More CE News
October 2014
Students attend Engineers Without Borders conference in Panama
Civil engineering seniors Jennifer Sommerfeld and Noura Saadi attended the American Society of Civil Engineers/Engineers Without Borders Design Global Engineer conference and workshop Oct. 4-10 in Panama City, Panama.
Workshop classes designed to prepare students to better understand the Engineers Without Borders process in project design and implementation in developing communities began on Oct. 4. Topics included water treatment; water supply and distribution; water, sanitation and hygiene; energy and the Bridges to Prosperity program.
The K-State contingent went on to attend various presentations at the conference, a part of which was touring the Panama Canal and visiting the village of La Conga to see firsthand the positive effects construction of a bridge — a project of Bridges to Prosperity — had brought to the community. Another stop was Kuna Nega, where the group participated in monitoring the water system there.
"This was an incredible opportunity for these students to gain an understanding of the impact engineering can have on the lives of people around the world," said Bobb Stokes, professor and department head of civil engineering. "Engineers Without Borders is a remarkable organization and I'm so pleased to see the American Society of Civil Engineers combining resources with them in this type of undertaking."
April 2014
CE Assistant Professor, Stacey Tucker, has been selected as a participant to attend the ASCE ExCEEd Teaching Workshop at the United States Military Academy July 20-25, 2014.
CE Associate Professor, Sunanda Dissanayake, has been appointed to a three-year term on the Transportation Research Board Committee on Low-Volume Roads. She will serve from April 15, 2014 through April 14, 2017.
Harshad Kulkarni, CE grad student supervised by Natalie Mladenov, CE asst. professor, was awarded travel support for his research investigating organic carbon-arsenic interactions as part of the international drilling to recover aquifer sands project, co-funded by NSF and the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program.
Kaley Oldani, CE grad student supervised by Natalie Mladenov, CE asst. professor, was awarded first place in the mathematics, engineering and physics category of the K-State Research Forum for her poster presentation "Evaluating the contributions of atmospheric deposition of carbon and other nutrients to nitrification in alpine environments."
Jose Paredez, CE grad student supervised by Natalie Mladenov, CE asst. professor, was awarded first place in the interdisciplinary research category of the K-State Research Forum for his poster presentation "Flue gas desulfurization wastewater treatment using constructed wetlands.”
March 2014
CE Associate Professor, Sunanda Dissanayake, was promoted to full Professor and Associate Professor Asad Esmaeily was promoted to full Professor. Promotion and tenure go into effect at the start of the university's 2015 fiscal year on June 8.
CE Professor Emeritus, Eugene Russell, organized a two-hour Transportation Research Board webinar, "Accommodating Large Trucks at Roundabouts: Concerns and Some Solutions.
CE Professor, Hayder Rasheed, has been appointed by the American Concrete Institute Board of Directors to its awards for papers subcommittee SC3, Chester Paul Siess Award for Excellence in Structural Research. It is a two-year of service that began February 1.
CE Professor, Alex Mathews, has been granted sabbatical leave for Fall 2014.
February 2014
CE Associate Professor, Sunanda Dissanayake, was commended by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars for her service on the engineering peer review committee that completed the merit review of Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program applicants for 2014-2015.
CE Professor Emeritus, Eugene Russell, chaired the roundabouts committee of the National Academy of Sciences-Transportation Research Board at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
CE Assistant Professor, Natalie Mladenov, Stacy Hutchinson, BAE, and Gerad Middendorf, sociology, have been awarded an EPA-funded project on sustainable water and wastewater use at Ft. Riley.
CE Assistant Professor, Natalie Mladenov, has been invited to join the scientific committee for the 2015 Aquatic Sciences Meeting of ASLO to be held in Granada, Spain.
CE Professor, David Steward, addressed the 4th Annual EPA Region 7/8 and State Departments of Agriculture Meeting January 8 and presented "KSU Ogallala Aquifer Study." He and K-Sate colleagues also presented "Predicting the Future of the Ogallala Aquifer" to the Kanza Cooperative Association Board retreat January 18. Steward and a K-State graduate student/faculty team made three presentations at the American Geophysical Union 46th Annual Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California, December 9-13.
The Council of University Transportation Centers selected Ranjit Godavarthy, CE doctoral graduate, to receive its Wootan Outstanding Dissertation Award in recognition of his dissertation prepared as part of his doctoral studies completed at K-State under the direction of Gene Russell, professor emeritus.
January 2014
CE Professor Emeritus, Eugene Russell, chaired the National Academy of Sciences-Transportation Research Board's Roundabouts Committee that met in Washington, D.C., recently at the board's annual meeting. It is one of the world's largest technical conferences with 11,900 worldwide attendees for the 2014 conference.
December 2014
CE Associate Professor, Sunanda Dissanayake, has been appointed chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers Transportation and Development Institute's Transportation Safety Committee.
CE Associate Professor, Sunanda Dissanayake, had her research on evaluating a low-cost countermeasure devised to reduce accidental and distracted red light violations featured in a recent edition of The MATC Update, a publication providing insight into ongoing activities of the Mid-America Transportation Center, Region VII.
CE Professor Emeritus, Eugene Russell, made two presentations—"Recent Issues with Roundabouts" and "Rail-Highway Grade Crossings Safety” at the University of Kentucky, as well as discussing possible research collaboration with CE faculty there.
November 2013
CE Professor Emeritus, Eugene Russell, was invited to the University of Kentucky to discuss possible research collaboration with civil engineering professors at the school and presented two seminars to civil engineering students. He presented "Recent Issues with Roundabouts" and "Rail-Highway Grade Crossings Safety". Another guest professor from the University of Pisa in Italy also participated in the discussions.
CE Associate Professor, Sunanda Dissanayake, has been appointed chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers Transportation and Development Institute's Transportation Safety Committee. The purpose of the committee is to disseminate safety information, and provide education and training pertaining to safety issues related to the planning design, construction and operation of transportation facilities. Another faculty member serving on the committee is Professor Emeritus, Eugene Russell.
CE Professor, Hayder A. Rasheed, organized and moderated two sessions at the 2013 American Concrete Institute convention in Phoenix, Ariz. He also, in collaboration with former student Dr. Ahmed Al Fattah, presented research findings at the same event.
Ahmed Al-Rahmani, CE graduate student, presented research findings at the 2013 American Concrete Institute convention in Phoenix, Ariz. His major professor is Hayder Rasheed.
October 2013
CE Associate Professor, Steve Starrett, conducted a webinar on engineering ethics hosted by the American Society of Civil Engineers with nearly 500 participants.
CE Professor, Bob Peterman, has been named a fellow of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute and was officially recognized at an awards banquet at the recent PCI National Bridge Conference in Grapevine, Texas. At that same conference, Peterman and Kyle Riding, CE, presented their work on acceptance criteria for prestressing strand to the PCI Strand Bond Task Force. Peterman also conducted a webinar for the PCI Railroad Tie Advisory Committee and gave a presentation to the PCI Bridge Committee.
CE graduate students, Naga Bodapati and Thomaida Polydorou, presented papers they had co-authored with CE faculty at the recent PCI National Bridge Conference in Grapevine, Texas.
September 2013
CE Professor, David Steward, and his K-State colleagues' work, "Tapping unsustainable groundwater stores for agricultural production in the High Plains Aquifer of Kansas, projections to 2110", has been published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The study investigates the future availability of groundwater in the High Plains Aquifer.
CE graduate student, Ahmed Al-Rahmani, won first place in the national competition of the International Highway Engineering Exchange Program for his paper "An Artificial Intelligence Approach to Objective Health Monitoring and Damage Detection in Concrete Bridge Girders." His major professor is Hayer Rasheed.
August 2013
CE Professor, Robert Peterman, has been named a fellow of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute.
July 2013
CE Professor, Hayder Rasheed, received the Thomas and Connie Paulson Civil Engineering Outstanding Faculty Member Award.
June 2013
CE Associate Professor, Steve Starrett, has been named a fellow of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute.
May 2013
CE Professor, Hani Melhem, was awarded the Robert R. and Lila L. Snell Distinguished Career Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
CE Professor, Hayder Rasheed, was awarded the Myers-Alford Memorial Teaching Award.
CE Associate Professor, Asad Esmaeily, was awarded the James L. Hollis Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
CE graduate student, Syeda Rubaiyat Aziz, took first place in the master's competition at the inaugural Oklahoma Transportation Center's Heartland Transportation Consortium Student Competition.
April 2013
CE graduate student, Kaley Oldani, received 2nd place for her poster in the Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences Division during he 2013 K-State Research Forum.
CE Associate Professor, Dunja Peric, has been named a visiting fellow at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, during summer 2013.
CE Assistant Professor, Kyle Riding, was awarded the American Concrete Institute Young Member Award for professional achievement.
CE graduate student, Syeda Rubaiyat Aziz, took first place in the master's competition at the inaugural Oklahoma Transportation Center's Heartland Transportation Consortium Student Competition.
March 2013
CE Associate Professor, Asad Esmaeily, has been selected as the recipient of the 2013 James L. Hollis Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in the College of Engineering.
CE Assistant Professor, Natalie Mladenov, has been selected as a 2013 ASCE ExCEEd Fellow.
CE Professor, Hani Melhem and student, published the book "Critical Success Factors for Organizations in Construction Projects: A Quantification and Analysis of Engineering Judgment through Analytical Hierarchy Process and Statistical Approaches". The book is available through Lambert Academic Publishing.
CE graduate student, Feraidon Ataie, was name a KansasBio winner for his research presentation at the 10th Annual Capitol Graduate Research Summit.
CE Professor David Steward was an invited panel member in Washington, D.C., at the National Science Foundation program on coupled natural human systems.
February 2013
CE Professor, Robert W Stokes was appointed interim department head for civil engineering.
CE Associate Professor Hayder Rasheed was promoted to full Professor and Assistant Professor Kyle Riding was promoted to Associate Professor. Promotion and tenure go into effect at the start of the university's 2014 fiscal year on July 1.
January 2013
CE graduate student Jonathan Varner was selected as a finalist for the American Concrete Institute's student fellowship.
CE Assistant Professor Natalie Mladenov and CE graduate student Hersy Enriquez visited the Okavango Delta of Botswana to study naturally occurring arsenic in groundwater, an NSF-funded planning visit. They made an additional trip to Durban, South Africa, funded by a KSU International Incentive Grant to develop an international field course on the topic of sustainable water and sanitation.
November 2012
CE Associate Professor, Steve Starrett was appointed national Treasure of ASCE's Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI).
CE Assistant Professor, Kyle Riding was selected to receive the American Concrete Institute's 2012 Young Member Award for professional accomplishments and leadership at ACI.
September 2012
CE Associate Professor, Hayder Rasheed's research on the use of artificial intelligence in bridge restoration was recognized in an article published in the September issue of the American Society of Civil Engineer's Civil Engineering magazine.
CE Associate Professor, Hayder Rasheed and student published the book Wheat Fiber from a Residue to a Reinforcing Material based on the latter's thesis. The book is available through Lambert Academic Publishing.
CE Professor, David Steward gave an invited plenary presentation at the 57th Midwest Groundwater Conference in Minneapolis MN to be held Oct 1, 2012.
CE Assistant Professor, Kyle Riding was awarded $1.22 million in research funding by the Federal Railway Administration to investigate manufacturing processes to improve the freeze-thaw durability of concrete railway ties.
August 2012
CE Associate Professor, Steve Starrett, was appointed as a Professional Ethics Columnist for the American Society of Civil Engineers' quarterly Leadership and Management in Engineering publication.
CE graduate student, Niranga Amarasingha, was the third place winner for the student paper competition (Thomas J. Seburn Award) of the Missouri Valley Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.
July 2012
CE Senior Liam Reilly (Overland Park, KS) was awarded a Record Scholarship from the national chapter of Tau Beta Pi.
CE Professor David Steward was an invited speaker in Berlin, Germany at the 3rd Water Resources Horizon Conference, sponsored by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research on 10-11 July 2012.
June 2012
CE assistant professor Kyle Riding has been appointed Associate Editor of the Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering.
CE graduate student Niranga Amarasingha's poster placed among the top three at the Midwestern Institute of Transportation Engineering's student poster competition in Chicago, IL.
CE graduate student Feraidon Ataie received a poster award at the American Ceramic Society's Cements Division conference in Austin, TX.
May 2012
CE senior Dillon Cowing (Clay Center, KS) was selected by the Kansas Chapter of the American Public Works Association to receive a $1000 scholarship for 2012-2013.
CE senior Trevor Kaufmann (Newton, KS) was selected by the American Council of Engineering Companies as the winner of the $5,000 Life/Health Trust Scholarship. Trevor will also receive travel expenses to the ACEC Fall 2012 Conference held in Boca Raton, FL. ACEC represents 5,000 engineering companies in the U.S. and is the voice of the engineering industry in Washington and throughout the nation.
The K-State ASCE Student Chapter was ranked among the top 1/3rd of all 223 ASCE student chapters and international student groups. The chapter was ranked 'exemplary' for hosting the regional conference in spring 2011 and for preparing an outstanding annual report.
CE graduate student Ranjit Godavarthy placed 2nd in the student poster competition at the Missouri Valley Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (MOVITE) spring meeting held in Lincoln, NE.
CE Professor Yacoub Najjar received the 2012 Commerce Bank Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching from Kansas State University.
CE Professor Robert Stokes was selected to receive the 2012 Larry and Laurel Erickson Public Service Award from KSU College of Engineering.
April 2012
CE's Steel Bridge team came 2nd at the ASCE regional conference and competition held in Lincoln, NE, and became eligible for its 8th consecutive appearance at the nationals, to be held at Clemson University.
CE senior Jessica Hennes (Topeka, KS) was recognized as the Outstanding Senior for Spring 2012 by the Kansas Section of ASCE at the KSU-KU joint dinner in Lawrence. CE junior Jeremy Harter (Colby, KS) was recognized as the Outstanding Junior for Spring 2012.
CE Associate Professor Dunja Peric was appointed Visiting Fellow at the University of New South Wales, Australia.
March 2012
CE senior Liam Reilly (Overland Park, KS) was selected to receive the 2012 Brother Austin Barry National Chi Epsilon Scholarship in recognition of his outstanding academic work along with significant, enthusiastic, and excellent involvement in extracurricular activities, particularly in Chi Epsilon.
CE senior Trevor Kaufman (Newton, KS) received an American Council of Engineering Companies' (Kansas) general scholarship. The scholarship carries an award amount of $500.
CE Professor Emeritus Gene Russell was appointed Chair of the Committee of Roundabouts of the Transportation Research Board, a division of the National Research Council (NRC). The NRC is jointly administered by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineers and the Institute of Medicine.
CE graduate student, Wilson Smith's research was highlighted in the 'First Look' section of the March 2012 issue of the American Society of Engineering Education's Prism magazine.
CE Professor Emeritus Gene Russell was selected to receive the American Society of Civil Engineer's 2012 Wilbur S. Smith Award for his contributions to enhance the role of civil engineers in highway engineering.
February 2012
CE graduate student, Wilson Smith, was one of two KSU graduate students to receive scholarship from Kansas Bio based on his research presentation at the Kansas Capitol.
CE graduate student, Jonathan Varner, was selected as a finalist to be considered for the American Concrete Institute's student fellowship.
CE Professor and Associate Director of the Mid-America Transportation Center, Mustaque Hossain, CE Professor Robert Peterman, and CE Assoc Professor, Sunanda Dissanayake, were selected as speakers for a webinar series hosted by the Mid-America Transportation Center, a U.S. Department of Transportation Region VII University Transportation Center that represents Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.
January 2012
The online edition of ASCE's nationally distributed Civil Engineering magazine published an article titled 'Study Seeks to Improve Roads' about CE Assoc Professor Dunja Peric's research on the use of lignin as a soil additive to control erosion in Kansas' unpaved rural roads.
CE Professor David Steward was invited to speak on modeling groundwater dominated ecosystems at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Water Center’s spring 2012 Water Seminar Series. UNL’s Water Seminar Series hosts approximately 30 seminars each year given by reputed international water quality experts.