University of Alabama at Birmingham | Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Department 

Fall 2016 Newsletter

Department of Civil, Construction,  & Environmental Engineering

Volume 1, Fall 2016

 Fouad Fouad,

Ph.D.CCEE Chair

Message from the ChairDear alumni, students, colleagues, and friends, Greetings from the UAB Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering! I hope that you have all enjoyed a safe and joyous summer. Our department has been busy this month wrapping up summer research and welcoming back our students.   Civil engineering incorporates technology and problem solving for the planning, designing, and constructing of our communities, and that focus is reflected in our recent projects.

We led a month-long international research experience with nine of our students to Egypt and the United Kingdom that focused on cross-cultural Sustainable Green Building Design and Construction.

We hosted a four-week summer enrichment program for minority students interested in transportation engineering.

Our Sustainable Smart Cities Research Center worked with the city of Birmingham to promote healthy living through a solar-powered bike rental program.

We also strengthened our online master's program series this year with the launch of our Structural Engineering Master's Program, as well as a professional postgraduate Sustainable Smart Cities Master's Program with Staffordshire University in England. We also saw continued growth in our Master's Program in Construction Engineering Management, which reached record enrollment this year.

It is an absolute pleasure leading a department that undertakes such fascinating and meaningful work. Thank you to all--our faculty and students, alumni and friends, industry experts, collaborators, donors, and partners--for your dedication and support. Visit us in person or check out our website at www.uab.edu/ccee if you want to learn more or get involved. Finally, please share this newsletter (see link to subscribe at bottom) with any friends or colleagues interested in staying connected. All the very best, Fouad H. Fouad, PhD Professor and ChairDepartment of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

 Students riding camels

in front of the Great Pyramids

International Research Experience in Egypt & the United KingdomIn June 2016, nine CCEE students traveled to Egypt and the United Kingdom for a month-long global learning research experience in the area of Sustainable Green Building Design and Construction. The course was funded through a National Science Foundation grant. Check out our trip video.  

 Awards and Promotion

Ceremony

Engineering Summer Enrichment Program Funded by NCTSPMThe department hosted the fourth annual engineering summer enrichment program. The program welcomes rising freshmen and sophomores at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in Alabama. Funded by Georgia Tech's National Center for Transportation System Productivity and Management (NCTSPM) and put on in conjunction with UAB's Minority Health & Health Disparities Research Center (MHRC), the program offers four weeks of classes, lectures, and labs led by UAB professors and local experts, as well as room and board for the participants. Marcus Hatcher, one of this year's seven participants, said, "The program opened my perspective on how sustainability, engineering, and health science all work together."  

 Dianne Gilmer and CEM

Director Wilbur Hitchcock meet students 

Construction Engineering Management Program Continues Success with Record Enrollment Since its inception in 2008, UAB's Construction Engineering Management Master's Program has graduated more than 350 students. This past spring, the program experienced record

enrollment with 140 students. The program offers a unique opportunity for qualified working professionals who have completed an accredited undergraduate degree from any U.S. college or university to earn a graduate degree in construction management fully online and in just 18 months. AffordableCollegesOnline.org (AC Online) ranked the program third in the nation in their 2015-2016 ranking of Best Online Construction Management Programs. For more information, visit the CEM website.

Jason Kirby, Ph.D.,Program Director

Sustainable Smart Cities Master of Engineering Program Launches We launched our Masters of Engineering in Sustainable Smart Cities Program with Staffordshire University this past summer. This is a two-year online professional postgraduate program that provides an interdisciplinary grounding in the principles, application and key technologies required to develop sustainable smart cities. Registration is still open for the fall semesters. For more information, supply your contact information here.

  Christopher Waldron, Ph.D.,

Program Director

Civil Structural Engineering Master's Program Starts Strong Last spring, we launched our Masters of Civil Structural Engineering program, which is a rigorous 19-month online curriculum in Structural Engineering for qualified working professionals who hold an ABET accredited undergraduate degree from a U.S. College or University. Check out the CSE website for more information.

 Civil, Construction, &

Environmental Engineering CAD

Laboratory

New CAD Laboratory and Expert-Led 3D Design Courses We completed installation of a brand new CAD (computer-aided design) Laboratory in the Hoehn Engineering Building last spring and began using the space to offer Building

Interface Modeling (BIM) courses for undergraduate and graduate students. The courses were led by 3D design experts from local engineering firms and are purported to have given students the necessary experience to gain internships and employment.

 Connecting Students with

Local Companies and Organizations

Long-Term Internship Agreements with Local CompaniesIn order to increase student participation in experiential learning opportunities from 70 percent to our goal of 100 percent, we began in 2015 instituting long-term internship agreements with local construction companies, state and government agencies, and private engineering firms, including National Steel City, Granite Construction, Golden Construction, and Volkert Engineering. 

EventsALDOT-UAB Research Partnership Luncheon | November 2016

On November 2, 2016, UAB will host a luncheon to recognize the ongoing success of the ALDOT-UAB research partnership. The luncheon will provide an informal forum to discuss the current research program and to share ideas on the future of the partnership. The luncheon will be held at the UAB Alumni House at 1301 10th Avenue South. To RSVP, call (205) 934-8430 by October 19.

International Sustainable Smart Cities Symposium | Spring 2017  Since its inception in 2012, the UAB Sustainable Smart Cities Research Center has held an annual symposium in Birmingham. The symposium focuses on technology and practices surrounding the concept of sustainable smart cities. This year, with the help of a grant from the National Science Foundation, the symposium will be held in Alexandria, Egypt for the first time, in collaboration with the University of Alexandria and the Housing and Building Research Center. Email Maria Norena at mnorena@uab.edu to learn more.        U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon | Now through September 2017 

UAB, in partnership with the University of Alabama-Huntsville (UAH) and Calhoun Community College, is one of 16 collegiate teams selected by the Department of Energy to design and build a house completely powered by solar energy. The team's name, s u r v i v ( A L ), is a reference to the devastating impact of the 2011 tornados that ravaged communities in north central Alabama. The team's solar-powered house is designed to withstand the extreme weather that occurs in this southern climate. UAB students, led by Dr. Hessam Taherian of the Mechanical Engineering Department, will design and build the house over the next year before transporting it and reassembling it at the competition site in Colorado in October 2017.

Visit www.uab.edu/solardecathlon to learn how you can get involved.  

Ph.D. GraduationsUAB 

1. Shrikanth V. Mamidipalli - successfully defended thesis in December 2015 titled "A Robust Discrete Choice Model for Pedestrian Vehicle Interactions at Un-Signalized Locations in Alabama," advised by transportation engineering professor Dr. Virginia Sisiopiku. 2. Ahmed M. Abdelkhalek Ahmed - successfully defended thesis in April 2016 titled "Evaluation of the Anchor Bolt Clearance Discrepancies Apply for any Anchor Bolt Connections," advised by structural engineering professor Dr. Ian Hosch.

  

3. Ossama Elsayed M. Ramadan - successfully defended thesis in April 2016 titled "Evaluation of Merge Control Strategies for Interstate Work Zones and Their Impacts on Construction Planning and Scheduling Decisions," advised by transportation engineering professor Dr. Virginia Sisiopiku. 4. Reda Ahmed Esmat Tawfiek El Arafy - will defend thesis in September 2016 titled "Discrimination of Various Rock Units in Abu Zenima Area, South Western Sinai, Egypt, with Emphasis to the Radioactive Areas Using the Hyperspectral Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques," advised by geotechnical engineering professor Dr. Sarah Parcak. 5. Marwan Mohamed S. Mostafa - will defend thesis in September 2016 titled "Sustainable Construction with Green Compressed Earth Block (GCEB)," advised by structural engineering professor Dr. Nasim Uddin. 

 UAH 

1. Walter Lee Ellenberg - successfully defended thesis in December 2015 titled "An Analysis of Evapotranspiration in the Southeastern United States: Its Role in the Climatology and Hydrology of the Region," advised by environmental engineering professor Dr. James Cruise. 2. Sasam Parniani - successfully defended thesis in April 2016 titled "Fatigue Performance of RC Beams Strengthened with a Polyurea Coating System," advised by structural engineering professor Dr. Ashraf Al-Hamdan.

 3. Tahmina Khan - will defend thesis in September 2016 titled "Promoting Transportation Sustainability," advised by transportation engineering professor Dr. Michael Anderson.

STAY CONNECTED

UAB Civil, Construction, & Environmental Engineering | 205-934-8430 | www.uab.edu/ccee

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UAB School of Engineering, Hoehn Engineering Building, 1075 13th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35294

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