Michigan State University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Week 3 of G-I Summer School is in session! This week's presenter is Bora Cetin of Michigan State University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering talking pavement geotechnics - the world's shallowest foundations! https://lnkd.in/esPXxC_Y

Last few weeks, we had a blast hosting high school students from across the U.S. for our Civil and Environmental Engineering sessions this summer at the High School Engineering Institute (HSEI), Michigan State University College of Engineering. These young minds immersed themselves in hands-on activities, sparking a passion for engineering. At the end of these classes, we’re thrilled to see their excitement to learn more about #STEM disciplines. A huge shoutout to our dedicated graduate and undergraduate mentors for helping us create such an unforgettable experience for the high school students. If you're in Lansing this ☀️, our student guests highly recommend grabbing  🍦 at the MSU Dairy Store and enjoying Lake Lansing Park South! Angela Farina, Ph.D. Susan Masten @Simon Davies @Luis donado Raja Jaladurgam Peyman Parastegari Mehdi Bulduk Michigan State University Michigan State University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering #MSU #engineering #CivilEngineering #EnvironmentalEngineering #STEM #spartan #FutureEngineers

The Industrial Assessment Center @ Michigan State University (https://iac.msu.edu/) is proud to have worked with Paramount Roasters to conduct an IAC Assessment of their facilities in Lansing, MI, to identify opportunities to reduce energy use, costs and emissions, and to receive an IAC Implementation Grant (https://lnkd.in/g9aKmZa7) to implement several of these recommendations. Yesterday, MSU IAC faculty, staff and students had the opportunity to meet with Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to discuss the IAC program, industrial decarbonization, and energy workforce development. Thank you to the leadership of the student lead of this assessment, Emma Benedek, the student team, Nowreen Kabir, Andreana Louise Roxas, Sarah Anderson, Aniruddha Naik, Michael Burns, and Behlul Kula, and faculty George H. Berghorn, and Tim Mrozowski. Thank you also to the rest of the IAC faculty leadership team Kristen Cetin, Annick Anctil, and Ryan Gallagher for leading IAC efforts overall, and for Michigan State University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering IAC students A'Nya Morrison, Sean Fleming, and CEE Department Chair Peter Savolainen, who also attended the event. Go Green!

Will the Seine be environmentally safe for Olympic swimmers in Paris? The expertise of CEE Professor Phani Mantha addressed that topic in a recent news story in “Slate.” Take a look: http://spr.ly/6042i8yqG

We're #hiring a new Postdoctoral Researcher / Research Associate in East Lansing, Michigan. Apply today or share this post with your network.

Congrats to CEE Faculty, Dr Bora Cetin, Syed W. Haider,, Mahmoodul Haq and Yadu Pokhrel on being promoted to full Professor! We look forward to them continuing their exceptional work on behalf of the department, college, and university. Go Green!

CEE faculty Dr. Yadu Pokhrel has a position open in his group for a Research Associate, focused on improving and executing multi-scale hydrological and hydrodynamic models. See the link and description of the position below. Review of applications will being on July 10, 2024 https://lnkd.in/gMbSzHi3 A postdoctoral research associate position is available in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan State University (MSU). Dr. Yadu Pokhrel will serve as the primary advisor. This is a one-year position renewed annually with an extension contingent on funding and performance. The research associate will have the following responsibilities: The new hire will work on a project that requires improving and executing multi-scale hydrological and hydrodynamic models (e.g., The Community Land Model version 5, CLM5, and CaMa-Flood) to assess the impacts of human activities (e.g., irrigation, groundwater pumping, and reservoir operation) on various water cycle processes, including nutrient transport. The new hire will be a key member of the project and collaborate with an interdisciplinary team within MSU and globally. The research associate will have opportunities to closely interact with a wide range of stakeholders and collaborators toward developing sustainable solutions for dam development and operation, irrigation, and groundwater use. The research associate will particularly coordinate research activities and handle large datasets from multi-scale climate and hydrological modeling and socio-economic survey and analysis. The tasks will include high-resolution hydrological modeling using the Community Land Model version 5 (CLM5) at multiple scales. There will be close coordination with the social science team to utilize socio-economic data in driving the model and using outcomes to understand social dimensions of irrigation and groundwater use and their role in the Earth system.  Dr. Pokhrel will work closely with the research associate in a collaborative lab environment to achieve project goals while providing ample opportunities and resources for the research associate to grow professionally and achieve career goals. The appointment will be initially for one year with the possibility of renewal for two additional years based on satisfactory performance and continuation of funding

Congrats to MSU CEE graduate student Hamad Bin Muslim, advised by CEE Professor Syed W. Haider, for receiving the Best Poster Award at the ASCE International Conference on Transportation and Development. Their paper, titled "Dielectric-Based Index for Quality Evaluation of HMA Centerline Longitudinal Joint", (https://lnkd.in/gKH448Hq) presents the development of an index that can be used to evaluate the field compaction quality of flexible pavements at the joint. When limited coring data are available, the index can be used as a pass/fail criterion. The abstract is listed below: A longitudinal joint is created during a flexible pavement construction when one lane is paved while traffic flows in the adjacent one. The service life of flexible pavement depends critically on the joint quality. A poorly constructed joint can prematurely deteriorate an otherwise sound pavement. Improved joint compaction during construction can improve pavement performance with less maintenance. Current quality control and assurance plans are based on destructive testing (i.e., coring), providing limited coverage. The non-destructive density profiling system (DPS) measures the asphalt surface dielectric and offers a continuous real-time assessment of the compaction levels achieved during construction. The DPS requires calibrating and validating air voids vs. dielectric relationship for an asphalt mix, a labor-, cost-, and time-intensive process involving core extraction from pavements. This paper presents a dielectric-based longitudinal joint quality index (LJQI) that can evaluate the field compaction quality at the joint without the need for a relationship. When limited coring data are available, the index can be used as a pass/fail criterion. A minimum LJQI value of 60% is suggested for accepting a joint without penalty.

MSU's online MS in Civil Engineering program explores data-driven strategies to design pavements, structural, and transportation systems that use smart materials and offer increased durability, safety and sustainability. Our online civil engineering master’s students can choose courses from three focus areas: - Transportation Engineering - Pavement Engineering - Structural Engineering Visit our curriculum page to learn more: http://spr.ly/60415GIPv

The Los Angeles Times quoted the infrastructure expertise of University Distinguished Professor Venkatesh Kodur in a story on the rash of fire hydrant thefts in LA County, California. Here’s how the utility companies are trying to outsmart the thieves: http://spr.ly/60425qSEC