One of the primary objectives of the ABC-UTC is to conduct research that will improve ABC standard practice and develop new knowledge to advance the frontier of ABC. Accomplishing this objective requires available researchers with a diverse set of expertise. The below list of researchers are currently involved in ABC-UTC research or are available for future projects.
Florida International University
Atorod Azizinamini, PhD, P.E.
Director, ABC-UTC
Vasant H. Surti Professor of Civil Engineering
Director, Moss School of Construction, Infrastructure and Sustainability
Director, Preeminent Institute for Resilient and Sustainable Coastal Infrastructure (InteRaCt)
Education: PhD, University of South Carolina-Columbia, 1985
Specialty: Structural and Bridge Engineering
Office: EC 3677
Phone: (305) 348-3821
Email: aazizina@fiu.edu
Anthony Abrahao
Research Scientist
Education: Federal University of Uberlandia in Brazil
Specialty: Robotics
Office: EC 2162
Phone: (305) 348-1778
Email: aabrahao@fiu.edu
Hesham Ali, PhD, P.E., CPM
Research Associate Professor
Education: PhD, City University of New York, 1997.
Specialty: Pavement and Geotechnical Engineering
Office: EC 3602
Phone: (954)224-8660
Email: heaali@fiu.edu
Arvan Ankitha, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, Florida Atlantic University, 2022
Speciality: Structural and Geotechnical Engineering
Office: EC3685
Email: aarvan@fiu.edu
Amer Awwad, PhD, P.E.
Senior Mechanical Engineer
Education: M.S., Florida International University
Speciality: Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Office: EC2105
Phone: (305) 348 – 1676
Email: awwada@fiu.edu
Carlos M. Chang, PhD, P.E.
Associate Professor
Education: PhD, Texas A&M
Specialty: Wind Engineering
Email: cachang@fiu.edu
Arindam Chowdhury, PhD
Professor, Director for Wind Engineering Research
Education: PhD, Iowa State University, 2004
Specialty:Civil Engineering Systems and Management
Office: EC 3604
Phone: (305) 348-0518
Email: chowdhur@fiu.edu
Ali Ebrahimian, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, University of Minnesota, 2015
Specialty: Water Resources Engineering and Management
Email: alebrahi@fiu.edu
Mohamed ElZomor, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, Arizona State University, 2017
Specialty: Engineering Education, Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainable Construction
Office: EC 2955
Phone: 305-348-2257
Email: melzomor@fiu.edu
Kelvin J. Frank, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
Education: PhD, Florida International University, 2021
Specialty: Forensic Chemistry
Phone: 305-348-6211
Email: kfrank@fiu.edu
Kenneth G. Furton, PhD
FIU Chief Scientific Officer and Provost Emeritus Designee
Education: PhD, Wayne State University, 1986
Specialty: Forensic Science
Office: MARC 238
Phone: 305-348-0022
Email: furtonk@fiu.edu
David Garber, PhD, P.E.
Associate Professor, ABC-UTC Director of Workforce Development
Education: PhD, University of Texas at Austin, 2014
Specialty: Structural Engineering
Office: EC 3606
Phone: (305) 348-4879
Email: dgarber@fiu.edu
Mohammed Hadi, PhD, P.E.
Professor
Education: PhD, University of Florida, 1990
Specialty: Transportation Engineering
Office: EC3605
Phone: (305) 348-0092
Email: hadim@fiu.edu
Xia Jin, PhD, AICP
Associate Professor
Education: PhD, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2007
Specialty: Transportation Planning
Office: EC 3603
Phone: (305) 348-2825
Email: xjin1@fiu.edu
Vamsi S. Kalasapudi, PhD
Visiting Instructor
Education: PhD, Arizona State University, 2017
Specialty: Computing and Data Analytics for Construction
Office: EC 2954
Tel: (305) 348-8410
E-mail: vkalasap@fiu.edu
Kingsley Lau, PhD
Associate Professor
Education: PhD, University of South Florida, 2010
Specialty: Structural Engineering; Corrosion Engineering
Office: EC 3607
Phone: (305) 348-6124
Email: kilau@fiu.edu
Seung Jae Lee, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2014
Specialty: Civil Engineering; Geotechnical Engineering
Office: EC 3626
Phone: (305) 348-1086
Email: sjlee@fiu.edu
Xuan Lv, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 2018
Specialty area: Infrastructure Management
Office: EC 2956
Phone: 305-348-7466
Email: xulv@fiu.edu
Islam Mantawy
Co-Principal Investigator, Rowan University
Education: PhD, University of Nevada, Reno
Specialty: Structural and Earthquake Engineering
Office: Rowan Hall 230
Phone: (856) 256-5380
Email: mantawy@rowan.edu
Pezhman Mardanpour, PhD
Assistant Professor, Director of the Fluid-Structure Interaction Lab
Specialty: Mechanical and Material Engineering
Office: EC 3464
Phone: (305) 348-6103
Email: Pezhman.Mardanpour@fiu.edu
Armin Mehrabi, PhD, P.E.
Associate Professor
Education: PhD, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1994
Specialty: Structural Engineering
Office: EC 3627
Phone: (305) 348-3653
Email: AMehrabi@FIU.edu
Omar Nofal, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, Colorado State University, 2021
Specialty: Risk and Reliability Anlysis of Structures
Office: EC 3626
Email: omar.nofal@fiu.edu
Wallied Orabi, PhD
Associate Professor
Education: PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010
Specialty: Civil Engineering
Office: EC 2952
Phone: (305) 348-2730
Email: worabi@fiu.edu
Nipesh Pradhananga, PhD, P.E.
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014
Specialty: Construction Technology and Safety
Office: EC 2983
Phone: (305) 348-0224
Email: npradhan@fiu.edu
Mary Lou Ralls Newman, P.E.
Principal, Ralls Newman, LLC (Austin, TX); ABC-UTC Director of Technology Transfer
Education: MSc., University of Texas at Austin, 1984
Specialty: Bridge Engineering
Phone: (512) 422-9080
Email: ralls-newman@sbcglobal.net
Ton-Lo Wang, PhD, P.E.
Professor
Education: PhD, Illinois Institute of Technology, 1984
Specialty: Analysis and Dynamics
Email: wangt@fiu.edu
Lu Zhang, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 2016
Specialty: Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainable Construction
Office: EC 2935
Phone: (305) 348-7227
Email: luzhang@fiu.edu
Ioannis Zisis, PhD
Associate Professor
Education: PhD, Concordia University, 2011
Specialty: Wind Engineering
Office: EC 3608
Phone: (305) 348-4869
Email: izisis@fiu.edu
Iowa State University
Alice Alipour, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, University of California-Irvine, 2010
Specialty: Vulnerability Assessment
Phone: 515-294-3280
Email: alipour@iastate.edu
Justin Dahlberg, MS
Research Engineer
Education: Civil Engineering, Iowa State 2007
Phone: 515-294-5664
E-mail: dahlberg@iastate.edu
Katelyn Freeseman, PhD
Associate Director
Bridge Engineering Center
Institute for Transportation
Adjunct Research Professor
Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
Iowa State University
Phone: 515-294-3620
Email: kfreese@iastate.edu
Doug Gransberg, PhD
Professor
Education: PhD, University of Colorado at Boulder, 2004
Specialty: Construction Cost Estimation and Projection
Phone: 515-294-4148
Email: dgran@iastate.edu
Travis Hosteng, MS
Co-Director, NCWTS
Bridge Engineering Center
Institute for Transportation
Iowa State University
Phone: (515) 294-7197
Email: kickhos@iastate.edu
Brent M. Phares, PhD, P.E.
Director II, Institute for Transportation
Adjunct Assistant Professor: Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
Education: PhD, Iowa State University, 1998
Specialty: Bridge Engineering
Phone: (515) 294-5879
Email: bphares@iastate.edu
Behrouz Shafei, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, University of California-Irvine, 2011
Specialty: Structural Engineering; Risk Analysis
Phone: 515-294-4058
Email: shafei@iastate.edu
Jennifer Shane, PhD
Director, CMAT
Education: PhD, University of Colorado at Boulder, 2006
Specialty: Construction Engineering
Phone: 515-294-1703
Email: jsshane@iastate.edu
Sri Sritharan, PhD
Wilson Engineering Professor
Education: PhD, University of California, 1998
Specialty: Bridge Engineering
Phone: (515) 294-5238
Email: sri@iastate.edu
Terry J. Wipf, PhD, P.E.
Pitt-Des Moines Professor in Civil Engineering
Education: PhD, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1983
Specialty: Bridge Engineering
Phone: (515) 294-6979
Email: tjwipf@iastate.edu
University of Nevada – Reno
Hamed Ebrahimian, PhD
Assistant Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
Education: PhD, Structural Engineering, University of California, San Diego, 2015
Specialty: Structural health monitoring and damage diagnosis
Phone: (775) 682-6567
Email: hebrahimian@unr.edu
Ahmad Itani, PhD, P.E., S.E.
Professor and Chair in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
Education: PhD, University of Michigan, 1991
Specialty: Seismic design of bridges
Phone: (775) 784-4379
Email: itani@unr.edu
Ramin Motamed, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: University of Tokyo, 2007
Specialty: Bridge Foundations
Phone: (775) 784-6960
Email: motamed@unr.edu
Mohamed A. Moustafa, PhD, P.E.
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 2014
Specialty: Earthquake Engineering; Hybrid Simulation
Phone: (775) 682-7919
Email: mmoustafa@unr.edu
Keri Ryan, PhD
Associate Professor
Education: PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 2004
Specialty: Seismic Isolation
Phone: (775) 784-6928
Email: keri.ryan@unr.edu
Saiid Saiidi, PhD, P.E.
Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
Education: PhD, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1979
Specialty: Bridge Engineering; Seismic-Concrete Bridges
Phone: (775) 784-4839
Email: saiidi@unr.edu
Elnaz Esmaeilzadeh Seylabi
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, University of California, Los Angeles, 2016
Specialty: Engineering Seismology and Soil-Structure Interaction
Phone: (775) 682-6568
Email: elnaze@unr.edu
Floriana Petrone, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, Sapienza, University of Rome, 2013
Specialty: Seismic risk analysis and reinforced concrete systems modeling
Phone: (775) 682-6582
Email: florianapetrone@unr.edu
University of Washington
Jeffrey Berman, PhD
Professor
Education: PhD, State University of New York at Buffalo, 2006
Specialty: Seismic Behavior of Steel Structures
Phone: (206) 616-3530
Email: jwberman@uw.edu
Paolo Calvi, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, University of Toronto, 2015
Specialty: Seismic Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Structures
Phone: (206) 616-0511
Email: pmc85@uw.edu
Marc O. Eberhard, PhD
Professor
Education: PhD, University of Illinois-Urbana, 1989
Specialty: Bridge Engineering (Reinforced Concrete, Earthquakes, Tsunamis)
Phone: (206) 543-4815
Email: eberhard@uw.edu
Dawn E. Lehman, PhD
Professor
Education: PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 1998
Specialty: Bridge Engineering (Steel and Composites; Earthquakes)
Phone: (206) 715-2108
Email: delehman@uw.edu
Mike Motley, PhD
Associate Professor
Education: PhD, Princeton University, 2011
Specialty: Tsunami Engineering
Phone: (206) 685-1709
Email: mrmotley@uw.edu
Charles Roeder, PhD
Professor
Education: PhD, University of California, Berkeley
Specialty: Bridge Engineering (Steel and Composites; Earthquakes)
Phone: (206) 543-6199
Email: croeder@uw.edu
John Stanton, PhD
Professor
Education: PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 1979
Specialty: Bridge Engineering
Phone: (206) 543-6057
Email: stanton@uw.edu
Travis Thonstad, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, University of Washington, 2016
Specialty: Bridge Engineering (Reinforced Concrete, Earthquakes)
Phone: (206) 685-2701
Email: thonstat@uw.edu
University of Oklahoma
Royce Floyd, PhD, P.E.
Associate Professor,Graduate Studies Coordinator
Education: PhD, University of Arkansas, 2012
Specialty: Structural Engineering
Phone: 405-325-1010
E-mail: rfloyd@ou.edu
Somik Ghosh, PhD
Associate Professor
Education: PhD in Environmental Design & Planning (Virginia Tech), MS in Construction Management (Michigan State University), B. Arch (Jadavpur University, India)
Specialty: Construction process improvement, Lean Construction, Occupational safety
Phone: (405) 325 3670
Email: sghosh@ou.edu
Kianoosh Hatami, PhD, PEng, M. ASCE
Professor
Education: PhD, McMaster University, Canada, 1997
Specialty: Geotechnical Engineering and Earthquake Engineering
Phone: (405) 325-3674
Email: kianoosh@ou.edu
P. Scott Harvey Jr., PhD, P.E.
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, Duke University, 2013
Specialty: Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering
Phone: (405) 325-3836
Email: harvey@ou.edu
Shima Mohebbi, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, University of Tennessee, 2015
Specialty: Operations Research, Data Science and Analytics
Phone: (405) 325-3725
Office: CEC 215-D
Email: mohebbi@ou.edu
K.K. “Muralee” Muraleetharan, PhD, P.E., G.E.
Kimmell-Bernard Chair in Engineering, David Ross Boyd and Presidential Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science
Education: PhD, University of California, Davis, 1990
Specialty: Geotechnical Engineering, Geoenvironmental Engineering, Earthquake Engineering
Phone: (405) 325-4247
Email: muralee@ou.edu
Jinsong Pei, PhD
Associate Professor
Education: PhD, Columbia University, 2001
Specialty: Structural Engineering (Structural Health Monitoring)
Phone: (405) 325-4272
Email: jspei@ou.edu
Matthew Reyes, PhD
Associate Professor
Education: PhD, University of Oklahoma, 2017
Specialty:Construction Safety and Workforce Development
Phone: (405)325-4926
Email:mdres@ou.edu
Chris Ramseyer, PhD, P.E., FACI
Professor
Education: PhD, University of Oklahoma, 2005
Specialty: Structural Engineering, Civil Engineering Materials
Phone: (405) 325-1415
Email: ramseyer@ou.edu
Arif Mohaimin Sadri, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, Purdue University, 2016
Specialty: Evacuation Modeling, Network Modeling, Infrastructure Resilience, Shared Mobility
Office: CEC 450A
Phone: (405) 325 – 5913
Email: sadri@ou.edu
Jeffery Volz, SE, PE, PhD
Associate Professor
Education: PhD, Pennsylvania State University, 2008
Specialty: Architectural engineering, civil engineering, structural engineering
Phone: (405) 325-1489
Email: volz@ou.edu
Naiyu Wang, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education: PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010
Specialty: Structural Engineering, Structural Safety and Reliability
Phone: (405) 325-3600
Email: naiyu.wang@ou.edu
Musharraf Zaman, PhD, P.E., F. ASCE
David Ross Boyd Chair & Aaron Alexander Chair Professor
Education: PhD, University of Arizona, 1982
Specialty: Geotechnical Engineering, Geomechanics, Materials Testing and Modeling
Phone: (405) 325-2626
Email: zaman@ou.edu