Abdalla Alomari (Ph.D., Candidate): Abdalla Alomari is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State University (ISU). He received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan. He then completed his Master of Science in Civil Engineering/ Structural Engineering from the University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, US. In his Master’s degree, Abdalla worked for his advisor Dr. Elias Toubia on composite materials that exposure to elevated temperature and their application in bridge construction. In his Ph.D. program, Abdalla is currently working for Dr. Brent Phares in the Bridge Engineering Center (BEC) at Iowa State University on investigating the Accelerated Construction of the Highway Steel Overhead Sign Truss (SOST) through the Implementation of U-Bolt Connections and the early-age performance of UHPC/HCSC closure joints reinforced with noncontact lap-spliced rebar used in the lateral slide-In bridge construction. During his Master’s program, Abdalla was the president of the structural engineering group/student chapter. During his Ph.D. program, Abdalla participated in different activities, including a multi-modal transportation camp for middle school students at Des Moines and Mid-Continent Transportation Research Symposium.

Meysam Najimi (PhD, Student): Meysam is a postdoctoral research associate at the Iowa State University (ISU) in the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (CCEE). He was formerly a postdoctoral research associate at University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), received his PhD from UNLV in 2016. He has conducted research in the field of concrete technology since 2005. His research interests include Transport and Durability of Concrete, Supplementary Cementitious Materials, Alkali Activated Binders, Green Concrete, Self-Consolidating Concrete, Concrete Microstructure, Fiber-Reinforced Concrete, High-Performance Concrete, Ultra-High Performance Concrete, and Modeling Concrete Properties. He’s grateful for the opportunities to work on multiple UTC projects that provided experience related to structural engineering and concrete materials research. During his time as a postdoctoral research associate in the ISU CCEE Department, he worked on UTC funded projects related to Material Design and Structural Configuration of Link Slabs for ABC Applications and Non-Proprietary Ultra-High Performance Concrete Mix Design for ABC Applications.

Rizwan Karim ( PhD, Student): Rizwan Karim  is a PhD Student in the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Enginerring at Iowa State University (ISU). He received his Bachelors of Science from the University of Engineering and Technology, Taxilla, Pakistan with honors. He then received the Fulbright Scholarship to pursue his Master of Science at ISU with a focus on Structural Engineering. For his MS thesis, Rizwan worked for Professor Behrouz Shafei on the material design and structural configuration of link slabs. His study included full-scale structural tests in the laboratory, along with supporting numerical simulations. Continuing to the PhD program, he currently works on the development of non-proprietary UHPC mixtures for various structural applications. During his MS program, Rizwan was a member of 4-H, a positive youth development and mentoring program as well as the Pakistan Student Association. Rizwan was also a senator in the ISU’s Graduate and Professional Student Senate. He is currently the president of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute’s ISU Student Chapter.

Krishan Sritharan (BS, Student): Krishan Sritharan is an undergraduate student at Iowa State University (ISU) in electrical engineering in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.  He has been working in the ISU Structural Engineering Laboratories at the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE) at ISU. During his time at ISU, Krishan has worked on a number of projects that include testing of an integral abutment project associated with Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) concepts. Other projects that he has worked on include several large-scale segmental beam tests using unbonded post tensioning and testing associated with an NCHRP 12-94 project at ISU.  Additional efforts have included anchorage testing of prestressing strands in Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC). He expects to graduate with his bachelor’s degree in Spring 2021.

Ning Zhang (PhD, 2020): Ning Zhang was a PhD student in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State University. She received her BS degree from Chang’an University and her MS degree from Tongji University in China. Her Master of Science research focused on improving highway services based on road network reliability. She worked on the ABC-UTC project titled “An Integrated Project- to Enterprise-Level Decision Making Framework for Prioritization of Accelerated Bridge Construction,” under the supervision of Professor Alice Alipour. In this project, Ning developed a holistic decision-making framework to prioritize and select candidates for ABC techniques under both operational and extreme event scenarios.

Shahin Hajilar (PhD, 2018): Dr. Shahin Hajilar was a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State University. He received his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Tehran in 2011 and his M.Sc. in Civil Engineering, with a focus on Structural Engineering and Mechanics, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2014. He completed his Ph.D. with a major in Structural Engineering and a minor in Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University in Spring 2018. The primary focus of his research was developing novel structural details and construction materials for use in ABC applications. He published 10 peer-reviewed journal articles in high-impact engineering and science journals and 5 peer-reviewed conference papers, accumulated nearly 360 citations, and presented his research at more than 10 national and international conferences and symposiums. His research and teaching contributions were recognized with the Best Poster Award at the CCEE Graduate Student Research Showcase and the Iowa Better Concrete Conference. He also received both the Research and Teaching Excellence Awards from the Office of the President at Iowa State University. In addition, he was selected by the Iowa State University Graduate College to serve as the Student Marshal at the Fall 2017 Commencement Ceremony.

Zhengyu Liu (PhD, 2018): Zhengyu was a PhD student in Structural Engineering at Iowa State University. He received his BS in 2008 from Shenyang University of Technology in China and his MS from Iowa State University (ISU) in 2014. His Master of Science research focused on evaluating the performance of wide bridge decks without longitudinal joints. In 2014, he continued his doctoral studies at ISU and conducted research at the Bridge Engineering Center (BEC) under the guidance of Dr. Phares. His research focused on connection details of adjacent precast box beam bridges. The goal of his research was to investigate and address cracking issues at the connections between box girders to help advance the development of crack-free bridges—an important step toward broader implementation of accelerated box girder bridge construction. During the summer of 2015, Zhengyu served as a mentor to a high school junior in ISU’s Young Engineers and Scientists (YES) Program on behalf of the ABC-UTC. He now currently works at the ISU Bridge Engineering Center as a Research Assistant.

Ashley Ecklund (MS, 2016): Ashley received both her BS (2013) and MS (2016) from Iowa State University. During her time at ISU, Ashley worked on an ABC research project in the Bridge Engineering Center. The purpose of her research was to begin developing crash-tested, prefabricated bridge railings with durable anchorage details.

Austin Dejong (MS, 2019): Austin was an MS student with a focus in Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State University. He received his BS in Civil Engineering from South Dakota State University in May 2017. He worked on the ABC-UTC Phase II investigation of the strength and durability of integral abutment connection details. This project involved revising and retesting two integral abutment connections from the Phase I study, as well as designing and performing laboratory tests on a new connection incorporating UHPC. These connections needed to resist applied loads while also being constructible using ABC methods. Austin was a member of Chi Epsilon, where he served as President of the South Dakota State University chapter, and he was also an Associate Member of ASCE. He graduated with his Master’s degree in Summer 2019 and later worked as a Structural Engineer-In-Training with TSP, Inc. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Kara Korthals (MS, 2020): Kara was an MS student studying Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State University. She received her BS in Civil Engineering from Iowa State in Fall 2018. Kara grew up in the small town of Bondurant, Iowa. She was involved in the ABC-UTC project focused on the accelerated repair and replacement of expansion joints in bridges under the guidance of Dr. An Chen. This project included designing and performing laboratory tests on faster construction methods and materials. Kara graduated in Spring 2020.

Meghan Cronin (MS, 2016): Meghan completed her BS in Civil Engineering at Iowa State University in 2014 and her MS at ISU in 2016. During her master’s studies, she worked under the ABC-UTC on research focused on available bridge rehabilitation alternatives and solutions that practitioners could use to complete rapid rehabilitation projects. After graduating, she worked as a Structural EIT at Meyer Borgman Johnson, Inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her long-term goal was to teach at the college level, whether at a large university or a smaller community college. In her spare time, she enjoyed swimming, exercising, playing cards, spending time with her family, watching movies, walking outdoors, and painting canvases.

Michael Dopko (MS, 2018): Michael was an MS student in Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State University. He received his BSc in Civil Engineering, magna cum laude, from Iowa State University in Spring 2016. Michael is from Makwa, Saskatchewan, Canada, where he grew up on a family farm. He served as a research assistant to Dr. Behrouz Shafei on the ABC-UTC link slab research project. His work focused on identifying link slab materials that met expected strength and durability requirements. His research activities included laboratory structural testing of link slab specimens and finite element analysis of link slabs and link slab bridges, particularly for ABC applications. During his undergraduate years, Michael was an active member of the ISU men’s ice hockey team. He was also a member of Chi Epsilon, the ACI student chapter, and the ASCE student chapter.

Michael Volk (MS, 2020): Michael graduated from Iowa State University with his Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering in May 2020 and his Master’s in Civil Engineering in November 2020. While working as a research assistant at ISU, Michael assisted with several research projects ranging from Transportation Management Plans to the bidding and contracting of ABC projects. The primary project he worked on at the ABC-UTC was “Methods for Accelerated Bridge Construction Projects: Case Studies and Consensus Building.”

Noelle Weaver (MS, 2020): Noelle was a concurrent student studying Civil Engineering at Iowa State University. She graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in 2019 and spent an additional year at Iowa State University to complete her Master of Science in 2020. With an emphasis in Structural Engineering, she began working in the ISU Structural Engineering Laboratory, where graduate students and faculty conducted research. This experience helped her learn more about how structures are built and prepared her for her graduate research. In the laboratory, she worked on a variety of projects, including several associated with the University Transportation Center (UTC), such as the Link-Slab ABC Applications project and the Accelerated Repair of Expansion Joints project. Upon graduating in 2020, Noelle planned to work as a Structural Engineer and apply the knowledge she gained from these projects to real-world applications.

Samuel Redd (MS, 2016): Sam is from Bloomington, Illinois and earned his BS cum laude in Construction Engineering and his MS in Structural Engineering from Iowa State University. Sam spent one year during his BS and two years during his MS working with the Bridge Engineering Center and the ABC-UTC. His MS research focused on the laboratory testing of integral abutment details, which he presented in the July 2016 Quarterly Research Seminar. After graduating, Sam worked for Felsburg Holt and Ullevig (Denver) as a Structural EIT. Outside of school, Sam served as president of the ISU weightlifting club and enjoyed volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. He spent his free time reading and finding ways to stay active.

Eric Lezniak (BS, 2019): Eric was an undergraduate student in Civil Engineering at Iowa State University (ISU) in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE). He received his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in Fall 2019, with a technical interest in structural engineering. After receiving his BS, Eric planned to move to the Chicago metropolitan area to rejoin his family and begin his career in the structural engineering field. He was grateful for the opportunities provided by the UTC program both the research projects and the people involved which gave him valuable experience and insight into structural engineering. During his time as a laboratory assistant in the CCEE Structural Engineering Laboratory, he worked on a project related to non-proprietary Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) development. Specifically, he assisted with the development of UHPC mix designs for bridge applications and helped test UHPC cylinder specimens in the laboratory.

Jose De Jesus Alvarez (BS, 2019): Jose Alvarez was an undergraduate Civil Engineering student in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State University. He graduated in Fall 2019. During his time at Iowa State University, Jose worked on multiple research projects within the ISU Structural Engineering Laboratories as a structural lab technician. These projects included dynamic testing of beams, UHPC strong walls, a full-scale segmental externally post-tensioned beam, approach slab connections to bridge joints, and an integral abutment project related to Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC). As a civil engineer, he hoped to continue pursuing opportunities in structural design.

Kylar Oh (BS, 2018): Kylar received his BS degree in Civil Engineering from Iowa State University. His long-term goal was to become a geotechnical engineer and work toward a Professional Engineering license. After gaining several years of engineering work experience, he planned to pursue an MS degree. During his time at ISU, Kylar was involved in the construction and dismantling of the laboratory test specimen related to the Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) integral abutment connection project.

Matthew Dahl (BS, 2020): Matt was an undergraduate student in Civil Engineering at Iowa State University (ISU) in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE). He received his bachelor’s degree in Spring 2020, with a technical interest in structural engineering. After completing his BS, Matt planned to attend graduate school in civil engineering at ISU. He looked forward to conducting his own research and was grateful for the opportunities he had to work on multiple UTC projects, which provided valuable experience in structural engineering research. During his time as a laboratory assistant in the CCEE Structural Engineering Laboratory, he worked on UTC-funded projects related to ABC repair of expansion joints and the ABC integral abutment project.

Mitch Honsa (BS, 2019): Mitch Honsa was an undergraduate student in Civil Engineering at Iowa State University (ISU) in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering. He worked part-time as a structural laboratory technician in the ISU Structural Engineering Laboratories. During his time in the lab, Mitch engaged in multiple research projects, including dynamic testing of beams, testing of a segmental externally post-tensioned beam, approach slab connections in bridge joints, and an integral abutment specimen related to Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC). His long-term career goal was to work in the area of structural bridge design.

Monica Diaz (BS, 2019): Monica Diaz was an undergraduate student in Civil Engineering at Iowa State University (ISU) in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering. She graduated in Spring 2019. During her time at ISU, Monica worked part-time as an undergraduate teaching assistant for CE 306, Project Management for Civil Engineers. She also worked on a research project investigating delivery methods and procurement methods related to Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC). Having concentrated her coursework in structural engineering, she hoped to join a structural design team in the near future.

Zac Dietrich (MS, 2020): Zac Dietrich was a Master of Science (MS) student in Civil Engineering in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State University (ISU). He graduated in Spring 2020. He worked on the research project titled “Accelerated Repair and Replacement of Expansion Joints,” focusing specifically on structural anchor bolt behavior for expansion joints. He also assisted in the ISU Structural Engineering Laboratory, helping construct and test various specimens. After graduation, he planned to work in the field of structural engineering.