Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering News

Author: Sue Hill

Sue Hill is the Digital Content Manager for the College of Engineering.

Sarah Washko Attends Snow Measurement Field School

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Sarah Washko takes measurements in the snowSarah Washko, an environmental engineering MS student, participated in the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) Snow Measurement Field School on January 6-11, 2019, in Bozeman Montana. The NASA-funded course provided training for performing high-quality snow measurements in the field, as well as in the fundamentals of snow hydrology analysis. In addition to traditional field methods, remote sensing techniques were also explored.

Each day in the field concluded with a presentation of the day’s findings. The final day culminated in a student designed field campaign at the Bridger Bowl Ski area. The workshop was designed to cultivate snow measurement and research design skills.

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Julie Ross is an Unsung Hero

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Julie Ross
Julie Ross

At an awards program in the Memorial Union Ballroom Wednesday (Jan. 9, 2018), staff members were honored with the Staff Council Making a Difference Award.

Julie Ross, academic advisor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, was a recipient of the Unsung Hero Award. Julie’s nominator states “When the faculty member who established the CEE Student Success Center left the University, Julie picked up the role of advisor for this group because she knew the services provided by the student success coaches were essential to the Department’s teaching mission. Without her stepping up and taking the advisor reigns, this group would not exist today.

Read more at the Staff Council blog.

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Small Water Systems Project Funding

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Tim Colling
CTT Director Tim Colling

Timothy Colling (CEE/Center for Technology and Training), is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $18,160 grant from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

John Velat (CEE/Center for Rural and Tribal Community Resilience) is Co-PI on the project “Smart Management for Small Water Systems FY18.”

This is the first year of a potential three-year project totaling $39,977.

By Sponsored Programs.

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CEE Graduate Students on the Road

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Marjan Monfarednsab to Attend weSTEM Conference

weSTEM conference showing presentation.Marjan Monfarednsab, a civil engineering graduate student, applied for and was accepted to the Society of Women Engineers’ (SWE) Women Empowered in STEM (weSTEM) Conference on February 23, 2019.

The weSTEM conference provides a forum through which current and future STEM leaders can motivate and inspire each other to excel at the frontier of scientific advancement and develop solutions for the next generation of technical challenges.

Monfarednsab is the first SWE graduate student member at Michigan Tech to be accepted to the conference. Her travel and conference costs will be funded by the SWE section and the College of Engineering, along with the conference sponsors.

Emily Gamm Attends American Segmental Bridge Institute Convention

Emily Gamm, a structures grad student, was awarded a scholarship to attend the American Segmental Bridge Institute (ASBI) Convention in Chicago, Nov. 5-7, 2018. She participated in technical sessions, committee meetings, networking opportunities (including meeting Michigan Tech alumnus Tim Barry) and a tour of a segmental bridge construction project. The tour also included an opportunity to sign the inside face of one of the match cast segments.

Emily Gamm Signing Section
Emily Gamm at the Signing Section
Emily Gamm Match Cast Section
Emily Gamm at the Match Cast Section
Large, structural piers are shown.
Piers

Hayden Henderson Travels to North American Lake Management Society Conference

Hayden Henderson
Hayden Henderson

Environmental Engineering MS student Hayden Henderson traveled to the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS) annual conference in Cincinnati to present his work titled: The Role of Anoxia, Entrainment, and Intrusions in Mediating Phosphorus Trophic State Dynamics to the general audience. In addition, he was asked to speak to the attendees of a workshop on internal phosphorus loading regarding a specific research site and subsequent findings. The 38th International Symposium of NALMS took place October 30 to November 2, 2018.

After returning from the conference, Hayden was informed that the research poster he presented at the conference titled: “Neither Wolf nor Dog: P-Management in a Quasi Polymictic Lake” was awarded 1st place in the Jody Connor Student Award poster competition.

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Funding for Amlan Mukherjee on Pavement Life Cycle Project

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Amlan Mukherjee
Amlan Mukherjee

Amlan Mukherjee (CEE/MTTI) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $162,256 contract with the ESC. Inc on a project funded by Federal Highway Administration. The project is titled “Mapping of Unit/Product System Processes for Pavement Life Cycle Assessment.”

This is the first phase of a three-year project potentially totaling $206,029.

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Veronica Webster on Intense Rain Events

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Veronica Webster
Veronica Webster

HOUGHTON — Going by historical norms, the storm that hit the Copper Country on June 17 was a 1,000-year event.

But the combination of warmer, wetter weather and changes in land use means events like it could become more common, said Veronica Webster, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Michigan Technological University. Webster’s Tuesday lecture, “Is Intense Rain the New Normal? Understanding Our Risks” was the second in the Keweenaw Natural History Seminar Series, which is focused on the causes and effects of and responses to the flood.

As development increases, the community needs to consider how runoff could increase from changes in the climate or the watershed, and take into account how roadways affect runoff patterns.

“Where we choose to build and how we choose to build impacts our resilience to the increasing risk of heavy storm events and flood events,” she said.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Garrett Neese.

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Zhanping You on Ground Tire Rubber for Chip Seals

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Avenue showing hot chip seal and rubber overlayZhanping You (CEE) was quoted in the story “Reducing Waste, Improving Roads,” in For Construction Pros .com.

Reducing Waste, Improving Roads

Michigan installs first recycled tire chip seal application in the United States

“The work in Kalamazoo demonstrated new applications,” Michigan Technological University professor of civil and environmental engineering Zhanping You says. “Ground tire rubber (GTR) has generally not been used much in chip seals and the products that are being used for this project are being used for the first time used in the U.S.”

“The project included reacted rubber for both the hot rubber chip seal (HRCS) and the hot rubber thin overlay (HRTO) based on the research development,” You says. “Michigan Tech researchers have used GTR in asphalt emulsion so that the GTR modified asphalt emulsion is used for a different rubber chip seal, which is very different than the HRCS.

Read more at Construction Pros.com, by Jessica Lombardo.

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Daisuke Minakata Publishes on Potable Water Reuse

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Daisuke Minakata
Daisuke Minakata

Daisuke Minakata (CEE), is one of the authors of the paper “Boron Can Be Used to Predict Trace Organic Rejection through Reverse Osmosis Membranes for Potable Reuse,” published in Environmental Science and Technology.

Environ. Sci. Technol., Article ASAP
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b03390
Publication Date (Web): November 16, 2018
Copyright © 2018 American Chemical Society

Extract

Potable water reuse is a viable option for communities with extreme water scarcity. Improvements in measurement capabilities and greater occurrence of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) have made the investigation of the removal of CECs through advanced treatment facilities essential for further reuse considerations.

The experimental results were used to develop a correlation between the removal of organics and boron.

Read more at ACS Publications with subscriber access provided by Van Pelt and Opie Library.

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