Category: Research

Zhanping 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.

Daisuke Minakata (CEE) and Mark Rouleau (SS) completed the NSF project: “Coupling Experimental and Theoretical Molecular-Level Investigations to Visualize the Fate of Degradation of Organic Compounds in Aqueous Phase Advanced Oxidation Systems“. The final report has been accepted by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The four-year project, that began in 2014, investigated the fate of trace organic compounds degradation in the aqueous phase advanced oxidation process using experimental measurements and theoretical modeling. The project generated 6 paper publications in peer-reviewed journals, 9 invited talks at the international symposiums, workshops and seminars, 13 conference talks at the international conferences, and 6 poster presentations. In addition, it provided a total of 10 sessions through K12 outreach activities to high school students and teachers. Three graduate students were trained under this project.

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.

Melanie Kueber Watkins (CEE/MTTI) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $45,000 research and development contract from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The title of the project is “Letter of Intent for NCHRP Synthesis 20-05/Topic 50-02: Highway Hydraulic Engineering State of Practice.”

This is an 18-month project.

The Vice President for Research Office has awarded Century II Campaign Endowed Equipment Funds (C2E2) at the recommendation of the C2E2 Committee. Noel Urban (GLRC/CEE) received funding for his project GLRC Submission: Water Purification System in Support of GLRC Research and Education.

C2E2 is a program aimed at providing equipment money to improve the lives of faculty, students, and staff campus-wide.

John Velat (CEE/MTTI) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $24,000 contract from the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

The title of the project is “Mashashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation’s Long Range Transportation Plan Update.”

This is a six-month project.

By Sponsored Programs Office.

Pengfei Xue (CEE/GLRC) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $130,118 research and development contract from the University of Michigan-Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR).

The title of the project is “The Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research: Long-Term Data Assimilative, Temperature and Currents Database for Lake Erie.”

This is a one-year project.

By Sponsored Programs.

The Center for Technology and Training (CTT) hosted its third annual Roadsoft User Conference of the United States (RUCUS) Sept. 26, 2018, in Grand Rapids. RUCUS was attended by more than 70 persons representing road agencies in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

Conference topics included roadway asset inventory, inspection and maintenance; using the Roadsoft culvert, drainage structure and sidewalk modules; and safety, pavement management strategies and project planning. The event also provided attendees with networking opportunities with other agencies and with CTT staff.

Those CTT staff attending the conference were Research Engineer Pete Torola, PE and Dale Lighthizer, PhD, PE; Senior Project Manager Gary Schlaff; Training and Operations Senior Project Manager Christine Codere; Technical Specialist Scott Bershing; Customer Service and Data Support Specialist Allison Berryman; Principal Programmers Nick Koszykowski and Luke Peterson; Senior Software Engineers Mary Crane, Nancy Moore and Mike Pionke and Software Engineer Sean Thorpe.

A one-day “Introduction to Roadsoft” training was conducted at the conference venue on Sept. 25. The training provided an overview and instructions on using the following Roadsoft features: map interface, legends, filters and reports; road, sign and culvert modules; data collection using the laptop data collector; safety analysis using crash data; data management and numerous tips and tricks.

Roadsoft is a roadway asset management system for collecting, storing and analyzing data associated with transportation infrastructure. Roadsoft is developed and supported by the CTT with principal funding from the Michigan Department of Transportation.

CTT Roadsoft on the Road Site Visits

Center for Technology and Training (CTT) staff Allison Berryman, Mary Crane and Mike Pionke traveled to lower Michigan providing Roadsoft on-site technical assistance in the cities of Detroit, Ann Arbor, Manchester and Pinckney, and at the Newaygo County Road Commission during the week of Oct. 22, 2018.

This is the fifth year of the semi-annual “Roadsoft On The Road” visits, which are hands-on sessions with agency-specific topics. Besides helping Roadsoft customers, the sessions provide CTT software engineers with valuable information about client workflow and challenges; this helps guide further software development to provide improved capability and usability of the Roadsoft program.

The Center for Technology and Training is a research center housed at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Roadsoft is a roadway asset management software suite for collecting, storing, and analyzing data associated with transportation infrastructure. Roadsoft is developed and supported by the CTT with principal funding from the Michigan Department of Transportation.

The Office of Environmental Health and Safety announced the first of two inaugural Excellence in Safety awards for the 2019 academic year.

This year’s academic recipient is the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. CEE is being recognized for the efforts of its Laboratory Safety and Chemical Hygiene Committee. The committee, comprised of Stan Vitton, Chris Wojick, Dave Perram, Lisa Cunard, Kiko de Melo e Silva, Jake Hiller and Noel Urban, worked to become campus leaders in both online training and self-inspection. The committee developed a training matrix that matches specific lab hazards to training titles in the PureSafety system, and was one of the first departments to adopt the SafetyStratus system for department-level lab inspections.

CEE thanks Chair Audra Morse for her support of the committee’s excellent work, and all of the employees of CEE for their ongoing commitment to safety.

By Environmental Health and Safety.

Tim Colling (CEE/CTT) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $219,311 contract from the Michigan Department of Transportation. Pete Torola (CEE) and Chris Gilbertson (CTT/CEE) are the Co-PIs on the project “2019 Transportation Asset Management Council Education Program Work Plan.” This is a one-year project.

Tim Colling (CEE/CTT) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $118,203 contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation. Mary Crane (CEE) is the Co-PI on the project, “2019 Transportation Asset Management Council Technical Assistance Activities Program.” This is a one-year project.

By Sponsored Programs.