Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering News

Category: Research

Alumni Present at MITA 2020

Published
By
Taylor (Garbe) Rudlaff and Michael Prast
Taylor (Garbe) Rudlaff and Michael Prast

Recent civil engineering graduates Michael Prast and Taylor (Garbe) Rudlaff presented the work of the Senior Design groups who developed the original concept of a utility tunnel under the Mackinac Straits at the MITA 2020 Annual Conference meeting on January 21-24 in Mt. Pleasant, MI. Mike Nystrom, Executive Director of MITA, the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, participated in the presentation by giving an update of the utility tunnel project and the current political climate impacting the project. Prast and Rudlaff spoke to a packed room of industry representatives who were impressed with the quality of the senior design experience provided by Michigan Tech. Audra Morse encouraged industry members to build partnerships with higher education and use real world projects, just like the utility tunnel under the Mackinac Straits, to bridge the gap between education and industry so that we recruit and retain the best and brightest in our profession.

Bruce Lowing, (80’) received the MITA Honorary Member Designation for his contribution to the construction industry and his service to MITA. To all of our alumni that attend MITA, it was good to see you and thanks for supporting Michigan Tech.

MITA 2020
MITA 2020
Continue Reading →

Sustainable Highway Construction Guidebook

Published
By
NCHRP Research Report 916 cover image

A guidebook on best practices for selecting sustainable practices for the design phase of highway construction projects has been published by Amlan Mukherjee (CEE) and PhD Candidate Chaitanya Bhat (CEE) as well as Co-PIs Steve Muench, Giovanni Migliaccio, Jessica Kaminsky, Milad Zokaei Ashtiani, and Jeralee Anderson.

Description

Sustainability is often an element that informs decisions made during the planning, programming, and design phases of highway construction projects. However, the construction phase of a highway project is also an opportunity to advance sustainability.

The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program’s NCHRP Research Report 916: Sustainable Highway Construction Guidebook provides clear and practical information on what constitutes sustainability in the context of highway construction and how to evaluate any proposed construction practice for its sustainability potential.

Suggested Citation

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Sustainable Highway Construction Guidebook. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25698.

Continue Reading →

Highway Vehicle Platooning Project Funding for Kuilin Zhang

Published
By
Kuilin Zhang
Kuilin Zhang

Kuilin Zhang (CEE/MTTI) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $58,556 research and development contract from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.

The project is entitled, “Leveraging Connected Highway Vehicle Platooning Technology to Improve the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Train Fleeting.”

This is a one-year project.

By Sponsored Programs.

Continue Reading →

Chaitanya Bhat on Pavement Life-Cycle Assessment

Published
By
Chaitanya Bhat
Chaitanya Bhat

PhD Candidate, Chaitanya Bhat, was featured in the National Asphalt Pavement Association’s (NAPA) Action News. Chait was a NAPA intern in 2018 and was featured in NAPA’s Action News for presenting at the 2020 Transportation Research Board (TRB) 99th Annual Meeting held January 12–16, 2020, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, in Washington, D.C.

The meeting program covered all transportation modes, with more than 5,000 presentations in nearly 800 sessions and workshops, addressing topics of interest to policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of government, industry, and academic institutions. A number of sessions and workshops focused on the spotlight theme for the 2020 meeting: A Century of Progress: Foundation for the Future.

Bhat’s attendance at last year’s annual meeting involved a notable 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) presentation.

Continue Reading →

Multiple Projects Funded by MDOT

Published
By

MDOTTim Colling (CEE/CTT) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $1,300,080.64 contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation. The project is entitled, “Bridge Design System Ongoing Modernization and Support – Phase 3.” Chris Gilbertson (CEE) and Gary Schlaff (CEE) are Co-PI’s on this potential five-year project.

Colling is also the principal investigator on a project that has received a $518,050 contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation. The project is entitled, “2019 Michigan Local Technical Assistance Program.” Chris Codere (CEE) and Pete Torola (CEE) are Co-PI’s on this potential 15-month project.

Colling is the principal investigator on another project that has received a $115,012 contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation. The project is entitled, “2020 Transportation Asset Management Council Technical Assistance Activities Program.” Mary Crane (CEE) is the Co-PI on this one-year project.

Chris Gilbertson (CEE/CTT) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $491,229.52 contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation. Zack Fredin (CEE) and Tim Colling (CEE) are Co-PI’s on this 23-month project entitled, “Michigan Local Bridge Load Rating & Inspection Support and Technology Transfer FY 2019-2022.”

Tim Colling (CEE/CTT) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $224,280.94 contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation. The project is entitled, “2020 Transportation Asset Management Council Education Program Work Plan.” Pete Torola (CEE) and Chris Gilbertson (CEE) are Co-PI’s on this one-year project.

Tim Colling (CEE/CTT) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $896,267.05 other sponsored activities contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation. The project is entitled, “2020 Roadsoft Asset Management Development & Support.” Gary Schlaff (CEE/CTT), Nick Koszykowski (CEE/CTT) and Luke Peterson (CEE/CTT) are Co-PI’s on this one year project.

Continue Reading →

Meingast and Heldt Publish in Biotechnology Progress

Published
By

Christa Meingast
Christa Meingast

Environmental Engineering PhD Candidate Christa Meingast published a paper in Biotechnology Progress titled “Arginine Enveloped Virus Inactivation and Potential Mechanisms.” The work was co-authored by James and Lorna Mack Chair in Bioengineering Caryn Heldt.

https://doi.org/10.1002/btpr.2931

Meingast is a King-Chávez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship Program Fall 2018 recipient and a Portage Health Foundation Graduate Assistantship Fall 2019 recipient.

Article Extract

Arginine synergistically inactivates enveloped viruses at a pH or temperature that do little harm to proteins, making it a desired process for therapeutic protein manufacturing. However, the mechanisms and optimal conditions for inactivation are not fully understood, and therefore, arginine viral inactivation is not used industrially.

Once the mechanisms of arginine viral inactivation are understood, further enhancement by the addition of functional groups, charges, or additives may allow the inactivation of all enveloped viruses in mild conditions.

Read more at Biotechnology Progress.

Continue Reading →

Lake Michigan Database Project Funding for Pengfei Xue

Published
By

Pengfei Xue
Pengfei Xue

Pengfei Xue (CEE/GLRC) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $109,790 research and development cooperative agreement with the University of Michigan.

The project is entitled, “The Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR): Long-Term Data Assimilative, Temperature and Currents Database for the Great Lakes (Year 2: Lake Michigan).

This is a one year project.

Xue is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $125,199 research and development cooperative agreement with the University of Michigan. The project is entitled, “Coastal Coupling in Large Lakes for Total Water Prediction.” This is a potential two-year project.

By Sponsored Programs.

Continue Reading →

Ryan Kibler Presents at Michigan Space Grant Consortium Annual Conference

Published
By

Ryan Kibler
Ryan Kibler

Last Saturday (Oct. 12, 2019), the Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) hosted its 30th Annual conference at the University of Michigan.

CEE graduate student Ryan Kibler gave a talk pertaining to Daisuke Minakata’s (CEE) NSF funding focused on the Initial Photochemical Transformation of Dissolved Free Amino Acids under Sunlit Irradiation in Water. Kibler is currently working under a MSGC Graduate Fellowship Grant that he was awarded in Spring 2019.

Continue Reading →