Field Trip to the I-40 Pedestrian Bridge

On November 23, CE 442 (Hydrology & Hydraulic Engineering) and CE 424 (Steel Design) took a break from the classroom for a combined field trip to the I-40 pedestrian bridge in Albuquerque. UNM graduates and Bohannan Huston engineers, Sean Melville and Tandy Freel discussed various design components including storm water drainage, soil retention, vertical alignment, structural design, and scheduling. Dr. Gerstle talked about bridge design while Dr. Coonrod discussed restoration efforts of the Rio Grande through Albuquerque.

Professor John Stormont Selected as Chair of UNM Civil Engineering Department

Professor John Stormont has been selected as Chair of the Civil Engineering Department at UNM after having served as interim chair for the past 17 months. He brings 16 years of experience at UNM, 12 years at Sandia National Labs, and is an enthusiastic teacher and active researcher. “Prof. Stormont has accomplished important objectives as Interim Chair, including engaging the department in developing a strategic plan and preparing the department for accreditation reviews,” said UNM School of Engineering Interim Dean Arup Maji. “I am confident that he will now be able to focus more on the strategic goals of the department, along with hiring new faculty.” Stormont’s research interests are related to geo-environmental issues associated with mining operations and landfills, unsaturated hydrology, and geomechanics. He has brought in more than $3.2 million of externally funded research and has been principal advisor to 19 Masters and 4 PhD students. He is a registered professional engineer in New Mexico and received his PhD from the University of Arizona in 1990.

Candyce Torres Wins Staff Recognition Award

The Office of the President and the Staff Council announced that Candyce Torres is one of three recipients of the 2010 Gerald W. May Staff Recognition Award. This year, the Staff Council Rewards and Recognition Committee received 39 nominations. Committee Chair, Kathy McKinstry said, "We were excited to receive so many nominations. It's amazing to read about all the dedicated, hard-working staff that we have on this campus." Congratulations to Candyce!

Bridge Load Rating Project

The Department of Civil Engineering has a contract with the New Mexico Department of Transportation to load-rate 80 bridges per year. The purpose is to produce bridge information models of all of New Mexico’s bridges, to structurally rate the bridges, and to identify those bridges that require structural remediation. The project, led by Professor Walter Gerstle, has so far employed five graduate students: Scott Chapman, Kelly Montoya, Artemio Zavala, Bhanu Kiran Tuniki, and Asif Rahman. The students have learned a great deal about bridge design by reading bridge plans and entering bridge information into the VIRTIS bridge information modeling system. The project is funded at the level of approximately $100,000 per year over five years.

Lunch for Fundamentals of Engineering and Professional Engineers’ Exam

The UNM Chapter of Chi Epsilon, with funding from the New Mexico Society of Professional Engineers, provided lunch on Civic Plaza in Albuquerque on October 29 and October 30 for approximately 150 people taking the Fundamentals of Engineering and the Professional Engineers’ Exams. Kelly Montoya, Chi Bui, Jeff Samson, Karen Jacobsen, Chris Johnson and Walter Gerstle provided and served the lunch.

International Workshop on Energy and Environment in the Development of Sustainable Pavements

Professors Rafi Tarefder and Kerry Howe have organized an International Workshop on Energy and Environment in the Development of Sustainable Pavements. The workshop was sponsored by National Science Foundation (USA) and National Natural Science Foundation (China). The workshop was held in Xian, China, June 7-9, 2010. Workshop details and presentations can be found at http://www.unm.edu/~tarefder/workshop

48th Paving and Transportation Conference

The Forty-Eighth Paving and Transportation Conference sponsored by the Department of Civil Engineering and the Alliance for Transportation Research Institute at the University of New Mexico will be held on January 10-11, 2011 at the Marriott Pyramid North Hotel and Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

A Preliminary Conference Program will be available in mid-November. To receive a copy of the Program or to request additional information on the Conference, please contact the Conference Chair, Jim Brogan, at 505-277-1314 (voice), 505-277-1988 (FAX) or via e-mail at jbrogan@unm.edu.

CE Grad Student Awarded AAUW Fellowship

Amelia Scharrer has been awarded an AAUW Selected Professions Fellowship for the 2010-2011 academic year. Selected Professions Fellowships provide opportunities for women to pursue degrees in fields where women traditionally have been underrepresented. Amelia is studying for her Masters degree in Civil Engineering with an emphasis in Construction Engineering and Management. Her research interest is in developing new methods to overcome cross-cultural communication barriers related to construction safety.

Dr. Taha presented with American Concrete Institute Faculty Achievement Award

Mahmoud Reda Taha, associate professor & Regents’ Lecturer of Civil Engineering (Cross appointed to Mechanical Engineering and Electrical & Computer Engineering) has been presented the 2010 Walter P. Moore Jr. Faculty Achievement Award by the American Concrete Institute. This national award recognizes Taha’s dedication and commitment to student involvement in concrete research and his ability to connect theory with practice in the classroom.

Dr. Stone receives NSF grant to investigate floods

Dr. Mark Stone was recently awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation to investigate the influence of riparian vegetation on flood waves. The aim of the research is to improve tools used to predict flood wave propagation and the effectiveness of riparian restoration in reducing the risk of flooding. Read More

CE Deparment to perform structural testing on drill pipe casings

The CE Department recently received a 6-month contract, worth $50,000 to perform structural testing of drill pipe casings used in the oil and gas industry. The project will support one graduate student. Walter Gerstle is the PI.

Dr. Gerstle receives funding for Bridge Load Rating

The CE Department recently received a 4-year contract, worth $400,000 to perform Bridge Load Rating for the NMDOT. The project will support two graduate students and an undergraduate project assistant. Walter Gerstle is the PI.

Graduate student advances molecular dynamic code

Graduate student Navid Sakhavand, under the guidance of Professor Walter Gerstle and Dr. Susan Atlas at the UNM Center for Advanced Research Computing, has recently helped to develop a massively parallel simulation code for molecular dynamic and peridynamic simulation. The code can simulate problems with millions of particles.

Dr. Schuler receives the SOE Teaching Excellence Award

Dr. Andy Schuler, assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, was awarded the School of Engineering (2009-2010) Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award.

Civil Engineering Professor Mahmoud Taha received School of Engineering Research Award

Mahmoud Reda Taha, associate professor & Regents’ Lecturer of Civil Engineering was awarded the School of Engineering (2009-2010) Junior Faculty Research Excellence Award. The award recognized Taha’s achievement on research in the field of nanotechnology, biomechanics and structural composites.

CE Capstone Course Wins National Award

The Civil Engineering Department Capstone Course has been awarded a prestigious "Engineering Award for Connecting Professional Practice and Education" by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). This award recognizes engineering programs for engaging their students in collaborative projects with professional licensed engineers. UNM’s submittal for the award emphasized our Capstone Course’s unique integration of construction management and civil engineering skills into a design/build project format. Read More

Dr. Tarefder appointed editor of IACMAG newsletter

Dr. Rafi Tarefder has become the Editor of the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics (IACMAG) Newsletter. IACMAG has been active for over two decades (http://www.iacmag.org/). IACMAG organizes international conferences about every three years; the 13th will be held in Australia in 2011. It participates in other activities such as cosponsoring the International Journal of Geomechanics published by the ASCE, cosponsoring other international and national conferences, symposia and short courses, and publication of the Newsletter. IACMAG Newsletter is published twice a year with items useful to the geomechanics community such as personal and community news, conference and course news, and technical articles including those for ongoing research at international institutions.

Professor Bruce Thomson receives 2010 New Mexico Earth Science Achievement Award

Civil Engineering Professor Bruce Thomson is the co-recipient of the 2010 New Mexico Earth Science Achievement Award "for outstanding contributions advancing the role of earth science in areas of applied science and education in New Mexico." Bruce was honored with the award in the rotunda of the state capitol building on February 4 during the legislative session. The award is sponsored by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, and was established in 2003 to honor "champions of earth science issues vital to the future of New Mexico.

New Book Released by Professor Timothy Ross

The first edition of Fuzzy Logic with Engineering Applications (1995) was the first classroom text for undergraduates in the field; the second edition was published in (2004). Now updated for the second time, the new third edition (2010) features the latest advances in the field including material on expansion of the "Modified Learning From Examples" method using genetic algorithms, cognitive mapping, fuzzy agent-based models, and recent advances in approximate possibility distributions.