News Archive
2015
Institute of Transportation Engineers Section Meeting
Sustainability Facts and Figures
Panos Prevedouros, PhD, Professor of Civil Engineering University of Hawaii at Manoa
Wednesday, October 28,
11:45am – 1:00pm
Fasi Municipal Building, 9th Floor Conference Room
East-West Center Wednesday Evening Seminar
Climate Vulnerability and Adaptation
Dr. Oceana P. Francis, P.E.
Assistant Professor of Coastal Engineering, College of Engineering and Sea Grant College Program,
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Wednesday, October 28, 6:30 ““ 8:30 p.m.
Keoni Room, Imin International Conference Center See Abstract
Dr. David Ma received promotion to Professor. [September 2015]
Dr. Roger Babcock received the 2015 Hi Chang Chai Excellence in Teaching Award. [September 2015]
Lead technician Mitchell Pinkerton received the 2015 College of Engineering Service Award. [September 2015]
Mohammadreza Hashemi is the new Graduate Student Organization (GSO) representative for CEE. Graduate students can consult with him regarding any problems they may be experiencing and funding requests. [September 2015]
Science Daily has published an article based on Associate Professor Tao Yan’s research with colleagues regarding the reasons fecal bacteria in beach sand occurs at levels 10 to 100 times higher than in nearby sea water. See journal article. [July 2015]
Dedication, blessing and opening of a six-foot-wide and 40-foot-long walkway designed, surveyed, built and installed this semester between the POST and HIG buildings by the 60 CEE students in CEE 375 Construction Materials, the teaching assistant Alvin Magallanes, and professor Amarjit Singh. The installation included the design and planting of a nearby rain garden. [May 2015]
Double honors for our Student Chapter from national ASCE: Honorable mention for outstanding activities and Recognition for Community Service!
The University of Hawaii at Manoa ASCE Student Chapter has been awarded a 2015 Letter of Recognition for Community Service for its exemplary community service benefiting others outside of your ASCE Student Chapter.
The University of Hawaii at Manoa ASCE Student Chapter has been selected by the Committee on Student Members to receive a Letter of Honorable Mention for its outstanding activities as recorded in the 2014 Chapter annual report. This is recognition received by only the top third of all Student Organizations. [May 2015]
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| The UH Manoa ASCE Student Chapter took 50 students and their faculty advisor, Dr. Babcock, to participate in 19 different events at the Pacific Southwest Conference hosted by the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ on April 9-11, 2015. [Read More][April 2015] |
CEE Associate Professor Roger Babcock is the 2015 recipient of the College of Engineering Hi Chang Chai Excellence in Teaching Award. [April 2015]
Announcement: Manuel Pastor, Professor, Civil Engineering School & Head, Department of Applied Mathematics Universidad Polití©cnica de Madrid, will present a seminar on 
“Modeling of Propogation of Fast Landslides” on Thursday, April 9 in Holmes Hall 244 at 10:00AM. See flyer [April 2015]
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CEE Assistant Professor Lin Shen and his graduate students Yanping Li and Hamed Bahrami Jovein poured a sidewalk in downtown Hilo made of “lunar concrete.” The Moon and Mars may have the necessary chemicals to make geopolymer concrete. In this application, geopolymer concrete is made from local waste material coal ash instead of cement. Using such waste material can greatly reduce the state’s and the nation’s economic and environmental costs associated with cement production.
The project is organized by Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES) in collaboration with the Hawaii County Department of Research and Development, NASA, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Kodiak FRP Rebar. See KHON news story. [March 2015]
Announcement: Dr. Fan Zhang, professor at the Tibetan Plateau Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Science will share her latest research on hydrological modeling on the Tibetan Plateau. The lecture will be on Friday, 20 February, in Holmes Hall 287, 3:00 – 4:30 pm. [February 2015]
Announcement: On Thursday, 19 February, Paul Giroux, veteran builder and award winning civil engineering historian, will share his in-depth research of the Panama Canal’s construction in a remarkable story as never before told. The lecture will be in Bilger Hall 335, 1:30 – 2:45 pm. See flyer [February 2015]
Lelemia Irvine’s doctoral research is focused on rainwater harvesting as an adaptive technology to climate change and is directed by Dr. Oceana Francis. We are pleased that 
Lelemia was awarded the East-West Center Graduate Degree Fellowship for Spring and Fall 2015 valued at $24,000. Congratulations! [January 2015]
Dr. Teruo Nakai
is the department’s 2015 Bob Wong Visiting Professor. He is Emeritus Professor of Nagoya Institute of Technology (NIT) in geotechnical engineering. His recently published book Constitutive Modeling of Geomaterials: Principles and Applications forms the basis of a graduate class he is teaching at the UH on Soil Behavior and Modeling. He is currently a technical advisor of the Geo-Research Institute (GRI) and an affiliate of Chubu University in Japan. Professor Nakai will be offering six geotechnical engineering workshops this semester. For the titles and dates of workshops click here [January 2015]
Our sophomore student Erica Wong was crowned 2015 Narcissus Queen. Congratulations! [January 2015]
Prof. Yoshihiro Okumura, an assistant professor at Kyoto University with the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies (GSGES), is visiting the department for one year under KU-GSGES’s program “Future Earth”. The program is supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science’s “Strategic Young Researcher Overseas Visits Program for Acceleration Brain Circulation”. He works in the area of “Infrastructure Development for a Resilient Society against a Catastrophic Tsunami Disaster”, and is collaborating with Prof. Ron Riggs. [January 2015]
Dr. Panos D. Prevedouros became the Department Chairman on January 1, 2015. Dr. Prevedouros is professor of transportation engineering and has been with the CEE Department since 
1990. [January 2015]
2014
Dr. Constantinos Papacostas retired from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa’s Civil and Environmental Engineering program at the end of the Fall semester, 2014. He has been with the university and has taught many of Hawaii’s engineers since 1974. He has been a long time member of the ITE Hawaii Section and has served as President and Executive Director. [December 2014]
The UH Manoa Civil Engineering team excelled among intercollegiate rivals at the 2014 Student Steel Bridge Competition jointly organized by the American Steel Bridge Construction (AISC) and American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). For details, see http://manoa.hawaii.edu/news/article.php?aId=6698[August 2014]
The prestigious “Applied Physics Letters” published a breakthrough in sensor network technology by Prof. David T. Ma and graduate student Hui Zhang. See http://manoa.hawaii.edu/news/article.php?aId=6563 [June 2014]
Civil Engineering students excel at Pacific Southwest competition: Details [April 2014]
2013
On December 13, 2013, Glenn Okimoto, Director of the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation, presented a plaque to “Professor C. S. Papacostas in recognition and appreciation of outstanding dedication and service as executive director of the Hawaii Local Technical Assistance Program.” Professor Papacostas has guided the federal and state funded training and technology transfer program since 1998. [December 2013]
The Board of Governors of the Geo-Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers has approved the formation of the Geo-Institute Graduate Student Organization (GI-GSO) at the University of Hawai”˜i at Manoa. Details [December 2013]
University of Hawaii at Manoa Student Chapter Wins Pacific District Chi Epsilon Cup for the First Time See full report and photo [November 2013]
Emeritus Professor Wai-Fah Chen has co-edited the first ever Handbook of International Bridge Engineering with Lian Duan of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). The handbook was recently published by CRC Press. [October 2013]
On October 8, 2013, Professor Lin Shen served on a Panel titled “Advanced Communications, Energy, and Manufacturing” for 2013 Hawaii Aerospace Summit held at State Capital. Professor Shen gave a presentation about “PISCES Sustainable Concrete Project”, which will be funded by the County of Hawaii in $100,000 matching fund in 2014. The project is about placing and testing prototype cementless concrete walkway using alkaline-activated Fly Ash (a waste material from local power plants) and other alternative binders. [October 2013]
The Coasts, Oceans, Ports & Rivers Institute of ASCE has appointed Prof. H.R. Riggs to be the Editor of the ASCE Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering, effective October 1, 2013. [September 2013]
Dr. Sayed M. Bateni has joined the department as assistant professor specializing in hydrology, remote sensing and land-atmosphere interaction. He earned the Ph.D. at MIT and was a lecturer and post-doctoral scholar at UCLA. [August 2013]
CEE is pleased to announce that Ms. Kim Hartzog has been offered and has accepted the position of Scientific Instrument Technician in the department. She has extensive laboratory experience, including a recent deployment in Afghanistan. Among her principal duties is to support the operation of the department’s instructional laboratories. [July 2013]
After more than 45 years of service to the department, Prof. Robert A. Grace has retired at the end of May, 2013. Since 1966, Prof. Grace has conducted extensive research and teaching in the areas of offshore and underwater engineering, ocean outfalls, artificial reefs, wave forces, and the marine environment. He has also taught the fundamental applied mechanics, probability and statistics classes on a regular basis and has authored two renowned books on marine outfalls. In appreciation of his positive impact on three generations of students at the College of Engineering, the “Professor Robert Grace Endowment for Civil & Environmental Engineering” has been established by two CEE alumni, Roy Abe (’79) and Glenn Nohara (’73). [July 2013]
Michael Bell, a PhD candidate in Civil & Environmental Engineering, will be attending the 2013 Asia-Pacific Summer School Program in Smart Structures Technology at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, South Korea. Attendees, selected from an extremely competitive pool of applicants (approximately 10 from USA), will be fully funded through the U.S. National Science Foundation in addition to international support provided by JSF and NNSFC respectively. The three week program consists of coursework, lectures, labs and site visits incorporating students from Korea, U.S., Japan, China and India. The curriculum will address the hardware, software, data informatics, and applications of smart structures technology. [May 2013]
CEE senior Jessica Galacgac was awarded the $2,000 Pacific District Scholarship in honor of the 46th Chi Epsilon National Honor Member Leland J. Walker, in recognition of her outstanding academic work, along with her significant, enthusiastic, and excellent involvement in extracurricular activities, and particularly in Chi Epsilon, the Honorary Civil Engineering Society. [April 2013]
Joshua Lelemia Irvine, Ph.D. Candidate in CEE, has been selected as a recipient of the East-West Center Graduate Degree Fellowship for the Fall 2013″“Spring 2014 academic year. The key experiential component of the EWC Fellowship experience includes: living on campus at the East-West Center; participating in the EWC Wednesday evening seminar on themes relevant to the US, the Pacific, and Asia region; and a commitment to service learning within East-West Center and activities, and the broader island community. [April 2013]
Laxman Sharma’s PhD dissertation at CEE was selected as the first place recipient of the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR)’s 2013 Ph.D. Dissertation Award. He completed his work on “Riverbank filtration: Modeling fate of dissolved organic carbon, transport of Escherichia coli, and coupling with aquifer storage to address temporal water scarcity” in the Summer of 2012. The UCOWR is an association of US universities and organizations leading in education, research, and public service in water resources. Each year, it recognizes two outstanding Ph.D. dissertations on water issues: (1) Water Policy and Socio Economics, and (2) Natural Science and Engineering. Dr. Sharma’s dissertation was selected in the latter category. The award consists of a certificate and a $750 check, reimbursement up to $1,000 for travel expenses to the UCOWR annual meeting, and registration fee waiver to attend the meeting. Dr. Sharma is currently working with Prof. Chittaranjan Ray as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the UH Water Resources Research Center . [April 2013]
Qian Zhang, a PhD student in CEE, won an Outstanding Graduate Student Poster Presentation award at the 2nd Annual Student Water Research Conference sponsored by the Buchanan Family Trust and NSF at the Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, OK). His winning poster was entitled “Submerged beach sand enhances the die-off of exogenous Enterococcus faecalis in beach water”. He was also awarded a $500 travel award for attending the conference. [April 2013]
Joshua L. Irvine, a PhD candidate in CEE, was selected by the University of Hawai`i at Manoa Graduate Council to receive the Francis Davis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching for Graduate Assistants. He will be recognized and presented with a $1,000 cash payment award at the UH-Manoa Awards Ceremony on April 30, 2013. [April 2013]
Melia Iwamoto, a M.S. student specializing in Geotechnical Engineering, was awarded second place in the Geosynthetics Student Poster competition at the Geosynthetics 2013 conference in Long Beach, CA. Her poster was entitled “Shear Strength Parameters of Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Using Mini-Pier Tests.” She received a certificate, $200 in prize money and $200 in travel reimbursement. [April 2013] photo
On March 16, 2013, Prof. Oceana Francis of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Hawaii served on a special panel at a conference titled “Women Inspiring Innovation through Imagination.” The purpose of the conference was to enhance the awareness of female high school students to the career opportunities that the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines have to offer. [March 2013]
Prof. Ronald Riggs is leading a multi-university team studying the impact of tsunami-borne debris, such as 60,000-pound fully loaded cargo containers, on buildings. He will present the team’s finding at an international conference in June. More information [February 2013]
Dr. Gaur Johnson has joined the department beginning in January 2013 as an assistant professor specializing in structural engineering. [January 2013]
2012
In December 2012, Department Chair C. S. Papacostas was an invited participant at the “Every Day Counts” summit in Portland, Oregon that addressed new technology innovation initiatives of the Federal Highway Administration. [December 2012]
Dr. Oceana Francis has joined the Department as an assistant professor in the area of hydraulic engineering. She is a member of a University wide cluster hire initiative in the area of coastal sustainability. [August 2012]
Tensioned Slope and Rock Stabilization Systems Workshop, August 16, 2012
Professors Ron Riggs, Ian Robertson and Michelle Teng of UH, together with Prof. Sungsu Lee of Chungbuk National University in Korea, organized the 1st Joint Hawaii-Korea Workshop on Engineering of Coastal Structures for Tsunami and Coastal Storm Surge Hazards, which took place in Honolulu, June 12″“13, 2012. The two primary objectives of the workshop were to present the current research and practice in the two locales and to provide a forum to initiate a long-term collaboration between UH and Korea in this area. [June 2012]
Professor Ian Robertson and graduate student Stephen Peters were awarded the 2012 Dr. Arthur Chiu Hurricane Preparedness Award by Major General Wong and Vice Director Doug Mayne of the Hawaii State Civil Defense. The award was given in recognition of their efforts to design, construct and commission a windborne debris test facility for the State of Hawaii. This facility has been used successfully to develop economical safe room designs for new homes built in Hawaii. [May 2012]
The College of Engineering has executed a partnering agreement with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands at a ceremony in Kapolei yesterday. Part of the agreement is: “The College of Engineering plans on incorporating engineering research and innovation to help DHHL identify any current and long-term infrastructure and maintenance issues on its homes and land. For example, students may take part in assessing rock fall mitigation concerns, drainage and water infiltration problems, or structural concerns with roadways.” [April 2012]
Department Chair C. S. Papacostas served on the panel of judges who selected the 2012 Engineering Excellence Awards for the American Council of Engineering Companies of Hawaii (ACECH) presented at the Annual Gala held at the Oahu Country Club on January 15, 2012. We congratulate SSFM and Moffat & Nichols Joint Venture for winning the Grand Conceptor Award for the Submarine Magnetic Silencing Facility at Pearl Harbor; the two Excellence Award recipients, AECOM (Kuahea Street Emergency Rockfall Mitigation) and Yogi Kwong Engineers and Oregon Woods, Inc. (Emergency Repair of the Kalaupapa Pali Trail); and the following winners of Honor Awards: Bowers & Kubota Consulting, Belt Collins Hawaii, Coffman Engineers, Masa Fujioka & Associates, and SSFM International. [January 2012]
The Department has entered a memorandum of understanding with China’s Zhejiang University to promote academic exchange. [January 2012]
Prof. Albert Kim has recently been appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Environmental Engineering & Ecological Science, which covers topics ranging from water purification to eco-terrorism. He is also a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Energy Engineering, which reports on energy sustainability and efficiency with an emphasis on the civil engineering component of these issues, as well as the editorial advisory board for Recent Patents on Chemical Engineering, regarded as “essential reading for all researchers involved in chemical engineering science. [January 2012]
2011
Mr. Bill Wilson, President of the Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company, was installed as the new president of the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department’s Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) at its November 30, 2011 meeting. Mr. Wilson succeeds Mr. Ken Hayashida, President of KAI Hawaii. On behalf of the CEE faculty and staff, Department Chair Constantinos S. Papacostas expresses appreciation for the valuable service rendered to the department by Mr. Hayashida as a member and Chair of the IAC and looks forward to continued collaboration with the profession under the leadership of Mr. Wilson, saying, “Town and gown collaboration is a win-win proposition. Our academic and research programs gain from the feedback and wise counsel we receive, and industry gains from better prepared future employees. The ultimate beneficiary, of course, is the general community.” [December 2011]
Prof. Adrian Ricardo Archilla and his co-author Luis G. Diaz received the 3rd Prize for the paper (in Spanish) “Evaluation of the Effect of Hot Mix Asphalt Characteristics in the Resistance to Permanent Deformation Using the Simple Performance Tester (SPT) and the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) at the XV Congreso Argentino de Vialidad y Tránsito, Mar del Plata, Argentina. In addition to the certificate, the prize included AR$5,000. [November 2011]
SSFM International Inc. has established a $200,000 scholarship endowment to provide financial support to SSFM employees who are also full-time undergraduate students majoring in civil and environmental engineering. More information [November 2011]
A paper authored by CEE doctoral candidate Lambros Mitropoulos, Prof. Panos Prevedouros, and University of Thessaly (Greece) Assoc. Prof. Teti Nathanail won the Sustainable Development Award from the World Road Association at the 12th World Road Congress in Mexico. The paper was titled “Life cycle assessment through a comprehensive sustainability framework: A case study of urban transportation vehicles.” The Association paid for Mitropoulos’ registration at the conference, travel and accommodation while in Mexico. [October 2011]
Dr. Lin Shen has joined the department this semester as an Assistant Professor. He earned the doctorate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with specialization is concrete materials and technology. Dr. Lin has been invited to present a talk titled “Rheology of Robust Self Consolidating Concrete” to Hawaii’s Cement and Concrete Procucts Industry (CCPI) group. His presentation will focus on testing methods we developed to quantify the segregation and robustness of self-consolidating concrete (SCC) and how these methods will help design quality SCC mixes; how aggregate packing affects the rheology and robustness of SCC; and his plan to design robust SCC using local basalt aggregates. “We are extremely pleased to have Dr. Shen join the department,” said Chair C. S. Papacostas. “He offers a unique blend of academic and industrial expertise that will contribute significantly to both theory and practice.” [September 2011]
Civil engineering students excel at 2011 Pacific Southwest Conference. [April 2011]
Prof. Albert Kim has contributed Chapter 1, “Bias Monte Carlo Methods in Environmental Engineering,” in “Applications of Monte Carlo Methods in Biology, Medicine and Other Fields of Science” edited by Charles J. Mode. The on-line book is an eclectic mix of various applications of Monte Carlo simulation methods. Dr. Kim’s chapter emphasizes bias Monte Carlo, which allows directed importance sampling in the phase space and enhances simulation performance and accuracy. The book chapter contains a simple description of entropy and conditional probabilities with interesting examples and discusses hydrodynamic force-bias Monte Carlo for the behavior of nano- and colloidal particles in aqueous phases. [March 2011]
Monday March 14, 2011 was “UH Day” at the State Legislature that showcased the excellence and diversity of programs and services throughout all 10 campuses of the University of Hawai’i to Hawai’i state legislators and staff. Among the featured projects were three conducted by our faculty and students and funded by the University’s Office of Facilities and Grounds. They were:
1. “Drainage Systems Assessment,” by Drs. Ray and Teng, researcher Philip Moravcik, and students Alvina Lutu, David Bushnell, Jodie Tsubone, and Vance Tomasu.
2. “Analysis of Seepage Flows,” by Drs. Brandes and Nicholson with students James Ripple and May Liu.
3. “Water Sustainability Plan,” by Dr. Babcock anbd students Kristen Au, Krishna Lamichhane, and Tyler Nethers.
The three projects, dubbed by Chair Papacostas “actions toward campus sustainability,” address the needs of the Manoa campus. [March 2011]
CEE Chair C. S. Papacostas was the invited speaker at the meeting of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) – Hawaii Section on January 26. His presentation included new FHWA initiatives dubbed “Every Day Counts,” the Hawaii Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), a technology transfer center he directs with funding from FHWA and the Hawaii DOT, and a new peer-exchange County Traffic Group he has organized within the state. [February 2011]
Emeritus Professor Wai-Fa Chen has published a new book titled “My Life’s Journey””Reflections of an Academic.” According to a book review published by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), it “combines his personal life experiences and family history; a history of the intellectual and practical developments in structural engineering, engineering mechanics, plasticity theory, and geo-engineering in the past half-century; and philosophical comments on the past, present, and future of the civil engineering profession in general and the academic teaching/research community in particular.” [January 2011]
2010
Prof. Ricardo Archilla, who is the faculty advisor of the student chapter of the Institute of Transportaion Engineers at the University of Hawai”˜i, announced that a student proposal to collect trip generation data at a soccer complex was selected for funding by the National ITE Data Collection Fund committee. “This is great news! Led by Lambros Mitropoulos, the student team will contribute to the continuing update of ITE’s Trip Generation Manual, an internationally recognized professional reference,” Prof. Arcilla said. According to the notice of award “the selection process this year was even more difficult than usual. We received 18 proposals from 15 ITE student chapters, and only five projects can be funded.” (December 2010)
Congratulations to Professor Edmond Cheng who has been granted Emeritus status. (November 2010)
CEE Chair Constantinos Papacostas has been invited by the Deputy Director of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Gregory G. Nadeau to participate in an “innovation summit” in early November in connection to FHWA’s new efficiency initiative called “Every Day Counts” (EDC). Invited participants include “representatives from the FHWA Divisions, State departments of transportation and key highway program public and private sector stakeholders.” (October 2010)
CEE professor Ian Robertson is a member of a Hawai`i delegation of earthquake specialists participating (along with other US scientists and engineers) in discussions with Chinese colleagues on new research ideas to minimize future earthquake disasters. The October 18 to 22 meetings in Beijing are supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other groups. (October 2010)
CEE Professor Amarjit Singh and Thomas Taam of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers published a monograph titled Area Cost Factors: Methodology in Preliminary Construction Cost Estimating. The publisher is Stipes Publishing, L.L.C. of Champaign, Illinois. (September 2010)
H. Ronald Riggs leads an international team of researchers that was awarded a $965,000 grant by the National Science Foundation for a three-year study to improve our understanding of the effects of tsunami-driven debris, such as logs, utility poles and steel shipping containers on buildings and other structures. The team includes Marcello Kobayashi, professor of mechanical engineering at UH Manoa, and collaborators from Oregon State University, Lehigh University, Nagoya University and the Port and Airport Research Institute in Japan. As reported in Star-Advertiser. (September 2010)
During a special ceremony held at the August meeting of the Hawaii Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers in the Frank F. Fasi Municipal Building, ITE Western U.S. District President Edgar A. Perez has proclaimed August 18, 2010 as “Dr. Constantinos S. Papacostas Day to recognize him for his outstanding contributions, leadership, and dedication” in the betterment of the profession. The Institute of Transportation Engineers is an international educational and scientific association of transportation professionals who are responsible for meeting the mobility and safety needs of the population. (September 2010)
has been elected Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, effective September 7, 2010. (September 2010)
The United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation
recently awarded a two-year project ($120,000) to assistant professor Dr. Tao Yan (US PI) and his Israel collaborator Dr. Cytryn Eddie
(Israel PI). The research project, which is titled “Molecular
evolution of antibiotic resistance in soil exposed to anthropogenic
factors,” will investigate how human activities, such as irrigation
with reused wastewaters, would affect the development of antibiotic
resistance in soil and the consequences to human health. (July
2010)
Congratulations to Tianwei (David) Ma on his award
of tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. (June 2010)
The University of Hawai’i, American Society of Civil
Engineering (ASCE) Student Chapter Steel Bridge Team went to West
Lafayette Indiana to compete in the 2010 National Student Steel
Bridge Competition (NSSBC). The competition was hosted by Purdue
University on May 28-29, 2010 and was attended by the top 46 steel
bridge teams that previously had won regional events at which a
total of 192 bridges were entered. The UH Student Chapter has been
to NSSBC previously in 2006, 2008 and 2009. The 2010 team consisted
of Eric Tomishima (captain), Reef Ozaki-Train, James Aoki, Melissa
Yuen and Brent Ching. The steel bridge competition consists of
6 event categories, including lightness, stiffness, efficiency,
construction speed, display and economy. The UH team had their
best finish yet at the 2010 competition, placing 15th overall
and notably winning 2nd place in lightness, 2nd place in efficiency,
and 3rd place in display. The UH students enjoyed the Purdue campus
and proudly brought home three plaques for their efforts at the
2010 NSSBC (on display outside the CEE office, Holmes Hall 383). (June
2010)
Assistant Professor Tao Yan has received a Program
Development Grant Award from the University of Hawaii Sea Grant
College Program. These grants are awarded for extremely promising
pilot studies or proof-of-concept work. Often this support will
lead to a competitive biennium proposal submitted to Sea Grant
or a foundation for an extramural grant. The project is entitled “A
Novel Upflow Geofilter System for the Cost-Efficient Removal of
Fecal Bacteria from Stream Water.” The project will develop
various low-cost geofilter configurations and test their effectiveness
in removal of bacteria from Hawaii stream water. (June 2010)
The CEE Department has recently awarded four scholarships.
Two Structural Engineers Association of Hawaii (SEAOH) sponsored
accolades went to graduate students Yuryi Mikhaylov (PhD candidate)
and Nathan Powelson (MS candidate). For the coming academic year,
the John S. Farmer Scholarship was awarded to undergraduate students
Ethan Smith and James Aoki. (April 2010)
The University of Hawaii, American Society of Civil
Engineering (ASCE) Student Chapter went to Las Vegas to compete
in the 2010 Pacific Southwest Regional Conference. The annual conference
was hosted by UNLV on April 8-9-10, 2010 and was attended by 1,100
students from 17 universities. UH took 39 students to compete in
15 events including concrete canoe, steel bridge, environmental,
geotechnical, surveying, technical paper, quiz bowl, impromptu,
mystery, scavenger hunt, tug-o-war, and several sports (soccer,
basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, basketball). The UH team did
very well in the steel bridge event, placing 2nd overall, thereby
earning a spot at the National Student Steel Bridge Competition
(May 28-29, 2010 at Purdue Univ). The steel bridge competition
includes 6 events and the UH team (Eric Tomishima, Reef Ozaki-Train,
James Aoki, Melissa Yuen, Brent Ching) placed first in stiffness,
first in efficiency, and second in lightness. Megan Ueno placed
fifth in the technical paper and presentation. UH placed 12th overall
in the conference. The UH students enjoyed the Las Vegas attractions
and made it back to Hawaii safely. (April 2010)
Directed by Professor and CEE Chair C. S. Papacostas,
the Hawaii Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) hosted its
Region 9 annual meeting on April 15-16, 2010 at the Hilton Hawaiian
Village. States represented stretched from Hawaii to Alaska.
For info about LTAP, see http://hltap.eng.hawaii.edu (April
2010)
After the recent Chile earthquake and tsunami, Prof.
Robertson was invited to join an team of 30 researchers organized
by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, EERI, to survey
damage resulting from this event. Robertson and two structural
engineers from Honolulu, Gary Chock and Juan Morla, surveyed tsunami
damage along the coastline of Chile from Dichato to Llico, including
the major ports at Concepcion and Talcahuano. A short presentation
on their observations and field notes are available for download
at:
www.eng.hawaii.edu/~ian/ChileTsunami/ChileTsunamiEERIDebrief.ppt
and
www.eng.hawaii.edu/~ian/ChileTsunami/FieldNotesChileTsunami.pdf (March
2010)
CEE graduate student Hui Zhang won second place
in the Student Vibration Design Competition at the
2010 ASCE Earth and Space Conference held in Honolulu, Hawai`i,
March 15-17. A team from Rice University won first place. There
were eight competing teams, including five from U.S. universities
and three from Chinese universities. Hui is currently a second
year PhD student under David Ma’s supervision. (March 2010)
L. Stephen Lau, emeritus professor of Civil and Environmental
Engineering, scholarship applications announced Details (February
2010)
Constantinos S. Papacostas has been appointed chair
of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Details (January 2010)
2009
Professor Peter Nicholson was recently elected to
the Academy of Geo-Professionals (AGP) as a Diplomate, Geotechnical
Engineering (D.GE). Details (December 2009)
ASCE
Student Chaper at UHM places 11th out of 47 teams in the 2009 ASCE/AISC
National Student Steel Bridge Competition (NSSCB) at UNLV. Details (June
2009)
ASCE has
just published Prof. Bob Grace’s new book, Marine Outfall Construction:
Background, Techniques and Case Studies. Please see the ASCE
bookstore for more details. (May 2009)
Professor Amarjit Singh Receives Top Teaching Award
Professor Amarjit Singh is a 2009 recipeint of the Board
of Regents’ Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Hawaii
at Manoa. The award letter states that “This award recognizes faculty
members who have made significant contributions in teaching and student
learning. The faculty honored exhibit an extraordinary level of subject
mastery and scholarship, teaching effectiveness and creativity, and personal
values beneficial to students.” (May 2009)
Two CEE faculty members received prestigious American Concrete
Institute (ACI) awards at the ACI Spring Convention in San Antonio,
Texas, this March.
Prof. Ian Robertson was awarded the ACI Wason Medal for
Meritorious Technical Paper for his co-authorship of a paper titled “Post-tensioned
slab-column connections,” published in the April 2007 issue
of Concrete International.
Prof. Farshad Rajabipour was awarded the ACI Wason Medal
for Materials Research for his co-authorship of “Influence
of SRA on development of plastic shrinkage cracks,” a paper
published in the March 2007 issue of ACI Materials Journal.
(April 2009)
Graduate student, Matteo D’Alessio, received a NSF sponsored
scholarship from the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation at the
University of Pittsburgh to attend the Engineering Sustainability 2009
Conference, April 19″“21, 2009. Matteo will present a poster that
examines the sorption and transport of explosive chemicals to leaves
and leaf litters of Hawaiian plants. (March 2009)
CEE graduate student, Dustin K. Goto, was awarded a NSF
EAPSI Fellowship this summer at Gwanju Institute of Science and Technology
in Korea. He will investigate the abundance and genetic diversity of
/E. coli/ in one Korean agricultural watershed in comparison with Hawaiian
watersheds. The work is part of his MS thesis research at UH Manoa. (March
2009)
College of Engineering alumnus Jeoffrey S. Cudiamat named
2009 Young Engineer of the Year by the Hawai`i Council of Engineering
Societies. Details. (February
2009)
2008
Dr. Amarjit Singh has been named editor-in-chief of the
American Society of Civil Engineers’ Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute
Resolution in Engineering and Construction. (November 2008)
Prof. Panos Prevedouros is taking a leave of absence to
run as a candidate in the non-partisan race for mayor of the City and
County of Honolulu. (July 2008)
Seminar on Seismic Base Isolation. Earthquake Protection
Systems have installed the first
structural base isolation system in the State of Hawaii on the Kealakaha Stream
Bridge under construction on the Hamakua coast of the Big Island. Dr. Anoop Mokha
of EPS presented a one hour seminar, September 25, 2008, on friction pendulum
seismic isolation bearing systems. (See
announcement).
CEE graduate student Dustin K Goto was awarded a PACE Summer
Fellowship to study alternative energy and its commercial viability.
The PACE Fellowships were established by the Pacific Asian Center for
Entrepreneurship (PACE) at the University of Hawaii to promote scientific
and technological innovations. The 2008 PACE graduate fellows include
two MBA, one law, and one CEE students. (June 2008)
On Thursday May 22, at Holmes Hall 244, guest speaker
Associate Professor David Mukai, from the University of Wyoming, Department
of Civil & Architectural Engineering, will present some of his recent
research, “Test Methods for Determining Physical Properties of Hardened
Self Consolidating Concrete (SCC).”
Click here for
the abstract. (May 2008)
Prof. Jean-Louis Briad, Holder of the Buchanan Chair, Texas
A&M University, will be giving a seminar “Case Histories in Soil and
Rock Erosion” on May 14 from 10 to 11 am, in Holmes Hall 287. All are
welcome. Click here for
the abstract. (May 2008)
Dr. Amarjit Singh has been named the winner of the 2007
best paper award by the ASCE Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering
Education and Practice for his paper (sole author) titled “Civil
Engineering: Anachronism and Black Sheep”, Volume 133, Issue 1,
January 2007, pp. 18-30. (January 2008)
2007
High Performance Computing: M.S. student Yuewei Liu’s results
of Monte Carlo simulations appear as a featured article of the High Performance
Computing at UH <http://www.hawaii.edu/hpc/>.
Her faculty advisor is Prof. Albert S. Kim (November 2007)
Two
new faculty members join the Department (August 2007)
Professor
Kim joins editorial advisory board of new journal in chemical engineering (August
2007)
Recent
graduate Timothy Lum-Yee honored with Undergraduate Leadership Distinction
Award. (May 2007)
Professor
Ray receives Defense University Research Instrumentation Program
(DURIP) Grant. See
story for details. (April 2007)
Prof.
Albert Kim is selected Researcher of the Month by High Performance
Computing at UH. He recently solved a 2.3 billion element matrix. See
story for details. (March 2007)
Professor
Nicholson receives the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal by the US
Army for his work in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. (February
2007)
Live on KHNL Channel 8 at 5 PM on Wednesday, February 28!
CEE’s Dr.
Panos Prevedouros will join Hawaii’s Department of Transportation,
Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Services and Oahu’s Metropolitan
Planning Organization directors in the NBC affiliate’s “Talk Story” with
Howard Dashefsky. The show will cover transportation issues in Honolulu
and Oahu. (February 2007)
Professor
Singh elected Special Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building. See
story for details. (January 2007)
2006
UHM
Journalism/Comunications senior Tina Ng reveals CEE Professor Panos
Prevedouros’ hobby in her “Racing Professor” video (October
2006)
Reconnaissance
following the October 15, 2006 earthquakes on the Island of Hawaii (October
2006) Download
PDF report (6 MB)
Professor Albert Kim receives UH Regents’ Medal for Excellence
in Research (August 2006)
Sanjay
Mohanty Receives UH Recruitment/Retention Scholarship (August
2006)
Prof.
Singh Receives Surendranath Mukherjee Memorial Prize (May 2006)
Research
and Teaching Assistant Opportunities (May 2006)
Bryce
Toyama, CEE Undergraduate wins Undergraduate 2006 Summer Research Award (May
2006)
UH
Students Qualify for the 2006 AISC National Student Steel Bridge Competition (April
2006)
Prof.
Prevedouros organizes panel presentation for Hawaii Highway users Alliance (April
2006)
Professor
Brandes assists State in its investigation of the Ka Loko dam failure
on Kauai (April 2006)
The
Department Alumni Page now lists all BS graduates going back to 1912
and graduate students going back to 1963! (April 2006)
Emeritus
Prof. Arthur Chiu passed away very suddenly January 30, 2006. Please
see the article from the Honolulu Advertiser. (February 2006)
2005
Faculty
working to keep our bridges safe (October 2005)
Professors
Archilla and Ooi Awarded $950K to Update the State’s Pavement Management
System and Pavement Design Practices (October 2005)
NSF
Supports Profs. Robertson and Riggs to Survey Damage from Hurricane
Katrina (September 2005)
Prof.
Nicholson to Lead New Orleans” Levee Assessment for ASCE (September
2005)
Department
Faculty Receive $1.3 Million from NSF for Tsunami Engineering (September
2005)
CEE
Ph.D. Graduate, Edison Gica, Receives American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Outstanding Student Paper Award (July 2005)
Society
of American Military Engineers Honolulu Post Scholarship (February
2005)
Prof.
Prevedouros on sabbatical with Attica Tollway in Athens (February
2005)
CEE
Prof. Albert Kim receives prestigious NSF CAREER Award (February
2005)
Matthew
Odo, a 2004 graduate of Pearl City High School, was selected as the
Actus Lend Lease Outstanding CEE Scholar in August 2004 (February 2005).
Alfred
A. Yee has joined the Department as an adjunct faculty member (January
2005).
Actus
Lend Lease has established the Actus Lend Lease Outstanding Civil & Environmental
Engineering Scholarship (January 2005).
