This fall, Rep. Peter DeFazio, chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, invited Dan Cox, CH2M-Hill Professor in Civil Engineering, to present at a hearing before the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation. 

Cox described the role university-based research can play in providing the Coast Guard with tools to build and maintain resilient and adaptive port infrastructure. His testimony included descriptions of state-of-the-art modeling tools – some of which are being developed at Oregon State University –  that can identify high-risk conditions, adaptive planning approaches to account for sea level uncertainties, and techniques to improve the corrosion resistance of steel within infrastructure. 

“Improved models relating to exposure conditions from extreme surge and waves on long-term performance can be used to provide better service-life prediction, and advances in high-performance concrete can be used to improve new construction,” Cox said. 

Cox described how natural and nature-based features can protect ports, make them more resilient, and can provide ecological benefits. He also emphasized the importance of workforce development for maritime resilience and of Oregon State’s role in the training of Coast Guard and Navy students at the graduate level.

“We provide a rigorous academic program combined with hands-on research projects tailored to the missions of these agencies,” Cox said.

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Oregon State hosted a seafloor instrumentation workshop, “Integrating Science Needs with Advanced Seafloor Sensor Engineering to Provide Early Warning of Geohazards: Visioning Workshop and Roadmap for the Future,” which integrated the expertise of leading scientists and engineers to advance seafloor sensor development and widespread deployment.

Integrating autonomous marine vehicles, computer science, geotechnical engineering, marine geomatics, robotics, and more, the two-day workshop charted the future for instrumenting the seafloor to provide real-time data. One key focus was to develop strategies to enable early warning of geohazards. Participants explored the development of sensors to measure seafloor deformation, temperature, and fluid flow with high resolution over broad areas, strategies for transmitting the data to land quickly and efficiently, and methods for obtaining energy from the environment.

CCE students took home top honors at regional competitions and conferences throughout Spring 2018:

At the Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting, Ellie Simpson, Hisham Jashami, Zach Barlow, and Scott Logan-Deeter earned second place nationally in the Traffic Control Device Challenge; Alireza Mostafizi received the PacTrans 2017 Michael Kyte Student of the Year award; and Kayla Fleskes received the PacTrans Student of the Year award.

At the ASC Regions 6 & 7 2018 Student Competition, the OSU mixed use team took first place, and the project management and mechanical teams earned third place finishes. Additionally, Aaron Bowen received first place in alternate team, Michael Jones best presenter in the alternates competition, Ryan Wager best presenter in the mechanical competition, Jack Powers best presenter in the pre construction competition, and Dallas Thompson best presenter in the electrical competition.

Awarded to only a few chapters nationally, the OSU ASCE Student Chapter received a 2018 Letter of Recognition for Community Service from ASCE for its exemplary community service benefiting others outside of their ASCE Student Chapter.

• Professor Emeritus Hal Pritchett received the AGC Hal Pritchett Distinguished Service Award. The award, which was created by AGC Oregon Columbia Chapter President Brian Gray of Knife River and the chapter Executive Committee, is presented to an individual who embodies the attributes of Professor Pritchett. This individual’s loyalty, passion, and lifetime of distinguished leadership and service to the construction industry help to shape generations of construction professionals for years to come.
• David Hurwitz, associate professor of transportation engineering was named the OSU Honors College Thomas and Margaret Meehan Eminent Mentor and received the OSU Outreach and Engagement Award for Excellence.
• Matt Evans, associate professor of geotechnical engineering was named the Associate Editor of the Year by the ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering.
• Burkan Isgor, professor of infrastructure materials was named the Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.
• Keith Kaufman, Knife River, faculty advisor was named the Prestress 2018 PCI Fellow.
• Jason Weiss, head of the School of Civil and Construction Engineering, Miles Lowell and Margaret Watt Edwards Distinguished Chair in Engineering, Director of the Kiewit Center for Infrastructure and Transportation Research received the American Concrete Institute 2018 Robert E. Philleo Award.

In September 2017, the School of Civil and Construction Engineering recognized three faculty members for their contributions to students and the greater school.

Meghna Babbar-Sebens, associate professor of water resources engineering received the CCE Award for Excellence in Partnering, Andre Barbosa, assistant professor of structural engineering, the CCE Award for Research Excellence, and Kenny Martin, senior instructor, the CCE Award for Teaching Excellence.

Babbar-Sebens leads a $1.5 million project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The grant is part of the new NSF-USDA INFEWS program focused on accelerating discovery and innovation at the nexus of food, energy, and water systems. The project is a collaboration between Oregon State and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis IUPUI and at OSU, Babbar-Sebens collaborates with Ganti Murthy, associate professor in biological and ecological engineering, Jenna Tilt, assistant professor in geography, and Jeff Reimer, associate professor of applied economics. At IUPUI, Babbar-Sebens is working with Snehasis Mukhopadhyay and Arjan Durresi, both professors of computer and information science.

In summer 2017, Barbosa along with Oregon State colleagues and researchers from partner universities put an innovative two-story structure made of cross-laminated timber (known as CLT) panels through a series of seismic tests to determine how it would perform in an earthquake. The tests were conducted at the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure at University of California San Diego (NEHRI@UCSD) site, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. Through the tests, they produced data that can be used in the design of a new generation of wood-frame high-rises, such as a four-story parking structure designed for Springfield, Oregon, and the 12-story Framework building in Portland. Scheduled to open in 2018, the 90,000-square-foot Framework structure will be the tallest mass-timber building in the United States.

Martin teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in engineering mechanics and structural engineering. In addition to teaching courses in statics, wood design, and temporary structures, Martin serves as a mentor and advisor to a number of graduate students, who appreciate his efforts greatly. “I really like Kenny Martin,” said student Alyssa Martin. “I had him for statics and he was one of the ones that really worked with me, just to kind of make sure I understood the whole concept of statics – and that you carry with you.”

These three faculty members are working to establish OSU as the partner of choice, lead research that will change the world, and provide a transformational experience for students – and ultimately create a better future.

Oregon State University earned third place among competitors throughout North America at the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Big Beam Contest. The contest objective is for student teams to fabricate and test a precast/prestressed concrete beam with the help of local PCI members. The beam must be made primarily of concrete without any trusses, arches, or other non-flexural members. Prizes are awarded to the top 20 performers in consideration of efficient design, highest load capacity, and other categories.

The Oregon State team from the College of Engineering’s School of Civil and Construction Engineering was comprised of Tyler Oathes, Cody Tibbits, Neil Schweitzer, Taylor Kiefel, Anh Nguyen, and Jonathan Kopp with faculty advisor Keith Kaufman, and PCI producer Knife River – Prestress of Harrisburg, Ore.

Congratulations to the students on an outstanding performance and thank you to PCI producer Knife River for your continued support of student learning at Oregon State.

As an engineering professional who spent five years in private practice prior to earning his Ph.D., Associate Professor Shane Brown knows first-hand about the skills, concepts, and qualities needed to thrive as a practicing engineer. In his research, Brown aims to identify new ways to help students understand the fundamental concepts they will need to succeed in the engineering workplace.

Brown, who earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Oregon State, joined CCE in 2014 after teaching at Washington State University and managing projects at private firms. His research examines why particular engineering concepts are harder to learn than others and how educational institutions can develop environments that facilitate understanding, particularly within solid and fluid mechanics and transportation. He also explores differences in ways of knowing and how core concepts are used in engineering practice.

Currently, Brown is working with 20 researchers and engineering instructors from different colleges and universities to discover new teaching approaches for the course Mechanics of Materials. Specifically, the project will help students acquire a deeper understanding of fundamental engineering concepts such as stress, strain, and equilibrium – concepts that play a vital role in the safety of the built environment. “Theoretical contributions related to learning fundamental engineering concepts and the link between education and practice are vital to preparing students for an innovative and creative workforce,” said Brown.

In another effort to enhance instruction, Brown serves as co-principal investigator for ESTEME@OSU, a project supported by the Nation Science Foundation which is working to broadly implement innovative evidence-based instructional practices – specifically, interactive engagement in lecture and formal cooperative learning – into core biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, and physics undergraduate courses. Last year, Brown also led the development of a new Engineering Education research program in CCE. Engineering Education offers master of science, master of engineering, and doctoral degrees and focuses on understanding and improving student learning in engineering and better aligning engineering education with engineering practice.

In recognition of these many contributions to student learning, Brown received the OSU Faculty Teaching Excellence Award in September 2015. Among the reasons he was selected for the honor include his exceptional effort to ensure the quality of the students’ classroom experience and his direct and significant impact upon and involvement with students.

In addition to obtaining a thorough understanding of the fundamental concepts of their field, Brown said, “I recommend that students meet professionals. Ask them what they do to be successful. Be an advocate for yourself.”

CCE student teams won first place in two competitions at the Geotechnical and Structural Engineering Congress held February 14-17, 2016 in Phoenix, Ariz.

Mentored by faculty member Ben Mason, the GeoVideo student team of Youssef Bougataya, David Bailey, Rachel Adams, and Sharoo Shrestha placed first for their video, “Soil Structure Interaction During Earthquakes.” The GeoVideo competition received 10 entries with six invited to present at the congress.

“During earthquake shaking, buildings interact with the soil they sit atop, and the soil interacts with the buildings it supports, which is a phenomenon called seismic soil-structure interaction. During many seismic design scenarios, the potential effects of seismic soil-structure interaction, regardless of whether the effects are beneficial, neutral, or detrimental, are ignored,” said Mason. “The students did an excellent job communicating why seismic soil-structure interaction effects are important using a table top demonstration. I look forward to showing their video during my classes.”

In the GeoPrediction competition, the CCE team of Bougataya and Nathan Jones won first place out of nine presenting teams and 18 international submissions. For the competition, teams were required to predict the deflection profile of a 90-foot-deep, tied-back excavation in downtown Seattle, constructed in 2004. In scoring, the prediction and documentation in the report was worth 75 percent and the presentation of the work was worth 25 percent. The team was advised by CCE faculty member Armin W. Stuedlein and three geotechnical practitioners and professors scored the presentations. Each team had 5 to 10 minutes to present their work and answered technical questions for 5 minutes following presentations. Arizona State University took second place and Middle East Technical University of Ankara, Turkey placed third.

“The students faced tough competition, but worked diligently to study the difficult geology of Seattle and how the history of glaciation impacted the strength and stiffness of the soil being excavated,” said Stuedlein. “According to the lead designer of the deep excavation, OSU’s team produced a better lateral displacement profile than their own models, calibrated with 40 years of experience in that geology!”

The congress was unique this year in that the Geo-Institute (G-I) and Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) came together to create the first-of-its-kind congress by combining both institutes’ annual conferences into one event.

Congratulations to the teams on an excellent job well done!

In December, CCE student Andy Truong was named a recipient of the 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Leadership Award. Out of the 328 ASCE student chapters, 12 Student Leadership Awards were awarded – 10 domestic and two international – based on the strength of the nomination form, without regard to region.

The ASCE Student Leadership Award is granted to an ASCE student member who has demonstrated leadership in a chapter through various activities such as serving as an officer, leading special events, and interacting with university administration. During the past three years, Andy has served the chapter in three key officer positions and as co-captain and captain of the ASCE concrete canoe team. In the role of captain, Andy not only introduced an innovative construction technique but also initiated new methods of team communication and organization.

Congratulations to Andy on this outstanding achievement!