Annual Report Year 2010 - Civil and Environmental Engineering

the Charles E. Via, Jr.
Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering
2010 Via Report • No. 24
VIA REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Department Head’s Message
One vital characteristic permeates all of CEE’s many successes.......... 1
Research News
Why a huge shift is occurring in the strategy to reduce seismic risks.... 2
New concerns identified for antibiotic resistance – pollution.................. 4
As earthquakes take their toll, engineers enhance building designs...... 5
Faculty
New Additions......................................................................................... 7
Awards, Honors and Achievements...................................................... 10
Retirement............................................................................................ 11
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30
22
Student News
Undergraduate Scholarships................................................................ 13
Graduate Scholarships and Fellowships.............................................. 14
2009-10 Ph.D. Degrees Awarded......................................................... 15
Alumni News
CEE Alumni Board Members................................................................ 16
Program Areas
CEE Faculty by Program Area.............................................................. 17
Vecellio Construction Engineering and Management........................... 18
Environmental and Water Resources Engineering............................... 21
Geotechnical Engineering.................................................................... 26
Structural Engineering and Materials................................................... 29
Transportation Infrastructure and Systems Engineering...................... 33
Meet the Via Scholars............................................................................ 36
Via Alumni: Where are they now........................................................ 52
Via Donors.............................................................................................. 59
ON THE COVER
Amy Pruden, left, an associate professor of civil and environmental
engineering (CEE) at Virginia Tech and an NSF CAREER Award
recipient, and her colleague Mark Widdowson, professor and assistant
department head of CEE, have received a $60,000 one-year National
Science Foundation (NSF) grant to study how naturally occurring
microbes can best be used to eat away remaining crude oil spilled in the
Gulf of Mexico. (Photo by Kelsey Kradel)
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26
32

DEPARTMENT HEAD’S MESSAGE
One vital characteristic permeates all of CEE’s many successes
What makes the Via Department of
Civil and Environmental Engineering great
Before answering that question, let’s talk
about what “great” really means. Is it measured
by external sources, such as the most
recent U.S. News and World Report collegiate
rankings in which our programs are all in
the top 10 — undergraduate program (10th),
civil engineering graduate program (9th), and
environmental engineering graduate program
(7th) Or is it measured by the demand for
our program by high-caliber undergraduate
and graduate students, and in turn, the
demand of industry and academia for our
graduates Or is it measured by our research
productivity as reported by the National Science
Foundation statistics in which we rank as
the third most productive CEE department in
the country
The answers to these questions are of
course, yes, in one sense. However, another
look at these measures would suggest they
are outcomes that result from other factors. I
believe the single most important characteristic
that results in our “greatness” is the quality
of our people.
Our people include students, alumni and
friends of the department, staff and faculty.
Throughout the pages you’re about to read
you will see a glimpse into what makes the
Via Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering truly great.
You’ll read about some of the outstanding
research being conducted by our faculty,
graduate students and staff. An update on
individual and program area activities is
provided. Key awards garnered by our faculty
are described.
Please take special note of the list of those
individuals and companies contributing
financially to the department. These folks
play a key role in helping to make us great,
as the resources they provide enable us to
offer scholarships to students, support faculty
research and scholarship, provide visibility for
the department and outreach to alumni.
And finally,
the section of the
report that I want
to truly highlight
for you is the
presentation of
the Via Scholars.
These are some of
the most remarkable
and talented
students in the
country. Being
able to recruit this SAM EASTERLING
caliber of student
to Virginia Tech and to our department is a
very big part of what makes our department
great.
The Via family can take great pride in the
part they’ve played to make this happen. We
certainly recognize the importance of what
their generosity has meant, and continues to
mean, to our success.
I encourage you to regularly visit the department’s
web site (www.cee.vt.edu). We have
many more stories and news events about our
people to share with you on a regular basis.
Likewise, we try to update departmental
activities, accomplishments of students and
faculty, and make you aware of key events
through the quarterly electronic newsletter
(CEEBAR.) Please contact Estela Moen
(epmoen@vt.edu) if you’d like to be added to
the newsletter distribution list.
Retirement is always a bittersweet experience.
Such is the case for the department with
the retirement of Professor William E. Cox.
While we are happy for Bill and Clara as they
move into a well-earned portion of their lives,
we are struck by the loss that Bill’s departure
will mean for our department. Bill has served
Virginia Tech for the past 38 years. When
you combine those years as an employee with
the approximately 10 years as a BS, MS and
Ph.D. student, you begin to realize the dedication
that Bill has and the contribution that he
has made to the university. The faculty who
are reading these words will certainly be nodding
their heads in agreement, for we know
all that he has done on our behalf for many
years as well. Bill, we wish you and Clara the
best!
One of the sections of the report highlights
new faculty who have recently joined
the department. The importance of hiring
new members of any team is well understood,
although not always stated. We’re fortunate
to have had five new faculty members join us
last August. Matt Eatherton is a new assistant
professor in the Structural Engineering and
Materials (SEM) Program, Mani Golparvar
comes to us as an assistant professor in
the Vecellio Construction Engineering and
Management Program (VCEMP), Vickie
Mouras has rejoined our department as an
assistant professor of practice within both
the VCEMP and SEM programs, Adrian
Rodriguez-Marek is an associate professor
within the Geotechnical Program, and Paolo
Scardina is an assistant professor of practice
in the Environmental and Water Resources
Program. We’re happy to have all of these
talented folks join us and I encourage you to
read more about them later in the report.
One last example of what makes us
great. I’ve had the pleasure of being a
member of the department for 23 years. The
department has been sharing details about
the department through the Via Report for
all of that time. I don’t believe that you’ll find
a better example of an annual report and for
that we owe thanks to Ms. Lynn Nystrom and
her design team. Lynn’s dedication to this effort
shines through on the pages you’re about
to read. I want to thank Lynn for helping us
each year to tell our stories and share our
successes as we highlight people that make us
great. I’m already looking forward to the next
issue!
With kind regards,
2010 | VIA REPORT | 1

Russell Green was a member of a team
of researchers who traveled to Haiti
shortly after its devastating earthquake.
2 | VIA REPORT | 2010

RESEARCH NEWS
Why a huge shift
is occurring in the
strategy to reduce
seismic risks
As the U.S. policy makers renew emphasis
on the use of nuclear energy in their efforts
to reduce the country’s oil dependence, other
factors come into play. One concern of paramount
importance is the seismic hazard at the
site where nuclear reactors are located.
Russell A. Green, associate professor of civil
and environmental engineering at Virginia
Tech, spent five years as an earthquake engineer
for the U.S. Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board in Washington, D.C., prior to
becoming a university professor. Part of his responsibility
at the safety board was to perform
seismic safety analyses on the nation’s defense
nuclear facilities.
“I found the greatest uncertainty in seismic
analyses was related to the ground motions
used in the analyses…Many of the facilities being
analyzed were already built and operating,
and the facilities were already heavily contaminated
with radioactive material,” Green says.
An immediate concern then became how
and which buildings to retrofit. The balance
in the decision-making process was between
using overly conservative ground motions and
potentially wasting “hundreds of millions of
dollars in unnecessary retrofits” versus using
less demanding motions and potentially “placing
facility workers, neighboring towns, and
cities at risk,” Green adds.
Green’s concerns and expertise in earthquake
engineering earned him a National
Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2006
valued at more than $400,000. He has used
this support for the development of procedures
for collecting and analyzing data required for
assessing the seismic hazard in regions where
moderate to large earthquakes would have
significant consequences, yet they remain low
probability events.
Green says a “huge shift” in the engineering
profession’s approach to reducing seismic
risk has occurred during the past decade.
Building codes have been modified to include
performance-based earthquake engineering
(PBEE) concepts. This differs from the
previous traditional design approach that used
“life safety as the primary design goal,” Green
explains. “PBEE is based on the premise that
performance can be predicted and evaluated
Russell Green focuses on the study
of paleoseismology to achieve
a greater understanding of the
probabilility of seismic events.
with quantifiable confidence, allowing the
engineer, together with the client, to make
intelligent and informed trade-offs based on
life-cycle considerations rather than construction
costs alone.”
See Strategy, page 6
2010 | VIA REPORT | 3

RESEARCH NEWS
Amy Pruden says reducing the spread of antibiotic
resistance is a critical measure needed to prolong the
effectiveness of currently available antibiotics.
New concerns identified for antibiotic resistance – pollution
When an antibiotic is consumed, researchers
have learned that up to 90 percent passes
through a body without metabolizing. This
means the drugs can leave the body almost
intact through normal bodily functions.
In the case of agricultural areas, excreted
antibiotics can then enter stream and river environments
through a variety of ways, including
discharges from animal feeding operations,
fish hatcheries, and nonpoint sources such as
the flow from fields where manure or biosolids
have been applied. Water filtered through
wastewater treatment plants may also contain
used antibiotics.
Consequently, these discharges become
“potential sources of antibiotic resistance
genes,” says Amy Pruden, a National Science
Foundation CAREER Award recipient, and an
assistant professor of civil and environmental
engineering at Virginia Tech.
“The presence of antibiotics, even at
sub-inhibitory concentrations, can stimulate
bacterial metabolism and thus contribute to the
selection and maintenance of antibiotic resistance
genes,” Pruden explains. “Once they are
present in rivers, antibiotic resistance genes are
capable of being transferred among bacteria,
including pathogens, through horizontal gene
transfer.”
The World Health Organization and the
Center for Disease Control recognize antibiotic
resistance “as a critical health challenge of our
time,” Pruden writes in a paper published in a
2010 issue of Environmental Science and Technology.
Pruden says reducing the spread of antibiotic
resistance is a critical measure needed to
prolong the effectiveness of currently available
antibiotics. This is important since “new drug
discovery can no longer keep pace with emerging
antibiotic-resistant infections,” Pruden says.
Pruden who has developed the concept of
antibiotic resistance genes as environmental
pollutants has an international reputation
in applied microbial ecology, environmental
remediation, and environmental reservoirs of
antimicrobial resistance.
In her work outlined in the Environmental Science
and Technology article, she and her co-authors,
H. Storteboom, M. Arabi and J.G. Davis,
all of Colorado State University, and B. Crimi
See Concerns, page 5
4 | VIA REPORT | 2010

Concerns (from page 4)
RESEARCH NEWS
of Delft University in The Netherlands,
identified specific patterns of
antibiotic resistance gene occurrence
in a Colorado watershed. Identification
of these patterns represents a
major step in being able to discriminate
between agricultural and
wastewater treatment plant sources
of these genes in river environments.
They assert that such unique
patterns of antibiotic resistance gene
occurrence represent promising molecular
signatures that may then be
used as tracers of specific manmade
sources.
In their study they identified three
wastewater treatment plant sites, six
animal feeding operation locations,
and three additional locations along
a pristine region of the Poudre
River, in an upstream section located
in the Rocky Mountains. They compared
the frequency of detection
of 11 sulfonamide and tetracycline
antibiotic resistance genes.
Their findings showed detection
of one particular antibiotic
resistance gene in 100 percent of the
treatment plant and animal feeding
operations, but only once in the
clean section of the Poudre River.
As they are able to differentiate
between human and animal sources
of the antibiotic resistance genes,
Pruden and her colleagues believe
they can “shed light on areas where
intervention can be most effective in
helping to reduce the spread of these
contaminants through environmental
matrixes such as soils, groundwater,
surface water and sediments.
“This study advances the recognition
of antibiotic resistance genes as
sources to impacted environments,
taking an important step in the identification
of the dominant processes
of the spreading and transport of
antibiotic resistance genes.”
The Colorado Water Resources
Research Institute and a USDA
Agricultural Experiment Station
provided funding for this study in
addition to Pruden’s NSF award.
Finley Charney is part of a team developing new structural systems
that are geared to perform optimally during earthquakes.
As earthquakes take their toll,
engineers enhance building designs
A next generation of design criteria for buildings
located in geographic regions where earthquakes are
known to occur, either rarely or frequently, is under
development at Virginia Tech through a research contract
awarded by the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST).
Finley Charney, a structural engineering associate
professor in the civil and environmental engineering
department, and Mahendra Singh, the Preston Wade
Professor of Engineering in the engineering science
and mechanics department, are developing new
structural systems that are geared to perform optimally
during earthquakes. Singh’s background is also in
civil and structural engineering, and one area of his
expertise is in earthquake engineering.
It’s no secret that earthquakes come in all sizes
with varying degrees of damage depending on the
geographic locations where they occur. And even a
small one on the Richter scale that strikes in an impoverished
nation can be more damaging than a larger
one that occurs in a city where all buildings have been
designed to a stricter building code.
And to listen to Charney speak on the subject, attaining
acceptable structural performance is a problem
even when the current building codes are used as
intended for the structural design.
“In my opinion, the current building codes are
insufficient because buildings designed according
to these codes have evolved only to avoid collapse
under very large earthquakes. These same buildings,
subjected to smaller, more frequent earthquakes, may
have excessive damage, as happened during the 1994
Northridge, California earthquake. I tell my students
that good performance for these buildings is not in
their DNA,” Charney said.
In the future, structural engineers will base their
designs on the concepts of Performance Based Earthquake
Engineering (PBEE), where the objective is to
control damage and provide life-safety for any size
of earthquake that might occur. Charney and Singh
said they are developing a variety of new structural
systems that “will inherently satisfy PBEE standards,
yet have negligible damage when subjected to frequent
earthquakes, acceptable damage from moderate
earthquakes, and a low probability of collapse during
the rare, severe earthquake.” To achieve their goal,
they are creating four new PBEE compliant systems
called: hybrid yielding, standard augmented, advanced
augmented, and collapse prevention systems.
See Earthquakes, page 6
2010 | VIA REPORT | 5

Strategy (from page 3)
“Earthquake
engineering
encompasses
geology,
seismology,
geotechnical
engineering,
structural
engineering,
urban
planning, and
emergency
response.” ~
Russell Green
To implement PBEE and to calculate the annual
probability of specific losses due to seismic events,
engineers need to know the fragility of structural
systems and the probabilistically quantified seismic
hazard.
To conduct his research, Green is focusing on paleoseismology,
the study of the timing, location, and
size of prehistoric/pre-instrumental earthquakes,
ranging from those that occurred hundreds to tens
of thousands of years ago.
“I believe that earthquake engineering encompasses
geology, seismology, geotechnical engineering,
structural engineering, urban planning, and
emergency response, ” Green says.
“The appropriate selection of ground motions is
particularly difficult because many critical facilities
are located in the central and eastern U.S. and
in the Pacific Northwest,” Green says. “We know
moderate to large earthquakes have occurred in
these regions. We just do not know how large the
events were, how often they occurred, or the characteristics
of the associated ground shaking, such as
duration, amplitude, and frequency content.”
To derive a best guess scenario, excavations such
as the one done on the Santa Rosa Range would
have to be conducted. “Paleoseismic investigations
are the most plausible way to determine the
recurrence time of moderate to large earthquakes
in these regions,” Green says. “By extending the
earthquake record into prehistoric times, paleoseismic
investigations remove one of the major
obstacles to implementing PBEE across the U.S.”
Green is concentrating his work on the development
and validation of paleoliquefaction procedures.
Soil liquefaction is the transition of soil from
a solid to a liquefied state. Earthquakes are one
cause of liquefaction, with the evidence of liquefaction
often remaining in the soil profile for many
thousands of years after the earthquake.
To determine the age of a paleoliquefaction feature,
researchers might use any one of a number of
techniques, including: radiocarbon dating, optically
stimulated luminescence, or archeological evidence.
Green says his work will address the “gaps in
knowledge that typically stem from uncertainties
related to analytical techniques used in back-calculations,
the amount and quantity of paleoliquefaction
data, and the significance of changes in the
geotechnical properties of post-liquefied sediments
such as aging and density changes.”
Earthquakes (from page 5)
Charney explained the hybrid yielding
system is an improved configuration of
an existing system. The key aspect of this
enhanced system is that certain components
in a structure are designed to yield sooner
than what would occur in a traditional system,
and other components are designed to yield
later. By controlling the sequence of yielding,
the dissipation of the seismic energy that
comes with the early yielding should allow
the structure to meet low-level and mid-level
performance requirements, and the residual
stiffness provided through delayed yielding will
enhance life safety under larger earthquakes.
The standard augmented system will provide
an enhanced performance because it utilizes
devices called visco-elastic solids or viscous
fluid dampers to help control vibrations.
“The additional damping provided by these
devices is intended to enhance a system’s
performance primarily at the mid-level limit
states,” Charney said.
The third system, the advanced augmented,
uses the damping devices in conjunction with
special metallic yielding devices. “Typically the
combination of the devices is two-phased, with
the yielding component only engaging after
a certain deformation occurs in the damping
component,” Charney said.
He described the last system, the collapse prevention
system, as “being analogous to an air bag
in a car.” This system is completely passive until
it is needed. It is designed for use in situations
where the damage associated with frequent or
occasional earthquakes is negligible, but a total
structural collapse cannot be tolerated.
The researchers said all four new designs have
common features; they improve structural integrity
by limiting residual deformations, controlling
dynamic stability, and minimizing the uncertainty
in predicting response.To complete all of this
work, Charney will develop a computer program
that will automatically set up and execute all of
the structural analysis required for assessing compliance
with the next generation of PBEE.
Potentially, he will be analyzing hundreds of
thousands of mathematical models of buildings,
using one of Virginia Tech’s supercomputers.
Charney and Singh have three Ph.D. and
several master’s students working on these
projects. The project team is called VT-ACES,
where ACES stands for Advanced Concepts in
Earthquake-engineered Systems.
Charney is the author of Seismic Loads,
a Guide to the Seismic Load Provisions of
ASCE 7 published in 2010 by the American
Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He is a
regular seminar speaker for ASCE on the
subject of earthquake engineering. In addition
he has developed two educational earthquake
engineering computer programs NONLIN
and EQ-Tools. These programs, used worldwide,
have been recently updated though
a grant received from the Building Seismic
Safety Council.
6 | VIA REPORT | 2010

FACULTY NEWS
New Faculty
MATTHEW EATHERTON MANI GOLPARVAR-FARD ADRIAN RODRIGUEZ-MAREK
Matthew R. Eatherton received his doctorate
in civil engineering from the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the summer of
2010. His previous degrees were earned at the
University of Missouri at Columbia, also in CE.
He was awarded his bachelor’s degree magna
cum laude in 1997 and his master’s in 1999.
His research interests are in structural engineering
with an emphasis on seismic resilience
and steel structures. He has investigated innovative
and high performance seismic force resisting
systems, the earthquake resistance of structures,
and related experimental methods.
His dissertation, “Controlled Rocking of
Steel Framed Buildings with Replaceable
Energy Dissipating Fuses,” was a collaborative
research program with researchers at Stanford
University to investigate an innovative seismic
force-resisting system that self-centers after an
Mani Golparvar-Fard received his bachelor’s
and his first master’s degree, both in civil
engineering (CE), from the Iran University of
Science and Technology in 2002 and in 2005
respectively. He relocated to the University of
British Columbia for a second master’s in civil
and environmental engineering (CEE), received
in 2006. He earned his doctorate in CEE along
with another master’s degree in computer
science (CS) from the University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign in 2010.
Golparvar-Fard concentrates on sustainable
construction management, vision-based sensing
and control, as well as product and process modeling
for model-based reasoning within the architecture,
engineering, construction, and facilities
management (AEC/FM) industry. His goal
is to develop real-time automated vision-based
machines for tracking construction operations,
Adrian Rodriguez-Marek received his
bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering
(CE) at Washington State University in 1994
and in 1996, respectively. He earned his Ph.D.
in CE at the University of California at Berkeley
in 2000.
He returned to Washington State as an assistant
professor upon receiving his doctorate. In
2007 he was promoted to associate professor at
the university. He held three visiting professor
posts while at Washington State: Universidad
de Concepcion, Concepcion, Chile in May of
2006; Laboratoire de Geophysique Interne et
Technophysique, University Joseph Fourier,
Grenoble, France, September 2008 to January
2009; and Ecole National de Ponts et Chaussees,
Marne La Valle, France, February to July of
2009.
His research interests are in geotechnical
See Eatherton, page 8 See Golparvar-Fard, page 8 See Rodriguez-Marek, page 8
2010 | VIA REPORT | 7

New Faculty (from page 7)
EATHERTON GOLPARVAR-FARD RODRIGUEZ-MAREK
earthquake and concentrates structural damage
in replaceable fuse elements. Eatherton has collaborated
on the conceptual development of a
self-centering buckling restrained brace that uses
pre-tensioned shape memory alloy rods to create
restoring force.
Eatherton spent five years working as an associate
with GFDS Engineers of San Francisco,
Calif., prior to returning to graduate school for
his doctorate. From 2001 until 2006 he managed
projects as large as 35,000 square feet with construction
costs up to $30 million. He designed
buildings to a multitude of seismic provisions
that had lateral resisting systems of wood shear
walls, concentrically braced frames, eccentrically
braced frames, steel plate shear walls, steel
moment frames, concrete shear walls, as well as
others.
He also spent a year as a design engineer
for Leigh and O’Kane Structural Engineers
of Kansas City, Mo. His work included the
structural design of buildings using concrete,
steel, timber, and masonry. He inspected several
dozen bridges for rehabilitation and strengthening
needs.
Eatherton was an engineering consultant
to Build Change, and worked with a team of
engineers to develop construction drawings
and procedures for a confined masonry house
to withstand large earthquakes. The design
has been implemented in areas of Indonesia
devastated by the 2004 Sumatra earthquake and
tsunami.
Eatherton worked as a teaching assistant
while he was at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign and the University of Missouri
at Columbia for classes such as nonlinear
analysis of steel structures and civil engineering
materials. He conducted lectures, created
Labview programs for a wide range of material
testing, and developed hands-on classroom
activities.
Eatherton is a licensed professional engineer
in California. He is a member of the American
Institute of Steel Construction, the Structural
Engineers Association of Northern California,
the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois,
the American Society of Civil Engineers, and
the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.
monitoring their performance, productivity, and
carbon footprints, as well as visualizing collected
performance information along with building
information models in D 4 AR – 4D (3D + time)
Augmented Reality – environments. He has also
worked on the application of the D 4 AR modeling
along with a Mobile Workstation Chariot
based on a Segway platform for pre- and postdisaster
assessment of urban infrastructures.
He has a co-ownership of the provisional
patent for the Mobile Workstation Chariot
that provides a mechanism for safely carrying
a variety of communication devices while the
user maintains complete control of the machine.
Besides disaster response, its applications include
construction management, the movie industry,
and public safety. He is also expecting another
patent for the D 4 AR modeling that provides a
mechanism for automated reconstruction of
4D as-built point cloud models from unordered
daily construction photographs, superimposition
with building information models, in addition to
automated tracking of construction progress.
Among his honors, he received the best
student paper award at the 2010 International
Conference on Innovation in AEC, the 2009
FIATECH CETI award in the outstanding
student researcher category, and the first place
poster award at the 2009 Construction Research
Congress for his modeling approach for the
automation and visualization of construction
progress monitoring.
For the past two years, Golparvar-Fard has
also worked as a project engineer with Turner
Construction Company of Chicago. From 2003
until 2005 he was a project engineer with Tarahane
Darya Sahel and Talan-Sazeh Design and
Construction Company of Tehran, Iran. From
May 2001 until January 2002 he was a design
engineer with Tehran-Berkeley Managers and
Consulting Engineers, also of Tehran.
He is a member of the American Society of
Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Intelligent Computing
Committee, the ASCE Database and Information
Management Committee, and an associate
member of the Professional Society of Engineers
Without Borders. He was the co-founder
of the Construction Management Association
of America (CCMA) student chapter at the
University of Illinois as well as a member of the
University of Illinois Senate on the Urbana-
Champaign campus.
earthquake engineering with an emphasis on
seismic hazard analysis, site response analysis,
performance-based design of geotechnical
structures, soil-structure interaction, and postearthquake
field reconnaissance.
Among his honors he was named the
outstanding teacher of his department at
Washington State University in 2004 and he
was the advisor to the second placed team in
the GeoChallenge Competition of the 2005
GeoInstitute of the American Society of Civil
Engineers (ASCE).
He was one of two technical editors of the
2003 “Southern Peru Earthquake of 23 June
2001 Reconnaissance Report,” published as a
supplement to Earthquake Spectra, Vol. 19.
He is a member of the following ASCE
organizations: Geo Institute’s Risk Assessment
Committee and Geo Institute’s Earthquake Engineering
and Soil Dynamics Committee. Since
2006 he has been a corresponding member of
the Building Seismic Safety Council’s BSSC
NEHRP Provisions Update Committee, Foundations
and Geotechnical Subcommittee.
He was a steering committee member of the
National Science Foundation funded project for
the “Building Partnerships Between Museums
and Engineering Research” program. He was
a member of the Board of Directors of the
Consortium of Universities for Research in
Earthquake Engineering in 2001-02. In 2003, he
was the co-leader of the NSF Reconnaissance
Team for the Colima Earthquake and in 2001
he was the leader of the NSF Reconnaissance
Team for the Southern Peru Earthquake. He has
served on several NSF reconnaissance teams.
Rodriguez-Marek is a journal reviewer for a
host of publications, including: Journal of Geotechnical
and Geoenvironmental Engineering, International
Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods
in Geomechanics, Earthquake Spectra, Bulletin of the
Seismological Society of America, Journal of Geophysical
Research, Engineering Structures, and more.
He is a member of ASCE, International
Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical
Engineering, Earthquake Engineering Research
Institute, and the Seismological Society of
America.
8 | VIA REPORT | 2010

FACULTY NEWS
New Faculty: Professors of Practice
A new position, called the Professor of Practice, was established by the Virginia Tech
Board of Visitors in Spring 2009. The Via Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering hired two, Vickie Mouras and Paolo Scardina, in these non-tenure track
positions. They began their appointments as assistant professors of practice on August 10.
VICTORIA MOURAS
Victoria A. Mouras earned her bachelor’s degree
in 1978 in civil engineering and her master’s in 1997,
in civil engineering (structural) from Virginia Tech. She
is a Professional Engineer in Virginia.
Since 2007, she has been senior project manager
on new construction in planning design and construction
at Virginia Tech. She is specifically responsible
for managing capital projects from design through
construction and warranty. Mouras is currently
managing four projects with total project costs of $86
million. These projects represent a total of 180,000
gross square feet and include dormitory, classroom,
administrative, dining, faculty office, and lab space.
From 1996 to 2007 she was an instructor in the Via
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
at Virginia Tech. In that position, she established and
managed academic and career advising programs for
an undergraduate student body of approximately 500
students. She also instructed undergraduate civil engineering
courses, to include: “Introduction to Civil and
Environmental Engineering,” “Theory of Structures,”
“Design of Steel Structures I” (a design-project course),
and “Design of Concrete Structures I.”
Mouras served on the departmental curriculum
committee and was heavily involved in assessment
activities in support of outcomes-based accreditation
requirements. In addition, she served as ASCE student
chapter advisor for five years and managed student/
employer and student/alumni board interactions.
The years from 1979 to 2004 found Mouras serving
in the U.S. Army with several leadership highlights.
From 2003 to 2004, she served in the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers at the Transatlantic Programs Center in
Winchester, Va., as the engineer project manager and
operations officer, on active duty in support of operations.
In Enduring/Iraqi Freedom, she served as a project
manager for over $204 million worth of power
projects in Iraq, and was specifically responsible for
See Mouras, page 12
Robert Paolo Scardina earned his bachelor’s
degree in mining and mineral engineering in 1997, his
master’s in environmental engineering in 2000, and
his Ph.D. in civil engineering in 2004, all from Virginia
Tech.
From 2004 to the present, Scardina has worked as
a research scientist in the Via Department of Civil
and Environmental Engineering (CEE). He conducted
his post-graduate work in drinking water systems and
applications. He became an instructor in CEE in 2003,
and continues in this role today.
Scardina started working as an independent consultant
in 2003, and continues this work today, handling
projects for clients including: Black and Veatch, Inc.,
St. Mary’s, Pa.; Water Authority, City of Napa, Calif.;
and City of Lakeport, Calif.
He was a graduate research assistant from 1998
to 2004 in the Via Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering Laboratory conducting field work
related to his graduate degrees.
Scardina has appeared in many peer-reviewed publications
and has presented in numerous professional
seminars. He has also co-authored several research
project manuscripts.
ROBERT SCARDINA
2010 | VIA REPORT | 9

FACULTY NEWS
Awards, Honors, and Achievements
Monty Abbas
G.V. Loganathan Faculty
Teaching Achievement
Award for Excellence in Civil
Engineering Education
Bill Cox
Elected to membership in the
Via Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering
Academy of Distinguished
Alumni
Jesus de la Garza
2009 Construction Industry
Institute Distinguished
Professor Award, 2009
Construction Industry Institute
Curriculum Partner Award,
elected to membership in
the National Academy of
Construction
Tom Dingus
Invited to testify before
the U.S. Congressional
Subcommittee on Commerce,
Trade and Consumer
Protection regarding “Driven
to Distraction: Wireless
Devices and Vehicle Safety.”
Invited to testify before
the U.S. Congressional
Subcommittee Highways and
Transit regarding “Assessing
the Problem of Distracted
Driving”
Mike Duncan
Designated a “Geotechnical
Hero” by the American
Society of Civil Engineers
for lifetime achievements
in teaching, research, and
engineering practice
Randy Dymond
James M. Robbins National
Excellence in Teaching
Award from Chi Epsilon
Civil Engineering Honorary
Society, Excellence in
Teaching Award, Cumberland
District of Chi Epsilon Civil
Engineering Honorary Society
Marc Edwards
Outstanding Dissertation
Advisor Award, Virginia Tech;
Best Science Paper Award,
Environmental Science and
Technology
Russell Green
College of Engineering
Faculty Fellow
Shinya Kikuchi
Honorary doctorate from Aalto
University (formerly Helsinki
University of Technology) in
Finland
Bill Knocke
ExCEEd Leadership Award
from the American Society of
Civil Engineers
John Little
Elected Editorial Board
member of Indoor Air –
International Journal of Indoor
Environment and Health
Linsey Marr
CEE Alumni Board Teaching
Excellence Award
James Mitchell
Davies Medal for Engineering
Achievement at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute
Cris Moen
NASA Virginia Space
Grant Consortium New
Investigator Program Award,
G.V. Loganathan Faculty
Teaching Achievement
Award for Excellence in Civil
Engineering Education
Tom Murray
Geerhard Haaijer Award for
Excellence in Education from
the American Institute of Steel
Construction
Amy Pruden
College of Engineering
Faculty Fellow
Bill Wright
International Association for
Bridge Maintenance and
Safety 2010 Junior Prize In
recognition of contributions
to forensic evaluation (I-35W
and the Hoan Bridge)
and development of high
performance steels.
10 | VIA REPORT | 2010

FACULTY NEWS
Retirement
Cox retires following dedicated and distinguished career
Almost forty years ago, William Cox, after
discussions with his wife, Clara, made a career
decision that would last the rest of his working
days. It was 1972 and he had just finished four
years of teaching a wide variety of introductory
level engineering courses at Virginia Commonwealth
University.
Holding bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
civil engineering (CE) from Virginia Tech, he
had always remained in contact with the late
William Walker, an icon in the water planning
and management arena who, in addition to
serving as a CE faculty member, directed the
Virginia Water Resources Research Center
located at Virginia Tech.
“I had worked for him as a graduate student
assistant in 1967 and 1968 while I was getting
my master’s degree,” Cox recalls. “We
had written reports together, and we shared
an interest in the broader context of water
management decision-making.” In fact, Cox had
an early introduction in his career to the value
of interdisciplinary research as he collaborated
with Walker on proposals that included lawyers,
economists, and other professionals interested in
water management and policy planning.
So, when Walker initiated an effort to recruit
Cox back to Blacksburg, the Pulaski County native
saw it as an opportunity.
“I discovered early on in my career that it is
the planning, decision-making, and implementation
that is critical in water management. The
technology can be challenging, but finding a
technically feasible solution to a problem is often
much more straightforward than finding one
that is politically and socially acceptable. Water
management takes place in a complex framework
of laws, regulations, and policies, and decisions
are usually surrounded by controversy,”
Cox asserts.
The return to Blacksburg also allowed him to
earn his doctorate in four years while working.
His Ph.D., obtained with Walker acting as his
primary adviser, led him to a tenure track position
in the CE department, later to rename itself
WILLIAM COX
the Via Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering (CEE).
“When I think of Bill Cox and his impact in
CEE I’m drawn to two thoughts,” says William
Knocke, past head of the CEE department and
current associate vice president for research
at Virginia Tech.. “First, as my long-term
administrative colleague while I served as CEE
head, Bill’s commitment to both our education
programs and to our students was superb. He
worked tirelessly on a number of issues over
the years that helped insure that our students
received a high-quality educational experience
while at Virginia Tech. Further, his expertise
helped many of our students through challenging
advising issues to reach beneficial outcomes.
“Second, as a fellow faculty member I have
always been impressed with Bill’s commitment
to being a dedicated educator. During my
travels as CEE head I frequently encountered
alumni who spoke highly of Bill and of the
courses that they took from him, as well as the
out-of-class advice and experiences he shared
with them. His many areas of service to CEE
and to the broader Virginia Tech community
will be sorely missed in the years to come,”
Knocke adds.
Some of the service Knocke speaks of includes
several of the more challenging research
questions Cox and his colleagues faced during
their careers. One of the early research involvements
was deep well waste disposal, which
employs oil-field technology to place hard-totreat
waste products in deep underground strata
separated from the usable environment. Early
on, there were fewer regulatory controls on
injecting these wastes deep into the earth. Later,
the Safe Drinking Water Act imposed federal
controls, and the Virginia Tech research may
have influenced their development.
Cox says his career has focused mostly on
quantity, not quality of water, although the two
areas aren’t independent but closely interact.
“Everyone wants access to adequate water
supply,” Cox says. But oftentimes, maintaining
adequate supply involves manipulation of natural
hydrologic systems by means of dams, water
transfers, and other often controversial actions.
Water projects can be damaging to environmental
and social values, and many safeguards have
been developed. Water supply management
requires a delicate balancing of these opposing
interests, which has been a focus of much of
Cox’s research.
A quantity issue of special interest in Cox’s
work has been water transfer, which arises because
of abundance in one area versus scarcity
in another. He points to the Canadian authorities
who have adopted very restrictive controls
on transfer, which will not allow the transfer of
water outside of their country, yet they have
about ten times more water per capita than their
neighbor to the south.
Cox once worked on a UNESCO project on
See Cox, page 12
2010 | VIA REPORT | 11

Cox (from page 11)
interbasin transfer of water from a river
in France to Spain, and the model he
developed suggested that the transfer
would produce net gains without significant
environmental impacts, but the
project was controversial and has never
become politically feasible.
Cox projects that a technological
breakthrough such as major advancements
in desalination processes could
address the demands of growing
populations in many areas and reduce
reliance on water transport via pipelines
and dam construction. “On the
subject of dams and interbasin transfer
of water, I have almost been tarred
and feathered for voicing support in a
public hearing,” he reminisces. “But
the need for such projects will continue
until we enhance our abilities to utilize
alternative sources such as seawater and
overcome social and technical obstacles
to greater water conservation and
reuse. “I have had the good fortune to
be involved in a wide diversity of water
management issues. The projects have
involved different levels of challenge,
but they have all involved controversial
topics about which people will always
disagree,” he smiles.
“Professor Cox has been an integral
part of the CEE department for nearly
40 years. During that time he has
always contributed in significant ways
to the department’s mission and needs.
His teaching, scholarship and most notably
his service to our department will
be sorely missed. His work, dedication
and loyalty to Virginia Tech and the
CEE Department have truly made a
difference to all those that have had the
good fortune to work with Bill,” says
Sam Easterling, current head of the
CEE department.
Mouras (from page 9)
daily coordination with large private
contractors and U.S. military forces
to ensure complex project success in a
highly challenging physical and political
environment.
She was also responsible for the
leadership, task management, logistical
support, administration, and physical
security of a 10-person government
civilian contracting support team.
Mouras also served as acting chief
of plans and operations in Winchester,
Va., specifically responsible for the leadership
and management of a 15-person
team, including both military and
civilian individuals, which managed
technical engineering reach-back, personnel
tasking and personnel processing
in support of Corps of Engineers teams
deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
From 1989 to 1991, Mouras served
as executive officer of the 389th Construction
Battalion, in Dubuque, Iowa.
She was the second-in-command of a
795-member Army Reserve construction
battalion, responsible for managing
all staff that executed the unit’s
administration, personnel, operations,
and logistics.
Her awards and recognitions
include: Faculty Advisor of the Year,
Zone II, American Society of Civil
Engineers in 2006; Alumni Teaching
Excellence Award from the Via
Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering, Virginia Tech in
2005; Legion of Merit for exceptional
career service, U.S. Army in 2004;
Bronze Star for performance of duties
in a combat zone, U.S. Army in 2003;
and the Excellence in Career Advising
Award, Virginia Tech in 2003.
12 | VIA REPORT | 2010

STUDENT NEWS
Undergraduate Scholarships
CE Alumni Board Scholarship
Michael Dietz
Katie Young
Dawn Roseberry
Paul Zheng
Brennen Halvorson
Alumni Golf Tournaments Scholarship
Gary Riggins
American Infrastructure Scholarship
Carolyn Deutsch (CEM)
Michael Cross (CEM)
Jacob Wirtz (CEM)
Anonymous CEE Scholarship
Mallory Barkdull
Kenneth R. Ayers ’80 Memorial Scholarship
George Bowers
Katie Young
Balzer & Associates Scholarship
Nash Pleasant
Julian Bell LDDI Scholarship
Nathan Bales
Nate Huber
Lars Peterson
James L. Bland CE Scholarship
Bobby Heitz
Galo Bowen
William A. Caruthers CE Scholarship
Derek Slovenec
CE Class of ’58 Scholarship
Stephanie Burt
Brennen Halvorson
Tyler Harrington
Junghoon In
Mike Prince
Jeffrey Wary
Kathryn Winters
Warren F. Cline Scholarship
Jacob Buttz
Sara Sidhom
Stephen Litsas
Stanley & Francis Cohen Scholarship
Andrew Gingrich
Chelsea Gress
Martin Johnson
John DeBell Civil Engineering Scholarship
Robert Wilcocks
Dewberry Scholarship
Michael Dietz
L.J. Turner & W.S. Dewhirst Scholarship
Daniel Kidd
Jorge Secada-Lovio
Walter & Mary Ruth Duncan Scholarship
Andrew Sottile-Jackson
Chelsey A. Godfrey Scholarship
Paul Zheng
Lois Cox & Edna Goodwin Scholarship
Melissa Ruth
Matthew Hynson
Charles S. Hughes Scholarship
Kevin Pocta
Layton Schaeffer
Harry S. & Patsy B. Williams Scholarship
Mark Jones
Justin St. Clair
Hankins & Anderson Scholarship
Tyler Harrington
Kelso Baker Scholarship
Patrick Joyce
Maheen Khurshid
Adrian Massie
Charles & Patricia Brown Scholarship
Benjamin Chester
Calvin Quinn
Martin Johnson
Everett Carter Memorial Scholarship
Gary Riggins
Joseph & Jane Christenbury Memorial
Scholarship
Katie Young
Williams A. Joyner Scholarship
Stephen Litsas
Dennis & Sherry Kamber Scholarship
Sabina Fedrowitz
Lingerfelt Family Foundation Scholarship
Dane Bruchman
Bobby Heitz
Erin Murphy
Hersie B. & Ethel G. McCauley Scholarship
Luis De Leon
Nicholas Fugaro
Kenton & Liliana Meland Scholarship
Bryan Carey
Katherine Masoero
Michael Baker Corporation Engineering
Scholarship
Margret Mascaro
Howell & Ann Simmons Land Development
Design Scholarship
Mallory Barkdull
Newport News Shipbuilding Scholarship
Lars Peterson
John E. Pruitt, Jr. Scholarship
Gina Consoli
Joshua Streuli
Andrew “Tripp” McDavid Memorial Scholarship
Patrick Drury
Richard Quarterman ’04 Memorial Scholarship
Layla Cabrera
Katherine Travers
George A. Stewart Engineering Scholarship
Colin Hartman
Katherine Pratt
Dawn Roseberry
Jamie Wonderly
Undergraduate Stewart Scholars
Caitlin Proctor
Faizan Qureshi
Southern Ironworks, Inc. Scholarship in honor
of Charles E. Spitzer, Class of ’49
Dan Cazenas
Stantec Award for Excellence in Engineering
Jonathan Grace
Vecellio Scholarship
Stephen Rodgers
Brennen Halvorson
Nicholas Fugaro
William Carter
Virginia-Carolinas Structural Steel Fabricators
Association
Jonathan Grace
Stephanie Burt
Virginia Concrete Scholarship
Kelsey Brandt
Natalie Driskill
Francis Pesce
Walker Scholarship
Gregory Lucking
Adam Phillips
Williams Industries Scholarship
Sohaib Ahmed
Kevin Aswegan
Verne & Jewel Williamson Scholarship
Brian Wright
2010 | VIA REPORT | 13

STUDENT NEWS
Graduate Scholarships and Fellowships
Academy of Athens, Greece Fellowship
Nikolaos Apsilidis
American Water Works Association
Scholarship
Amanda Martin
AWWA LARS Fellowship
Simoni Triantafyllidou
Brian Bluhm Fellowship
John Petrie
Cunningham Fellowship
Jennifer Miller
Raymond & Madeline Curry Fellowships
Marina E. Quadros
John Sangster
Davenport Fellowship
Kevin Foster
Department of Energy Fellowship
John Petrie
Dwight David Eisenhower Graduate
Transportation Fellowship
Elizabeth Moreton
Crysta Highfield
Environmental Protection Agency
Rebecca Halvorson
Fulbright Fellowships
Georgette Bastien
Francisco Flores
Vathana Poev
Adrian Tola
Karla Santacruz
Alfonso Rivera Rojas
Geosynthetics Institute Fellowship
Michael McGuire
Gerondelis Foundation
Nikolaos Apsilidis
Matt Gwaltney Fellowship
Nikolaos Apsilidis
Thomas N. Hunnicutt III Fellowship
Andrew Woerheide
Hydro Research Foundation Fellowship
John Petrie
Institute for Critical Technology and
Applied Science (ICTAS)
Daniel Vanden Berge
Dexter C. Jameson, Jr. National Chi
Epsilon Scholarship
Peter Kauffmann
G.V. Loganathan Fellowship
Kristi Steiner
Metal Building Manufacturers
Association
Christopher Grey
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Integrative Graduate Education
and Research Traineeship (IGERT)
Fellowships
Brandi Clark (MS NFS Fellow)
Matthew Hull (MILES-IGERT)
Andrea Tiwari (EIGER)
Pratt Engineering Fellowships
Ozgur Atlayan
Amey Bapat
Leila Dianat
Fatmir Menkulasi
David Padilla-Llano
Paramjeet Pati
Rita Zelinski Gelinas Alumni Scholarship
Christopher Grey
Edna Bailey Sussman Fellowships
Roger B. Arnold, Jr.
Kevin Bierlein
Hannah B. Cardwell
Ryan Doheny
Ankit Gupta
Andrew Jones
Chen Qian
SAIC Transportation Research
Fellowship
Hao Chen
Mohammadsaied Dehghani
Crysta Highfield
Nicholas Kehoe
United States Society on Dams (USSD)
2010 Scholarship
Tiffany Adams
Vecellio Fellowship
Katherine Rios
Virginia Tech Engineering Dean’s
Teaching Fellowship
Marc Maguire
VWEA Sonny Roden Memorial
Scholarship
Renzun Zhao
14 | VIA REPORT | 2010

STUDENT NEWS
Ph.D. Degrees Awarded
The following doctoral degrees were
awarded to CEE students between
July 2009 and June 2010.
Name: Lee Davis Bryant
Dissertation Title: Dynamic Forcing of
Oxygen, Iron, and Manganese Fluxes
at the Sediment-water Interface in
Lakes and Reservoirs
Advisor: John Little
Name: James Christopher Carroll
Dissertation Title: Grade 300
Prestressing Strand and the Effect of
Vertical Casting Position
Advisors: Tommy Cousins and Carin
Roberts-Wollmann
Name: Jose Manuel Cerrato
Dissertation Title: Biogeochemical
Cycling of Manganese in Drinking
Water Systems
Advisors: Andrea Dietrich and William
Knocke
Name: Stacey Diane Diefenderfer
Dissertation Title: Investigation of
Fatigue Properties of Superpave
HMA at the Virginia Smart Road
Advisor: Gerardo Flintsch
Name: Passkorn Khanthongthip
Dissertation Title: The Biological
Sludge Reduction by Anaerobic/
aerobic Cycling
Advisor: John Novak
Name: Wendell O’Neil Khunjar
Dissertation Title: Factors Affecting
the Biotransformation of
Microconstituents in Activated Sludge
- The Role of Physiological State and
Readily Biodegradable Substrates
Advisor: Nancy Love
Name: Pengfei Li
Dissertation Title: Stochastic Methods
for Dilemma Zone Protection at
Signalized Intersections
Advisor: Montasir Abbas
Name: Yang Lu
Dissertation Title: Atomistic
Characterization and Modeling of the
Deformation and Failure Properties
of Asphalt-Aggregate Interface
Advisor: Linbing Wang
Name: Tim Orland Moore
Dissertation Title: Application of a
Mobile Flux Lab for the Atmospheric
Measurement of Emissions (FLAME)
for the Validation of Emission
Inventories
Advisor: Linsey Marr
Name: Ameet John Pinto
Dissertation Title: Heavy Metal Upset
Events at Wastewater Treatment
Plants: Implications for Mitigative
Strategy Development and Bioreactor
Microbial Ecology
Advisor: Nancy Love
Name: Robert Rebodos
Dissertation Title: Implications of
Oxidation on the Colloidal Stability
of Magnetite Nanoparticles and
Clusters
Advisor: Peter Vikesland
Name: Sivasankkar Selvanathan
Dissertation Title: An Improved
Algorithmic Approach to Iterative
Floodway Modeling using HECRAS
and GIS
Advisor: Randel Dymond
Name: Anand Seshadri
Dissertation Title: A Demand Based
Scheme to Model the Evolution of the
National Airspace System (NAS)
Advisor: Antonio Trani
Name: Yi Shen
Dissertation Title: Evaluating Ecological
Influences of Altered Flow Regimes
Using Two- and Three-dimensional
Hydraulic Models
Advisor: Panos Diplas
Name: Matthew K. Swenty
Dissertation Title: The Investigation of
Transverse Joints and Grouts on Full
Depth Concrete Bridge Deck Panels
Advisors: Tommy Cousins and Carin
Roberts-Wollmann
Name: Christopher Allen Wilson
Dissertation Title: Mechanisms of
Methanogenic Inhibition in Advanced
Anaerobic Digestion
Advisor: John Novak
2010 | VIA REPORT | 15

ALUMNI NEWS
CEE Alumni Board Members (Fall 2010)
CEE Alumni Board Members
Michael A. Alto
Clark Construction Group, LLC – Bethesda, Md.
Bruce R. Bates
RISA Technologies, LLC – Foothill Ranch, Calif.
Amy Kohls Buehler
Independent Consultant – Dallas, Tex.
Douglas W. Burks
Retired from Hankins and Anderson, Inc. Consulting
– Glenn Allen, Va.
James N. Carter, Jr.
Norfolk Southern Corporation – Atlanta, Ga.
Derrick B. Cave
Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. – Vero Beach, Fla.
Raymond G. Curry
SMC Concrete Construction, Inc. – Annandale, Va.
Lisa Decker (Vice Chair)
The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. – Baltimore, Md.
Stephen DeLoach
Smithsonian Institution – Washington, D.C.
Carolyn Dimmick
Brown and Caldwell – Pittsburgh, Pa.
Richard M. DiSalvo, Jr.
Draper Aden Associates – Blacksburg, Va.
T.A. Groover
Wiley | Wilson, Inc. – Lynchburg, Va.
John R. Hillman
HC Bridge Company – Wilmette, Ill.
Robert F. Jansen (Chair)
Jansen Land Consulting – Falls Church, Va.
Jimmie D. Jenkins
CH2MHill – Chantilly, Va.
Anthony J. Moraco
SAIC, Space & Geospatial Intelligence Business Unit
– Chantilly, Va.
Laura J. Morillo
Hilti, Inc. – Fairfax, Va.
Jonathan R. Porter
U.S. Government – McLean, Va.
Brian L. Ramaley
Newport News Waterworks – Newport News, Va.
Stephen M. Seay
Rinker Design Associates, P.C. – Manassas, Va.
16 | VIA REPORT | 2010

PROGRAM AREAS
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty by Program Area
Vecellio Construction Engineering
and Management Program
• Jesus M. de la Garza, Vecellio Professor
• Michael J. Garvin, Associate Professor *
• Mani Golparvar-Fard, Assistant Professor
• Sunil K. Sinha, Associate Professor and Program
Coordinator
• Michael C. Vorster, David Burrows Professor Emeritus
• Deborah E. Young-Corbett, Assistant Professor *
Environmental and Water Resources
Engineering Program
• Gregory D. Boardman, Professor
• William Cox, Emeritus Professor
• Andrea M. Dietrich, Professor
• Panayiotis Diplas, Professor
• Randel Dymond, Associate Professor
• Marc A. Edwards, Charles Lunsford Professor
• Daniel L. Gallagher, Associate Professor
• Adil N. Godrej, Research Associate Professor (NV)
• Thomas J. Grizzard, Jr., Professor (NV)
• Erich T. Hester, Assistant Professor
• Robert Hoehn, Emeritus Professor
• David F. Kibler, Emeritus Professor
• William R. Knocke, W. Curtis English Professor
• John C. Little, Professor and Program Coordinator
• Linsey C. Marr, Associate Professor
• Glenn E. Moglen, Professor (NV)
• John T. Novak, Nick Prillaman Professor
• Amy Pruden, Associate Professor
• Clifford W. Randall, Emeritus Professor
• Robert Paolo Scardina, Assistant Professor of Practice
• Peter J. Vikesland, Associate Professor
• Mark Widdowson, Assistant Department Head and
Professor
Geotechnical Engineering Program
• Thomas L. Brandon, Associate Professor
• Joseph E. Dove, Research Assistant Professor
• J. Michael Duncan, Emeritus Professor
• George M. Filz, Assistant Department Head and Charles E.
Via, Jr. Professor
• Russell A. Green, Associate Professor and Program
Coordinator
• James R. Martin, II, Professor
• Matthew Mauldon, Associate Professor
• James K. Mitchell, Emeritus Professor
• Adrian Rodriguez-Marek, Associate Professor
Structural Engineering and Materials Program
• Richard M. Barker, Emeritus Professor
• Finley A. Charney, Associate Professor
• Thomas E. Cousins, Professor
• W. Samuel Easterling, Department Head and Montague-
Betts Professor of Structural Steel Design
• Matthew Eatherton, Assistant Professor
• Donald A. Garst, Emeritus Professor
• Siegfried M. Holzer, Emeritus Professor
• Cristopher D. Moen, Assistant Professor
• Victoria A. Mouras, Assistant Professor of Practice
• Thomas M. Murray, Emeritus Professor of Structural Steel
Design
• Raymond H. Plaut, Emeritus Professor
• Carin L. Roberts-Wollmann, Associate Professor
• Kamal B. Rojiani, Associate Professor and Program
Coordinator
• Elisa D. Sotelino, Professor
• Richard E. Weyers, Charles E. Via, Jr. Professor
• William J. Wright, Associate Professor
Transportation Infrastructure and Systems
Engineering Program
• Montasir Abbas, Assistant Professor
• Thomas A. Dingus, Newport News Shipbuilding / Tenneco
Professor
• Gerardo W. Flintsch, Professor
• Kathleen L. Hancock, Associate Professor (NV)
• Antoine G. Hobeika, Professor
• Shinya Kikuchi, Charles E. Via, Jr. Professor (NV)
• Pamela Murray-Tuite, Assistant Professor (NV)
• Hesham A. Rakha, Professor
• Dusan Teodorovic, Emeritus Professor (NV)
• Antonio A. Trani, Professor and Program Coordinator
• Linbing Wang, Professor
* — Affiliated through the Myers-Lawson School of Construction
NV — Northern Virginia Program
2010 | VIA REPORT | 17

PROGRAM AREAS
Vecellio Construction Engineering and Management
Faculty recognition, research efforts highlight eventful year
The Vecellio Construction Engineering and
Management program has had an eventful
year. The highlights include: the retirement of
Michael C. Vorster, now the David Burrows
Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental
Engineering; the faculty hire of Mani Golparvar-Fard
from the University of Illinois
(see new faculty section); the hosting of the
Construction Engineering Conference at the
Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference
Center (see sidebar story); the 2010 Vecellio
Distinguished Lecture presented by Michael C.
Vorster (see sidebar story); and the induction
of Jesus M. de la Garza into the National
Academy of Construction.
Four undergraduate Vecellio Scholarships and
one graduate Vecellio Fellowship were awarded
to highly qualified students who have demonstrated
leadership potential and an interest in
pursuing a career in the construction industry.
These students who were formally recognized
during the proceedings of the Vecellio Distinguished
Lecture are: Katherine Rios, William L.
Carter, Nicholas Fugaro, Brennen Halvorson,
and Stephen Rodgers.
To help bring all these initiatives to fruition,
Sandy Simpkins continues to provide unwavering,
essential, and extraordinary administrative
support to our program, students, and faculty.
As for news from the VCEMP faculty, the following
paragraphs showcase their activities.
Jesus M. de la Garza, the Vecellio Professor
in Construction Engineering and Management,
has been elected to the National Academy
of Construction (NAC). W.A. Brubaker, the
academy’s president, wrote, “Initially conceived
in 1998 … the NAC is a select organization of
distinguished leaders widely recognized for their
outstanding achievements in and contributions
to the engineering and construction industry.
Election follows a peer-nomination and clearance
procedure culminating with ballot vote
by the entire academy of 119 members at this
time.”
de la Garza is also a member of the National
Research Council’s Board on Infrastructure and
the Constructed Environment which advises the
executive and legislative branches of government
and the private sector on questions of
technology, science, and public policy; and,
the relationship between the constructed and
natural environments and their interaction with
human activities.
The National Science Foundation (NSF)
and the Virginia Department of Transportation
(VDOT) fund his research. It focuses on
highway infrastructure maintenance through
his leadership of the Center for Highway Asset
Management ProgramS (CHAMPS) www.
champs.eng.vt.edu.
He traveled to Nottingham, England to present
his research on optimization of highway
maintenance renewal strategies to the International
Society for Computing in Civil and
Building Engineering and the European Group
for Intelligent Computing in Engineering.
He also taught three courses, “Construction
Management,” “Construction Control Techniques,”
and “Schedule Impact Analysis.” de la
Garza chairs the construction industry institute’s
academic committee and is the associate editor
of the American Society of Civil Engineers’
(ASCE) Journal of Construction Engineering and
Management. He serves as the faculty advisor to
the Construction Management Association of
America student chapter in the Myers-Lawson
School of Construction.
Michael J. Garvin had a productive year in
teaching, research, scholarship, and service. He
taught the graduate courses, “Preconstruction
Planning” and “Facility Delivery and Financing
Strategies” in the fall and the undergraduate
course, “Construction Management” to over
130 students in the spring. He concluded work
on his NSF CAREER Award that supported
research in the area of infrastructure programming,
financing, and delivery. Five students completed
their Ph.D.’s with support from this award
and are now working in academia/industry or
pursuing postdoctoral opportunities.
Garvin also completed a project for VDOT
investigating risk allocation and contract provisions
in design-build contracts, and began a new
project with VDOT to develop economic and
financial analysis tools for Public-Private Transportation
Act projects.
Garvin published his second book chapter,
two journal papers with a third forthcoming,
three conference proceedings and two book
reviews. He also spoke about infrastructure
public-private partnerships at the American
Road and Transportation Builders Association’s
21st Annual Public-Private Ventures Conference
and the Transportation Research Board’s 89th
Annual Meeting. He continues to serve on the
editorial boards of the Journal of Infrastructure
Systems and Public Works Management & Policy
and act as a specialty editor for the Journal of
Construction Engineering and Management.
Garvin was also quite active in the affairs
of the Myers-Lawson School of Construction
during his first year as associate director where
he supported the ABET accreditation of the
bachelor of science in construction engineering
and management degree.
Mani Golparvar-Fard – See article in the
New Faculty section, page 8.
Sunil Sinha had a productive year in teaching,
research, scholarship, and service. He taught
the graduate courses, “Infrastructure Asset
Management” and “Information Technology”
for construction in the fall and the spring,
respectively.
Sinha will be directing two new research
projects to develop a web-based national pipeline
infrastructure database. Information will be
gathered on technologies to assess the condition
as well as the location of the buried pipes, and
on methods of how to repair, rehabilitate, or
replace them entirely.
Sinha is conducting this research through the
See Construction, page 19
18 | VIA REPORT | 2010

Construction (from page 18)
Virginia Tech Institute for Critical Technology
and Applied Science Center of Excellence in
Sustainable Water Infrastructure Management.
The Water Environmental Research Foundation
awarded two grants to Sinha through
the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
Aging Water Infrastructure Research Program,
a research agenda that supports efforts to put
the nation’s aging infrastructure on a pathway
toward sustainability. The development of this
research program stems from EPA’s Sustainable
Water Infrastructure Initiative.
Michael C. Vorster, as noted in the last
issue, retired in January 2010 after more than
20 years as a faculty member in VCEMP. The
Board of Visitors approved his appointment
as the David H. Burrows Professor Emeritus
in March. This appointment enables him to
continue to hold the Burrows Chair – a position
he has held with pride and distinction since
coming to Virginia Tech in 1986.
He and his wife, Merle, took a trans-Pacific
cruise from San Diego to Sidney, Australia with
stops in exotic places like Bora, Bora, Fiji, and
Tahiti to mark his retirement.
Since their return, he has been busy furthering
the sales of his recently published book on
the economics of owning and operating construction
equipment, organizing and presenting
his widely recognized short course on equipment
management, and consulting to construction
companies across the country.
Vorster will work with Chris Fiori and
Vickie Mouras in the coming semester to
carry forward some of the experiences gained in
many years of teaching “Means and Methods”
and “Cost Estimating.”
Deborah Young-Corbett continued to
develop research, education, and scholarship
endeavors to address health hazards arising from
the built environment or inherent to construction
processes.
She continued work on the Sustainable
Healthy Schools project, sponsored by the NSF:
developing condition indices and assessment
methodologies for public school infrastructure.
Young-Corbett also continued her participation
in an NSF-sponsored project as a part of the
Interdisciplinary Research Team for Pervasive
Computing.
One highlight of the team’s activity this year
was the submission of a patent application for a
wearable computer sensor to detect construction
worker over-exposure to carbon monoxide.
In this year, she was awarded an R01 grant
from the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health to improve silica control during
construction processes.
Her research group had six conference papers
presented during this academic year.
She also developed and taught a new course
in her area of expertise, “Indoor Environmental
Quality and Facilities Sustainability.”
Sunil Sinha is directing two new research
projects to develop a web-based natural
pipeline infrastructure database.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 19

Conference promotes opportunities in construction
This conference provided a unique venue
to bring together a focused group of construction
engineering educators, researchers, and
practitioners. The goal was to promote opportunities
in the area of construction engineering to
young faculty and university decision makers;
envision an exciting path forward for this field;
identify mutually beneficial interfaces between
industry practitioners, construction educators,
and researchers; and establish a holistic
research and education agenda for construction
engineering.
The conference was held from September
30 to October 2, 2010 at Virginia Tech and
was funded by the National Science Foundation,
American Infrastructure, Inc., the Vecellio
Group, and Virginia Tech President’s office.
It was sanctioned by ASCE’s Construction
Institute.
The conference featured the following key-
note speakers: Alberto Aleman Zubieta, administrator
chief executive officer for the Panama
Canal Authority; Ewa Bauer, deputy district
engineer for the Golden Gate Bridge Authority;
Hank Adams, vice president for Peter Kiewit
Sons; David Johnston, professor from North
Carolina State University; and Edd Gibson,
professor from Arizona State University.
This symposium and research workshop
provided a greater understanding of the role
construction engineering plays in relation to
that of design along with explaining the significance
of construction engineering for completing
complex infrastructure and building projects
to provide societal benefits and improve the
sustainability of the built environment.
It also provided increased understanding of
practice and need, along with a set of priorities
to guide the future agenda of construction education
and research, including providing tools
to assist educators in developing and offering
construction engineering courses.
Vorster presents 2010 distinguished lecture
The 2010 Vecellio Distinguished Lecture was presented by Michael C. Vorster: “Teaching and
Learning: The Critical Balance in Effective Education.”
The main themes of the 2010 Vecellio Lecture
We teach too much and our students learn too little. That is more than a sound bite. It defines
a very real problem and places an appropriate focus on the magic of learning rather than the rote
process of teaching. Every teacher teaches and every student learns but we all know that the
relationship between teaching and learning is not linear. Regardless of the way we present the
material, understand learning styles or follow an accepted learning process, there comes a time
when we face diminishing returns. Our efforts do not seem to produce the results we want. We still
get asked, “Will that be on the test”
Our students are too important and the challenges that face future generations too great to
permit this to continue. We must understand what happens as we interact with our students and do
everything we can to ensure that every minute we spend “teaching” causes learning and accelerates
ability. It seems simple: great teachers enjoy teaching – great students enjoy learning. Society
desperately needs them both to succeed. What can we do
We need to change from a teacher-centered approach where the balance of power lies with the
teacher and where the need to “cover the content” is paramount to a learner-centered approach
that emphasizes independence, self-motivation, and individual responsibility. We need to develop
a learning process that survives, grows, and flourishes throughout life. Many have contributed to
a substantial body of knowledge on teaching and learning. The pieces we need to assemble the
jigsaw puzzle are available.
In her book, “Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice,” Maryellen Weimer reminds
us that, “Like other puzzles this one comes with a picture on the box: we know what learning
looks like when it happens.” Our experiences, our anecdotes and the stories we tell help each of
us assemble our own jigsaw puzzles, complete our own pictures, and build on the personal talent
we bring to the very best job of all – improving our students’ ability to learn. It is so much more than
“teaching.”
Michael C. Vorster
20 | VIA REPORT | 2010

PROGRAM AREAS
Environmental and Water Resources
Nationally recognized EWR program promotes environment
The “Top 10” Environmental and Water
Resources (EWR) Program continues to advance
education, research, and outreach related to the
air, soil, and water issues in the environment.
In 2009, EWR earned national recognition,
again ranking in the top ten graduate programs
in environmental engineering by U.S. News and
World Report.
The Via Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering was ranked in the top
ten undergraduate programs as well, thus all
students pursuing an environmental engineering
education are getting a “Top 10” education at
Virginia Tech.
The faculty travelled around the state, country,
and globe on their missions to promote a
healthy and sustainable environment for humans
and their animal and plant co-inhabitants on the
planet. Individual faculty accomplishments are
detailed below.
The EWR staff actively supports all education
and research operations. In Blacksburg,
Beth Lucas, Merry-Gayle Moeller, Julie Petruska,
Jody Smiley, and Betty Wingate are all doing
well assisting the nearly 20 faculty, more than
100 graduate students, and many undergraduate
students in the EWR program that occupies
space in Durham, Hancock, Norris, and Patton
Halls as well as ICTAS I.
At the National Capital Region teaching facilities,
Jeny Beausoliel supports all the graduate
students and faculty.
The Occoquan Watershed Lab in Manassas
is busy with laboratory upgrades, new construction,
and an intense research mission. The
research staff: Curt Eskridge, Mike Gaal, Doug
Holladay, Mark Lucas, Harry Post, Phil Spellerberg,
Dongmei Wang, Joan Wirt, and George
“Woody” Underwood, work on boat, land, and
lab obtaining and processing samples used to
assess water quality in the National Capital Region.
Barb Angelotti and Alicia Tingen are busy
meeting the varied administrative needs of everyone
on the research team, including National
Capital Region faculty members, Adil Godrej,
Tom Grizzard, and Glenn Moglen.
During the past year, Gregory Boardman
worked on research projects related to the use of
microbial flocs in shrimp feeds, reduction of disinfection
byproducts in water treatment, evalu-
ation of treatment operations at a munitions
facility, and use of wetlands for the treatment of
aquacultural wastewaters. Each of these projects
continues into 2011, and a new project focusing
on the advanced treatment of nitrogen at facilities
managed by the Hampton Roads Sanitation
District begins in summer 2010.
In addition, Boardman hopes to obtain funding
to study the treatment of waters associated
with energy production facilities (i.e., power
plants, mining, etc.) in the fall of 2010.
He serves as the director of the Annual Short
School for Operators, chairs and teaches in
short courses sponsored by the Virginia Department
of Health (VDH), and co-coordinates and
teaches in a televised lecture program for the
VDH. Boardman also co-chairs a forum for the
Aquacultural Engineering Society and served on
the Program Committee for the International
Conference on Recirculating Aquaculture,
which was held in summer 2010.
Andrea M. Dietrich actively taught,
performed research, and represented Virginia
Tech across the globe. She accepted invitations
to speak in Taiwan and Suzhou, China, while
her national speaking invitations took her to the
American Water Works Association (AWWA)
in Chicago and the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) in Cincinnati. Dietrich addressed
academic, utility, and government participants
on sustainable drinking water with a focus on
taste-and-odor and water quality issues.
Her interdisciplinary research group of
four graduate and five undergraduate students
published eight research articles and made 15
presentations, including three award-winning
student presentations.
Dietrich’s interdisciplinary water quality
and aesthetics projects included: Jose Cerrato’s
biogeochemical redox cycling of manganese,
Susan Mirlohi’s efforts to resolve metallic flavor
issues for patients receiving radiation/chemotherapy,
a predictive model for water infrastructure
contamination developed by Jia Tang, and
Heather Vereb’s challenge of ultra trace organic
measurement – going beyond nano to pursue
pico levels. The research team enjoyed engaging
high-school students and incoming freshmen in
research activities for sustainable water.
Panos Diplas continued his teaching and
research activities in the areas of environmental,
fluvial, and infrastructure hydraulics.
His research efforts focused on numerical
modeling of river flows for stream restoration,
determination of the effect of fluctuating dam
releases on the lower Roanoke River bank stability,
modeling the effects of turbulent forces on
sediment movement, behavior of flow through
wetlands, scour around bridge foundations, role
of in-stream structures on infrastructure protection,
and characteristics of tropical rivers.
These research activities were supported by
the National Science Foundation (NSF), Dominion
Power, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Army Research Office, National Cooperative
Highway Research Program, and Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency.
He advised 12 graduate students, eight Ph.D.
students and four M.S. students. Together with
his graduate students, they made 13 conference
presentations and published six journal papers.
He is a member of the editorial board of two
journals and of the scientific advisory committee
of four international conferences. Diplas also
presented a keynote address and two invited
talks.
Randy Dymond was very active in both
teaching and research efforts in the areas of
land development, floodplain mapping, urban
stormwater, hazard mitigation, and geospatial
information technology.
He was recognized this year with two major
teaching awards, both from Chi Epsilon, the
civil engineering honorary society: the James
M. Robbins National Excellence in Teaching
Award and the Cumberland District Excellence
in Teaching Award.
Dymond continues to serve as the American
Society of Civil Engineers’ Student Chapter
advisor and coordinates and mentors volunteer
professional engineers in teaching a new course,
“Municipal Engineering,” as part of the Land
Development Design Initiative. More information
is available at www.lddi.cee.vt.edu.
His research projects are predominantly in
the areas of urban stormwater systems and sustainable
land development. Dymond gave two
presentations at conferences during the year, had
two research papers published, with three other
See Environment, page 22
2010 | VIA REPORT | 21

Dan
Gallagher
and his
students are
developing
a virtual
deli to track
bacterial cross
contamination
within a retail
deli.
Environment (from page 21)
papers currently in review.
Marc Edwards’ research group graduated
four members including Ben Custalow,
Yaofu Zhang, Allian Griffin, and Kendall Stone.
More than a dozen group members traveled to
national AWWA conferences and gave 11 presentations.
Edwards and his students/colleagues
presented at a National Institute of Health
Conference and the American Public Health
Association Conference.
Yan Zhang won the Outstanding Dissertation
award for 2009 from Virginia Tech and
Simoni Triantafyllidou won a prestigious LARS
scholarship.
Edwards’ multi-year effort to expose harm
done during the Washington, D.C. Lead-in-Water
Crisis 2001-2004, did not end, but perhaps
reached the beginning of the end. The House
Committee on Science Technology investigating
Edwards’ assertions released a report entitled “A
Public Health Tragedy: How Flawed CDC Data
and Faulty Assumption Endangered Children’s
Health.” That report and Edwards’ sworn testimony
to Congress made front-page news.
A research paper by Edwards, Triantafyllidou,
and Dr. Dana Best from Children’s
National Medical Center on health effects of the
high lead in water, won the Best Paper award
from the journal Environmental Science and Technology
for 2009. The research group continues to
emphasize work on sustainable water, pathogens
in water heaters, and plumbing materials corrosion.
Daniel Gallagher continued to teach computer
and modeling-based classes and perform
research with risk assessment and modeling. He
and his graduate and undergraduate students
are currently working on developing two
large-scale models for the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA).
In the first of its kind, they are developing a
“virtual deli” to track bacterial cross contamination
within a retail deli. The model will guide
USDA and the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) in developing regulations for grocery
stores. Another model will assess how the selection
of various risk assessment metrics impacts
regulatory standards.
Together with Renee Boyer and Susan Duncan,
faculty in food science and technology, he
started a new project to measure how different
sanitation practices at grocery stores impact
public health.
Gallagher and his students published papers
in the Journal of Food Protection and ASCE’s
Environmental Engineering journal and co-authored
presentations to the Society for Risk Analysis,
the AWWA, and the International Symposium
on Problems of Listeriosis.
During the last year, Adil Godrej completed
20 years as a research faculty member at
Virginia Tech.
The Occoquan Model project that his team
of students worked on has evolved to the current
period, and work has commenced on other
items related to the model, such as forecasting
and sensitivity analysis. In spring, Godrej originated
a new course as a special study, “Bridging
the Environmental Divide: Science, Economics,
Ethics, and Society.”
He continued his work on various regional
and local committees that deal with water and
watershed issues.
Dr. Godrej ended a one-year term as the
president of the Virginia Tech National Capital
Region Faculty Association.
Tom Grizzard completed his 35th year
See Environment, page 23
22 | VIA REPORT | 2010

Environment (from page 22)
of service to the department and continues to
direct the Occoquan Watershed Monitoring
Laboratory (OWML) in the National Capital
Region. He and his colleagues at the Occoquan
Laboratory completed a major renovation of
the Manassas research facility, and attained
certification of the laboratory under the Commonwealth’s
new accreditation program for
environmental laboratories.
Grizzard and his colleagues continued to
focus on research associated with the unique
stresses on the water cycle in urban systems,
including water reclamation for potable reuse,
urban stormwater management, and the management
of surface drinking water supplies. The
research enterprise at the Occoquan Laboratory
was funded at nearly $2 million for the past year.
Grizzard remains an instructor in the Commonwealth
Graduate Engineering Program,
which brings graduate engineering education
opportunities to students throughout the Commonwealth
and he is active in a number of professional
and service assignments ranging from
the Chesapeake Bay restoration to reclamation
of wastewater in Singapore.
Glenn Moglen taught CEE 4304 “Hydrology”
for the first time as a combination distance
learning and local (to Blacksburg) course. He
successfully pioneered the first use of digital
whiteboard technology as a tool for distance
teaching at Virginia Tech and promoted this
technology for the distance teaching community
in Video Broadcast Services and Commonwealth
Graduate Engineering Program courses.
Moglen’s Institute for Critical Technology
and Applied Science (ICTAS) project focused on
the water supply in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan
region. He finalized a memorandum of
understanding with the Interstate Commission
on the Potomac River Basin for collaboration
with the entity that holds decision-making power
on reservoir management in the region.
Moglen produced flood estimates for the
Federal Emergency Management Agency map
modernization program in Maryland and predicted
changes in flooding and nutrient loading
characteristics for future land use change on the
Delmarva Peninsula.
He worked nationally as chairman of the
ASCE Watershed Management technical committee
and as an associate editor for ASCE,
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering. Moglen began
his term as president of the National Capital
Region Faculty Association following Godrej.
Erich Hester’s research focused on how
hydrology, hydraulics, and geomorphology
influence ecological health and water quality
in stream, river, and wetland systems. He spent
the past year getting his research program off
The “Top 10”
Environmental and
Water Resources (EWR)
Program continues to
advance education,
research, and outreach
related to the air, soil,
and water issues in the
environment.
In 2009, EWR earned
national recognition,
again ranking in the top
ten graduate programs
in environmental
engineering by U.S.
News and World Report.
The Via Department of
Civil and Environmental
Engineering was
ranked in the top
ten undergraduate
programs as well, thus
all students pursuing
an environmental
engineering education
are getting a “Top 10”
education at Virginia
Tech.
the ground. Two graduate students joined his
group, Elizabeth Cranmer, a master’s candidate,
and Garrett Menchino, Ph.D. candidate. A third
student, Kalen Bauman, graduated with her
master’s degree this year.
In addition, an article Hester authored
about incorporating surface water-groundwater
exchange into stream restoration practice was
featured on the cover of Environmental Science and
Technology.
He expects his research program to continue
to expand in 2010-2011, particularly in the areas
of stream restoration, surface water-groundwater
exchange, thermal pollution, and the effects
of urbanization in aquatic systems.
Dr. Hester continued to teach CEE 3314
“Water Resources Engineering” this year
and developed a new graduate course CEE
5984 “Open Channel Flow and Groundwater
Exchange.” In 2010-2011 he plans on teaching
CEE 4344 “Hydraulic Structures,” taught by
David Kibler before his retirement.
Emeritus faculty Robert Hoehn continued
to visit EWR when he was working with Black
& Veatch as a consultant on various projects
related to drinking water quality and treatment
to mitigate problems related primarily to the
causes and control of taste-and-odor problems.
During the past two years, he actively
revised the chapter on chlorine dioxide in the
well-known Geo. Clifford White’s Handbook of
Chlorination and Alternate Disinfectants. For those
who remember Hoehn’s fondness for animals,
he is helping to care for his “grand-dog,” a little
Yorkie who is diabetic and suffers from kidney
failure.
Since retiring in 2008, emeritus faculty David
Kibler focused on tennis, golf, community
band, and travelling, with a sprinkling of professional
activities in the mix. He continued to do
consulting work on flooding and stormwater
management in Pennsylvania and the eastern
shore of Virginia.
In spring 2010, Kibler returned to campus to
teach one of his favorite courses, CEE4334 “Hydraulic
Structures.” “I had forgotten just how
much work goes into teaching a course,” he said,
“but overall found it rewarding to connect with
good students again.”
He and his wife, Susanna, are volunteers at
Historic Smithfield Plantation — David on the
buildings maintenance committee and Susanna
on the spring Heirloom Plant sale and Christmas
Greenery sale events.
They travelled during summer 2010 through
Colorado, California, and the San Juan Islands
in Washington and during the fall they took a
10-day trip down the Rhone River in southern
France.
William R. Knocke returned to the EWR
program on a full-time basis in January 2010
following 15 years as CEE department head and
a one-semester research assignment position in
fall semester 2009. He continued to focus his
research work primarily on drinking water treatment
issues, with greatest emphasis on effective
See Environment, page 24
2010 | VIA REPORT | 23

Kara Dodson, left, conducted undergraduate
research for Marc Edwards after her
freshman year. She is pictured explaining the
cause of pin holes in copper pipes to Jackie
Robertson, who interned for the office of the
vice president for research at Virginia Tech.
Environment (from page 23)
methods for integrating iron and manganese
control.
Work conducted in conjunction with John
Tobiason of the University of Massachusetts led
to two manganese-related journal publications.
Knocke presented his research at the AWWA
Inorganic Contaminants Workshop and at the
AWWA Annual Conference and Exposition.
He also accepted a new position at Virginia
Tech in June, associate vice president for
research programs in the Office of the Vice
President for Research. This position gives
him administrative leadership duties within
the broader research mission of Virginia Tech.
Knocke structured this position to allow him to
continue to teach and advise students within the
EWR program and CEE department.
John Little had an active year. He chairs
the new International Water Association (IWA)
Specialist Group on Lake and Reservoir Management.
It held the first IWA Symposium on
Lake and Reservoir Management at National
Cheng Kung University in Taiwan in June
See Environment, page 25
24 | VIA REPORT | 2010

Environment (from page 24)
2009. The symposium was very well-received
by the roughly 65 participants, including 35
international experts and six world-class keynote
speakers.
He co-chaired a workshop on Semi-Volatile
Organic Compounds (SVOCs) in the Residential
Environment, held at the EPA office in
North Carolina in August 2009, with financial
support from EPA and the American Chemistry
Council. A follow up workshop is scheduled for
January 2011.
Little was elected an editorial board member
of Indoor Air, the premier international journal
in the indoor air field, and was invited as keynote
speaker at the First International Workshop
on SVOCs in the Indoor Environment, held at
Tsinghua University in Beijing, China in June
2010.
Linsey Marr’s research in air quality
engineering focused on improved quantification
of emissions, characterization of airborne
nanoparticles, and prediction of the fate and
transport of air pollutants. Her research group
currently consists of two post-doctoral associates,
four Ph.D. students, and one M.S. student.
A publication on the effects of air pollution
and marathon performance garnered attention
from U.S. News and World Report, Men’s Health,
Self, the Discovery Channel, and other media
outlets.
As part of her sabbatical, she spent one
month at the University of California at Davis.
She gave a seminar at Cornell, presented
research results at the American Association for
Aerosol Research’s annual conference, and was
invited to participate in a workshop on indoor
air chemistry. In May and June, Marr and several
students traveled to Tijuana, Mexico with
the Flux Lab for the Atmospheric Measurement
of Emissions to collaborate with other researchers
on a field study of pollutant emissions and
their impacts in the California-Mexico border
region.
John Novak and his students continued their
research activity in wastewater treatment, anaerobic
digestion, and solid waste management.
They were co-authors of nine papers presented
at the annual Water Environment Federation
meeting in Orlando, Fla. He served as the advisor
for 10 graduate students this past year.
Novak presented a keynote address at
the International Waste Association Sludge
Conference in Harbin, China and presented
three other papers at this conference. Similarly,
Novak served as keynoter for the Australian
Water Association Sludge Conference in Sydney,
Australia. He and two of his students presented
papers at the Residuals and Biosolids Management
Conference in Savannah, Ga.
The faculty travelled
around the state,
country, and globe
on their missions to
promote a healthy and
sustainable environment
for humans and their
animal and plant coinhabitants
on the planet.
Research continued with projects supported
by Siemens Corporation, DC Water & Sewer
Authority, Bucknell University, the Water Environment
Research Foundation, and Waste Management,
Inc. Four papers were published in
research journals and 12 papers were included
in conference proceedings.
Novak continued his service as an associate
editor for the journal Water Environment Research.
Amy Pruden had a productive year, teaching
CEE 3104, publishing six research articles,
and being awarded two new research grants.
The first, awarded by the Water Research
Foundation, will allow her to work alongside
Edwards in identifying premise plumbing conditions
that favor the growth of opportunistic
pathogens, such as Legionella pneumophila, the
causative agent of Legionnaire’s disease.
On the second grant, Pruden will work with
Novak and Vikesland in examining emerging
contaminants in wastewater treatment plant
effluents and identifying optimal membrane
treatment strategies that promote sustainable
water and save energy.
Progress in her antibiotic resistance work will
allow the identification of molecular signatures
of antibiotic resistance genes that can trace their
origin from wastewater or agriculture.
Pruden was honored in the spring as a
Virginia Tech College of Engineering Faculty
Fellow. She also welcomed into the world a
new baby daughter, Tanya Elena Bagchi, born
August 26, 2009.
Emeritus faculty Cliff Randall spent time
promoting Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR).
He collaborated on completing a revision of the
EPA’s BNR manual, and made key presentations
at three BNR workshops sponsored by EPA
and participated in a webinar for the American
Academy of Environmental Engineers.
Randall was honored when selected to present
the 2009 Water Environment Federation/
Association of Environmental Engineers and
Scientists Lecture at the WEF Annual Conference.
He was also the recipient of the prestigious
2009 Joan Hodges Queneau Palladium Award
from the American Association of Engineering
Societies & Audubon Society, awarded at a
National Academy of Science’s banquet.
Randall was also reappointed to the Science
Advisory Committee of the Virginia Department
of Environmental Quality.
Peter Vikesland and his research group
had a highly successful year. He spent the fall of
2009 as a visiting scientist at the Centre Européen
de Recherche et d’Enseignement des Géosciences
de l’Environnement in Aix-en-Provence,
France. While there he worked with his French
colleagues on research projects to characterize
the potential environmental impacts of engineered
nanomaterials.
Returning to campus in the spring of
2010,Vikesland used some of the knowledge
gained during his sabbatical year to develop a
new environmental nanotechnology graduate
course. He taught that course and his “Fundamentals
of Public Health Engineering” course
during the spring semester.
During the past year, two of Vikesland’s
current and former students won national
awards: Xiaojun Chang, Ph.D. candidate
received an ACS Division of Environmental
Chemistry Graduate Student Award and Krista
Rule Wigginton (Ph.D. 2008) earned the 2010
Second Place Doctoral Dissertation Award from
AWWA.
Mark Widdowson assumed new administrative
duties as assistant department head. His
primary responsibilities include serving as the
CEE graduate program director and oversight
of international activities. He continues to be
active in teaching and research.
On the research front, Widdowson presented
papers at the International Conference on
Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant
Compounds held in Monterey, Calif., and the
Partners in Environmental Technology Technical
Symposium and Workshop held in Washington,
D.C.
He is concluding work on the two projects
funded by the Department of Defense Environmental
Security Technology Certification
Program on developing new tools for improving
site remediation and addressing sustainability at
contaminated facilities.
Widdowson is collaborating with Pruden on a
study of TNT remediation at a site in Virginia.
In summer 2011, he will lead a study abroad
program at the Virginia Tech Center in Punta
Cana, Dominican Republic. The six-week
course will allow CEE students to study water
resources management in an international setting.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 25

PROGRAM AREAS
Geotechnical Engineering
Active, vibrant faculty excels in teaching, research, and service
The Geotechnical Engineering Program continues
to excel in teaching, research, and service,
and continues to grow.
The group welcomed Adrian Rodriguez-
Marek in August as an associate professor with
tenure.
Also, Tom Brandon, who manages the
graduate applications and admissions for
the group, reports that the group is seeing its
largest number of graduate applications and
matriculated students since the inception of the
program. This is likely a result of an increasingly
active and vibrant faculty combined with
continual enhancement of the teaching and
research facilities.
Brief descriptions of each faculty member’s
26 | VIA REPORT | 2010
activities over the past year are presented
below.
T.L. Brandon’s research and consulting in
the past year focused on projects with the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps is sponsoring
research at Virginia Tech investigating
topics such as the undrained strength distribution
of soft clays, the use of the cone penetrometer
for soil classification and undrained strength
determination in New Orleans area clays, assessment
of the seepage conditions for the London
Avenue Canal full-scale load test, and strength
and compressibility correlations for lower Mississippi
valley soils.
Brandon is a member of the Mississippi Valley
Division Geotechnical Criteria Application
Team and the geotechnical and construction QA
team.
During the past year he has been active in the
analyses conducted for the New Orleans area
outfall canals and is currently involved with the
group that is writing a new edition of the Corps’
levee design manual.
Joe Dove continued his collaboration with
Patricia Dove of geosciences and CEE
students Craig Shillaber and Kyle Blakley, both
Via Fellows, Tim Becker, and Erin Haymes to
develop a novel, biologically inspired method to
improve the engineering behavior of soil. The
National Science Foundation (NSF) supports this
project.
See Geotechnical, page 27

Geotechnical (from page 26)
Dove is also working with a software engineer
to further develop the software package geotechnical
Visualization Tools. This program allows
extraction of engineering data from terrestrial
LiDAR scans and is being increasingly used for
applications in geotechnical engineering and the
geosciences.
Other areas of active research include: the
application of advanced sensing techniques for
site investigation, infrastructure assessment and
hazard detection, engineering for sustainable
sites, and bio-inspired materials.
Teaching activities included instructing over
300 CEE and building construction undergraduates.
Dove served the department as one of the
academic advisors for undergraduate majors
and as chair of the curriculum committee.
Mike Duncan continued his work in the
Center for Geotechnical Practice and Research
(CGPR), helping George Filz manage the
center, and supervising a project on lessons
learned from dam failures and dam incidents.
His research on transient seepage through levees
is nearing completion, and he is serving as a
consultant on remediation of Ashton Dam in
Idaho and Wolf Creek Dam in Kentucky.
He is also working with Brandon to evaluate
the adequacy of the design of Yacambu Dam in
Venezuela.
In February, the American Society of Civil
Engineers honored him as a “Geotechnical
Hero” for his lifetime achievements in teaching,
research, and engineering practice.
George Filz’s research projects and sponsors
include: developing an accessible knowledge
base for soil improvement technologies for transportation
infrastructure renewal with the Strategic
Highway Research Program; improving
the mobility and stability of rocket transporters
under 30 million pound loads at Kennedy Space
Center with NASA; modeling the influence of
inter-particle creep on clay deformation under
load with NSF; developing improved design
methodologies for deep mixing with the Army
Corps of Engineers and the CGPR; replacement
of soft soils beneath footings with CGPR;
and integral bridge abutments with foundation
piling in MSE wall backfill with the Virginia
Transportation Research Council and the Virginia
Department of Transportation (VDOT).
Filz and his students made research presentations
in Okinawa, West Palm Beach, Orlando,
Baltimore, and Sao Paulo.
He serves as assistant CEE department
head, director of CGPR, member of VDOT’s
Geotechnical Research Advisory Committee,
member of the American Society of Civil Engineers’
(ASCE) Geo-Institute Soil Improvement
Committee, editorial board member of the
ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental
Engineering, and consultant on geotechnical
design and construction projects.
Russell Green has been actively working on
several continuing research projects, as well as a
few new ones. Most notably, he was a member
of a team that went to Haiti shortly after the
devastating M w
7.0 earthquake. The goal of the
trip was to collect perishable data that could be
used to advance the profession’s knowledge of
earthquake engineering. He subsequently returned
to Haiti as part of a team focusing on the
development of microzonation and liquefaction
hazard maps for Port-au-Prince.
Additionally, Green has continued work on
three NSF sponsored projects related to the:
determination of the seismic hazard of the midwest
using paleoliquefaction data; investigation
of the “sand aging” phenomenon; and damage
detection of buried pipelines after earthquakes.
He has also been involved in two separate
CGPR reports, one on the seismic design of
retaining walls and the other on the procedures
for estimating post-liquefaction settlement and
seismic compression.
Jimmy Martin was active in teaching,
research, and professional service during the
past academic year. A significant portion of the
year involved work as director of the Institute
for Disaster Risk Management at Virginia Tech
(DRM@VT), a university research center.
Under his leadership, DRM@VT developed
more than 20 major proposals to funding agencies
during the past year. Proposals were funded
in the area of geothermal energy where foundation
piles are used as heat exchangers via heat
pumps to more efficiently heat or cool buildings.
This work is being sponsored by NSF. Funding
was also secured for landslide analysis, modeling,
and disaster risk mitigation in Romania.
Martin and his colleague Guney Olgun also
continued work on a levee monitoring system
for New Orleans using plane- and satellitebased
remote sensing technology. This work
closely integrates sensing, advanced modeling,
and decision-making to help establish a new
paradigm for long-term infrastructure management.
This work was featured at ASCE’s Critical
Infrastructure Summit and presented at the
national conference in October 2009.
Martin made numerous international trips to
perform research, conduct training, and teach
courses. Travel during the past year involved
Japan, Turkey, Romania, Switzerland, and Italy.
Findings of his work were present in refereed
publications, including a special issue of the
Journal of Emergency Management in which he
served as co-editor. He also presented several
See Geotechnical, page 28
Russell Green has
been actively working
on several continuing
research projects, as
well as a few new ones.
Most notably, he was a
member of a team that
went to Haiti shortly
after the devastating
M w
7.0 earthquake. The
goal of the trip was
to collect perishable
data that could be
used to advance the
profession’s knowledge
of earthquake
engineering. He
subsequently returned
to Haiti as part of a
team focusing on
the development of
microzonation and
liquefaction hazard
maps for Port-au-
Prince. (See related
article, page 2.)
2010 | VIA REPORT | 27

Emeritus Professor Jim Mitchell,
a member of the National
Academy of Engineering and
the National Academy of
Science, remains very active
with the department.
Geotechnical (from page 27)
professional engineering short courses and seminars
for ASCE, and served on major consulting
projects such as lead seismic consultant for the
Pevari Dam in southeastern Turkey and for
the seismic retrofit of historic Grace Church in
Charleston, S.C.
Matthew Mauldon continues to be
involved with the Cavern Design Team for the
planned Deep Underground Science and Engineering
Lab at the former Homestake Mine in
South Dakota. The current phase of activity is
aimed at designing underground infrastructure
needed for the proposed research.
Mauldon serves on the ASCE Rock Mechanics
committee and also on the ASCE committee
on Engineering Geology and Site Characterization.
He is on the editorial board of Rock
Mechanics and Rock Engineering.
Current research initiatives include work on
fluvial rock erosion and on subsurface response
to human locomotion.
Emeritus Professor Jim Mitchell is a member
of the research team for the Transportation
Research Board’s Strategic Highway Research
Program 2 project on Geotechnical Solutions
for Soil Improvement, Rapid Embankment
Construction, and Stabilization of the Pavement
Working Platform.
He organized and moderated a panel discussion,
“Research, Teaching, and Practice Interrelationships
in Geo-Engineering Development - Is
the Past a Prologue to the Future” presented at
GeoFlorida 2010 in West Palm Beach in February.
Mitchell prepared a PowerPoint summary
of the presentations, and it is available on the
ASCE Geo Institute web site. He presented
invited papers at three conferences.
Mitchell’s current consulting activities include
advisory panels on seismic remediation studies
for three embankment dams in California; membership,
along with Duncan, on the Blue Ribbon
Panel for review of the Eastward Expansion
of Craney Island for the Port of Virginia’s new
Craney Island Marine Terminal; evaluation of
mattress rock densification problems at the Deltaport
Berth 3 Marine Works in Vancouver, British
Columbia; participation on the design review
board for a large copper tailings storage facility
in Utah; and service on the technical advisory
board for the Elliott Bay Seawall Replacement
project in Seattle.
Adrian Rodriguez-Marek joined the
department in Fall 2010. At Washington State
University, he was active in various research
projects dealing with geotechnical earthquake
engineering. These projects will be continued at
Virginia Tech.
Among these projects, he worked on a
USGS project dealing with the development of
procedures for hazard analyses that properly
account for the contribution of site-effects on the
uncertainty of ground motions.
In addition, Rodriguez-Marek is leading a
large NSF-funded project involving five institutions
across the United States. This project
focuses on increasing the understanding of the
effects of surface topography on earthquake
ground motions and seismic risk. The project
includes the use of centrifuge model testing,
statistical analyses of existing databases, and an
extensive component of numerical modeling.
The goal of the project is to develop designready
tools to account for the effect of topography
on ground motions.
Rodriguez-Marek also participated in an
NSF-funded project to document several
landslide and liquefaction features of the 2007,
M w
8.0 Pisco, Peru, earthquake. The focus of
the effort is the study of a lateral spread feature
that could prove to be the largest such feature
documented in historical times.
28 | VIA REPORT | 2010

PROGRAM AREAS
Structural Engineering and Materials
Faculty fully engaged in new and existing research projects
The faculty within the Structural Engineering
and Materials (SEM) program continued to excel
in teaching, research, and outreach.
The highlights of the SEM program for the
past year include: the appointment of two new
faculty, Matthew Eatherton and Vickie
Mouras, beginning in the fall semester (see
related stories in New Faculty section); four
faculty members, Tommy Cousins, Carin
Roberts-Wollmann, Elisa Sotelino, and
Richard Weyers are continuing work on a five
year, multi-million research program known as
the Long Term Bridge Performance program;
Finley Charney, Cris Moen, and William
Wright received funding for several new
research projects and have been actively engaged
in several existing research projects; and finally
the SEM program continues its tradition of
excellence in teaching.
The following paragraphs showcase the activities
of the SEM faculty.
Finley Charney was active in a variety of
projects related to earthquake engineering research
and education. With respect to education,
the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE)
Press published his new book “Seismic Loads: A
Guide to the ASCE 7 Seismic Load Provisions,”
in May 2010. This was followed by the release
of new versions of his educational software
NONLIN, NONLIN-Pro, and EQ-Tools. This
software, as well as a detailed example on linear
and nonlinear dynamic analysis was distributed
on compact disk by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency.
Charney also participated in the development
of a technical brief on nonlinear response history
analysis, published by the National Institute
for Standards and Technology (NIST).
On the research front he received two grants,
one from the American Institute of Steel Construction,
and the other from NIST, to create a
variety of new structural systems for resistance to
seismic load effects. (See related story, page 5.)
Associated with these efforts is a separate
project, funded by NIST, to develop extensive
analytical infrastructure for assessing the performance
of buildings subjected to seismic loads.
Other research efforts, not related to earthquake
engineering, include a project with HILTI
to develop design procedures for post-installed
reinforcement, and a project with the Metal
Building Manufacturer’s Association to establish
wind drift analysis procedures for metal buildings.
Tommy Cousins continued to offer
prestressed concrete and bridge design courses
Elisa Sotelino continues her research on finite
element analyses and modeling of structures.
and to focus his research efforts on challenges
associated with bridge performance and longevity.
He concentrated his research efforts on the
projects described below which are all related to
the development and use of high performance
materials in bridges.
Cousins is co-PI with Carin Roberts-Wollmann
on a National Cooperative Highway Research
Program (NCHRP) project that involves a
comprehensive investigation of lightweight, high
performance concrete for bridges. This project
is approximately 75 percent complete (total
contract length is 36 months), involves extensive
material and structural testing, and will develop
changes to the AASHTO LRFD bridge design
specification that takes advantage of the material
properties of lightweight, high performance
concrete.
The Virginia Transportation Research Council
(VTRC) is a sub-contractor on the project and
as such will aid in development of mix designs,
material property testing, and code development.
Of special importance to the bridge engineering
community is the casting and testing of six
full-sized prestressed concrete bridge girders.
These girders are being cast at a local prestressing
plant and tested in the structures and materials
laboratory.
In a $25 million project, the Federal Highway
Administration (FHA) contracted with researchers
at the Center for Advanced Infrastructure
& Transportation at Rutgers University for
undertaking a five-year project to investigate the
long-term performance of bridges. The program
is known as the Long Term Bridge Performance
Program. This program will be the basis for
future bridge condition assessment and asset
management programs that will be used to assist
managers of the nation’s highway infrastructure
in making better decisions in the stewardship of
the highway assets.
Researchers from VTRC and Virginia Tech
are subcontractors to Rutgers for this project.
Roberts-Wollmann leads the Virginia Tech research
team with Cousins, Richard Weyers, and
Elisa Sotelino serving as co-investigators.
The second year of the project was completed;
the main accomplishment was conducting
condition assessment testing of two pilot study
See Structural, page 31
2010 | VIA REPORT | 29

30 | VIA REPORT | 2010
Jennifer Canatsey
has served as a
welder and as
a cutter for the
Virginia Tech Steel
Bridge Team.
It recently took
second place in the
international steel
bridge competition.

Structural (from page 29)
bridges in the east (one in Virginia and one in
New Jersey) and two in the west (one in Utah
and one in California). Virginia Tech along with
partner researchers from VTRC and Utah State
University are presently planning the periodic
testing and long-term monitoring of other pilot
bridges. Instrumentation and testing of pilot
bridges will continue through the summer of
2011.
Cris Moen’s most recent projects involved
the incorporation of sustainability with structural
engineering. Motivated by recent standard
updates requiring a 30 percent increase in
energy efficiency of new building construction,
he worked with the Metal Building Manufacturing
Association and the American Iron and
Steel Institute to develop new structural design
guidelines for low rise buildings constructed with
continuous rigid foam insulation wall assemblies.
He also led a working group of students,
building construction faculty, and local industry
in an effort to develop a formal multi-disciplinary
optimization protocol for sustainable building
design.
Moen continues to stay active in infrastructure
engineering research. He recently completed a
project with the VTRC to quantify the structural
properties of a new class of corrosion-resistant
reinforcing steel for concrete bridge decks made
up of high chromium stainless steels and austenitic
steel micro-composites.
He is also finding opportunities to apply his
expertise in thin-walled structures to aerospace
engineering. He recently received the NASAsponsored
Virginia Space Grant Consortium
New Investigator Award, which he will use to
fund his research on carbon-fiber composite fuselage
and wing structural components in blended
wing military and commercial aircraft.
Kamal Rojiani’s primary contribution continues
to be in the area of teaching. In fall 2009
he taught CEE 3404 “Theory of Structures,”
CEE 3424 “Reinforced Concrete Design,” CEE
5404 “Theory of Plates and Shells,” and CEE
5494 “SEM Graduate Seminar.” In spring 2010
he taught CEE 3804 “Computer Applications
for CEE,” CEE 5414 “Finite Element Analysis
of Structures,” and CEE 5494 “SEM Graduate
Seminar.” He also taught “Theory of Structures
and Computer Applications for CE” in the first
summer session of 2010.
Rojiani continues to perform numerous
service activities on behalf of the CEE department.
He served as the coordinator of the SEM
program area. He is one of the CEE department
advisors with responsibility for advising over 100
undergraduate students. He is also a member of
the CEE curriculum committee.
Rojiani’s research interests include structural
Of special
importance to the
bridge engineering
community is the
casting and testing
of six full-sized
prestressed concrete
bridge girders.
These girders are
being cast at a
local prestressing
plant and tested in
the structures and
materials laboratory.
safety and reliability, risk analysis, code calibration,
computer applications in civil and structural
engineering, programming methodologies, and
software development. He is currently working
on several books on programming and numerical
applications.
Carin Roberts-Wollmann focused her
research on methods for improving bridge durability
and performance and reducing bridge construction
time. She is collaborating with Cousins,
Elisa Sotelino, Weyers, and Bill Wright on several
bridge research projects. She and Cousins are
nearing completion on a project for the National
Cooperative Highway Research Program to
investigate the use of high-performance/high
strength lightweight concrete for bridge girders
and decks. The project has involved extensive
laboratory testing to investigate development
length of prestress strand, shear strength, and
horizontal shear transfer behavior in lightweight
girders and decks.
With Cousins, Sotelino, and Weyers, she is
investigating the long-term performance of
bridges. This project is sponsored by the FHA
and involves extensive field-testing of bridges.
In the past year, they have tested bridges in
Virginia, New Jersey, and New York.
Roberts-Wollmann continued to teach undergraduate
and graduate classes in reinforced and
prestressed concrete, and remains active advising
the ASCE Concrete for Kids outreach activity.
In the summer of 2010, she and several graduate
students presented the Concrete for Kids activity
to 150 middle and high school students in three
engineering summer camps on campus.
She continues in her role as the secretary
of the Prestressed Concrete Committee of the
American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the
chair of the Transportation Research Board
Committee AFF30 – Concrete Bridges. She also
continues to serve on other technical and board
appointed committees of ACI, TRB, and the
Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute.
Elisa Sotelino continued her research on finite
element analysis and modeling of structures
and on the development of new numerical algorithms
for high performance computing. Sotelino
is currently a co-PI on three major research
grants, namely: Unified Approach for Multiscale
Characterization, Modeling, and Simulation for
Stone-Based Infrastructure Materials with Linbing
Wang (TISE) funded by NSF; Long-Term
Bridge Performance with Cousins and Roberts-
Wollmann, funded by the FHA; and Highway
Bridge Fire Hazard Assessment with Bill Wright,
and Brian Lattimer of mechanical engineering,
funded by the National Cooperative Highway
Research Program.
This past year, she collaborated in the development
of several research proposals with faculty
from the College of Engineering at Virginia
Tech, as well as with colleagues from other
universities. In particular, she is one of the co-PIs
participating on the development of a multimillion
dollar integrative graduate education and
research traineeship proposal to be submitted to
the National Science Foundation (NSF). The preproposal
was selected both internally at Virginia
Tech and later at NSF for full submission. The
topic of the proposal is, Uncovering Network
Interdependencies and Synergies.
William Wright was involved in a number
of research projects in the past year. He was
awarded a two-year research contract from
the National Cooperative Highway Research
Program to study highway bridge fire hazard assessment.
This study is performing an overall risk
assessment and developing an engineering guide
to help DOTs assess bridges after fire.
A FHA sponsored experimental study is continuing
in the structures laboratory to optimize
the fatigue resistance of the rib-deck weld in steel
orthotropic decks. A new study was initiated with
the Virginia Transportation Research Council to
develop and test a new cost-effective orthotropic
steel deck system utilizing laser welded sandwich
panels.
Wright has been involved in field investigations
of several bridges in Virginia. He taught
CEE 5744 “Topics in Structural Steel Design” in
the fall semester and CEE 3434 “Design of Steel
Structures I” in the spring.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 31

David Mokarem
and Jana Scott each
use a marker to
trace over cracks
during a test of a
lightweight concrete
pre-stressed bridge
girder. This research
is investigating the
shear strength of
lightweight concrete
girders. Scott is a
second-year masters
student in structural
engineering from
South Riding Va.
Structural Engineering Lab named after Tom Murray
In October 2009, the structural lab located off
Plantation Road was renamed and dedicated as
the Thomas M. Murray Structural Engineering
Laboratory.
The lab was named after Emeritus Professor
Tom Murray who served as the inaugural
Montague-Betts Professor of Structural Steel
Design until his retirement in 2008. A specialist
in structural steel research and design, Murray
founded the Virginia Tech Structures and
Materials Laboratory, where he and his graduate
students developed alternate methods for connecting
beams and columns in buildings in areas
that experience high levels of seismic activity.
The facility originally opened in January 1990
and has undergone several renovations since
then, said Sam Easterling, CEE department head
and the current holder of the Montague-Betts
Professorship of Structural Steel Design. The
latest expansion, for the Ray and Madelyn Curry
Educational Wing, was completed in June 2008.
Raymond Curry, Jr. is a CEE class of 1954
alum who since has served in the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, worked for his father’s company,
MOSES-ECCO, and started two companies
on his own, SMC Concrete Construction Inc.
and Curry Development Inc.
As a couple, Ray and his wife, Madelyn, are
members of the Ut Prosim Society, and have
given several donations to scholarship funds as
well as the renovation of the structural lab, and
established the Raymond and Madelyn Curry
Graduate Fellowship, among other endeavors.
Professors and students alike have benefitted
greatly from having a large-scale campus facility
to take their research on structural failure to the
next level.
“The students get to experience the practical
side of structural design, because they typically
have to design and construct their own specimens,”
said Carin Roberts-Wollmann, director
of the Murray Structural Engineering Lab. “They
build formwork, tie reinforcing steel and cast
concrete. They also learn a tremendous amount
about hydraulics, instrumentation and data
acquisition. And there is no substitute for the
experience of watching the failure mechanisms in
their specimens as they destroy what they have
created. It is fun and incredibly educational.”
The Virginia Tech Ray and Madelyn Curry
Education Wing and Thomas M. Murray
Structural Engineering Laboratory
was dedicated in
October 2009.
32 | VIA REPORT | 2010

PROGRAM AREAS
Transportation Infrastructure and Systems Engineering
Outstanding accomplishments mark productive year
The Transportation Infrastructure and
Systems Engineering Program (TISE) had a very
productive academic year 2009-2010.
The group organized the CH2M Hill Distinguished
Lecture inviting Leonard Evans to speak
at this event held at The Inn at Virginia Tech
and Skelton Conference Center in Blacksburg
in spring 2010. Evans is an internationally renowned
traffic safety expert who delivered a onehour
lecture to more than 60 students, research
staff, and faculty in the group.
The Alliance of Transportation Engineering
Students (ATES) continued multiple activities
this year. Among them was arranging a trip for
30 graduate students to attend the Transportation
Research Board (TRB) meeting in Washington,
D.C. in January 2010. ATES also organized
technical events in Blacksburg as well as social
events including a welcome dinner for prospective
graduate students.
The following paragraphs illustrate outstanding
accomplishments by faculty, research staff,
and students in the TISE group.
Montasir Abbas recently received a
$500,000 Federal Highway Administration
Exploratory and Advanced Research Program
cooperative agreement. The objective of this
program is to “research and develop projects that
could lead to transformational changes and truly
revolutionary advances in highway engineering
and intermodal surface transportation in the
United States.” The award funds multi-disciplinary
research with a novel plan for simulation
and prototype modeling of driver behavior. The
research team includes the Virginia Tech Transportation
Institute (VTTI), PTV, and Virginia
Transportation Research Council (VTRC).
Abbas has also successfully completed a
VTRC-funded research project on traffic responsive
control. The developed guidelines received
high praise from the research council and were
selected for implementation.
Since September of last year, Abbas had six
journal papers appearing in print and three
currently in press, in addition to 15 conference
papers.
He has also received the G.V. Loganathan
Faculty Achievement Award for Excellence in
Civil Engineering Education.
Thomas Dingus, Newport News Shipbuilding
Professor and human factors and safety
transportation researcher, directs the VTTI,
comprised of six transportation research centers.
VTTI continues to be the largest university-level
research center at Virginia Tech with over $22
million in total expenditures. VTTI has grown
to almost 300 faculty, staff, and students. For the
last four years, VTTI has conducted research
as the National Surface Transportation Safety
Center for Excellence (NSTSCE), tasked with
using research to improve driver safety in both
rural and urban communities.
This year, new NSTSCE projects are underway,
such as a study on Roadway Lighting
Design and Safety and Naturalistic Observation
of Motorcycle Riders.
VTTI continues to be recognized as a
world leader for offering a “one-stop shop” for
transportation-related research and testing both
on Virginia’s Smart Road as well as in the growing
field of naturalistic driving research.
A recent award to the institute is the world’s
first large-scale, naturalistic motorcycle riding
study. The study will employ small video recorders
and instrumentation mounted on numerous
bikes for six to 18 months. The study will combine
unobtrusive, continuous data collection with
post-incident interviews to create a comprehensive
picture of many factors contributing to both
crashes and near-crashes.
Gerardo Flintsch, director of the Center
for Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure at
VTTI and his research group, in cooperation
with the Nottingham Transportation Engineering
Center, hosted the International Workshop
on Sustainable Pavements sponsored by the
National Science Foundation and the Federal
Highway Administration. This workshop produced
an International Roadmap for Sustainable
Pavements Research and Collaboration.
He has also formalized a dual Ph.D. program
with the Politecnico di Milano, Italy; initiated a
partnership with the World Bank by organizing,
with several of his CEE and VTTI colleagues,
the first World Bank – Virginia Tech Knowledge
Exchange Workshop focusing on infrastructure
asset management; and collaborated with faculty
from the University of Delaware, University of
Texas at Austin, University of Waterloo, and
University of Iowa to develop an intensive,
for-credit summer program on advanced civil
infrastructure systems, which was initially offered
this summer in Newark, Del.
With his research group, integrated by Edgar
de Leon, Samer Katicha, Billy Hobbs, graduate
students Mario Candia, Ryland Musick,
Mohammad Dehghani, Stacey Diefenderfer, Sameer
Shetty, Jack Verhoeven, Crysta Highfield,
Shahriar Najafi, Mohamed Saleh (ECE), and
Li-Jie Tang, and undergraduate students Stephen
Valery and Scott Naranjo (ME), Flintsch
has continued his pursuit of effective solutions
for improving the efficiency, reliability, and
sustainability of the transportation infrastructure
systems.
Flintsch and his students published four
journal papers, eight peer-reviewed conference
papers, four other conference papers, and one
research, report. They delivered 14 presentations
at national/international conferences, including
keynote presentations in Uruguay and Portugal.
Flintsch is chair of the ASCE committee
on infrastructure systems and vice-chair of the
highway pavements committee. He is also the
chair of the National Pavement Evaluation 2010
Conference to be hosted by Virginia Tech at the
Hotel Roanoke in October 2010.
Kathleen Hancock conducted research in
geospatial analysis with applications to freight
planning and operations, response planning for
hazardous materials incidents, urban micro-simulation
of traffic, and transportation right-of-way
information management.
She is co-director of the Center for Geospatial
Information Technology in the National Capital
Region (NCR), which is expanding into Geospatial
Intelligence and Health Geospatial Information
Technology.
Hancock is initiating a new master of
engineering degree in the NCR, focused on
geospatial engineering. She is active in the transportation
research board and is on the research
advisory council for the American Transportation
Research Institute.
She is also active with the United States
Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, Homeland
Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data Working
Group, and University Consortium for Geographic
Information Sciences.
See Transportation, page 34
2010 | VIA REPORT | 33

Transportation (from page 33)
Antoine Hobeika continued his work in
testing and improving the Federal Highway
Administration transportation planning software,
TRANSIMS. He taught classes on transportation
planning and land use and intelligent
transportation systems.
Bryan Katz continued to serve with the
TISE group and taught “Introduction to Transportation
Engineering” and “Geometric Design
of Highways,” while leading a small group for
the “Introduction to Civil Engineering” class.
Additionally, Katz worked for Science Applications
International Corporation (SAIC) as a
transportation researcher in Blacksburg. He leads
the SAIC Transportation Research Fellow program
where two TISE students are selected each
year by Hesham Rakha and Flintsch to conduct
cutting-edge transportation research both in
the transportation systems and transportation
infrastructure research areas.
Katz continued to work with undergraduate
students on research efforts in the areas of traffic
control device design. He also worked with a
student in industrial and systems engineering on
a plan for evaluating passive alcohol sensors for
improving enforcement at DWI checkpoints.
Shinya Kikuchi, the Charles E. Via Professor
of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
is a member of the transportation engineering
program in the NCR. He is also the program
director of the CEE department in the NCR.
Kikuchi’s interest is in urban transportation
systems planning, public transportation, and
uncertainty treatment in planning process.
His research project in the past year was path
search for unmanned vehicles in various terrains.
He has also developed an agent-based, multi-objective
optimization algorithm and applied it to
the problems of conflict resolution and calibration
of subjective probabilities.
Kikuchi is the chair of the Transportation
Research Board’s Artificial Intelligence and
Advanced Computing Application Committee
and he has co-organized the Helsinki Summer
School of Transportation the last four years. He
received an honorary doctorate from the Aalto
University (formerly Helsinki University of
Technology) for his work on uncertainty analysis
in transportation in the fall of 2010.
Pamela Murray-Tuite expanded her
work in evacuation, traffic incident effects,
transportation resilience, risk, and network
analysis. She received funding from the National
Science Foundation, the Virginia Transportation
Research Council, NSF/AdvanceVT, the
Mid-Atlantic University Transportation Center/
VTTI, and VT/ICTAS.
In the past year, she and her students developed
a dynamic traffic assignment model to
understand the relationships among transportation
network link states, explored resilience in the
context of flooding, and developed optimization
See Transportation, page 35
34 | VIA REPORT | 2010

Transportation (from page 34)
models related to picking up dependents
in an evacuation.
On-going work includes integrating
household decision-making
and behavior with transportation
simulation models for both no-notice
and hurricane events and developing
transportation related information
tools for cellular phones.
Murray-Tuite’s work was presented
at conferences and published in
journals and conference proceedings.
She is the chair of the Transportation
Research Board’s Subcommittee
on Critical Transport System
Protection Analysis, Integration and
Operations Planning and Management.
She is also on the executive
editorial board for the Journal of
Transportation Security and continues to
review papers for multiple journals
and conferences.
Hesham Rakha in collaboration
with the research faculty and students
at the Center for Sustainable
Mobility (CSM), worked on various
national-level projects sponsored
by the Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA), the National
Highway Traffic Safety Association,
NAVTEQ, the Virginia Department
of Transportation (VDOT),
the National Academies, SAIC, and
Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
In collaboration with the CSM
research faculty and students, Rakha
published 10 peer-reviewed journal
publications, 10 refereed conference
publications, one FHWA report,
and one VDOT report over the past
year. He also served as associate
editor for the IEEE Transactions on
ITS, associate editor for the Journal
of ITS, a member of the editorial
board of the Transportation Letters: The
International Journal of Transportation
Research, and a member of the TRB
committee on traffic flow theory and
characteristics.
In addition, Rakha served on the
technical advisory committee at the
3rd International Conference, Transport
Science and Technology Congress
in New Delhi, India in April
2010 and is one of five co-chairs for
the 13th International IEEE Conference
on Intelligent Transportation
Systems that was held in Madeira
Island, Portugal in September 2010.
Sam Tignor continued to work
closely with the National Cooperative
Highway Research Program in
the development of the Human
Factors Guideline for Road Systems
(HFG). This year, the third section
of the draft report was published
with the fourth section now under
development.
A workshop was held in January
2010 at the TRB annual meeting on
how to apply the HFG to projects.
Tignor also used the HFG and the
new Highway Safety Manual in the
2010 summer CEE “Highway Transportation
Safety” class, CEE 5640.
The HFG will be completed in 2012.
Antonio Trani in collaboration
with senior research associates Nick
Hinze and Howard Swingle, and several
graduate students, participated
in a computer simulation study with
Science Applications International
Corporation to study the airspace
and airport impacts of deploying
three squadrons of Joint Strike Fighters
at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
Trani and two graduate students,
D. Swol and N. Schroeder, developed
computer models for the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) to study
aircraft wake vortex interaction.
This model predicts the potential
wake vortex encounters under future
airport terminal operations.
He concluded a safety study for
Los Angeles International Airport
as part of a six-member Blue Ribbon
Panel in 2009-2010. He also
participated in a National Academy
of Sciences Panel to assess the validity
and usability of air traffic control
workload models by the FAA.
Trani presented an invited paper
on airport modeling and simulation
at the 2nd SPADE World’s Airports
Conference in Gran Canaria, Spain
in November 2009.
Linbing Wang was granted
tenure at the full professor level in the
department.
Wang and his colleagues established
a task committee on mechanics
of pavements in the Engineering
Mechanics Institute of ASCE. He
was appointed as the chair of this
committee, and continues research in
the mechanistic properties of pavement
materials.
VTTI continues to
be recognized as
a world leader for
offering a “onestop
shop” for
transportationrelated
research
and testing both
on Virginia’s Smart
Road as well as in
the growing field of
naturalistic driving
research.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 35

The following pages highlight some of the country’s
VIA SCHOLARS
Meet the Via Scholars
most exceptional students and alumni, the Via
Scholars. The motivation and aspirations of this
group reflect a profound curiosity and desire to improve
the quality of life around the world — from helping
municipalities manage growth, to the aesthetics of structures,
the quality of water, and international development.
The Via scholarships are made possible through the
generosity of the late Mrs. Marion Bradley Via of Roanoke,
Va., and her family. In 1987, Mrs. Via contributed $5 million
each to the Departments of Electrical and Computer
Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors subsequently named the
ECE department in honor of Mrs. Via’s deceased father,
Harry Lynde Bradley, and the CEE department in honor of
her late husband, Charles E. Via, Jr. Mrs. Via died in 1993.
Both departments use a portion of the endowment
to award scholarships to qualifying students. These
scholarships are among the most competitive in the country.
The Via endowment is now worth more than $15 million.
36 | VIA REPORT | 2010

VIA SCHOLARS
Master’s Students
Shainur Ahsan
Hometown:
Mt. Olive, Ala.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
Auburn
University
Awards/
Recognitions:
Graduated
Summa Cum
Laude; Civil
Engineering
Department
Outstanding
Student
Award (2009); 2010 Southeast ASCE
Conference Co-Chairman; Chi Epsilon;
Honor’s College; Cupola Engineering
Ambassadors; Phi Kappa Phi Freshman
Achievement Award
Primary Area of Interest: Structures
Outside Work Experience: North Carolina
Department of Transportation – Summer
Engineer’s Assistant (2008); NSF
REU Program at University of Houston
in Structures
Career Goals: After obtaining my master’s,
I hope to join a structural design
firm and work on large-scale projects. I
will also plan to obtain my PE license to
become a professional engineer.
Amanda Barngrover
Hometown:
Arvada, Colo.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Colorado
School of
Mines
Awards/
Recognitions:
Dean’s List
all semesters
during
undergraduate
degree; Colorado
School of
Mines President’s
Scholarship; Colorado School of
Mines Alumni Association Scholarship;
Member of Tau Beta Pi; Certificate in
McBride Honors Program in Public
Affairs
Primary Area of Interest: Geotechnical
Outside Work Experience: Colorado
Department of Transportation, June -
August 2005; Lockheed Martin Technical
Operations, May - August 2006; Hatch
Mott MacDonald, June 2007 – July 2009
as Junior Tunnel Engineer
Career Goals: I would like to obtain my
P.E. while working for a large, multidisciplinary
consulting firm.
Katherine Lourene Birckbichler
Hometown:
Simpsonville,
S.C.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Clemson
University
Awards/
Recognitions:
Summa Cum
Laude; Faculty
Scholarship
Award (given
for maintaining
a 4.0 overall
GPR at Clemson);
Calhoun College Honors; General
and Departmental Honors; E.L. Clark
Award for Senior in Civil Engineering;
Presidential Scholarship; Palmetto Fellow
Scholarship; National Merit Scholarship;
Clemson Nominee for the British
Marshall Scholarship
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental
and Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: Engineering
Co-op, Black & Veatch, Greenville, S.C.,
May – August 2007, January – May and
August – December 2008; Research
Assistant, Clemson University, Clemson,
S.C.; May – August 2008, May – August
2009
Career Goals: After earning my master’s
degree, I plan to work for a large engineering
consultant firm where I can gain
experience toward obtaining my P.E.
license. I hope to apply my knowledge to
problems worldwide including applications
in developing countries.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 37

Master’s Students
James M. Bryce
Hometown:
Springfield,
Miss.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: University
of Missouri
- Columbia
Awards/Recognitions:
graduated
Magna
Cum Laude and
Honors Scholar;
member of Tau
Beta Pi and Chi
Epsilon Honors
Societies. Selected as a WISE Intern in
2008 and published as an undergraduate
in three countries in two languages.
Primary Area of Interest: Transportation and
Infrastructure Systems
Outside Work Experience: Summer of 2007
– Midwest Environmental Consultants
Intern; Summer of 2008 – WISE Intern
working with policy makers in the field of
sustainable transportation infrastructure;
2008-2010 – Mettemeyer Engineering
LLC as a structural engineer on small to
midsize structures (hospitals, retail, etc.)
Career Goals: Beyond my master’s degree,
I wish to continue on for a Ph.D. in order
to prepare for an academic position at
a respected university. I desire to help
teach and nurture the next generation of
engineers, and hopefully endow them with
the same desire to learn that brought me
to Virginia Tech.
Suzanne Ciavola
Hometown:
Newtown
Square, Pa.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: The
Pennsylvania
State University
Awards/
Recognitions:
Department
of Civil and
Environmental
Engineering
Undergraduate
Student Award
for Excellence in Water Resources Engineering;
Chi Epsilon; Academic Excellence
Scholarship; Schreyer Honors College
Summer Research Grant; Schreyer
Ambassador Travel Grant; President of
the Penn State Waste Not Club
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental and
Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: Borton-Lawson
Engineering, Wilkes-Barre, Penn., as
a civil designer working mostly in land
development
Career Goals: After earning my master’s
degree, I would like get more experience
in the engineering field, using my training
in water resources and hydrology and
become a professional engineer.
Brandi Clark
Hometown:
Westervelt, Ill.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Missouri
University of
Science and
Technology
Awards/Recognitions:
2010
NSF Graduate
Research Fellowship,
2008
EPA GRO Fellow;
2008 Barry
M. Goldwater
Scholar; EWRI Undergraduate Technical
Paper Contest – 1st place (2008); American
Chemical Society (ACS) 2008 Student
Affiliates Leadership Award; OURE Fellow
2008; Missouri S&T Writing Contest 2008
– first place, technical writing, first place,
research paper; Missouri S&T Excellence
Scholarship; Missouri S&T Excellence
Scholarship II; Alumni Scholarship; Missouri
S&T Grant; Robert C. Byrd Scholarship;
Missouri S&T Chemistry Department Scholarship;
Outstanding Freshman, Sophomore,
Junior, Senior Chemistry Student;
Dean’s List; Academic Scholars.
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental and
Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: EPA GRO Fellowship,
August 2008 – May 2010; EPA
Internship at Andrew W. Breidenbach
Environmental Research Center in Cincinnati
OH (NRMRL/WSWRD) May 2009 –
August 2009; Missouri S&T OURE Fellows
Program, August 2008 – May 2010; Virginia
Tech Laboratory Assistant, June 2008 -
August 2008; Missouri S&T Opportunities
for Undergraduate Research Experience
(OURE) Program, March 2006 – May 2008;
Research Experience for Undergraduates
(REU) in Watershed Sciences at Virginia
Tech, May 2007 – August 2007; Missouri
S&T Undergraduate Teaching Assistant,
Spring 2007; Internship at Caterpillar,
Inc. – Mining and Construction Equipment
Division, May 2006 – August 2006
Career Goals: My ultimate career goal is
to work for a major research university,
teaching and conducting environmentally
relevant research.
38 | VIA REPORT | 2010

Master’s Students
Luke T. Cronin
Hometown:
Anchorage,
Alaska
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: University
of Kansas
Awards/Recognitions:
Member
of Chi Epsilon
Primary Area of
Interest: Structures
Outside Work
Experience:
Summers of
2007, 2008, 2009 worked as a construction
materials technician, testing various
materials such as concrete, and asphalt,
and performing minor inspections
Career Goals: I would like to become a successful
and innovative structural engineer.
Kelly M. Donoughe
Hometown:
Lake Mary, Fla.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Florida
State University
Awards/Recognitions:
Tau
Beta Pi President;
Institute
of Transportation
Engineers
Scholarship
winner; Rosen
Scholar; Graduated
Magna
Cum Laude in Civil Engineering
Primary Area of Interest: Transportation and
Infrastructure Systems
Outside Work Experience: Intern at Avcon,
Inc. where I got experience in roadway
design, land development and structural
assessments of bridges; Research Assistant
at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
where I studied the structural integrity of
small buses; Odyssey of the Mind Regional
Problem Captain and Head Judge
for four years where I worked with children
to creatively solve structural engineering
problems and coordinated a portion of the
regional competition
Career Goals: Upon completion of my
master’s degree, I plan to immediately
continue on to earn my Ph.D. in transportation
systems. With my Ph.D., I wish to
obtain a teaching and research position
at a well-known university. I strive to motivate
and inspire the future generations of
engineers by sharing my love of transportation
through teaching and mentoring. In
my research, I hope to work with vehicle
safety technology to help make the roadway
a safer place to be.
Crysta Highfield
Hometown:
Fredericksburg,
Va.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Virginia
Tech
Awards and
Recognitions:
Graduated Summa
Cum Laude
and Commonwealth
Scholar;
Member of Tau
Beta Pi, Chi
Epsilon, and Phi
Beta Kappa honor fraternities; Dean’s List
all semesters of undergraduate study.
Primary Area of Interest: Transportation and
Infrastructure Systems
Outside Work Experience: Research Assistantship,
Geotechnical Engineering, Virginia
Tech, Blacksburg, Va., January 2007
– May 2008; NSF Research Assistantship,
Geotechnical Engineering, Virginia Tech,
Blacksburg, Va., May 2006 – August 2006;
Intern, Turner Construction Company,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute site,
Ashburn, Va., May 2005 – August 2005
Career Goals: I would like to work in developing
countries, helping to bring about
the effective and sustainable design and
engineering of road and highway systems.
By taking part in collaboration between
professionals from highly developed countries
and currently developing countries,
I hope to help bring about positive and
lasting change in the quality of engineering
that can be achieved by all parties.
After gaining industry experience I am
interested in earning my Ph.D. and continuing
to participate in outreach programs
as a professor.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 39

Master’s Students
Peter D. Kauffmann
Hometown:
Richmond, Va.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Virginia
Tech
Awards and
Recognitions:
Undergraduate
Via Scholar;
Graduated
Summa Cum
Laude and
Honors Scholar;
Civil Engineering
Department
Outstanding Senior in 2009; 2008 VT
ASCE President; 2009 Dexter C. Jameson
National Chi Epsilon Scholarship; Tau
Beta Pi member; Eagle Scout
Primary Area of Interest: Transportation and
Infrastructure Systems
Outside Work Experience: AECOM, Roadway
Design; Wiley & Wilson, Civil Site
Design; Draper Aden Associates, Site
Planning
Career Goals: I believe that our surface
transportation network in this country
is unsustainable in terms of energy
consumption, land use, and congestion
delays. I want to develop and implement
solutions to these problems that include
integrated, efficient mass transit systems.
Ronald D. Kent
Hometown:
Omaha, Neb.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
Brigham Young
University
Awards/Recognitions:
Member
of Tau Beta Pi;
Edwin S. Hinckley
Scholar;
Recipient of
Brigham Young
Scholarship
three years in a
row; Graduated Magna Cum Laude
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental and
Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: Aquaveo, LLC,
Sept. 2007 – Apr. 2009, provided technical
support for users of the Watershed
Modeling System (WMS), Groundwater
Modeling System (GMS), and Surface
Water Modeling System (SMS); Brigham
Young University, June 2008 – June 2009,
worked as a research assistant on a water
quality study of Deer Creek Reservoir in
Utah
Career Goals: After I graduate, I am going
to obtain my P.E. license and work for a
consulting firm in the water/wastewater
industry.
William John Kingston
Hometown:
Dover Plains,
N.Y.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Lafayette
College
Awards/Recognitions:
Tau Beta
Pi Engineering
Honor Society,
Lafayette
Trustee Scholar
(Lafayette’s
second most
prestigious student
scholarship award); Charles A. Dana
Scholar, Dean’s List: Fall 2006-Spring
2010; Carroll Phillip-Bassett Prize (awarded
to Lafayette’s most prestigious civil
engineers); Engineer-In-Training (E.I.T.)
Certification; Lafayette EXCEL Research
Scholar; Graduated Summa Cum Laude;
High School Valedictorian
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental and
Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: Morris Associates
Engineering Consultants, Poughkeepsie,
N.Y. – Intern (Summer 2007, 2008); Lafayette
College, Easton, Pa. – Geotechnical
Research Assistant (Summer 2009);
Rennia Engineering Design, Dover Plains,
N.Y. – Intern (Summer 2010); Lafayette
College, Easton, Pa. – Water Resources/
GIS Research Assistant (Fall 2009 –
Spring 2010)
Career Goals: I want to obtain a Professional
Engineering license and pursue a career
in the field of water resources engineering.
I hope to work on projects involving
riparian ecology, environmental stream
restoration, and naturalized waterway
design.
40 | VIA REPORT | 2010

Master’s Students
Maria W. Lang
Hometown:
Murrysville,
Penn.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
Virginia Tech
Awards/
Recognitions:
Graduated
Summa Cum
Laude; Dean’s
List with
Distinction all
semesters;
Chi Epsilon;
Gamma Beta Phi; EMLC Scholarship;
Balzar & Associates Scholarship; Civil
Engineering Class of ’58 Scholarship
Primary Area of Interest: Structures
Outside Work Experience: Pennsylvania
Department of Transportation as an Engineering,
Science, & Technology Intern,
May 2007 – August 2007; L.R. Kimball
& Associates as a summer intern in the
Bridges Group, May 2008 – August 2008
& May 2009 – August 2009
Career Goals: After obtaining my master’s
degree, I plan on working in designing
structures and obtain my P.E. After years
of design work, I want my career to head
in the direction of becoming a project
manager.
Samuel Lasley
Hometown:
Chillicothe,
Iowa
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
Brigham
Young University,
Provo,
Utah
Awards/
Recognitions:
BYU Heritage
Scholar, Tau
Beta Pi, BYU
Cum Laude
Primary Area of Interest: Geotechnical
Outside Work Experience: Internship with
Terracon Consultants, Inc.
Career Goals: I want to practice sound
engineering, serve the greater good,
contribute to the knowledge in my field,
be an inspiring mentor for younger engineers,
become a trusted and valuable
source of advice for my colleagues, and
have an office I rarely inhabit.
Claire N. McKenzie
Hometown:
Midlothian, Va.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
Virginia Tech
Awards and
Recognitions:
Graduated
Summa
Cum Laude;
Member of Chi
Epsilon and
Phi Kappa Phi;
2010 Cumberland
District
Chi Epsilon Scholarship; 2010 ASCE
Thompson Award for Virginia Tech; 2010
VT Relay For Life Executive Committee
Member of the Year; Via Undergraduate
Scholar; Dean’s List with Distinction
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental
and Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: Dewberry – Water
Resources and Land Development;
Timmons Group – Economic Development
Career Goals: Having grown up in a rapidly
expanding suburban community near
Richmond, my goal is to design sustainable
developments that are more environmentally
conscious through their site
layout and stormwater management.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 41

Master’s Students
Alexander Reeb
Hometown:
North Wales,
Penn.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: University
of Rhode
Island
Awards/Recognitions:
Graduated
Summa
Cum Laude
with BS in Civil
Engineering
and BA in German
from the
International Engineering Program, Minor
in Mathematics; DAAD Scholar; Nelson C.
White Award; Member of Chi Epsilon and
Tau Beta Pi
Primary Area of Interest: Geotechnical
Outside Work Experience: Ed. Züblin AG,
Stuttgart, Germany, March to August
2009; Institute für Grund und Bodenmechanik
(Geotechnical Research
Institute), Technical University of Braunschweig,
Germany, November 2008 to
March 2009; Schnabel Engineering, West
Chester, Penn., Summer 2008; U.S. Army
Evaluation Center, APG, MD, Winter
Break and Summer 2007
Career Goals: I plan to obtain a Ph.D. and
my P.E. I would like to work for an international
firm on cutting edge geotechnical
projects worldwide.
Elias A. Rivera
Hometown:
Orlando, Fla.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: University
of Florida
(UF)
Awards/Recognitions:
UF
President’s
Honor Roll; UF
College of Engineering
Dean’s
List; Graduated
Summa
Cum Laude;
Outstanding Gator Engineering Transfer
Scholar; Wire Reinforcement Institute
Scholarship; Ing. Jose A Vila Scholarship;
UF College of Engineering Scholarship;
Florida Department of Transportation
Plans Reading Certification; Tau Beta
Pi member and officer; ASCE and Chi
Epsilon member
Primary Area of Interest: Structures
Outside Work Experience: Research Assistantship
(2009 – 2010); Teaching
Assistantship (2008 – 2010); ONM&J
Structural Engineers (2005 – 2007 summers);
Kimley Horn and Associates (2009
summer); Sixth Grade Teacher in Palau,
Micronesia (2006 – 2007 school year)
Career Goals: Upon completing graduate
school, I want to work for a structural
design firm that seeks improved and innovative
ways to meet the clients’ needs.
After attaining my P.E. license, I hope
to become a project manager and be
involved in major company decisions.
Elizabeth A. Skvarenina
Hometown:
West Lafayette,
Ind.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Purdue
University
Awards and
Recognitions:
National Merit
Scholarship
Winner for
undergraduates;
Member of Chi
Epsilon and Tau
Beta Pi.
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental and
Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: Summer 2005,
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
at Purdue, worked with faculty and
graduate student mentors doing research
on the Assessment of Surfactants Biodegradability
During Graywater Recycling for
Advanced Life Support Applications; 2005
– 2007, worked as an undergraduate
researcher assisting in various projects
and tasks in the laboratory
Career Goals: I wish to obtain a position
related to water or wastewater treatment.
42 | VIA REPORT | 2010

Master’s Students
VIA SCHOLARS
Christopher Tomlinson
Hometown:
Bellmawr, N.J.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Rowan
University
Awards/Recognitions:
NJAPA
Michael Manno
Scholarship,
Undergraduate
Research
Award, Rowan
University Top
Civil Engineer,
Tau Beta Pi
member, graduated Magna Cum Laude
in civil engineering, Rowan Scholars
Program, Trustee Scholarship, Dean’s List
every semester at Rowan University
Primary Area of Interest: Transportation and
Infrastructure Systems
Outside Work Experience: Rowan University
undergraduate research assistant
– worked on a variety of projects for the
NJDOT and FAA in addition to being part
of a team that helped survey the city of
Camden. During the school year I was a
laboratory/teacher’s assistant
Career Goals: Upon completion of my
master’s degree, I plan on immediately
pursuing my Ph.D. in transportation engineering.
After obtaining a Ph.D., I will
then become a professor at a university
where I would be able to inspire the future
generations of engineers.
Doctoral Students
Zaeinulabddin M. Adam
Hometown:
Khartoum,
Sudan
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
University of
Khartoum,
Sudan
Location of
Master’s Studies:
Utah State
University
Awards and
Recognitions:
Dean’s Lists.
Primary Area of Interest: Transportation
and Infrastructure Systems
Outside Work Experience: Project Engineer,
George Butler Associates, Inc.
Kansas City, Kansas; Project Manager,
Engineering Airwaves, Khartoum, Sudan
Career Goals: I plan to pursue a career in
academia besides doing consulting in
the area of infrastructures and transport
engineering.
Tiffany E. Adams
Hometown:
Portland, Ore.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
Oregon State
University
Location of
Master’s Studies:
Virginia
Tech
Awards and
Recognitions:
2010 Scholarship
from
U.S. Society
on Dams; EIGER Fellowship; ASCE J.
James R. Croes Medal, 2006; Oregon
State University Council of Early Career
Engineers; ASCE Edmund Friedman
Young Engineer Award for Professional
Achievement, 2004; Registered
Professional Engineer, (Washington and
Colorado)
Primary Area of Interest: Geotechnical
Outside Work Experience: Project
Geotechnical Engineer, PanGEO, Inc,
Seattle, Wash., 2001 – 2005; Geotechnical
Engineer URS Corp., Denver, Colo.,
1997 – 2001
Career Goals: I plan to pursue a career
in consulting or academia focused on
improving our understanding of how human
influences affect our design process
and improving our ability to achieve safe
and successful outcomes for communities
living with engineered systems.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 43

Doctoral Students
Adam G. Bowland
Hometown:
Oak Hill, W.Va.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Carnegie
Mellon
University
Location of
Master’s Studies:
Virginia
Tech
Awards and
Recognitions:
Member of Chi
Epsilon and
Tau Beta Pi,
graduated with Honors; Recipient of the
Alumni Association Academic-Athletic
Achievement Award given to the male
senior athlete at Carnegie Mellon with
the highest GPA; Second-Team All Conference
(Football)
Primary Area of Interest: Structures
Outside Work Experience: West Virginia
DOH, Lewisburg, W.Va., worked with
state inspectors during the construction
of a 500 foot steel bridge over the
New River; GAI Consultants, Pittsburgh,
Pa., designed transmission lines and
transmission structures using computer
aided design software and worked on
the rehabilitation of a small concrete
dam in Fort Wayne, In.; Kimley-Horn and
Associates, Virginia Beach, Va., involved
in the structural rehabilitation of a railroad
underpass bridge in Norfolk, Va.,
and assisted in consulting efforts for the
construction of a highway interchange
Career Goals: After graduation, I plan to
work towards earning my professional licensure.
Through past experience I have
found that I enjoy working in consulting,
and I want to work at a firm where I will
be exposed to projects involving both
bridge and building design.
William Norfleet Collins
Hometown:
Chesterfield,
Va.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
Virginia Tech
Location of
Master’s Studies:
Virginia
Tech
Awards and
Recognitions:
James
R. Reeves
Scholarship;
Civil Engineering Alumni Advisory Board
Scholarship; William A. Caruthers, Jr.
Scholarship; Big East Academic All Star
Team; Virginia Tech Track and Field
Coach’s Award; Virginia Tech Athletic
Director’s Honor Roll
Primary Area of Interest: Structures
Outside Work Experience: Construction
Superintendent, Prospect Homes of
Richmond; Construction Management,
James River Construction, LLC; Timber
Framer, Blue Ridge Timberwrights
Career Goals: I plan to become a professor
in civil engineering, and be involved
in teaching, research, and community
outreach. I hope to educate and inspire
students, teaching them the importance
of structural engineering and the great
responsibility they will undertake in
this profession. Through my research I
intend to promote safety, longevity, and
economy of civil structures. I hope to
have a positive impact on those around
me by organizing and being involved
with community outreach and service
projects.
Benjamin T. Cross
Hometown:
Hamilton, Va.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
University of
Delaware
Location of
Master’s Studies:
University
of Delaware
(UD)
Awards and
Recognitions:
E.C. Davis
Scholar Award,
UD Graduate School; Full Football
Athletic Scholarship, UD undergraduate;
Dean’s List every enrolled semester at
UD; four Varsity Football Letters at UD;
2004 CoSida 1st Team and 2003 CoSida
2nd Team Football Academic All-American;
2003 Atlantic 10 Football Scholar
Athlete of the Year; 2002 and 2004 UD
Civil Engineering Scholar Athlete of the
Year; Member of 2003 I-AA National
Championship Football Team as well as
2003 and 2004 Atlantic 10 Champions
Primary Area of Interest: Structures
Outside Work Experience: University of
Delaware Center for Composite Materials
Internship, 2002-2003; Delaware
Engineering and Design Corporation
Internship, 2004-2005
Career Goals: I would like to obtain an
advanced research position whether
it be at a university or in the structural
engineering industry.
44 | VIA REPORT | 2010

Doctoral Students
Kacie C. D’Alessandro
Hometown:
Easley, S.C.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Clemson
University
Location of
Master’s Studies:
Clemson
University
Awards and
Recognitions:
Precast/
Prestressed
Concrete
Institute Daniel
P. Jenny Research Fellowship; American
Society of Civil Engineers S.C. Section
Scholarship; W.M. Thames Jr. Engineering
Scholarship; General Electric
Women’s Networking Scholarship;
Legislative Incentive for Future Excellence
Scholarship; Chi Epsilon; Tau Beta
Pi; Calhoun Honors College, Clemson
University
Primary Area of Interest: Structures
Outside Work Experience: Wind Engineering
and Structures Laboratory Research
Assistant, Clemson, S.C.; Florence &
Hutcheson, Inc. Internship, Columbia,
S.C.
Career Goals: After completing my doctoral
degree, I plan to enter academia and
become a professor at a research university.
I want to teach future engineers
along their path to success by motivating
and guiding them throughout their
academic journey. Additionally, I want to
become a leading researcher with the
capability of combining my interests in
both concrete materials and structures.
Christina C. Davis
Hometown:
Rocky Mount,
Va.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Virginia
Tech
Location of Master’s
Studies:
Virginia Tech
Awards and
Recognitions:
Registered
Professional Engineer;
EPA Science
to Achieve
Results (STAR) Fellowship; AWWA LARS
and Thomas R. Camp Scholarships;
NWRI Fellowship; VWRRC William R.
Walker Graduate Fellowship; WPI Graduate
Fellowship; AEESP Outstanding M.S.
Thesis Award; ASCE Thompson Award for
Outstanding Undergraduate; Tau Beta Pi;
Chi Epsilon
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental and
Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: Environmental
Engineer, CDM, 2000 – 2003; Intern,
Montgomery Watson Harza, 1997; Co-op
Engineer, RR Donnelley Printing Company,
1994 – 1995
Career Goals: I would like to contribute to the
field of environmental engineering through
teaching, research, and consulting.
Kathryn A. Gunberg
Hometown:
Ada, Mich.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
University of
Michigan
Location of
Master’s Studies:
University
of Michigan
Awards and
Recognitions:
Chi Epsilon,
F.E. Richart
Fellowship,
UM, 2006; Greene Fellowship, UM, 2006
Primary Area of Interest: Geotechnical
Outside Work Experience: Soils & Structures,
Inc., during summer 2006; City of
Ann Arbor, May 2004 – November 2005
Career Goals: Whether in academia
or in industry, I hope to teach others
about geotechnical engineering and to
continue to broaden my knowledge and
experience in the field.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 45

Doctoral Students
Rebecca A. Halvorson
Hometown:
Whitewater,
Wisc.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
University of
Wisconsin-La
Crosse
Awards and
Recognitions:
EPA STAR,
2009-2012;
EAPSI Fellowship,
2009; Ray
Heath Scholarship
in Chemistry, 2006; UW-L Undergraduate
Research Grant, 2005
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental and
Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: REU summer
intern, Mercury research lab at UW-La
Crosse
Career Goals: Following graduation from Virginia
Tech, I will seek out a position at
a research institution, a consulting firm, or
possibly an international service organization.
Whether as a career or an annual
summer vacation, I also hope to use my
understanding of water quality engineering
in developing nations to improve their
basic quality of life through their source
of water.
Andrew B. Hardyniec
Hometown:
Bringhurst, Ind.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Michigan
Technological
University
Location of Master’s
Studies:
Virginia Tech
Awards and
Recognitions:
Summa Cum
Laude; Michigan
Tech Civil and
Environmental
Engineering Outstanding Achievement
Award; MTU Alumni Legacy Award; Class
of ’49 Endowed Scholarship; Presidential
Excellence Scholarship; Dean’s List for
all semesters at Michigan Tech; MTU
Research Scholar; Valedictorian of High
School class
Primary Area of Interest: Structures
Outside Work Experience: Federal Highway
Administration, California Division,
investigated soil retaining structures built
in response to landslides and presented
my work at the 1st North American Landslide
Conference in Vail, Colo.; California
Department of Transportation, investigated
bridge support structures and was
involved in bridge inspections; Resident
Assistant, three years; Research Assistant
at Michigan Tech
Career Goals: After completing my master’s
degree, I intend to pursue a doctoral degree.
I hope to work for a consulting firm,
preferably working on unique structures,
or obtain a research position. I foresee
myself teaching one day so I can share
my knowledge of engineering with others.
Jordan A. Jarrett
Hometown:
Littleton, Colo.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
Colorado State
University
Location of Master’s
Studies:
Colorado State
University
Awards and
Recognitions:
Chi Epsilon Secretary;
Colorado
State University
CEE Structural Engineering Scholarship;
Colorado Distinguished Scholars Award
Primary Area of Interest: Structures
Outside Work Experience: Structural Intern
at S.A. Miro, Inc. in Denver, Colo., from
May 2007 to August 2008; Research and
teaching assistantships at Colorado State
University from January 2007 to August
2009
Career Goals: After hopefully gaining more
experience as a practicing structural engineer,
I would like to end up in academia
as a professor, teaching and leading
research projects.
46 | VIA REPORT | 2010

Doctoral Students
Lashun K. King
Hometown:
Elaine, Ark.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Tennessee
State
University
Location of
Master’s
Studies: Tennessee
State
University
Awards and
Recognitions:
Engineering
Scholarship,
Fall 2000 - Spring 2006; Dean’s List,
Fall 2000 - Spring 2006; U.S. Geological
Survey Headquarters: Outstanding
Achievement Recognition, Spring 2006;
Technical Research Symposium, Presentation
Winner, Spring 2006; Alabama
American Water Resources Association
Symposium Winner, Fall 2005; Tennessee
American Water Resources Association
Symposium Winner, Spring 2004;
Campus Superstar: U.S. Black Engineer
Information and Technology Magazine,
Fall 2004
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental
and Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: United States
Geological Survey: South Carolina Water
Science Center, Summer 2006; United
States Geological Survey: Volunteer
for Science Research, Fall 2003-Spring
2006; Y-12 National Security Complex,
Summer 2002 – 2005, National Nuclear
Security Administration, United States
Department of Energy (Q Level Clearance)
Career Goals: Upon completion of my
doctoral degree, I would like to pursue
a career as a professor with research
and teaching responsibilities. I strongly
believe that a career in academia will
provide me an opportunity to become
directly involved and impact the lives of
many motivated students.
Laura M. Kosoglu
Hometown:
Cherry Hill,
N.J.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Lehigh
University
Location of
Master’s Studies:
Lehigh
University
Awards and
Recognitions:
NSF IGERT
Fellow; Sigma
Xi: International
Scientific Research Society; ADSC:
International Association of Foundation
Drilling Scholarship; Lehigh University
President’s Scholar; John B. Carson
Award; Tau Beta Pi; Chi Epsilon
Primary Area of Interest: Geotechnical
Outside Work Experience: American Water
Engineering Co-Op in Voorhees, N.J.,
three rotations
Career Goals: I plan to conduct university
research and teaching or consulting in
geotechnical engineering with international
and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Randi Lieberman
Hometown:
Parkland, Fla.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
University of
Florida
Location of
Master’s Studies:
University
of Florida
Awards and
Recognitions:
Association of
Drilled Shaft
Contractors
(ADSC) National Scholar; Chi Epsilon;
Cum Laude Graduate; Golden Key
Honor Society; Honors College Undergraduate
Student; Florida Blue Key
Leadership Honor Society; Dean’s List (8
semesters); Ilene Silverstein Scholarship
for Sisterhood (Delta Phi Epsilon)
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental
and Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: Civil Engineering
Analyst, Kimley-Horn and Associates
(2006 – 2008); Graduate Assistant for
the Center for Leadership and Service,
University of Florida (2005 – 2006);
Geotechnical Engineering Intern, ESP
(2005); Undergraduate Student Teaching
Assistant, University of Florida (2004 –
2005)
Career Goals: After obtaining my Ph.D., I
hope to continue in academia enabling
others to realize their goals through
education. I would like to focus on
continuing education and research in the
field of sustainability and environmental
engineering. In addition to traditional
academic environments, I am passionate
about education through experience, and
I aspire to travel to developing countries
in an effort of international cooperation to
achieve common goals of sustainability.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 47

Doctoral Students
Marc J. Maguire
Hometown:
Lincoln, Neb.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
University of Nebraska—Lincoln
Location of Master’s
Studies:
University of Nebraska—Lincoln
Awards and
Recognitions:
Virginia Tech
College of
Engineering
Dean’s Teaching Fellowship; University
of Nebraska—Lincoln Milton E. Moore
Graduate Fellowship; R. & L. Harris Civil
Undergraduate Engineering Scholarship
Primary Area of Interest: Structures
Outside Work Experience: Nebraska Department
of Roads, Bridge Division, Research
and Rating Team – worked on bridge
rating and design, as well as a number
of research projects. Midwest Roadside
Safety Facility, Lincoln, NE, undergraduate
research assistant – test setup and
analysis of full scale vehicular crash
testing
Career Goals: Following graduation, I plan
to attain professional licensure and hope
to acquire a research position in either
industry or academia focusing on concrete
structures.
Michael P. McGuire
Hometown:
Blacksburg, Va.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
University of
Pennsylvania
Location of Master’s
Studies:
Virginia Tech
Awards and
Recognitions:
Geosynthetics
Institute Fellowship;
Geo-
Institute Student
Presidential Group; GAANN Fellowship;
IREE Grant; Tau Beta Pi; Registered
Professional Engineer in Virginia.
Primary Area of Interest: Geotechnical
Outside Work Experience: Senior Staff
Engineer, Schnabel Engineering, Inc.,
2001 – 2004
Career Goals: I’d like to teach at the college
level or return to consulting.
Jennifer H. Miller
Hometowns:
Sayre, Penn.;
Tucson, Ariz.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Bucknell
University
Location of Master’s
Studies:
University of
Arizona
Awards and
Recognitions:
Licensed
Professional
Engineer (State
of Arizona)
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental and
Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: Project Engineer,
Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., Tucson, Arizona,
September 2000 – May 2006; Water/
Wastewater Project Engineer, MWH New
Zealand, Ltd., Wanganui, New Zealand,
July 2006 – June 2008
Career Goals: I envision that an academic
career will offer the opportunity to generate
interest and aid in the development of
future industry professionals, pursue my
own research and professional development,
and influence and contribute to
applied projects in the public or private
water/wastewater sectors. Upon completion
of the Ph.D. degree, my preliminary
thoughts are that I would like to continue
in academics (research and teaching in
a faculty position) and consult within my
research area.
48 | VIA REPORT | 2010

Doctoral Students
Caroline K. Nguyen
Hometown:
Graham, N.C.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
N.C. State
University-
Raleigh, N.C.
Location of
Master’s Studies:
Virginia
Tech
Awards and
Recognitions:
National Science
Foundation
Graduate Fellowship, 2003 – 2005,
2007; NSF Computer Science, Engineering,
and Mathematics Scholarship,
2002 – 2003; W.C. Billy Creel Memorial
Scholarship, 2002 – 2003; Progress
Energy Scholarship, 2001 – 2002; CP&L
Scholarship, 2000 – 2001
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental
and Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: Stearns &
Wheler, Environmental Engineer, June
2005 – June 2007; Hazen and Sawyer,
Intern, May 2001 – August 2003
Career Goals: I would like to obtain a P.E.
license and become a professor at a
research university.
John E. Petrie
Hometown:
Richmond, Va.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
Virginia Tech,
New England
Conservatory
Location of
Master’s Studies:
Virginia
Tech
Awards and
Recognitions:
Hydro
Research
Foundation Fellowship, 2010; G.V.
Loganathan Fellowship, 2009; William
R. Walker Graduate Research Fellow
Award, 2009; Edna Bailey Sussman
Fund Environmental Internship, 2008;
VCUQ Faculty Development Grant,
2007; VCUQ Faculty Research Grant,
2005; Paul E. Torgersen Excellence in
Research Award, 1999; Waste Policy
Institute Summer Graduate Fellowship,
1998
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental
and Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: Assistant
Professor of Mathematics and Physics,
Virginia Commonwealth University in
Qatar, 2004 – 2007
Career Goals: I would like to continue to be
active as a researcher and educator.
Lynsey D. Reese
Hometown:
Bellefonte,
Penn.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
University of
Pittsburgh
Location of
Master’s Studies:
Pennsylvania
State
University
Awards and
Recognitions:
Graduated
Summa Cum Laude and Member of Chi
Epsilon Honors Fraternity
Primary Area of Interest: Structures
Outside Work Experience: Internship at the
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation,
Summer 2005 and 2006; Teaching
Assistant at the Pennsylvania State
University, August 2007 – August 2009
Career Goals: I would like to work on
unique projects for a consulting firm.
Later I hope to become a professor and
share the experiences and knowledge
gained from years in the field.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 49

Doctoral Students
Emily A. Sarver
Hometown:
Richmond, Va.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: Virginia
Tech
Location of Master’s
Studies:
Virginia Tech
Awards and
Recognitions:
National Science
Foundation
Graduate
Research Fellowship
Award;
University of California at Berkeley Materials
Science and Engineering Department
William V. Power Graduate Award, Fall
2006; finalist – Hertz Foundation Fellowship
Award, 2006; Paul E. Torgersen
Graduate Research Excellence Award,
2006; Virginia Tech College of Engineering
Outstanding Senior of the Year, 2004
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental and
Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: Phelps Dodge
Process Technology Center, Morenci,
Ariz., M.S. thesis project research on reaction
kinetics involving activated carbon
used as a catalyst in regenerating key
ions in electrolyte for hydrometallurgical
copper extraction
Career Goals: I have interests in mining and
minerals processing, with an emphasis on
environmental issues in these fields, and I
would like to work in academia.
Joel A. Sloan
Hometown:
Powhatan, Va.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: U.S. Air
Force Academy
Location of
Master’s Studies:
University
of Colorado at
Boulder
Awards and
Recognitions:
Chi Epsilon,
2009 Air
Force level
Commander-in-Chief’s Installation Excellence
Award; 1st Civil Engineer Squadron
Company Grade Officer of the Year and
Military Manager of the Year; licensed
professional engineer; Meritorious Service
Medal; Joint Service Commendation
Medal
Primary Area of Interest: Geotechnical
Outside Work Experience: Experienced
programmer, design engineer, deputy
chief of engineering, chief of maintenance
engineering, deputy chief of housing,
Langley Air Force Base, Va.; command
pavement engineer, Air Combat Command;
instructor of civil engineering and
geotechnical division chief, U.S. Air Force
Academy, Colo.; three deployments to
Southwest Asia
Career Goals: Following graduation from
Virginia Tech, I will have a civil engineering
assignment in the Air Force that will be
followed by another tour as an instructor
at the U.S. Air Force Academy. After
retiring from the Air Force I would like to
obtain a faculty position at a university
with a strong civil engineering program or
work in geotechnical consulting.
James H. Stagge
Hometown:
Timonium, Md.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: University
of Maryland,
College Park
Location of Master’s
Studies:
University of
Maryland, College
Park
Awards and
Recognitions:
Robert Morris
Award for Environmental
Leadership; Undergraduate
Honors Research Project Honorable Mention;
Undergraduate Engineering Honors;
Undergraduate University Honors
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental and
Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: Staff Engineer,
Roux Associates; Civil/Hydraulic Engineer,
The Bioengineering Group; Environmental
Lab Assistant, USDA Agricultural Research
Center; Surveyor, Johnson, Mirmiran,
and Thompson (JMT) Engineering
Career Goals: I hope to pursue a position
as a professor or researcher focused on
hydraulic modeling of natural systems
and its use as sustainable stormwater
alternatives.
50 | VIA REPORT | 2010

Doctoral Students
Melissa Stewart
Hometown:
Gainesville,
Fla.
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
University of
Florida
Location of
Master’s Studies:
University
of Florida
Awards and
Recognitions:
NSF IGERT
Fellowship at
Virginia Tech; Florida Alumni Fellow at
University of Florida (Masters); GAANN
Fellow at University of Florida (Masters);
National Merit Scholarship Winner (Undergraduate);
Member of Tau Beta Pi
Primary Area of Interest: Environmental
and Water Resources
Outside Work Experience: Water/Wastewater
Engineering intern at Gainesville
Regional Utilities in Gainesville, Fla.,
during master’s degree studies; summer
internship at Water Missions International
in Charleston, S.C.; research/
lab assistant at the University of Florida
in the Biological and Environmental
Engineering Departments; teaching assistant
at the University of Florida in the
Environmental Engineering Department
Career Goals: I look forward to obtaining
my doctorate and hope to obtain professional
licensure as well. I would like to
pursue a career as a professor, teaching
and doing research that interacts with
the professional engineering community.
Daniel R. Vanden Berge
Hometowns:
Ada, Mich.;
Wickliffe, Ohio
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies:
Michigan
Technological
University
Location of
Master’s Studies:
Michigan
Technological
University
Awards and
Recognitions:
Summa Cum Laude at MTU; Dean’s
list all semesters at MTU; Outstanding
Achievement Award from MTU CEE
department; Member ASTM and ASCE;
Registered Professional Engineer – Ohio
and Pennsylvania
Primary Area of Interest: Geotechnical
Outside Work Experience: Project Engineer,
EDP Consultants, Inc., Kirtland,
Ohio, 2003 – 2010; Part-time Faculty,
Lakeland Community College, Kirtland,
Ohio, 2009 – 2010; Graduate Teaching
Assistant – Michigan Technological
University, 2001 – 2003
Career Goals: After completing my doctoral
degree, I hope to teach at a research
university and share my love and knowledge
of geotechnical engineering with
the next generation of civil engineers. I
plan to carry out research in the fields
of slope stability and shear strength and
also pursue applications of geotechnical
engineering and geohazard mitigation in
the developing world.
Michael Woodworth
Hometown:
Rocky River,
Ohio
Location of
Undergraduate
Studies: University
of Cincinnati
Location of Master’s
Studies:
Virginia Tech
Awards and
Recognitions:
American
Society of
Civil Engineers;
University
Honors; Cincinnatus Scholar; Chi Epsilon;
Engineering Ambassadors
Primary Area of Interest: Structures
Outside Work Experience: VSL – Australia,
July 2007 – November 2007; GOP Limited,
September 2004 – September 2005;
BBN Technologies, March 2003 – June
2004
Career Goals: I plan to obtain a Ph.D. and
find employment in industry or academia
with a research component. I eventually
wish to teach at the University level.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 51

VIA ALUMNI
Where Are They Now
UNDERGRADUATES
Suzanne Ayres Angelo
Year Graduated: 2003; Master’s 2006,
Virginia Tech
Employer: Unknown
Doran J. Bosso
Year Graduated: 2006; Master’s 2008,
Virginia Tech
Employer: Skanska Infrastructure Development,
Alexandria, Va.
Chris English
Year Graduated: 1994; Master’s 1996,
University of Illinois, Urbana
Employer: CH2M Hill, St. Louis, Mo.
Previous Employer: 1996-97, Patrick Engineering,
Springfield, Ill.
Brian P. Felker
Year Graduated: 2001
Current Status: Unknown
Kathryn Firich
Year Graduated: 2007
Employer: Brown and Caldwell, Alexandria,
Va.
R. Andrew Goodwin
Year Graduated: 1996
Current Status: U.S. Army Engineer R&D
Center, Portland, Ore.
Chris Kaldahl
Year Graduated: 1995
Employer: Appalachian Mountain Club,
Gorham, N.H.
Peter D. Kauffmann
Year Graduated: 2009
Employer: Currently pursuing an M.S. degree
in Civil & Environmental Engineering
at Virginia Tech
Claire N. McKenzie
Year Graduated: 2010
Employer: Currently pursuing an M.S. degree
in Civil & Environmental Engineering
at Virginia Tech
Stephen O. Meininger
Year Graduated: 1991
Employer: CH2M Hill - OMI, Clarksville, Md.
Joshua Mouras
Year Graduated: 2006
Employer: Magnusson Klemencic Associates,
Seattle, Wash.
52 | VIA REPORT | 2010
Joseph Schmitt
Year Graduated: 2001
Current Status: Unknown
Paul Taylor
Year Graduated: 2004
Current Status: ExxonMobil, Houston,
Texas
Henry J. Theiss
Year Graduated: 1994
Employer: Unknown
Jennifer Verwest
Year Graduated: 2001
Current Status: Currently pursuing a graduate
degree at Texas A&M University,
College Station, Texas
Elliott Robert Wheeler
Year Graduated: 1996
Employer: Operations Management International,
Inc., Englewood, Colo.
Ryan Willey
Year Graduated: 2000
Employer: Unknown
The following students also received their
undergraduate degrees while on a Via
Scholarship and elected to pursue their
master’s degrees at Virginia Tech, also
as Via Scholarship recipients. Their
complete listings can be found in the
alumni student section of this publication.
These students are: Randall Boe,
William Scott Dewhirst, II, Charles
M. Dietz, Jr., Greg Hensley, Jeffrey
Kuttesch, Matthew Moore, John D.
Riley, John Stephen Siczka, Jeffrey
Snow, and Marcia Votour Prowell.
GRADUATES
CONSTRUCTION
Frank Arcuri
Year Graduated: 2007
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Fluor Corporation, New York,
N.Y.
Mary Jane Contos Bartlett
Year Graduated: 1992
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: O’Brien & Gere Engineering,
Morrisville, N.C.
Janet Sparks Chandler
Year Graduated: 2000
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Full-time mother
Allan D. Chasey
Year Graduated: 1995
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Del E. Webb School of Construction,
Arizona State University, Tempe,
Ariz.
Kirsten Davis
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Boise State University, Boise,
Idaho
Martha Gross
Year Graduated: 2010
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Completing her dual-degree
MBA at Virginia Tech
Shannon P. Hapuarachy
Year Graduated: 2009
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: S.M.H. Construction, Bradley,
W.Va.
Benjamin Hays
Year Graduated: 2002
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: L.A. Dept. of Public Works, Los
Angeles, Calif.
John Hildreth
Year Graduated: 2003
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: University of North Carolina,
Charlotte, N.C.
Angel Ho
Year Graduated: 1993
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth,
Va.
Jennifer Firman McConnell
Year Graduated: 2002
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Schoor DePalma, Kulpsville, Pa.
Joshua P. Middleton
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: American Infrastructure, Worcester,
Penn.

VIA ALUMNI: Where Are They Now
Juan C. Pińero
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Barrett Hale & Alamo, Consulting
Engineers, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Jeffrey Snow
Years Graduated: 2000 and 2002
Degrees Awarded: Undergraduate (2000)
and Master’s (2002)
Employer: American Infrastructure, Worcester,
Pa.
Robert C. Williams
Year Graduated: 2006 and 2008
Degree Awarded: Master’s (2006) and
Ph.D. (2008)
Employer: Vecellio and Grogan Inc., Beckley,
W.Va.
Terry L. Williams
Year Graduated: 1998
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Alan A. Meyers, Inc.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND WATER
RESOURCES
Nancy Lade Anderson
Year Graduated: 1999
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Full-time Mother
Jason L. Beck
Year Graduated: 2008
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Camp Dresser and McKee
(CDM), Charlotte, N.C.
Randall Boe
Years Graduated: 1991 and 1993
Degrees Awarded: Undergraduate (1991)
and Master’s (1993)
Employer: CH2M Hill, Gainesville, Fla.
Elizabeth Claire Booth
Year Graduated: 2005
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Golder Associates, Denver, Colo.
Charles B. Bott
Year Graduated: 2001
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Hampton Roads Sanitation
District, Virginia Beach, Va. and Adjunct
Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering,
Virginia Tech
J. Steven Brauner
Year Graduated: 2000
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Parsons Engineering, Denver,
Colo.
Lee Davis Bryant
Year Graduated: 2010
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Post-Doctoral Researcher, Duke
University, Durham, N.C.
Bradley M. Coffey
Year Graduated: 1990
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Metropolitan Water District of
Southern California, Water Quality Division
Joel Cohn
Year Graduated: 1993
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Malcolm Pirnie, Norfolk, Va.
Cynthia Crane
Year Graduated: 1999
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Hydro Geologic, Herndon, Va.
Andrea Crowe Hargette
Year Graduated: 1997
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Black & Veatch, Inc., Greenville,
S.C.
Christina Clarkson Davis
Year Graduated: 2000
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Ph.D. student, Virginia Tech,
Northern Virginia Campus
Jason Davis
Year Graduated: 2000
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Corallo, Eagle, Idaho
William Scott Dewhirst, II
Years Graduated: 1993 and 1997
Degrees Awarded: Undergraduate (1993)
and Master’s (1997)
Employer: Newport News Water Works,
Newport News, Va.
Charles (Chuck) Dietz, Jr.
Years Graduated: 1989 and 1993
Degrees Awarded: Undergraduate (1989)
and Master’s (1993)
Employer: Virginia Department of Conservation
and Recreation, Dublin, Va.
Daniel Dorsel
Year Graduated: 1998
Degree Awarded: Master’s, ENE
Employer: Cardinal Newman School, Columbia,
S.C.
Mark Dougherty
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Auburn University, Auburn, Ala.
Laura Duncan
Year Graduated: 2007
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Arcadis, Knoxville, Tenn.
Mary Facciolo
Year Graduated: 1994
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Raleigh, N.C., consulting firm
Ryan M. Fedak
Year Graduated: 1999
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Hayes, Seay, Mattern and Mattern,
Roanoke, Va.
Jamie Fettig
Year Graduated: 1998
Degree Awarded: Master’s, ENE
Employer: Parson Engr. Sci., N.Y.
Scott A. Forsling
Year Graduated: 1994
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Brown, Collins and Associates,
Draper, Utah
John Fripp
Year Graduated: 1991
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, National
Resources Conservation Service,
Ft. Worth, Texas
Wesley Geertsema
Year Graduated: 1992
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Unknown
Kevin R. Gilmore
Year Graduated: 2008
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Bucknell University, Lewisburg,
Penn.
Aimee E. Greyshock
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Virginia Department of Health-
Office of Drinking Water, Culpepper, Va.
Matthew Gwaltney
Year Graduated: 2007 (posthumously)
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Deceased
Orrick (Rick) Haney
Year Graduated: 1994
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Haney Associates, Inc., Anderson,
S.C.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 53

VIA ALUMNI: Where Are They Now
David Holbrook
Year Graduated: 2003
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: National Institute of Standards
and Technology, Gaithersburg, Md.
Edward Brian Houston
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Black & Veatch, Gaithersburg,
Md.
Kari Husovitz Foy
Year Graduated: 1999
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: B.P. Barber and Associates, Inc.,
N. Charleston, S.C.
Angela Iatrou Simon
Year Graduated: 1991
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Tutor Perini, Framingham, Mass.
Joshua A. Joseph, Jr.
Year Graduated: 2008
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: CH2M Hill, Atlanta, Ga.
Richard T. Kelly, II
Year Graduated: 2005
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Brown & Caldwell, Seattle,
Wash.
Wendell O. Khunjar
Year Graduated: 2009
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Post-Doctoral Researcher,
Department of Earth and Environmental
Engineering, Columbia University, New
York, N.Y.
Rebecca Lattyak
Year Graduated: 2007
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Malcolm Pirnie, West Lafayette,
Ind.
Katherine Linares
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: HDR Engineering, Inc., Norfolk,
Va.
Erika Lubkowitz Bailey
Year Graduated: 1996
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: HDR, Inc., Raleigh, N.C.
Donald C. Marikovich
Year Graduated: 1990
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Draper Aden & Associates,
Blacksburg, Va.
54 | VIA REPORT | 2010
Becki Marshall Rosenfeldt
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Hazen & Sawyer, Belcher Town,
Mass.
Katherine McArthur Leitch
Year Graduated: 1998
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Merck & Co., Inc., West Point,
Penn.
Colleen McCloskey Rossmeisl
Year Graduated: 1995
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Companion Animal Clinic,
Blacksburg, Va.
Brian McCormick
Year Graduated: 2003
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Frostburg State University, Frostburg,
Md.
Laurie S. McNeill
Year Graduated: 2000
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Utah State University, Logan,
Utah
Eduardo Mendez, III
Year Graduated: 2008
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: U.S. Army
Peter B. Merkle
Year Graduated: 1995
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Sandia National Labs, Albuquerque,
N.M.
Matthew C. Moore
Year Graduated: 1992 and 1994
Degree Awarded: Undergraduate (1992)
and Master’s (1994)
Employer: Sikland Engineering Associates,
Van Nuys, Calif.
Christopher D. Muller
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Brown and Caldwell, Seattle,
Wash.
Jocelyn Fraga Muller
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: University of Washington, Seattle,
Wash.
Caroline Nguyen
Year Graduated: 2005
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Ph.D. candidate, Virginia Tech
Julia Novak
Year Graduated: 2005
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Deceased
Jeff Parks
Year Graduated: 2005
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Kristina Perri
Year Graduated: 1997
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: CH2M Hill, Atlanta, Ga.
Carrie Adam Phipps
Year Graduated: 2001
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Full-time mother
Noreen Poor
Year Graduated: 1996
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Public Health Engineering, University
of South Florida
Diana Rashash
Year Graduated: 1994
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: North Carolina State University,
Raleigh, N.C.
Heather Veith Rectanus
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Battelle, San Diego, Calif.
Sandra Robinson
Year Graduated: 2001
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: CH2M Hill, Redding, Calif.
Jason Rushing
Year Graduated: 2002
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Malcolm Pirnie, Fairfax, Va.
Mary Rust Sadler
Year Graduated: 1998
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Arcadis, Raleigh, N.C.
Paolo Scardina
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Dipankar Sen
Year Graduated: 1995
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Santa Clara Valley Water District,
San Jose, Calif.
Vickie L. Singleton
Year Graduated: 2008
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Full-time mother, New Bern, N.C.

VIA ALUMNI: Where Are They Now
Brad Shearer
Year Graduated: 2001
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: CH2M Hill, Redding, Calif.
Holly Shorney
Year Graduated: February 1992
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Black & Veatch, Inc., Kansas
City, Mo.
John S. Siczka
Years Graduated: 1994 and 1997
Degrees Awarded: Undergraduate (1994)
and Master’s (1997)
Employer: CH2M Hill, Brown Deer, Wis.
Aaron B. Small
Year Graduated: 1993
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: AES Consulting Engineers, Williamsburg,
Va.
Sheryl D. Smith
Year Graduated: 2001
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Camp, Dresser and McKee,
Raleigh, N.C.
Jeffrey A. Sparks
Year Graduated: 2008
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Malcolm Pirnie, Richmond, Va.
Jonathan Stathis
Year Graduated: 1998
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Cedar City Corp., Cedar City,
Utah
Amanda E. Strickhouser
Year Graduated: 2008
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Watson Wyatt, San Francisco,
Calif.
Chris Tadanier
Year Graduated: 1997
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Black & Veatch, Denver, Colo.
Dan Waddill
Year Graduated: 1998
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Dept. of the Navy, Norfolk, Va.
Diane Waters
Year Graduated: 2002
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: City of Miami, Public Works
Dept., Miami, Fla.
Edwin W. Watkins
Year Graduated: 1993
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Ogden Environmental and Energy
Services, Nashville, Tenn.
David Whichard
Year Graduated: 2001
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: International Paper, S.C.
Krista Rule Wigginton
Year Graduated: 2008
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Ecole Polytechnic Federale de
Lausanne, Switzerland
Christopher A. Wilson
Year Graduated: 2009
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Greeley and Hansen Engineers,
Inc., Richmond, Va.
Christopher Wolfe
Year Graduated: 1993
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Semcor, Washington, D.C.
Jennifer Wright
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ), Richmond, Va.
Kevin D. Young
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Anna Zaklikowski
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: HDR Engineering, Portland, Ore.
Lauren Zuravnsky
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Greeley and Hansen, Richmond,
Va.
GEOTECHNICAL
William Bassett
Year Graduated: 1990
Employer: Federal Highway Administration,
Washington, D.C.
Diane Yamane Baxter
Year Graduated: 2000
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc.,
Providence, R.I.
Craig Benedict
Year Graduated: 1997
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Gannet-Flemming, King of Prussia,
Penn.
David Bentler
Year Graduated: 1993 and 1998
Degrees Awarded: Master’s; Ph.D.
Employer: Shaw Stone & Webster, Inc.,
Denver, Colo.
Kyle Blakley
Year Graduated: 2009
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Stantec Consulting, Cincinnati,
Ohio
Jeremy Britton
Year Graduated: 2001
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Portland, Ore.
Pete Chenevey
Year Graduated: 1994
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Dames & Moore, Cincinnati,
Ohio
Jaime Colby
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Sanborn, Head & Associates,
Inc., Westford, Mass.
Megan Cole
Year Graduated: 2001
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: GEI Consultants, Winchester,
Mass.
Jeramy Bruyn Decker
Year Graduated: 2007
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Kewit Construction Co., Pacifica,
Calif.
Patricia (Trish) M. Gallagher
Year Graduated: December 2000
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Drexel University, Philadelphia,
Penn.
Russell Green
Year Graduated: 2001
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
George Filz
Year Graduated: 1992
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 55

VIA ALUMNI: Where Are They Now
Rachel T. Finch
Year Graduated: 2009
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: S&ME, Inc., Huntsville, Ala.
Brendan Fitzpatrick
Year Graduated: 2001
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: GEOPIER Foundation Co., Inc.,
Mooresville, N.C.
Laura Henry
Year Graduated: 1999
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Haley & Aldrich, N.J.
Wayne Herring
Year Graduated: 2000
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: ARM Group, Hershey, Penn.
Randall Hickman
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: BP American, Inc., Houston,
Texas
Michelle Hoy
Year Graduated: 1997
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Oregon Dept. of Environmental
Quality, Portland, Ore.
Kenneth A. Huber
Year Graduated: 1997
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Senior Pastor at Calvary Baptist
Church, Riverhead, N.Y.
Scott Mackey
Year Graduated: 1993
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Central Connecticut State University,
New Britain, Conn.
Jessica R. Marshall
Year Graduated: 1990
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Colorado Public Works Authority
Christopher L. Meehan
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: University of Delaware, Newark,
Del.
Clark Morrison
Year Graduated: 1995
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: North Carolina Dept. of Transportation,
Raleigh, N.C.
Bob Mokwa
Year Graduated: 1999
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Montana State University, Bozeman,
Mont.
Michael Navin
Year Graduated: 2005
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
St. Louis, Mo.
David Nevius
Year Graduated: 2001
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Terra Costa Consulting, San
Diego, Calif.
James Parkes
Year Graduated: 1999
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Gannett Fleming, Harrisburg,
Penn.
Maysill G. Pascal
Year Graduated: 2003
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Haley and Aldrich Inc., Parsippany,
N.J.
Craig Petranka
Year Graduated: 1997
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Unknown
Michael Pockoski
Year Graduated: 2001
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Hayward Baker, Inc., Odenton,
Md.
Jonathan Porter
Years Graduated: 1991 and 1998
Degrees Awarded: Master’s (Via) and Ph.D.
Employer: U.S. Air Force, Tyndall AFB
Marcia Votour Prowell
Years Graduated: 1992 and 1993
Degrees Awarded: Undergraduate and
Master’s
Employer: Virginia Geotechnical Services,
PC, Richmond, Va.
Susan Rafalko
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Reinforced Earth Co., Vienna,
Va.
Alan Rauch
Year Graduated: 1997
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Fuller, Mossbarger, Scott and
May Engineers, Inc., Lexington, Ken.
Nathan Reeves
Year Graduated: 2000
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: S&ME, Inc., Raleigh, N.C.
John D. Rice
Year Graduated: 2008
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Utah State University, Logan,
Utah
Andrew T. Rose
Year Graduated: 1995
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown,
Penn.
Jennifer A. Schaeffer
Year Graduated: 1997
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: CH2M Hill, Seattle, Wash.
Kurt J. Schimpke
Year Graduated: 2009
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Braun Intertec Corp., Minneapolis,
Minn.
Craig M. Shillaber
Year Graduated: 2009
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Parsons Brinckerhoff, New York,
N.Y.
Matthew Sleep
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Ph.D. candidate, Virginia Tech
Edward R. Ware III
Year Graduated: 2007
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Wurster Engineering, Greenville,
S.C.
Kord Wissman
Year Graduated: 1995
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: GEOPIER Foundation Co., Inc.,
Mooresville, N.C.
STRUCTURES
Mary Sue Mouchka Abel
Year Graduated: 1993
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: EMCS Design Group, Milwaukee,
Wisc.
Chad C. Alander
Year Graduated: 1998
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Goodkind & O’Dea, Carlisle,
Penn.
56 | VIA REPORT | 2010

VIA ALUMNI: Where Are They Now
Nick Amico
Year Graduated: 2005
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Figg Engineering, Tallahassee,
Fla.
Kirsten A. Baldwin Metzger
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Laurene & Rickher, P.C., Charlotte,
N.C.
Anthony Barrett, Major, USAF
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: United States Air Force Academy,
Colorado Springs, Colo.
James Wescott (Wes) Bott
Year Graduated: 2005
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: HDR Alaska, Inc., Eagle River,
Ark.
Susan Bowers
Year Graduated: 2007
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Whitman, Requardt & Associates,
Baltimore, Md.
Adam G. Bowland
Year Graduated: 2008
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Ph.D. candidate, Virginia Tech
J. Christopher Carroll
Year Graduated: 2009
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: University of Louisiana at Lafayette,
Lafayette, La.
Jason Cawrse
Year Graduated: 2000
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: CH2M Hill, Alexandria, Va.
Kevin R. Collins
Year Graduated: 1989
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Lawrence Technological University,
Southfield, Mich.
Amy Dalrymple Ryan
Year Graduated: 1999
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Starzer, Brady, Fagan Associates,
Inc., Atlanta, Ga.
D. Brad Davis
Year Graduated: 2008
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: University of Kentucky, Lexington,
Ken.
Kyle Richard Dominisse
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Walter P. Moore, Kansas City,
Mo.
Richard Drumm
Year Graduated: 1993
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: FHWA
Keith Grubb
Year Graduated: 1995
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: American Institute of Steel Construction,
Chicago, Ill.
Linda Morley Hanagan
Year Graduated: 1995
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Penn State University, State College,
Penn.
Matthew D. Harlan
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Clark Nelsen, Norfolk, Va.
Devin K. Harris
Year Graduated: 2007
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Michigan Technological University,
Houghton, Mich.
Greg Hensley
Years Graduated: 2004 and 2005
Degrees Awarded: Undergraduate (2004)
and Master’s (2005)
Employer: Pinnacle Engineering, Charlottesville,
Va.
Anne Himebaugh
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Simpson, Gumpertz, and Heger,
Waltham, Mass.
Hunter Hodges
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Lane Bishop York and Delahaye,
Inc., Birmingham, Ala.
William P. Jacobs, V
Year Graduated: 2002
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Stan Lindsey and Associates,
Atlanta, Ga.
Jared B. Jamison
Year Graduated: 1998
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Hankins and Anderson, Glen
Allen, Va.
Bernard L. Kassner
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Ph.D. Candidate, Virginia Tech
and Research Scientist, Virginia Transportation
Research Council, Charlottesville,
Va.
Ann E. Jeffers
Year Graduated: 2009
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Mich.
Stephanie A. Koch
Year Graduated: 2008
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Parsons Brinckerhoff-Ohio Inc.,
Columbus, Ohio
Adam R. Lease
Year Graduated: 2005
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Cives Steel Company, Winchester,
Va.
Bryan J. Loflin
Year Graduated: 2008
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Parsons Brinckerhoff, Raleigh,
N.C.
Justin D. Marshall
Year Graduated: 2008
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Auburn University, Auburn, Ala.
James David Martin
Year Graduated: 2005
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Walter P. Moore, Tampa, Fla.
Timothy W. Mays
Years Graduated: 1997 and 2000
Degrees Awarded: Master’s (1997) and
Ph.D. (2000)
Employer: The Citadel, Charleston, S.C.
Laurie Mazursky
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Sutton-Kennerly and Assoc.,
Asheville, N.C.
David McGowan
Year Graduated: 1991
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Dominion Generation, Glen Allen,
Va.
Sean Molloy
Year Graduated: 1998
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Redwine Reizian Structural Engineers,
Avon, Colo.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 57

VIA ALUMNI: Where Are They Now
Michael Motley
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: The LPA Group, Inc., Tallahassee,
Fla.
Michael C. Neubert
Year Graduated: 1999
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: King Guinn Associates, Charlotte,
N.C.
Charles (Chuck) Newhouse
Years Graduated: 1994 and 2005
Degrees Awarded: Master’s (1994) and
Ph.D. (2005)
Employer: Virginia Military Institute, Lexington,
Va.
Patricia Seay O’Neil
Year Graduated: 1998
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Bechtel, Frederick, Md.
Jason D. Perry
Year Graduated: December 2003
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Stanley D. Lindsey & Associates,
Ltd., Nashville, Tenn.
Jason Piotter
Year Graduated: 2001
Degree Awarded: Master’s; Ph.D. pending
Employer: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Robert T. Prince
Year Graduated: 1998
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: AECOM Design, Roanoke, Va.
Bruce Queen
Year Graduated: 1991
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: President, QED Inc., Raleigh,
N.C.
Michelle Rambo-Roddenberry
Year Graduated: 2002
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: FAMU-FSU College of Engineering,
Tallahassee, Fla.
Nicholas Redmond
Year Graduated: 2007
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Magnusson Klemencic Associates,
Seattle, Wash.
Clint Rex
Year Graduated: 1997
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Stanley D. Lindsey and Associates,
Atlanta, Ga.
58 | VIA REPORT | 2010
Cheryl Rottman
Year Graduated: 1996
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Frontenac Engineering, St.
Louis, Mo.
John C. Ryan, Jr.
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: StructurTech Construction Systems,
Charleston, S.C.
Richard A. Saunders
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: KSI Structural Engineers, Atlanta,
Ga.
Donald P. Scholz
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: CVM Engineers, Wayne, Penn.
Michael W. Seek
Year Graduated: 2007
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: East Tennessee State University,
Johnson City, Tenn.
Bruce Shue
Year Graduated: 1995
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Smislova, Kehnemui & Assoc.,
Rockville, Md.
Michael Sladki
Year Graduated: 2000
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Cates Engineering, Centreville,
Va.
Paul Spears
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Martin/Martin Consulting Engineers,
Kansas City, Mo.
Sean Robert Sullivan
Year Graduated: 2007
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: HNTB, East Lansing, Mich.
Emmett A. Sumner
Year Graduated: 2003
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: North Carolina State University,
Raleigh, N.C.
Matthew K. Swenty
Year Graduated: 2009
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Federal Highway Administration,
Turner Fairbank Highway Research
Laboratory, McLean, Va.
Anthony B. Temeles
Year Graduated: 2001
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Modjeski & Master’s, Philadelphia,
Pa.
Angela Sellars Terry
Year Graduated: 1994
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Self-employed
Steven J. Tschetter
Year Graduated: 1994
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Suncoast Post-Tension, Inc.,
Woodbridge, Va.
Christopher J. Waldron
Years Graduated: 2001 and 2004
Degrees Awarded: Master’s (2001) and
Ph.D. (2004)
Employer: University of Alabama at Birmingham,
Birmingham, Ala.
Joseph A. Wallenfelsz
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: McLean Contracting Company,
Glen Burnie, Md.
J. Ashley Warren
Year Graduated: 2009
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: The LPA Group, Inc., Falls
Church, Va.
Christopher Werner
Year Graduated: 1997
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Stroud Pence, Norfolk, Va.
Maurice W. White
Years Graduated: 1991 and 1995
Degrees Awarded: Master’s and Ph.D.
Employer: Unknown
John Whitlow
Year Graduated: 1995
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Unknown
Gregory Williamson
Year Graduated: 2007
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: ExxonMobil, Fairfax, Va.
Eric J. Wishart
Year Graduated: 1991
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Civil CADD Services, Inc., Lincoln,
R.I.
Mustapha Zmerli
Year Graduated: 1992
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Deceased Continued on page 59

VIA ALUMNI
Donors to the CEE Department for 2009-2010
The donors recognized on the following
pages made a contribution to the Via
Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering (CEE) during fiscal year 2010
(7/1/09 – 6/30/10). Although every effort
has been made to ensure the accuracy
of this report, we acknowledge that errors
may have occurred. If your name has been
omitted or listed incorrectly, please accept
our sincere apologies and send in any
corrections to the CEE Main Office at (540)
231-6635.
CEE Alumni who
contributed in 2009-2010
William A. Aden..............................1967
Thomas F. Albee............................1978
S. Kendall Anderson.............1962/1970
Kenneth S. Atkins...........................1982
Gerald W. Augst.............................1971
Walter F. Bailey..............................1972
Jessica M. Barbier.........................1990
Sandra G. Bartley.................1970/1973
Bruce R. Bates...............................1979
Edward L. Beale....................1964/1967
Courtney A. Beamon......................1995
P. Scott Beasley.............................1992
Ronald L. Beck...............................1970
Julian and Carola Bell....................1962
Larry D. Benefield..........................1975
Danelle M. Bernard........................1985
Brian W. Bersch.............................1981
William E. Betts, Jr.........................1932
Michael N. Biscotte........................1980
Jennifer B. Boe..............................1991
Harold W. Bohannon, Jr.................1968
Carolyn W. Bosserman..................1989
James R. Bowles...........................1974
Gary Bowman................................1980
Dana M. Boyadjian.........................1976
Jerry D. Brammer...........................1968
Kenneth W. Brammer.....................1977
Anita W. Branch.............................1994
Kenneth P. Brannan.......................1986
Robert L. Briggs, Jr........................1988
William F. Brittle .............................1969
Roger L. Brockenbrough ...............1954
Thomas W. Brockenbrough .1942/1946
Glenn E. Brown, Jr.........................1963
Michael C. Brown ..........................1991
Richard H. Brownley .....................1944
Craig S. Bryant ..............................1971
W. Barry Bryant ....................1970/1971
Amy L. Buehler .............................1994
Guy W. Buford ...............................1952
D. Michael Burk .............................1974
Douglas W. Burks .........................1979
James E. Butler .............................1963
H.D. Campbell, Jr...........................1969
Joseph C. Campbell ......................1968
Valerie L. Carpenter-Ho ................1999
Roger B. Carriker ..........................1987
Tyson Catlett..................................2009
Derrick B. Cave .............................1987
Steven D. Chambliss ....................1978
R. Bradley Chewning ...........1964/1970
Alfred R. Cline ...............................1958
Peter M. Cline ...............................1974
Kevin R. Collins .............................1989
Darren R. Conner ..........................1983
Continued on page 60
VIA ALUMNI: Where Are They Now (from page 58)
TRANSPORTATION
INFRASTRUCTURE AND
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING (TISE)
Sudarshana C.S. Bhat
Year Graduated: 1989
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: University of Texas at Austin,
Austin, Texas
Douglas R. Bish
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Edgar David de León Izeppi
Year Graduated: 2006
Degree Awarded: Ph.D.
Employer: Virginia Tech Transportation
Institute, Blacksburg, Va.
Joshua (Josh) Diekmann
Year Graduated: 2000
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: A consultant in Seattle, Wash.
Erin Walsh Donovan
Year Graduated: 1999
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Unknown
Anthony Ingle
Year Graduated: 2004
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: DLZ Michigan, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Jeffrey Kuttesch
Years Graduated: 2003 and 2004
Degrees Awarded: Undergraduate (2003)
and Master’s (2004)
Employer: Rummel, Klepper, and Kahl
Engineers (RK&K), Baltimore, Md.
John D. Riley
Years Graduated: 1997 and 1999
Degrees Awarded: Undergraduate (1997)
and Master’s (1999)
Employer: Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc.,
Richmond, Va.
Kevin M. Siegel
Year Graduated: 2003
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: PBS & J, Inc., Newport News,
Va.
Eric J. Siess
Year Graduated: 1998
Degree Awarded: Master’s
Employer: Naval Surface Warfare Center,
Dalgreen, Va.
.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 59

Via Donors
Steven E. Conner ..........................1983
Rodney E. Cox ..............................1952
Thomas H. Cox .............................1991
Caroline E. Creedon .....................2001
Richard K. Culbertson ...................1950
Gregory W. Currey ........................1987
Raymond G. Curry, Jr.....................1954
Robert A. Davis .............................1970
James P. Day ................................1981
Sarah R. Deck ...............................2004
Lisa M. Decker ..............................1994
David D. Dee, Jr.............................1987
Greg R. Deubler ............................1994
Donald M. Deuterman ...................1960
James B. Diamond ........................1970
Robert E. Dick ...............................1989
Charles M. Dietz, Jr........................1989
Wayne A. Dixon .............................1964
Lucas T. Doan ...............................2002
William L. Dritz ..............................1979
Michael J. Dugas ..........................1987
John W. Dulin ................................1986
Walter W. Duncan..........................1951
Billy L. Edge ..................................1964
Charles L. Ernest, Jr......................1970
Douglas R. Fahl ............................1965
George M. Filz...............................1992
Jay M. Fitzgerald ...........................1976
Theron R. Fluker ...........................1999
William T. Forbes ...........................1965
Chris J. Friberg ..............................1985
Larry C. Garber .............................1973
Lindsey K. Gardner .......................1960
Anne M. Germain ..........................1989
Ian A. Gibson ................................1991
James W. Givens ..........................1970
Randall K. Gleason .......................1993
C. Douglas Goldsmith ...................1976
Alan K. Gordon .............................1978
Danny L. Gray................................1977
Thomas B. Gray ............................1973
Douglas W. Greene .......................1977
Dixie M. Griffin Jr............................1970
Timrod A. Groover .........................1979
Leah M. Grossi .....................1985/1991
D. Randolph Grubbs, Jr.................1971
Charles D. Hall ..............................1970
Andrea L. Hargette ........................1997
Belinda M. Harper..........................1996
Robert J. Healy .............................1981
Gregory M. Hensley ......................2004
Pablo A. Hernandez ......................1989
David E. Hill ..................................1978
Jack M. Hill ....................................1949
Ralph P. Hines ...............................1959
Erika M. Hintz ................................2002
Don W. Holloway ...........................1957
Edward G. Horstkamp, III...............1986
Mark Huffman.................................1986
Charles S. Hughes, III....................1958
Steven G. Hughes .........................1986
Jeffrey M. Hugney .........................1988
Thomas N. Hunnicutt, III................1959
Edward L. Janney .........................1973
Robert Jansen................................1980
Benjamin C. Jarosz .......................1999
Jimmie D. Jenkins .........................1970
Robert D. Jenkins .........................1969
Paul B. Johnson ............................1973
James R. Jones ............................1970
John H. Jones ...............................1973
Paul A. Jordan ...............................1979
Williams Joyner..............................1965
William E. Junda, III.......................2000
Dennis Kamber .............................1963
Bryan J. Katz ...............2000/2001/2007
Susan E. Keck-Truman .................1968
Clifford G. King ..............................1984
Herbert G. Kipp .............................1967
Kenneth J. Kohut ..........................1972
Kenneth M. Krupa .........................1976
Glenda P. La Rue .................1991/1993
Kevin T. Laptos ..............................1988
Steven R. Lavinder .......................1984
Scott B. Lawson ............................2000
Thomas F. Lester ..........................1975
M. James Lewis, Jr........................1981
James R. Link ...............................1958
Michael R. Linkous ........................1997
Jon O. Loker..................................1958
Stephen R. Long ...........................1983
James F. Loudon ...........................1960
Dennis L. Lundy ............................1973
Gary S. Lynn .................................1988
Mercer R. MacPherson .................1963
Thomas S. Maddock .....................1950
Burton M. Marshall ........................1958
Donald L. Martin ............................1974
Katherine M. Martin .......................2005
Russell L. Martin ...........................1977
David I. McCready ........................1973
Stephen C. McElroy ......................2004
Garland H. McKenzie, Sr...............1981
Ronald L. Meng..............................1996
J. J. Messersmith, Jr......................1964
Robert S. Miller, III.........................1967
Tracy L. Miller Jackson..................1992
Richard O. Mines ..........................1983
Jeremy M. Mocny ..........................1997
Franklin C. Moore .........................1959
James D. Moore, III........................1979
Paula J. Moore...............................1996
Anthony J. Moraco ........................1982
Herbert W. Morgan.........................1974
Joe M. Morgan ..............................1968
Michelle E. Motchos ......................1996
J.R. Ubejd Mujagic ........................2004
Nicholas P. Murray.........................1995
Kenneth H. Murray ........................1965
Teresa I. Nauss .............................1982
William D. Neely, Jr........................1998
David A. Nizamoff ..........................2000
Richard Noakes.............................1958
Kerry Nothnagel ...................1965/1968
Raymond J. O’Donnell, III..............1980
Morris B. Oliver .............................1987
John A. Orr ....................................1980
Robert A. Painter ...........................1948
Carrie H. Pendleton ......................2000
Lawrence C. and Jane Phipps.......1960
Daniel H. Phlegar ..........................1970
Jennifer L. Plyler ...........................1997
Nancy Powell ................................1977
David B. Powers ...........................2000
Carl W. Pugh, Jr.............................1985
Michael J. Quillen ..........................1970
Marie K. Raffay .............................1991
Brian L. Ramaley ..........................1974
Emmett A. Raney, Jr.......................1975
Walter J. Rawls ....................1966/1968
Glenn W. Rehberger .....................1969
A. Wayne Reynolds .......................1962
Linvil G. Rich .................................1947
James B. Richards, Jr....................1968
60 | VIA REPORT | 2010

Via Donors
Samuel D. Richardson ..................1970
Jack E. Rinker ...............................1960
Randolph P. Rivinus ......................1968
Jason J. Root ................................2003
Richard B. Rountree .....................1963
Dallas W. Safriet ...........................1967
Hannah B. Schartiger ....................2002
Kurt G. Schroeder .........................1987
Matthew J. Scolforo ......................1989
Patrick N. Shaffner ........................1961
Rohit K. Shetty ..............................1988
Bernard L. Shumate.......................1951
Bernard L. Shumate, Jr..................1980
Michael T. Siburt ............................2002
John S. Siczka .....................1994/1997
Clyde N. Simmers, Jr.....................1971
Larry M. Simmons .........................1969
Stephen L. Simpson ......................1986
Elizabeth F. Smith .........................1986
Arnold E. Somers, Jr......................1974
Guy R. Sproles ..............................1971
Bryan W. Stevenson .....................1996
Jack H. Stewart .............................1953
Harvey E. Strawsnyder, Jr..............1970
Richard H. String............................1988
Todd W. Swanson .........................1974
Richard D. Swartout ......................1969
Dominic M. Tiburzi .........................1974
J. Allan Tice ...................................1965
Samuel C. Tignor ..........................1958
Andrew S. Topp .............................1999
J. Stephen Torell ...........................1993
Frederick J. Turner ........................1959
Rod E. Turochy .............................1991
James H. Viox, III...........................1964
William L. Ward .............................1995
Thomas B. Washington, Jr. ...........1953
Robert B. Welton ...........................1959
Robert H. White ............................1950
Mark D. Wiebke ............................1981
James E. Williams..........................1973
Robert P. Wingfield ........................1957
Farley E. Wolford ..........................1957
James M. Wright ...........................1960
Thomas N. Yancey, Jr....................1968
Victor L. Zitta .................................1960
Michael T. Zuravel .........................1984
Friends who
contributed to CEE in
2009-2010
H. Pat and Nancy Artis
Jayne K. Ayers
Kim Christopoulos
Joan Cornwell
Gerald H. Cross
W. Samuel and Pamela Easterling
Arlita J. Frank
Laurence Gilpin
G.T. Gwaltney
Carola A. Haas
Barry W. Hurff
Matthew C. Jackson
J. Michael Kelly
William R. Knocke
James K. Mitchell
Christopher R. Norris
David A. Pezza
Richard A. Quarterman
Sharon L. Quigley
David W. Smith
Suzanne C. Snow
F. William Stephenson
Marjorie K. Wells
Joseph B. Whitebread
Corporations and
Businesses that
contributed to CEE in
2009-2010
Advanced Structural Concepts,
Inc.
AECOM Technology Corporation
American Infrastructure
Areva NP, Inc.
Avion, Inc.
Baker Properties Group
Bechtel Corporation
Bechtel Foundation
Bowman Consulting Group
Branscome, Inc.
Carolina Steel/Hirschfeld
Industries
CEMEX Foundation, Inc.
Chevron/Texaco Matching
CH2M Hill
Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute
Southern Region Education
Copper Development
Delta Airport Consultants
ExxonMobil Corporation
Fairfax County DPWES
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift
Fund
Fluor Enterprises, Inc.
Fugro Atlantic
Fugro West, Inc.
Geoconcepts Engineering Inc.
Hayward Baker Inc
Jansen Land Consulting, LLC
Kimley-Horn Associates
Malcolm Pirnie, Inc.
Norfolk Southern Corporation
Norfolk Southern Foundation
NUCOR Corporation
Schnabel Engineering South LLC
Southern Iron Works, Inc.
Stanley D. Lindsey & Assoc. Ltd.
Stantec Consulting
T.J. Willard & Associates, Inc.
Treviicos Corporation
The Vecellio Family Foundation,
Inc.
Waccamaw Community
Foundation
Whiting-Turner Contracting
Company
Wiley|Wilson, Inc.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 61

Via Donors
The following organizations support CEE through their membership
in the affiliates program for the Center for Geotechnical Practice and
Research:
Ardaman & Associates, Inc.
Engineering Consulting Services, Inc. (ECS)
Froehling & Robertson, Inc.
Gannett Fleming, Inc.
GeoConcepts Engineering, Inc.
Geopier Foundation Co.
GeoSyntec Consultants
Hayward Baker – A Keller Co.
Haley & Aldrich
Kiewit Constructors, Inc.
Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc.
Nicholson Construction Company
Professional Services Industries, Inc. (PSI)
S&ME
Schnabel Engineering Associates
Schnabel Foundation Company
Treviicos Corporation
USACOE Waterways Experiment Station
URS Corporation
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Virginia Department of Transportation
The following organizations support CEE
through their Platinum and Gold sponsorship
of the department’s Land Development
Design Initiative:
Platinum
AES Consulting Engineers
Anderson & Associates, Inc.
Balzer and Associates, Inc.
Bohler Engineering
Bowman Consulting
Burgess & Niple, Inc.
Draper Aden Associates
Jansen Land Consulting, LLC
Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.
Gold
christopher consultants, Ltd.
Dewberry
Fairfax County
Hurt & Proffitt, Inc.
J2 Engineers, Inc.
Koontz-Bryant, P.C.
Tri-Tek Engineering
62 | VIA REPORT | 2010

Credits
Department Head................................................................................. W. Samuel Easterling
Editor.................................................................................................................Lynn Nystrom
Editorial Assistant............................................................................................... Shari Mueller
Designer.........................................................................................................David Simpkins
Photographers.................Michael Kiernan, Kelsey Kradel, John McCormick, Jim Stroup
CEE Coordinator......................................................................................Donna Sanzenbach
CEE Academic Advisor and Alumni Relations Coordinator..............................Estela P. Moen
Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants for admission or
employment on the basis of race, gender, disability, age, veteran status, national origin, religion, sexual
orientation, or political affiliation. Anyone having questions concerning discrimination should contact
the Office for Equity and Access.
2010 | VIA REPORT | 63

64 | VIA REPORT | 2010

The Charles E. Via, Jr.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
200 Patton Hall, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24060
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Blacksburg VA
24060
Permit No. 28
www.cee.vt.edu