FALL 2019 THE A. JAMES CLARK SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

RESILIENCECivil and environmental engineers respond to the challenges of a world in flux

CIVILREMARKSCIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AT MARYLAND

FALL 2019 | THE A. JAMES CLARK SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

1 Resilience:CivilandEnvironmental

EngineersRespondtothe

ChallengesofaWorldinFlux

6 GreenContracting…WithIncentives

BakedIn

7 EngineeringSustainableSolutions,

Globally!

8 DaringVision,LastingImpact:

OveraCenturyofCivil

EngineeringatMaryland

10 StudentSpotlight:AlterraSanchez

11 StudentAchievements

11 StudentSpotlight:RussellBumanglag

12 Q&A:DebNiemeier,

ClarkDistinguishedChairofCivil

andEnvironmentalEngineering

14 ANationwideConcern:UMD

ResearchersCo-authorMajor

StudyofUrbanFlooding

15 AlumnaSpotlight:EileenSien

16 ProjectManagementSymposium

FostersThrivingCommunity

ofPractice

16 FacultyAchievements

17 OnlineAgileProjectManagement

Program:Morethan

50,000Enrollments

Inthemindsofmany,civiland

environmentalengineerswearhard

hats,usesurveyingequipment,

andporeoverblueprintsanddia-

grams.Wearen’toftenaccorded

superherostatus.Yetourfieldhasa

criticalroletoplayinaddressing

theenvironmentalandsustainability

challenges that faceour society,

nation,andplanet.

Whilepolicymakerscanpointto

problemsandsetgoals,anengi-

neer’sskillsetisveryoftenrequired

todeviseactualsolutions.Surveyaftersurveypointsto

intenseconcernaboutenvironmentalandsustainability

issuesamongGenerationZ,whichincludesmanyof

thosenowattendingorpreparingtoattendcollege.

Tothatgeneration,Isay:“Wanttosavetheworld?

Becomeacivilorenvironmentalengineer!”

InthisissueofCivil Remarks,you’lllearnaboutsome

ofthewaysourprofessionishelpingtoaddressthe

challengesofanenvironmentinflux.Withafacultythat

includes internationally renownedexpertsonwater

resourcemanagement,disasterresilience,andinfra-

structure,theDepartmentofCivilandEnvironmental

Engineering—and,morebroadly,theA.JamesClark

SchoolofEngineering—isahubfortheresearch,

innovation,andtechnological ingenuity thatwillbe

neededtomeetthesechallenges.

Iamparticularlydelightedtowelcomeournewest

facultymember,DebNiemeier,whojoinedusthis

summerasourinauguralClarkDistinguishedChair.She

isthefirstofseveralchairsendowedbytheClark

Foundationaspartofa$220millioninvestmentde-

signedtostrengthenourcapacityforFearlessIdeas.

Whenitcomestoenvironmentalissues,itisjustsuch

ideas—ratherthansuperherocostumesorcapes—

thatwillmakeallthedifference.

PUBLISHER

DepartmentofCivilandEnvironmentalEngineering

CharlesW.Schwartz,CHAIR

EDITORIAL & DESIGN STAFF

RobertHerschbach,EDITOR

LauraFiglewski,ARTDIRECTOR

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

IsabellaCooper,PHD

KathleenFrankle

FEATURE PHOTOS

ThaiNguyen

AlSantos

Chair’sMessage

CharlesW.Schwartz,Ph.D.PROFESSORANDCHAIRDEPARTMENTOFCIVILANDENVIRONMENTALENGINEERING

Civil Remarks is published annually for alumni and friends of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland.

Please send letters to the editor and alumni notes to [email protected].

CIVILREMARKSCIVILANDENVIRONMENTALENGINEERING

ATMARYLAND

Perhaps Sir William Halcrow, a renowned builder of tunnels, said it best.

Soon after World War II—during which he helped design air raid shelters as well

as portable harbors used during the landing at Normandy—he gave an address

to the Institution of Civil Engineers, of which he was president. “The well-being

of the world largely depends upon the work of the engineer,” he declared.

Today, as the world grapples with problems such as climate change, extreme weather, social inequities, and

decaying infrastructure, Halcrow’s words ring no less true. From devising green

technologies to harnessing computers to better gauge environmental impacts, civil and environmental engineers contribute

their skills and know-how to what may be the gravest imperative our species has yet

faced: that of ensuring a livable future. Their work, more than ever before, is carried out with

an eye to resilience and sustainability: crucial concerns in a time of environmental upheaval.

And the challenges are many.

RESILIENCE

Civil and environmental engineers respond to the challenges of a world in flux

(CONT. PAGE 2)

1

A.JAMESCLARKSCHOOLOFENGINEERING | GLENNL.MARTININSTITUTEOFTECHNOLOGY

Take bridges, for instance. Standing up a bridge is a costly investment, so the structure must be able to endure for decades, even centuries. Once built, a

bridge not only supports the f low of traffic across it, but underpins economic activity in the areas that it connects. With sea levels rising, engineers may have to reconsider the height margins needed to protect a bridge from storm surges. The parameters relied on before may, in the coming decades, no longer suffice.

Or consider stormwater management. To prevent pollutants from washing into bodies of water such as the Chesapeake Bay, states install treatment and water systems. Changes in the regional climate, in combination with anticipated sea level rises, can impact the capacity of these systems.

“Stormwater discharges are meant to go from land into the water, and if sea level rises continue, then they can inundate some of the outfalls and the water starts going in the opposite direction,” notes Allen P. Davis, Charles A. Irish, Sr. Chair in Civil Engineering at the University of Maryland (UMD). “That’s not good.”

“On the other hand, some systems function better in warmer temperatures. There could be a mix of positives and negatives,” adds Davis, who heads a laboratory dedicated to the study of inorganic pollutants. Among other areas, researchers in the lab study how nutrients and metals can be removed from stormwater before they impact the local waterways.

Exactly how environmental conditions will change in the coming decades remains uncertain—and the uncertainty becomes greater the farther ahead we look. Thus the challenge for civil and environmental engineers becomes even steeper. They must plan not only for today’s conditions, but for the projected conditions 50 or 60 years from now.

And those projections could be well off the mark.

GOODBYE, STATIONARITY?In recent years, many engineers have begun to question the adequacy of an influential assumption. Simply put, it’s the assumption that past observations of natural systems yield reliable estimates of future behavior.

This assumption is known as stationarity. As United States Geological Survey researcher Paul C.D. Milly and his co-authors put it in an influential 2008 paper, it’s the “idea that natural systems fluctuate within an unchanging envelope of variability.”

To be clear, stationarity does not imply that things don’t change, but rather that the pattern of change is predictable. Nature fluctuates, but in ways that are known—and can be anticipated by studying the recorded data.

But climate change has made stationarity untenable, Milly argued. Precipitation rates are altering dramatically, as are runoff patterns; atmospheric humidity is increasing, while melting glaciers create springtime floods and summer droughts. Taken together, the changes are bringing about degrees of variability that exceed historically observed parameters.

“In view of the magnitude and ubiquity of the hydroclimatic change apparently now under way…we assert that stationarity is dead,” Milly wrote.

Michelle Bensi, a former Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) engineer who joined the UMD civil and environmental engineering (CEE) faculty in 2017, goes a step further: not only has the concept run into problems now, but the mindset it reflects has been questionable all along.

In reality, Bensi argues, we have never had sufficient data to understand natural processes as fully as we would like. Gaps exist in our understanding of how nature behaves—including climate—and engineers, planners, and policymakers make decisions each day based on incomplete knowledge. “We may act as though we have all the information,” she says. “Very often, we don’t.”

Researchers in

the lab study how

nutrients and metals

can be removed from

stormwater before

they impact the local

waterways. PHOTO: THAI NGUYEN

Ph.D. student Dylan Owen (front) and undergraduate student Daniel Reise

conduct tests in an environmental engineering lab headed by Allen P. Davis,

Charles A. Irish, Sr. Chair in Civil Engineering at UMD.

CIVIL REMARKS | 2019

2

In assessing flood hazards, for instance, planners often make calculations based on historical data, using it to determine how often floods of a certain magnitude are likely to take place. That data might show that a flood event has a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year, in which case it is deemed a “100-year flood.” But that assessment is limited by the available information, Bensi says. With better numbers and models, we might discover that so-called 100-year floods aren’t as rare as we’d thought.

That’s why it’s potentially hazardous to design structures that depend too heavily on a “known” variable, such as expected flood hazard. Instead, Bensi says, resilience-conscious engineers seek to include sufficient margins of safety—that is, by not building too close to a figurative cliff ’s edge, and by looking beyond conventional engineering strategies. “Just because the calculations show you can build at a certain elevation doesn’t necessarily mean you want to build at exactly that elevation,” she says. “You might want to go a little higher, or have additional measures in place to address uncertainty in hazard assessments.”

CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AT RISKBensi’s interest in uncertainty stems in part from her past work at the NRC. The nuclear power industry, she says, has “a very strong safety culture and low risk tolerance,” and the reasons are multiple. Building a nuclear plant requires an enormous capital investment that can take decades to recoup. And nuclear accidents, while rare, can have significant consequences.

Case in point: the 2011 Fukushima Daichi nuclear disaster, in which waters from an earthquake-generated tsunami overtopped a sea wall meant to protect the plant, flooding generators needed to cool its reactors and ultimately causing three meltdowns. For the global nuclear industry, the disaster served as a wake-up call, spurring a reassessment of the threat posed by natural hazards. Plants now incorporate a greater number of mitigation measures designed to factor in the unexpected.

But nuclear facilities aren’t the only ones that require careful thinking about severe hazards; the energy sector in general is potentially vulnerable. The city of Houston, for instance, is a hub for petroleum and gas production. Intense rainfall and flooding could potentially compromise storage tanks at these facilities, creating leaks and leading to the release of hazardous materials.

Whenconsideringhowunknownscanaffectprojections,itcanbeimportanttospecifywhatkind

ofunknownwe’redealingwith.Statisticiansdistinguishbetweentwobroadtypesofuncertainty:

epistemicandaleatory.

The first typearisesasa resultof insufficientdataorknowledge;aclassicexample is the

TacomaNarrowsBridgecollapseinWashingtonstate.Duringitsconstruction,thegiantsuspension

bridgehadalreadyearnedthenickname“GallopingGertie”becauseofitstendencytooscillate

duringwindyconditions.ThebridgeopenedinJuly1940,andthen,onablusterydayinNovember,

gyratedwildlyuntilthemainspanfinallybrokelooseanddroppedintoPugetSound,carrying

alongwithitanunluckydog(allhumanshadevacuatedtosafety).Theengineerwhodesigned

thebridge,LeonMoisseiff,sufferedpublicblameandanendtohisdistinguishedcareer—yethis

design had adhered to industry standards. Eventually, engineers attributed the collapse to

torsionalflutter,aphenomenonpoorlyunderstoodatthetime.

Thesecondtype,aleatoryuncertainty,referstotheinherentunpredictabilityinnaturalpro-

cesses.Weatherforecastersdealwithunknownsliketheseonaregularbasis;forinstance,as

theytrytoprovideaccurateinformationaboutthetrackofastorm.

Climatechangeinvolvesbothkindsofuncertainty:someofthevariableshaveyettobe

understood fully, and the phenomenon of climate change may be introducing additional

variabilityintosomenaturalprocesses,suchasprecipitationpatterns.

TWO TYPES of Uncertainty

PHOTO: AL SANTOS

UMD Assistant Professor of Civil and

Environmental Engineering MIchelle Bensi. 3


The Department of Homeland Security has identified 16 sectors that constitute “critical infrastructure” for the United States: the chemical sector; communications; critical manufacturing; dams; the defense industry; emergency services; the energy sector; financial services; food and agriculture; government facilities; healthcare and the public health sector; information technology; the nuclear reactors, materials and waste sector; transportation and transportation systems; and waste and wastewater systems.

Many of these sectors directly involve civil and environmental engineers. All are vulnerable to environmental hazards, including risks specifically associated with climate change.

THE BUSINESS COST OF ENVIRONMENTAL UNCERTAINTYImproving resilience is costly; failure to do so can, in the long run, be much costlier.

That’s a lesson borne out by an apparent uptick in extreme weather events affecting the North American continent: in 2018, for instance, the United States experienced no fewer than 13 weather and climate-related disasters costing more than $1 billion each, according to Geostrata, a publication of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). The previous year, a succession of major storms—including Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose, and Maria—drained more than $200 billion from the U.S. economy.

About 10% of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) could be lost to climate change by the end of the century, combined with more frequent power outages, fuel shortages, and disruptions to transportation and critical services, according to data from the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the National Climate Assessment.

Even without climate change, America’s infrastructure is in worrisome shape: ASCE famously gave it a D+ grade in its landmark 2016 study, Failure to Act: Closing the Infrastructure Investment Gap. Our already aging, insufficiently maintained infrastructure is now being strained further by extreme weather events, including intense precipitation, coastal f looding, summer heat waves, and wildfires.

Disrupted weather patterns impact infrastructure in a number of ways. Rising temperatures can alter a structure’s physical properties and undermine its bearing capacity. More intense precipitation can cause structures to erode more rapidly, in addition to heightening the risk of floods, mudslides, or other calamities. Droughts, on the other hand, mean an increased risk of wildfires. Architects and engineers, in the coming years, will need to design structures with such threats in mind.

ADAPTIVELY MANAGING Dams and Water Resources

Whilenewengineeringprojectscanbedesignedtoadapt

tochangingconditions,muchofthemajorwater

infrastructureintheUnitedStatesisalreadyinplace.

Thenation’smostimportantdams,includingHoover

andGrandCoulee,wereconstructedduringtheNew

Dealera,notesUMD’sGregoryBaecher,aleading

damexpertandmemberoftheNationalAcademyof

Engineering.DuringWorldWarII,theypowered

America’s aluminum production—so crucial to top-

pling the Axis powers. Decades later, they are still

importantdriversofeconomicactivity.

Damssuchasthesewon’tbereplacedanytime

soon,Baechersays,andtheydon’tneedtobe.But

shiftingclimatepatternshavepresentedtheU.S.Army

CorpsofEngineers,whichoperatesthebigdams,

withsomedifficultdilemmas.

In 2019, for example, spring floods inundated the

Midwest. With warmer temperatures melting snow in

theRockiesmorequickly,waterlevelsontheMissouri

River rose. Higher-than-normal precipitation swelled

themfurther.TopreventtheMissouri’sdamsfromover-

topping, the Army Corps of Engineers opened the

floodgates—andinundatedfarmslocateddownstream.

Thefarmerswerenothappy.Butneitherwereconser-

vationistswhoworryabout threats to riverspecies,

suchastheploversnestinginsidebars:theiryoungcan

washawayifwaterlevelsaretoohighordiefrom

dehydrationifthelevelsbecometoolow.

Damoperators,aswellasfederal,state,andlocal

authorities,willcontinuetofaceproblemslikethese

inthefutureandwillneedtodevisewatermanage-

mentpracticesthatcanmitigatetheimpact.

“Withwaterresourcesgenerally,we’reveryoften

dealingwithoperationalratherthandesignchallenges.”

Baechernotes.“Theinfrastructureisthere,andit’s

notfeasibletorebuildit.Sothefocusisonadaptive

management.”


4

Mindsets and long-established practices can be hard to change, especially when added costs are involved. To help spearhead change within the engineering profession, ASCE established a committee and tasked it with developing a Manual of Practice for climate-resilient engineering. Chairing the committee was CEE professor Bilal Ayyub, a Distinguished Member of ASCE and an honorary member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Ayyub directs UMD’s Center for Technology and Systems Management and was an official reviewer for the National Academies of the 2018 Fourth National Climate Assessment.

The Manual of Practice, Climate-Resilient Infrastructure: Adaptive Design and Risk Management, was published in 2018. It covers a wide range of guidance on how to design for uncertain environmental conditions—for example, by utilizing computational methods to determine probable flood loads.

The manual has provoked considerable enthusiasm among ASCE members. “We are seeing a sense of urgency among industry leaders,” Ayyub said. “Here in the United States alone, we’re building about $1.3 trillion in new infrastructure each year, and anything we build might be with us for the next

50–100 years. If we fail to change our practices to account for a changing climate, our massive investments could turn into catastrophic losses.”

Undergirding the new Manual of Practice are two principles: non-stationarity and adaptive design. Non-stationarity is a radical departure from the long-held assumption described earlier in this article: in essence, it means recognizing that a physical process may have different attributes in the future than it had in the past. Therefore, recorded observations cannot be taken as a sure guide to future behavior.

The second principle, adaptive design, refers to a design philosophy that both factors in a greater degree of uncertainty—in other words, refrains from the “cliff ’s-edge” approach noted by Bensi—and bakes in more flexibility, allowing a structure to be modified as needed instead of having to be torn down and replaced at steep cost.

“As engineers, we have a professional and ethical responsibility to align what we do with the demands of an uncertain future. We need to change our practices to account for climate-related phenomena,” Ayyub said.

“We have to lead the profession in the direction of change.” |

Our already aging,

insufficiently

maintained

infrastructure

is now being

strained further

by extreme

weather events. UMD Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Bilal Ayyub.

PHOTO: THAI NGUYEN

A. JAMES CLARK SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING | GLENN L. MARTIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

5

Greentechnologieshelpprotecttheenvi-

ronment,butaretheyaboontobusiness?

Inthepast,manycompaniesandorgani-

zations balked at the cost. But not all

planet-friendlypracticesdentthebottom

line;indeed,somecansavecostsandyield

addedrevenue.

Anexample,saysAssociateProfessor

QingbinCui,istheuseofrecycledhighway

materialstobuildorreplacepavement.

It’snotonlycheaperthanhot-mixasphalt,

butgenerateslessemissions.Thelowered

emissionsearncreditsthatcanthenbe

tradedonthecarbonemissionsmarket.

“It’sonewaytomovegreentechnology

fromthe‘cost’tothe‘revenue’sideofthe

balancesheet,”Cuisays.

CuihascollaboratedwithaMaryland-

basedbusinessleader,HaroldGreen,to

test the methodology and develop a

frameworkforquantifyingtheemissions

reductions.Theirwork,carriedoutover

severalyears,hasbornefruit:earlierthis

year,theframeworkwasofficiallyaccept-

edbyVerifiedCarbonStandard(VCS),the

world’slargestgreenhousegasreduction

program.VCShascertifiedalmost1,500

projectstodate,leadingtothereduction

orremovalofmorethan200milliontons

ofcarbonandotheremissionsfromthe

atmosphere.

Manufacturing hot-mix asphalt—the

traditionalmethodthatcontractorshave

reliedonsincethedawnoftheautomobile

era—isamessy,complexprocedure.Not

onlydoesitcreatepollution,butthemix

mustbetransportedfromtheplantto

theworksite,thusreleasingmorecarbon

dioxide into the atmosphere and

rackingupfuelcosts.

Recycledpavement,bycontrast,is

manufacturedonsitethroughanon-ther-

malprocessthatusesfoamedasphalt—a

mixofair,water,andbitumen—tobind

togetherthereclaimedmaterial.Green,

whorunsmultiplecompanies,including

Chamberlain Contractors and GRR

Engineering,believesitwillwinwidespread

acceptanceasmoreandmoreorganiza-

tionsseethebenefits.“It’senvironmentally

friendlyandalowercostmaterial,and

it’sequaltomanyconventionalhot-mix

asphalts,”hesays.

Not that it will happen overnight.

“Changingthewayweengineerourparking

lotsandroadsystemstakestime,”Green

acknowledges.“Peoplehavetochange

their mindsets and look beyond the

methodsthey’reusedto,andthatcanbe

alengthyprocess.Butin20or30years,

Ibelieve,thiswillbethestandard.”

Cui,meanwhile,seesharnessingmarket

forcesasawaytochangemindsetsand

behavior, to a degree that is hard to

accomplishthroughregulationalone.

“Environmentallyfriendlypracticesare

oftenseenasexpensive.Youhavetopay

fees toobtaingreencertification,and

you’readoptingdifferentmethodsand

materialsthatcostmorethanwhatyou’re

usedtopaying.Useofrecycledmaterials

isdifferent.It’sanexampleofatechnology

thatnotonlyhelpstheenvironment,but

canprovidesavingsandevenbeasource

ofrevenue,”henotes.

“That’s important, because most

organizationsareworriedaboutthecost

factor,”Cuisays.“Whenthere’sasignificant

economicincentive,thenwecanexpectto

seechangesstarttotakeplace.” |

Green Contracting… with Incentives Baked In

Fromfull-depthreclamationtocoldin-placerecycling,there’smorethan

one way to salvage worn-out asphalt pavement. A method known as

FoamedAsphaltStabilizedBase(FASB)hasbeenthefocusofresearchby

CharlesW.Schwartz,professorandchairoftheCEEdepartment.Atthe

requestof theStateHighwayAdministration,Schwartzhasconducted

studiesdesigned toassesswhether a specific typeofFASBcouldbe

introducedsuccessfullyinMaryland.

“MostoftheexperiencewithFASBhasbeeninregionsthatdiffergreatly

fromMarylandintermsoftheirclimateandtrafficconditions,”Schwartz

explains.“Marylandalsohasspecificdesignstandardsthatmustbemet.”

FASBusesfoamedasphalttobindacombinationofreclaimedasphalt

pavement,recycledconcrete,andgradedaggregatebase.Schwartz’sstudy

includedfieldevaluationofthepavement’sperformanceovertime,factoring

inweathereffects,compaction,andotherparameters.

Throughhisresearch,Schwartzwasabletocomparehowtheproperties

ofFASBpavement—suchasstiffness—comparetoconventionalpavement.

The SHA is using data from the report to develop pavement design

recommendations,mixprocedures,guidelinesforproductionandplacement,

andqualityassuranceprocedures.

“Wefoundthatpavementcanindeedbeconstructedinthiswayand

meetourstate’s rigorousdesignstandards,”Schwartzsaid. “Thereare

differencesinthewayitbehavescomparedtohotmixasphalt,andthose

differenceshavetobefactoredin.Butit’sclearlyaviableapproach,one

thatwillworkhereinTheOldLineState.”RE

CY

CL

E,

RE

US

E,

RE

PA

VE

!


6

It was an opportunity to experience another part of the world—and build expertise about engineering solutions that could be crucial to our planet’s future.

JustafterspringsemesterclasseswrappedupatUMD,a

groupofstudentstraveledtoIcelandtobegintheirsummerstudies

undertheguidanceofcivilandenvironmentalengineeringfaculty

memberNatashaAndradeandMichaelGalczynski,aninstructor

intheClarkSchool’sKeystoneprogram.Theywouldspendthe

nexttwoweeksbasedinRejkjavik,withdaytripstoavarietyof

otherlocations.

Why Iceland? The small, northerly island country holds

particularsignificanceforthosewithaninterestinrenewable

energy:exceptforsmalldieselgeneratorsusedtopowerfishing

boats, itmeets all its energyneeds through renewables,

particularlythermalandhydroelectric.

“Icelandmakesverygooduseofitsresources,”Andradeexplains.

“Theydon’thavecoaloroil,sotheyusewhattheyhave—which

iswaterandgeothermalenergy.Seventy-fivepercentofIceland’s

electricitycomesfromhydroelectricpowerplants,andthe

restcomesfromgeothermalpowerplants.About98%ofitsheat

comesfromgeothermalpowerplants.”

Duringtheirstay,studentsconductedin-depthresearchon

Iceland’spast,present,andfutureenergyneeds,andtheycapped

offtheprogrambycomingupwithdesignsforhydropowerand

geothermalpowerplantsinspecificlocationsaroundthecountry.

Thesewerenotroughconcepts,Andradesays,butdetailed

proposalsthatrequiredthestudentstodelvedeeplyintothe

technicalaspectsofplantdesign.

Andtheydidsowiththelargerissue—sustainability—inmind.

“Ifweareaimingtoachievesustainabledevelopment,thenwe

have to be looking at renewables,” Andrade says. “But the

solutionsarenotalwayssimple.Hydropower,forexample,can

haveanimpactonecosystems,aswellasonpeoplelivinginthe

areas that need to be flooded in order to build the dams.

Sustainabilityhasthreepillars—environmental,economic,and

social—andallthreeneedtobeconsidered.”

All inall,theIcelandexperience“waseverythingIwanted:

hands-onresearchinsustainablepower,plusthemoststunning

landscapesandnaturalfeaturesI’veeverseen,”saidSam“S.C.”

Giedzinski,ajuniorstudyingmechanicalengineering.

Headded:“Icelandershaveadeepunderstandingofcomfort

foods,soourmealswerefantastic!”

STUDYING SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE IN CATANIA, ITALY

While Andrade and her students were exploring energy

sustainabilityinIceland,anothersummerprogram—ledbyCivil

andEnvironmentalEngineeringAssociateProfessorDimitrios

Goulias—washeadingsouthwards,toCatania,Italy.Sustainability

wastheoverarchingthemefortheirprogramaswell,butwitha

differentfocus:ratherthandesigningplants,theywereexamining

infrastructure—buildings, roadways,orentirecommunities—

withaneyetointroducingsustainablepractices.

Takeroadways,forexample.“Roadshavetobemaintained

andrepaved,but thereareoptions fordoingthis inamore

environmentally-friendlymanner,”notesGoulias.“Youcanrecycle

theentireroadway,takingtheasphaltlayer,rejuvenatingitwith

newmaterials,thenputting itback inplace[Relatedarticle:

“Recycle,Reuse,Repave!”,page6].It’spossibletomakeuseof

glassoreventherubberfromrecycledtires.However,wehave

toconsidernotonlythetechnicalsideoftheproblem,butalso

thecostsandbenefits.”

Studentsintheprogram“workedtogetherwiththeircounter-

partsfromtheUniversityofCataniatostudyparticularsituations—

buildings or roads, for instance—and look at sustainable

alternatives,”Gouliassaid.“Theythendrewuppresentationsin

whichtheyshowedhowtheiralternativescomparetoconventional

methods,aswellastoothersustainablesolutions.”

Program participants lauded the blend of engineering

collaborationandculturalimmersion.

“StudyinginCataniaalongsideItalianengineeringstudents

wasunforgettable,andexploringthecityandimmersingourselves

intothecultureandcuisinehelpedtocreateanenrichingexperience

overall,”saidNathanCollahuazo.

ForfellowsophomoreAbbyBollinger,theprogramwas“a

trulyenlighteningexperience…Iwasabletowitnessadifferent

cultureandgainconfidenceinmyselfbysteppingoutofmy

comfortzone.”

Summerstudyabroadprogramsareofferedeachyearby

multiple departments within the A. James Clark School of

Engineering, incoordinationwithEducationAbroadandthe

OfficeofGlobalEngineeringLeadership. |

Engineering Sustainable Solutions…

Globally!ICELAND, ITALY

STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS

FEATURE HANDS-ON PROJECTS

PHOTO: SAM “S.C.” GIEDZINSKI


7

EVELYN BARSTOW HARRISON, ’32THEFIRSTWOMANTOEARN

ANENGINEERINGDEGREEATMARYLAND

It’sbeen125yearssincetheestablishmentofanengineering

programatwhatwasthenknownasMarylandAgriculturalCollege.

Thepredecessorinstitutionhassincetransformedintotoday’s

UniversityofMaryland—andengineeringhasburgeonedalong

withit,buildingarichandenduringlegacyofresearch,learning,

andachievement.Joinusaswecelebrate125yearsofdaringvision

andlastingimpact.

Civil engineering was not the first engineering program

establishedattheschoolthateventuallybecameUMD—that

honorgoestomechanicalengineering,introducedin1894.But

itwasn’tfarbehind.Fourteenyearslater,in1908,theDepartment

ofCivilEngineeringwasestablished,followedsoonafterbythe

DepartmentofElectricalEngineering.Earlycurriculumfocused

on “ag-adjacent” coursework appealing to the Maryland

farmstead.Fromtheoutset,thecivilengineeringprogramwas

knownforitsintenserigor:studentsshoulderedroughly150credit

hoursinenvironmental,geotechnical,structural,transportationand

waterresourcesengineering,surveying,andprojectmanagement.

Daring Vision, Lasting Impact:

OveraCenturyofCivilEngineering

atMaryland

Civil engineering students pictured with surveying equipment and a

professor at Maryland Agricultural College, circa 1890–1910.

PHOTO: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND LIBRARIES

Asshepursuedherchosenmajor—civil

engineering—Evelyn Barstow Harrison

(1916–2000)notonlymasteredarigorous

fieldbutovercamewidespreadpreconcep-

tions about its suitability for women. A

WashingtonPostreporterwhointerviewedher

inJune1932couldhardlyconcealhisincredulity.“Howon

earthdidyouhappentoselectcivilengineeringfora

profession?”heasked.Nearby,agroupofmalefriends

waited forHarris to finish the interviewandattenda

swimmingparty.“Itwas justachance,”shereplied.“I

wantedascientificcareer,andbefore Iknew it Ihad

signedupforacourse incivilengineering.Whatwas

theretodobuttogothroughwithit?”

Harrison’scan-dospirittookherfar.Aftergraduation,

shelandedajobwiththefederalgovernmentandserved

throughfoursuccessiveadministrations,participatingin

numerousendeavorsaimedatadvancinggenderand

racialequality.In1955,shebecameadeputydirectorof

theCivilServiceCommission;in1962,shewashonored

with a Federal Woman’s Award, presented to her in

personbyPresidentJohnF.Kennedy.Sheretiredin1971.

Honors student, salutatorian, track and field star, and military

Oswald Hurt (O.H.) Saunders used this field notebook in

the spring of 1909, during his junior year at the Maryland

Agricultural College. As a civil engineer, Saunders conducted

much of his lab work outdoors, mapping and surveying. He

recorded observations and field work in this journal, now

preserved by University Archives.

8


Inthe1920s,thedepartmentestab-

lisheda“learninglaboratory”onRoute

1,wherestudentsandfacultyexamined

chunksofpavement,knownasroad

cores,inordertounderstandtheprop-

ertiesofdifferentroadmaterialsand

their interactionswithsubsoil.While

theRoute1facilityislonggone,thedepartment’scontributionto

road and highway engineering continues, with researchers now

developingnew,moreefficient,andenvironmentallyfriendlymethods

ofpavementconstruction.Beyondresearchonroadsandhighways,

thedepartmenthasbecomeamajorcenterfortransportationstudies,

withsomeoftheworld’smostgiftedresearchersandstudentsinves-

tigatingwaystomaketravelsafer,faster,andmoreefficient.

Thegrowthofthedepartmentoverthepastcenturyhascoincided

withtheongoingexpansionofurbanareas,includingnotonlycities

andtownsbutnewerarrivalssuchassuburbs,exoburbs,andplanned

communitiessuchasColumbiaandReston.Andgraduatesofthe

departmenthavebeenpivotalinengineeringthestructuresfound

inthisgrowingurbanlandscape.Lookaroundyou:verylikelyone

ofthebuildingsyou’llseeistheworkofClarkConstruction,oneof

thelargestcommercialandcivilcontractorsinthenation.Itsfounder,

A.JamesClark,isa’51alumnus,andtheengineeringschool—nowknown

astheA.JamesClarkSchoolofEngineering—honorshislegacy.

The world has changed during the 75 years since the civil

engineeringprogramwasestablished,andthefieldhaschangedas

well.Whileengineersstillstrivetodesignhigh-qualitynewstructures,

theyareincreasinglyalsoconcernedaboutresilienceandsustainability.

Manynowfocustheirattentiononagingroadways,bridges,dams,and

otherbuildingtypes,whileengineeringnewmaterialsandmethods

for the future. Many specialize in areas such as water resource

management, disaster mitigation, sanitation, and environmental

preservation.Anamechangein1999reflectsthebroaderscope:the

DepartmentofCivilandEnvironmentalEngineering,asitisnowknown,

drawsstudentswithakeeninterestinthelong-termwell-beingof

thenaturalaswellasthebuiltenvironment. |

The 1920–1921 catalog

identified ways that the

civil engineering student

gained practical experience:

“Information and advice is

given [by civil engineering

students] to farmers...

concerning drainage,

sanitation, water supply,

lighting, farm machinery...

whenever possible.”

COMPETITIONS HAVE LONG BEEN A DRAW FOR UMD ENGINEERING STUDENTS.In1976,

agroupofenterprisingstudentsformedasuccessful

teamofengineersandconstructorsofconcretecanoes

toparticipateinlocalcompetitions.

TheUMDteamhasadvancedto

thenationalcompetition,hosted

bytheAmericanSocietyforCivil

Engineers,13timesbeginningin

1988.Theteamhaspaddledtheir

waytovictorybyplacingwithinthe

topfiveofnationalcompetitions

fourtimesandhasalsowonthe

Mid-AtlanticRegionalCompetition

numeroustimes.

Early course descriptions were wordsmithed to appeal to Maryland farmers.

Concrete Canoe, 1977.

9


Microplastics—tinyfragmentsofplastic—

regularlyendupinourdrains.Theycaninclude

smallbitsofplasticshedfromascrubbing

brushwhilewe’rewashingdishes,fibersfrom

polyesterclothes,orthemicrobeadsfoundin

toothpaste,cleansers,andexfoliants.

Chemicalsspillintoourdrainsaswell,often

asaresultofusingpharmaceuticalandperson-

alcareproducts(PPCP).Whenmicroplastics

and chemicals mix, they become multiple

stressorstotheenvironment:thatis,theypose

agreaterrisktoorganismstogetherthanthey

wouldalone.Themicroplasticsactascarriers

forpollutants,transportingthemmuchfarther

thantheycouldgoontheirown,explains

AlterraSanchez,acivilandenvironmental

engineeringdoctoralcandidateconducting

researchthroughtheMarineEstuarineand

EnvironmentalSciencesprogramprogram.

“Thesetinyplasticfragmentsandthepol-

lutantstheycarryareflowingintoourrivers

andoceans,andcanendupintheseafoodwe

eat,”sheexplains.

WorkingwithDr.AlbaTorrentsandco-advisor

Dr.LanceYonkos,Alterrahasbeenconducting

researchthatshedsnewlightontheinteraction

betweenmicroplasticsandPPCPchemicals—

andsuggestsgapsinthewayitiscurrently

beingstudied.

Atthecoreofherinvestigationisaprocess

thatresemblesdirtoroiltrappedinasponge.

Whenorganicpollutantscomeincontactwith

microplastics,theyadhereanddonotwantto

comeoff.Environmentalscientistsrefertothis

bondingassorption,anditcreatesahidden

environmentalhazard,Alterranotes.

“The microplastics, carrying the pollutants, can travel from wastewater

treatmentplantsintorivers,andthentheocean,wheretheymayreleasethese

pollutantsinpristinewatersthatpreviouslyhavenotbeenexposedtothese

chemicals.Fishandmarinebirdsliketoeatmicroplastics,especiallyredand

orangepiecesthatlooklikeshrimp,sotheywillbeexposedtoPPCPs,”shesays.

Scientistsseekingtomeasuretheextentofthisproblemhaveinvestigated

howdifferentmicroplasticsinteractwithchemicalsandhowtheymayincrease

exposuretowildlife.However,Alterrasaysresearchupuntilnowhasnotalways

consideredalltheimportantvariablesinvolved.

“Theamountofsorptionisinfluencednotonlybyplastictype,butalsosize

andsurfacearea,”shesays.

Alterrareachedthisconclusionbycloselystudyingtheinteractionbetween

triclocarban—anantibacterialchemicalwidelyusedinsoapsandlotions—and

simulatedweatheredmicroplasticsofthekindthatcanendupinthewatersupply.

Harvestingmicroplasticsisn’teasytodo,sosheusedadifferentapproach:

shecreatedherowncollection.“TheparticlesImadearepittedanddeformed,

liketheplasticpiecesyouwouldfindintheenvironment,”shesays.

Becauseshestudiedavarietyofplastictypes,sizes,andsurfaceareas,she

wasabletoshowthat,whenitcomestosorption,particlesvarysometimesin

unexpectedways.Testingtwotypesofplastic—polypropylene(PP),whichis

usedinplasticfoodwraps;andhigh-densitypolyethylene(HDPE),usedtomake

mostreusablewaterbottles—shefoundtriclocarbanstucktoPPmuchmore.

“ItturnedoutthatPPisamuchbettersorbentforthischemical,compared

toHDPE,”Alterrasaid.“PPalsohasagreatersurfacearea.Thatmeansnotonly

agreatertendencyforsorption,butthatthereismuchmorespaceforthe

sorptiontooccur.Asaresult,PPcouldpresentmoreofahazardintermsof

toxicityforchemicalsliketriclocarban.”

Thefindingisasurprise,Alterrasays.“Itchallengesthecurrentunderstanding

thatpolyethylene isusuallyabettersorbent fororganicpollutants.The

discoverywaspossiblebecauseIuseddifferentsizesandtypesofmicroplastics,

eachwithadifferentsurfacearea,”shesays.

“Inthefuture,scientistswillneedtoconsiderparticlesizeandsurfacearea,

notjustplastictype,whentestingmicroplastictoxicity.” |

Alterra Sanchez prefers to be addressed by her first name; no mistake has been made by the author.

Student SPOTLIGHT

ALTERRA

UMD RESEARCHER SHEDS LIGHT ON SORPTION

PHOTO: AL S

A

NTO

S


10

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL CEE STUDENTS WHOSE ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS WERE RECOGNIZED IN 2018–19, INCLUDING:

YAO CHENG, ELHAM SHAYANFAR, MICHAEL WHITEMAN, ANN G. WYLIE, DissertationFellowship,UniversityofMarylandGraduateSchool

MARIA COELHO, ERICA FORGIONE, JONGMIN PARK, GAOHONG YIN,FutureFacultyFellowship,A.JamesClarkSchoolofEngineering

BRYAN CROCE,InternationalStudentAward,A.JamesClarkSchoolofEngineering

KRISTEN CROFT,ClarkDoctoralFellowship,A.JamesClarkSchoolofEngineering

MICHELLE HUFFERT, 2019Master’sAward,DepartmentofCivilandEnvironmentalEngineering

RAYMOND RAN JING, 2019Ph.D.Award,DepartmentofCivilandEnvironmentalEngineering

LIANG LIANG, Three-MinuteThesisAward,UniversityofMarylandGraduateSchool

AMANDA O’SHAUGHNESSY, HollingsUndergraduateScholarship,NationalOceanicandAtmosphericAdministration

ZHIJIANG “RIVER” YANG, 2019EducationAward,AmericanChemicalSocietyAgroDivision

ZHENG ZHU,OutstandingGraduateAssistantAward,UniversityofMaryland

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

RussellBumanglagisaseniorintheCEEdepartment,wherehe

ispursuingthegeotechnicalandstructurestrack.Borninthe

Philippines,RussellmovedtotheU.S.withhisfamilyatage10,

andhaslivedinMaryland,Massachusetts,andMichigan(where

hisfamilycurrentlyresides).Hehasbeenveryinvolvedinthe

departmentwhileatUMD.Lastsemester,hewasawardedthe

CivilandEnvironmentalEngineeringDepartmentChair’sAward,

presentedtoastudentforthemostsignificantcontributionto

thedepartment.

RussellsayshewasdrawntotheCEEdepartmentbecause

ofhisinterestininfrastructureand“buildingbigthings.”However,

acourseoutsidethedepartmentthathetookasafreshmanwas

thefirsttoconfirmhispassionforcivilengineering; itwasa

geographycourseaboutproblemsindevelopingcountries,and

Russellnoticed that thesolutions to theseproblemsoften

involvedbuilding infrastructure.Forhim, this reinforced the

importanceofthecivilengineeringprofession.

Russellsayshisfavoritethingaboutbeingacivilengineering

majoris“learningthetechnicalaspectaswellasthesocialaspect

ofwhatbeingacivilengineermeans,andlearninghowwecan

impactpeople’severydaylives.”HecitesENCE215,“Engineering

forSustainability,”asanexampleofacoursethatemphasizes

theprofession’ssocialimpact.

Russellhasenjoyedmanyofhiscoursesinthedepartment.

HesaysthatENCE305,“FundamentalsofEngineeringFluids,”

ishisfavoriteofthecourseshe’staken,asitis“challenging

buttheconceptsareinteresting.”Thesameistrue,headds,

oftwoothercourseshe’sfoundespeciallyvaluable,ENCE340,

“FundamentalsofGeotechnicalEngineering,”and

ENCE353,“IntroductiontoStructuralAnalysis,”

bothofwhichwerealsoapplicabletohis

careerinterests.

Russellhasbeenthedepartment’speer

tutorforENCE305forsuccessivesemes-

ters,andseesthisasperhapsthemost

meaningful opportunityhe’sbeengiven

here.“Beingontheothersideofthings,

teaching,youseethatteachingreallyisthe

best form of learning,” he says, adding that

tutoringhasgivenhimastrongergraspofthemate-

rial,aswellas theopportunitytomeetotherpeople inthe

majorandconnectwiththem.Healsofindsitsatisfyingtohelp

peopleinachallengingclass.

Russellisalsoinvolvedinresearchinthedepartment,working

withAssociateProfessorDimitriosGouliasondataanalysisofthe

propertiesofconcrete.Hesaysthishands-onexperiencehasbeen

“eye-opening.”HealsowenttoGreeceinAprilforDr.Goulias’s

springbreakcourse,ENCE489G,“SustainabilityandInfrastructure.”

Thissummer,Russellcompletedhisfirstinternship,working

withtheChicago-baseddesignfirmKimley-Hornaspartofa

landdevelopmentteam.Hefoundtheinternshipthroughan

event hosted by Chi Epsilon, the civil engineering honor

society,ofwhichheisamember.

Russell is anactivememberofEngineerswithoutBorders

(EWB).HeispartofEWB’sNicaraguaprojectandthedistribution

sub-team,andheobservesthatconceptsfromENCE305have

been useful in designing a water distribution system for the

project.Russellhasalsobeeninvolvedinaboxingclubandwith

theWMUCradiostationoncampus.Inhisfreetime,helikesto

gotothegym,read,andlistentomusic.

Aftergraduation,Russellhopestogetajobindesignor

construction.Hehopestohaveplentyoftimetotravel,andisalso

consideringgraduateschool.Nomatterwhatpathhetakes,this

dedicatedstudentissuretousetheskillshehaslearnedhere,

aswellashisownhardwork,determination,andproblemsolving

abilities,toimproveothers’lives. |

RUSSELL BUMANGLAG

“I LIKE LEARNING...HOW WE CAN IMPACT PEOPLE’S LIVES.”


11

YOUR CURRENT RESEARCH INVESTIGATES, AMONG OTHER THINGS,

THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES—NOTABLY

CLIMATE CHANGE—AND SOCIAL ISSUES, PARTICULARLY PROBLEMS

OF INEQUITY. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SPECIFIC WAYS IN WHICH

CLIMATE CHANGE CAN EXACERBATE SOCIOECONOMIC GAPS?

Asengineers,wehavedesignedwondrousinfrastructurewith

averylonglife.Thisisgoodbutitalsopresentsproblems.It’s

goodinthatweareabletoincreasesociety’sbenefits.Butitis

problematicbecausethewaysinfrastructurehasbeendesigned

andattendedtooverthelast70yearsreflecthowsocietywas

structuredinthepast.Forexample,peopleofcolorhaveless

accesstogoodschools,togoodtransportation.Theyoftenhaveto

fightforcleanwater.Overtime,thelackofthesebasicnecessities

robspeopleofopportunity,whichproducesinequality.

Asoursocietyundergoesincreasingeconomicimbalance,these

structuralinequalitiesbegintoaffectevengreaterswathsofthe

population.Owningyourownhomehasbecomeincreasingly

hard,whilefindingjobsnearwhereyouliveoraccessingagood

transportationsystemisdifficultformoreandmorepeople.And

withclimatechange,thesekindsofbarrierswillbecomebigger.

Peopleinhighriskareascan’taffordtomoveandthestatecan’t

affordtocreatethekindof infrastructureneededtoprotect

theirassets.Rightnow,weare inacycleofreduceriskand

rescue.Butthisisnotsustainable.Withclimatechange,notall

riskcanbereducedtoanacceptablelevelandrescuesarevery

expensive.Weneedamoresustainablevision.Oncesocietyhas

avision,Iamconfidentthatcivilandenvironmentalengineers

canhelptoachieveit.

YOUR MPACT LECTURE AT UMD IN APRIL 2019 FOCUSED ON THE CAMP

FIRE DISASTER IN PARADISE, CA, AND HIGHLIGHTED HOW MULTIPLE

FACTORS—INCLUDING CLIMATE CHANGE, URBAN DEVELOPMENT,

LOCAL POLITICS, AND THE ACTIONS OF A STATE UTILITY—COMBINED

TO CREATE THE DISASTER. TO WHAT EXTENT IS THE PARADISE

SITUATION SYMPTOMATIC OF A LARGER PROBLEM? WHAT ARE THE

LESSONS LEARNED?

ThepopulationofParadiseexploded fromaround8,000 to

24,000duringthe1970s.Itwasaplacewhereyoucouldown

yourownhomeonafixedincomeatatimewhenCalifornia’s

realestatevalueswereskyrocketing.Someofthegrowthcame

intheformofastandardsubdivisionlayout,withnon-gridded

streets,cul-de-sacs,andlimitedentry/exitways.Thesesuburban

design featuresaresimilar todesignstandards thatarestill

activelyused.Thisdesignhindersevacuationandonceembers

entered subdivisions, it was nearly impossible to stop the

structuretostructureignitionforwardprogress.

Growthalsocameintheformofmobilehomeparks.There

werearound33differentmobilehomeparkslocatedinthearea,

severalofwhichwerelarge;thefireleveledaround20ofthem.

Mostofthemobilehomeparkswereoccupiedbyseniorsonfixed

incomes;alotofthemwerewomenandfrail.It’sbeenreported

thatmostofthepeoplewhodiedinthefirewereelderly.

Q&A Deb Niemeier

ClarkDistinguishedChairofCivilandEnvironmentalEngineering

TheA.JamesClarkSchoolofEngineeringattheUniversityofMarylandisproudtoannouncetheappointmentofDeb

NiemeiertoanendowedchairestablishedaspartofBuilding Together: An Investment for Maryland,theA.James&

AliceB.ClarkFoundation’snearly$220millioncommitmenttotransformUMDandtheClarkSchoolthroughinvestments

instudents,faculty,programs,andinfrastructure.

NiemeieristhefirstofmanyendowedClarkDistinguishedChairstobeappointedthroughtheClarkFoundation

investment.TheClarkDistinguishedChairswilldirectlyaddressthemostcriticalresearchareassetforthbythe2020Strategic

PlanfortheClarkSchool,includingadditiveandadvancedmanufacturing,autonomyandrobotics,andenergyandsustainability.

Thesefacultyleaderswillopennewfrontiers,creatingacommunityofcollaborationandexcellencethatgainsmomentumwith

everyachievementinresearchandinnovation.

ANationalAcademyofEngineering(NAE)member,Niemeierhashelpedspurpolicyandregulatorychangesthroughherground-

breakingresearchintheareasofvehicleemissions,airquality,affordablehousing,andinfrastructurefunding.AtUMD,herresearch

willtargetaspectsofthebuiltenvironmentthatgiverisetostructuralinequality,particularlywithinthecontextofclimatechange.

NiemeierwillalsobeafacultyaffiliateoftheMarylandTransportationInstitute,aninterdisciplinaryresearchhubthatbringstogether

expertisefromacrossMarylanduniversities.


12

laurafig

Highlight

change "reflects" to "reflect" as shown here

NearlyaquarterofParadiseresidentshadadisability(thisisdoublethe

statewiderate)and25percentofthepopulationwasovertheageof65,

comparedto14percentstatewide.

Inshort,Paradisehadanaging,highdisabilitypopulationlivinginareaswith

urbandesignfeaturesthatwerenotparticularlyconducivetofastevacuation.

Andthecitywassurroundedbyagingpowerinfrastructure.Thereareelements

ofthisstorythatapplytonearlyeveryat-riskcommunity.Wehaveaffordable

housingissuesinurbanareas,forcingpeopletomovefurtherfromservices.

Wehaveclimatechangemakingweathereventsthatmuchmoreintense,and

finallywehaveanaginginfrastructurethatwealsoneedtorethink.

CONCERN OVER SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES RANKS HIGH

AMONG THE GENERATION THAT IS CURRENTLY PREPARING TO APPLY TO COLLEGE.

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ASPIRE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, WHAT DOES THE FIELD

OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING HAVE TO OFFER?

Civil and environmental engineers are the ones who design and build

infrastructure.Wehavetheknowledgeandunderstandingofhowthingsin

thebuiltenvironmentconnect,anditisthebuiltenvironmentthatenables

individualsandpopulationstothriveandsucceedintheworld.Ifyoungpeople

reallywanttoreducepoverty,ensurehumanrights,andtackleinequality,they

shouldstudycivilandenvironmentalengineeringandlearnhowtocreatea

builtenvironmentthatserveseveryoneequitably.

WHAT DREW YOU TO UMD, AND WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE

CLARK SCHOOL THAT YOU FIND MOST APPEALING?

Iliketheemphasisonserviceforpublicgood.UMDisalarge,publicinstitution

withadeepcommitmenttoeducation.Ialsofoundthelevelatwhichthestate

supportstheuniversitytobeinspiringandforward-thinking.Manystateshave

reducedfundingtothedegreethattheinstitutioncanlongerservethemost

aspiringstudents.Thecostofattendingissimplytoohigh.We—mygeneration

andthosebeforeus—hadtheadvantageofattendingauniversitywithlow

tuitionandweemergedwithlowdebt.Itiswrongtosaddlefuturegenerations

ofcollegestudentswithhightuitionandhighdebt.Marylandsupportstheir

collegesystematalevelthatotherstatesshouldaspireto.

TheClarkSchoolisalsoinanexcitingperiod,especiallyforcivilandenviron-

mentalengineers.ThegiftfromtheClarkFoundationallowsstudentswhomight

notbeabletoaffordacollegeeducationtohaveatobecomeanengineer.

Thedeanisviewedasvisionaryanddedicatedtopublicserviceandadiverse

college.AllofthesefactorsmakecomingtoMarylandveryexciting.

IN 2006, YOU WERE AMONG THE HIGHLY-ACCOMPLISHED FEMALE SCIENTISTS AND

ENGINEERS HIGHLIGHTED IN A NEW YORK TIMES FEATURE STORY ON THE

CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN WHO ENTER SCIENTIFIC FIELDS. MORE THAN A

DECADE HAS PASSED SINCE THAT ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED. TO WHAT EXTENT DO

YOU SEE IMPROVEMENT, ESPECIALLY IN ENGINEERING?

I think it isamixedbag.Wehavemorewomenandpeopleofcolor in

leadershippositions,butinsomeengineeringdisciplineswestillstruggleto

attainacceptable levelsofundergraduatewomen. Ifyou lookatnational

statistics,theneedleonthepercentageofundergraduatewomenattending

anengineeringprogramhasn’treallymovedmuch.Fields likemechanical,

electrical,computerscience,andcivilengineeringarestillwaybehindthe

curveintermsofwomenandpeopleofcolor.Weallneedtoworkharder. |

DEFINING THEIR FIELDS:CLARK DISTINGUISHED CHAIRS

The generosity of the A. James & Alice

B. Clark Foundation has enabled the

Clark School to create seven key faculty

positions that directly address engi-

neering’s most critical areas, such as

additive and advanced manufacturing,

autonomy and robotics, and energy

and sustainability. These eight Clark

Distinguished Chairs will open new

frontiers, creating a community of col-

laboration and excellence that gains

momentum with each achievement in

research and innovation.

>> LEARN MORE, VISIT

buildingtogether.umd.edu


13

Thesoundofafloodalertcomingoverthe

phonehasbecomeafamiliaroneformany

inMarylandandotherstatesthatareprone

toboutsoftorrentialrainfall.InearlyJuly,

forinstance,floodsduringthemorningrush

hour inundateddozensof roadways in

andaroundFrederick,strandingatleast11

vehiclesthatgotstuckintherisingwaters.

Evenmoreseriously,heavyrainssetoff

floodsthatravagedhistoricEllicottCity

in2016andagainin2018,inflictingtensof

millionsofdollarsineconomiclossesand

cleanupcosts.Ingeneral,floodinginurban

areashasbecomeaseriousproblemnation-

wide—andit’sgettingworse,according

totheauthorsofalandmarknewstudy.

Thereport,The Growing Threat of Urban

Flooding: a National Challenge,waspro-

ducedbytheCenterforDisasterResilience

(CDR),partoftheUniversityofMaryland’s

civilandenvironmentalengineeringdepart-

ment, incollaborationwiththeCenter

forTexasBeachesandShoresatTexas

A&MUniversity,GalvestonCampus.The

CDRteamincludedGeraldGallowayand

AllisonReilly.

Itisthefirststudytodeliveracompre-

hensiveassessmentofthenationalimpact

ofurbanflooding,highlightingconse-

quences that include economic losses,

socialdisruption,andhousinginequality.

Thereportdemonstratesthaturban

floodingisnotaproblemthatoccursonly

inahandfulofmajorcities,butonewith

muchwiderscope,notesGalloway,who

receivedaNewsmakerofYeardesignation

fromEngineeringNews-Recordforhis

contributiontotheproject.“Communities

across thecountryare in fact facing

similar—and escalating—challenges,”

hesaid.

Indeed,theNationalOceanicand

AtmosphericAdministration’sfloodloss

databasefrom1993to2017includesmore

than3,600eventsnationwide,withmore

than25%ofclaimscomingfromoutside

the100-yearfloodzone.Muchoftheflood

damageincurredoverthelastseveralde-

cadescanbelinkedtodevelopment,which

oftenaltersnaturaldrainagepatterns.

Ninerecommendationsareofferedby

theUMDandTexasA&Mresearchers.

Amongthem:thedevelopmentof“appro-

priatemechanismsatthefederal,state,

andlocalleveltofundnecessaryrepairs,

operations,andupgradesofcurrentstorm-

waterandurbanflood-relatedinfrastruc-

ture.”Theauthorsalsostressedtheneed

tofactorinsocialinequitiesandensurethat

mitigationeffortscrossallsociallevels.

“Themessageofthispioneeringstudy

isthatwecannotwaitforsomeoneelse

to fix this worsening problem,” said

UniversityofMarylandPresidentWallace

D.Loh.“Cooperationbetweencommunities,

localgovernments,anduniversitiescan

helpbegintheprocessofadaptingtothe

newrealitiesofurbanflooding.” |

ANationwideConcernUMD RESEARCHERS CO-AUTHOR MAJOR STUDY OF URBAN FLOODING

Urban flooding is a growing source of significant economic loss, social disruption, and housing inequality throughout much of the United States.

Many of the urban wastewater and stormwater systems that

provide the backbone of urban flood mitigation are in poor

condition and—in some locations—are inadequate

and in need of strong support.

PHOTO: ANDREA BOOHER/FEMA, PENSACOLA , FLORIDA


14

laurafig

Pencil

Move pull quote down to match position shown here.

Airportsaredynamicplaces,withmodificationsandimprovements

constantlyunderway.Atravelermightfindtheroutebetween

terminalsstreamlinedbyanewconnector,orenjoy the food

optionsatarecentlyopenedconcessionarea.Eventhesmallest

changesatanairportrequireskillfulplanningandcoordination—

andthat’swhereexpertprogrammanagerslikeEileenSien(’95)

comein.

ThroughherworkwithAirportDesignConsultants, Inc.

(ADCI),anEllicottCity-basedfirm,Eileenensuresprojectsat

BaltimoreWashingtonInternationalThurgoodMarshallAirport

stayontrack.Hergoal,shesays,istominimizetheimpacton

themorethan74,000passengerswhofly inandoutofthe

airporteachday.Shewantsthemtonoticetheimprovements,

withoutbeinginconveniencedbytheconstructionorinstallation,

whilealwaysmaintainingsafeandefficientoperations.

“Ideally,thetravelingpublicwon’tevennoticewhatwe’re

doing—untiltheproject iscompletedandtheycanenjoythe

results,”Eileensaid.“That’swhatweaimfor.”

Among other upgrades at BWI Marshall, Eileen and the

programmanagementteamhaveoverseendesignandconstruction

ofavarietyofdevelopmentprojects, includingtheTerminal

D/EConnector,anextensiontotheInternationalConcourse,and

millionsofdollarsinairfieldrehabilitationefforts.Theteamis

currentlymanagingprojectsthatincludetheadditionoffivenew

gatestotheairport’sConcourseA,aswellasdevelopingnew

cargofacilities.Eileenispersonallymanagingasitedevelopment

projectforanewairlinemaintenancehangar.

“Anairportislikealittlecity,”shesaid.“Andthatmakesprojects

verycomplex,involvingmanyparticipants—frominitialplanning

todesign,engineering,construction,operations,andmaintenance.

Everyoneofthesephases iscritical.Alltheparties involved

havetobeloopedintotheconversationsothattheirideascan

beconveyedandtheirconcernscaptured.”

Forexample,aconstructioncreworoperationsteammight

need access to areas that are normally off limits. Security

personnelwillneedtoknowwhytheyarethere,andmeasures

mustbeput inplace topreventanybreaches. “Safetyand

securityarebyfarthehighestpriorities,”Eileensaid.

Overthelastthreeyears,BWIMarshallhasrequiredcollaborative

partneringforallconstructionprojectsover$10million.Eileenhas

becometheonsiteresourceforthiseffortandin2018became

acertifiedfacilitator.

Alu

mn

a S

PO

TL

IGH

T

EILEEN SIEN

CAN A MAJOR AIRPORT CARRY OUT UPGRADES WITHOUT INCONVENIENCING PASSENGERS? A CEE ALUMNA HAS MADE THAT HER MISSION.

Theworkshedoesmayseemfarremovedfromher

undergraduatestudies:Eileenmajoredincivilengi-

neering,withaconcentrationonwater/wastewater

design.Andshespent20yearsworkingonutility

designprojectsforRK&K,acivilengineeringfirmin

Baltimore.Shemovedupinthecompany,takingon

projectandprogrammanagementrolesthatbroad-

enedherprofessionalscope.Yeteventoday,shedraws

onskills—suchascommunicationandteamwork—

thatshebuiltduringherundergraduatemajor.

“The capstone course that I took

duringmysenioryearreallynur-

tured thosecapabilities,” she

said.“Theclassasawholewas

assignedaparticularproject,

andthenweweregrouped

into teams that brought

together students with

differentconcentrations—

forexample,geotechnical,

structuralor,inmycase,the

water/wastewaterconcentra-

tion.Wehadtoworktogetherto

solvethechallengethatwasput in

frontofus,andthentopresentoursolution

inaformalpaperandpresentationthatwasevaluat-

edbyindustryprofessionals.”

AproudTerp,EileenisalsoaTerpparent,withone

childwhograduated from UMD in May 2019 and

another enrolling this fall. Active in the alumni

community, she is a member of the Engineering

AlumniNetwork’s(EAN)BoardofDirectorsandwas

recentlyelectedEANpresident.

ShealsotakesprideinherinvolvementwithWTS

International,whichprovidesprofessionaldevelopment,

mentoring,andnetworkingopportunitiestoitsworld-

widemembership.Eileeniscurrentlypresidentofits

Baltimorechapter,havingservedinavarietyofroles

since2010.Theorganization,shesays,isdistinguished

byitsinclusiveness,representingthefullspectrumof

transportation-relatedcareersaswellasthedifferent

modesoftransportation.

Eileenvaluesbeingabletoadvancethecareersof

womenintransportationand, insodoing,builda

strongerandmorediverseindustry.

“Iwelcometheopportunitytohelpothersbuild

theirnetworksbecauseIknow,frompersonalexpe-

rience,howimportantthesecanbe,”shesaid.“For

me,it’sawaytogiveback.” |


15

FACULTY ACHIEVEMENTS

TheProjectManagementCenterforExcellencehosteditssixth

annualtwo-daySymposium,withprojectmanagersfromthe

Baltimore-Washingtonmetroareaandabroadgathering to

sharebestpractices,discusslessonslearned,anddiscoverthe

latestadvancesinthefield.HeldfromMay9–10,theeventset

anewrecordforattendance,withmorethan450participants

thisyear.

“TheProjectManagementSymposiumdoesnotdisappoint!

Thisismythirdyearattendingandeachyearitgetsbetter,”said

ElenaBozylinskiofTesscoTechnologies.“Thereisadiversity

of tracks to attend, from managing people to the federal

governmenttoconstruction.Youwillfindatopicthatrelatesto

yourworkandthespeaker(s)willprovideyouwithinformation

thatyoucantakewithyouandimplement.”

“TheUMDProjectManagementSymposiumprovided the

excitementofseeingprojectmanagementbeingusedinall

differentindustrieswhileprovidingtheperfectatmosphereto

meetandnetwork.Ittrulyfeltlikeagrowing,thrivingcommunity

ofpracticetheentiretwodays,”saidKeisaHudsonofthe

Raleigh-DurhamAirportAuthority.

Joinusfornextyear’sevent,tobeheldMay7–8,2020.

>> LEARN MORE, VISIT pmsymposium.umd.edu

BILAL AYYUB,professorofcivilandenviron-

mentalengineeringanddirectoroftheCenter

for Technology and Systems

Management,wasthe2018recip-

ientoftheAlfredoAngAwardon

RiskAnalysisandManagementof

CivilInfrastructure.ThisAmerican

SocietyofCivilEngineersawardrecognizes

technical contributions of national and

international significance in risk analysis,

riskmanagement,andlifecycleeconomics

ofcivilinfrastructure.Ayyubhasdedicated

hisroughly30-yearcareertothedesignand

managementofcomplexsystemsthrough-

outtheirlifecycle.

AYYUBalsoeditedanewASCEManualof

Practice,Climate-Resilient Infrastructure:

Adaptive Design and Risk Management,which

waspublishedbyASCE’sCommitteeon

AdaptingtoaChangingClimateinJanuary

2018.Ayyub,anASCEDistinguishedMember,

receivedtheASCEPresident’smedalin2018

forhiseffort“tobringadaptivedesignto

theprofessiontohelpaddressachanging

climate.”Heisalsoa2019recipientofASCE’s

LeValLundAward.

InadditiontohisworkwithASCE,AYYUB

hasbeennamedtoaNationalAcademies

committee board on infrastructure and

constructedenvironment.During2019,

Ayyubwasalsonamedanhonorarymem-

beroftheAmericanSocietyofMechanical

Engineers(ASME).Asought-afterspeaker

atconferencesworldwide,Ayyubdelivered

aDistinguishedLectureattheUniversityof

VirginiainSeptember2018,onthesubjectof

disasterresilientinfrastructure.Hewasalsoa

keynotespeakeratnumerousconferences

andeventsintheU.S.andinternationally.

ProfessorGERALD GALLOWAY

wasnamedaTop25Newsmaker

byEngineeringNews-Record

forhisleadershipinthefieldof

waterandfloodplainmanage-

ment, includingco-authorshipofthefirst

majorstudyofurbanflooding.Therecogni-

tionhonorsindividualsfromdiversesectors

fortheirservicetotheconstructionindustry

andthepublic.

AssociateProfessorDIMITRIOS GOULIAShas

beenelectedheadoftheAthens

Institute for Education and

Research’s(ATINER)civilengi-

neeringunit.Gouliasalsochairs

ATINER’sannual International

ConferenceonCivilEngineering.

Post-doctoral researcher DEVRIM KAYA

receivedthe2018PeggyCotterTravelAward

fromtheAmericanSocietyfor

Microbiology. Kaya has also

beenselectedbytheNational

ScienceFoundation(NSF)as

amACADEMEFellowfor2019.

BIRTHE KJELLERUP,wholeadstheBiofilms

LaboratoryattheDepartmentofCiviland

EnvironmentalEngineering,receivedapro-

motiontoAssociateProcessor

withTenure.Inannouncingthe

news,CEEDepartmentChair

Charles W. Schwartz noted

Kjellerup’s “sound research,

creativeteaching,andqualitymentoring.”

KjellerupjoinedtheCEEfacultyatUMDin

2015.Sheisco-editorofthejournalBiofilm.

AssistantProfessorGUANGBIN LI,whoheads

theNutrient-Energy-Smart(NES)Laboratory

attheDepartmentofCiviland

Environmental Engineering,

receiveda$75,000awardfrom

theMintaMartinResearchFund

to support research into the

recoveryofnitrogenandphosphorusfrom

urineasplant-availablefertilizerforspace

gardens.During2019,Lialsopresenteda

Project Management Symposium Fosters

“Thriving Community of Practice”

PHOTO: WILLIAM DAVIS


16

paper,“Apilot-scalestudy:Applicationof

AnaerobicAmmoniumOxidation(Anammox)

forSide-streamNitrogenRemovalinthe

Pima County Wastewater Reclamation

Facility(WRF),”attheAEESPResearch

and Education Conference at Arizona

StateUniversity.Inaddition,hewasasteer-

ingcommitteememberatthe2018WEF

NutrientRemovalandRecoverySymposium

inMinneapolis,wherehepresentedhispaper,

“Performance of Pilot-scale Anaerobic

AmmoniumOxidation(Anammox)Reactors

inTreatingAmmoniumRichWastewaterfor

Pima County Wastewater Reclamation

Facility(WRF).”

AteamofUMDresearchersled

byassistantprofessorALLISON

REILLY received a $750,000

National Science Foundation

(NSF) grant to explore and

improvehowinfrastructureoperatorsmake

recoverydecisionsinthewakeofdisasters.

The research team also includes Melissa

KenneyandMikeGerstfromUMD’sEarth

System Science Interdisciplinary Cemter

andCo-operativeInstituteforClimateand

Satellites—Maryland.

REILLYisalsotherecipientofanEarly-

CareerGulfCoastResearchFellowshipfrom

theNationalAcademyofSciences(NAS).

Professor PAUL SCHONFELD delivered a

presentationonSelectionandSchedulingof

Interrelated Improvements in

TransportationSystematthe

COTAInternationalConference

ofTransportationProfessionals

inBeijing,whichtookplacein

July2018.Schonfeldwasalsoapresenterat

theannualTransportationResearchBoard

(TRB)meetinginJanuary2019.

Professor MIROSLAW J. SKIBNIEWSKI,

together with Budapest University of

TechnologyandEconomicsprofessorMiklos

Hajdu,organizedthe8thannualCreative

ConstructionConference,heldinBudapest.

SKIBNIEWSKI has also been

invited as a keynote speaker

and workshop leader at the

Organization,Technology,and

Management inConstruction

conference inZagreb,Croatia; the36th

CIBW-78ConferenceonInformationand

Communication Technologies in Design,

Construction,andManagementinNewcastle,

England;thesecondInternationalConference

onSustainableBuildingsandStructures

in Suzhou, China; amd the CISGOS 2019

Congress on Innovation for Sustainable

InfrastructureinHanoi,Vietnam.

Assistant research professor CHENFENG

XIONGwontheInternationalAssociationof

PublicTransportation’sYoungResearcher

Awardforhisworkonincen-

Trip,asmartphoneapptech-

nologythatusespersonalized,

real-timemultimodaltraveler

informationandincentivesto

influencedailycommutesandreducecon-

gestioninWashington,D.C.andBaltimore.

Hiswork, in collaborationwithHerbert

RabinDistinguishedProfessorandMaryland

TransportationInstituteDirectorLeiZhang,

leverages the latest big data, machine

learning, andcomputing technologies to

optimizetravelbehaviorforreducedcon-

gestion,energyuse,andemissions ina

cost-effectiveway.

AnAgileProjectManagementProfessionalCertificateprogram

launched in September 2018 by the Department of Civil

Engineering’sProjectManagementCenterofExcellencehas

garneredanoverwhelmingresponse.AsofearlySeptember

2019,thefive-partserieshas62,376enrolledlearnersworldwide.

Theseriesprovidesparticipantswiththeopportunitytolearn

themechanicsofhowtodesignandfacilitateprojectsusing

“pure”AgileScrumandLeanKanbantechniques.Theyalso

learnthetrade-offsofusinghybridtechniquessuchasLean

Startup,ScaledAgileFortheEnterprise(SAFe),andDisciplined

Agile Development. Beyond these frameworks, the courses

covertheessentialprinciplesneededtoachievethegreatest

benefits of Agile Project Management methods: Speed,

Innovation,Leadership,andKaizen(ChangefortheBetter).

Hosted through edX, a nonprofit, open-source learning

destinationthatoffersonlineeducationalprogramsandcourses

inalliancewithmorethan130member institutions,theAgile

ProjectManagementProfessionalCertificatecoursesarefreeand

self-paced.Learnerscanalsochoosetoverifytheirworkandgain

aProfessionalCertificatefromUMDandedXthatgrantsunlimited

timetorevisitthematerialsafterthecourseiscomplete.

“WearehonoredtoworkwithTheUniversityofMarylandto

offer a Professional Certificate program in Agile Project

Management,”saidAnantAgarwal,edXCEOandMITprofessor.

“We’veheardfromourglobalcommunityoflearnersthatthey

areseekingcoursestohelpthemadvancetheircareers.Professional

CertificateprogramsonedXdelivercareer-relevanteducation

inaflexible,affordableway,byfocusingonthecriticalskills

industryleadersandsuccessfulprofessionalsareseekingtoday.”

>> TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PROGRAM, PLEASE VISIT THE

UMD PROJECT MANAGEMENT CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE

WEBSITE AT https://pm.umd.edu/

MORE THAN 60,000 ENROLLMENTS IN ONLINE AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM


Department of

Civil and Environmental Engineering

1173 Glenn L. Martin Hall

4298 Campus Drive

University of Maryland

College Park, MD 20742

A STUDENT PRESSES BUTTONSonadataprocessingsystemswitchboardduring

thelate1960s.Intheensuingdecades,computertechnologywouldradically

transformthetoolsusedtocollect,process,andanalyzedata.

Learn more about the history of the Clark School, visit clark125.umd.edu.

’60s CIVIL HI-TECH GET SOCIAL!

cee.umd.edu

@clarkschool

youtube.com/clarkschool

facebook.com/clarkschool

@umdclarkschool

Documents

FALL 2019 THE A. JAMES CLARK SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING