Papers/Articles/publications:

Johnson T, Obereiner J, Khire MV. Longer-term temporal trends in PFAS concentrations in Midwestern landfill leachate. Waste Manag Research. 2023 Sep;41(9):1445-1452. doi: 10.1177/0734242X231160087.

Hoffman K, Holcomb D, Reckling S, Clerkin T, Blackwood D, Beattie R, et al. (2023) Using detrending to assess SARS-CoV-2 wastewater loads as a leading indicator of fluctuations in COVID-19 cases at fine temporal scales: Correlations across twenty sewersheds in North Carolina. PLOS Water 2(10): e0000140. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000140

Adams, H., Hanigan, D., Marfil-Vega, R., Ryan, D., McCurry, D., Keen, O., Ash, S., and Southard, M. (2023) Operators need to know about organic contaminants. Opflow 49 (6) July/August issue, 10-17, cover story

Hua, C. and Fan, W., Dynamic Speed Harmonisation For Mixed Traffic Flow On The Freeway Using Deep Reinforcement Learning, Accepted for Publication, IET Intelligent Transport Systems, September 2023.

Liu, S., Fan, W., Jiao, S. and Li, A., The Performance of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles with Trajectory Planning in a Fixed Signal Controlled Intersection, Accepted for Publication, Promet – Traffic&Transportation, July 2023.

Song, L. and Fan, W., Performance of State-Shared Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning Controlled Signal Corridor with Platooning-Based CAVs, ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: System, Volume 149, Issue 8, June 2023.

Islam, M.M., Newaz, A., Song, L., Lartey, B., Lin, S-C, Fan, W., Hajbabaie, A., Khan, M.A., Partovi, A., Phuapaiboon, T., Homaifar, A., Karimoddini, A., Connected Autonomous Vehicles: State of Practice, Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry, https://doi.org/10.1002/asmb.2772, May 2023.

 Moglen, G.E. (2023). Fundamentals of Open Channel Flow (second edition). CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-0322-0455-0. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003263630 (Textbook)

Elias, E.H., Tsegaye, T.D., Hapeman, C.J., Mankin, K.R., Kleinman, P.J., Cosh, M.H., Coffin, A.W., Alfieri, J.G., Anderson, M.C., Baffaut, C., Baker, J.M., Bingner, R.L, Bjorneberg, D.L., Bryant, R.B., Gao, F., Gao, S., Heilman, P., Knipper, K.R., Kustas, W.P., Leytem, A.B., Locke, M.A., McCarty, G.W., McElrone, A.J., Moglen, G.E., Moriasi, D.N., O’Shaughnessy, S., Reba, M.L, Rice, P.J., Wang, D., White, M.J., Silber-Coats, N., Dombrowski, J.E., (2023). “A vision for integrated, collaborative solutions to critical water and food challenges.” Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.2023.1220A

Dangol, S., Zhang, X., Liang, X.-Z., Anderson, M., Crow, W., Lee, S., Moglen, G.E., and McCarty, G.W. (2023). “Multivariate calibration of the SWAT model using remotely sensed datasets.” Remote Sensing. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15092417

Liang, K., Zhang, X., Liang, X.-Z., Jin, V.L., Birru, G., Schmer, M.R., Robertson, G.P., McCarty, G.W., and Moglen, G.E. (2023). “Simulating agroecosystem soil inorganic nitrogen dynamics under long-term management with an improved SWAT-C model. Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162906

Lasco, J.D., and Moglen, G.E. (2023). “Hydrologic conservatism as a rationale for selecting NRCS initial abstraction ratio.” Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, ASCE. https://doi.org/10.1061/JHYEFF.HEENG-6016

Liang, K, Qi, J., Zhang, X., Emmett, B.D., Johnson, J.M.F., Malone, R.W., Moglen, G.E., Venterea, R.T., (2023). “Simulated nitrous oxide emissions from multiple agroecosystems in the U.S. Corn Belt using the modified SWAT-C model.” Environmental Pollution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122537

Awards:

Olya Keen (PI), (2023-2028) Charlotte Water, “Environmental Services and Student Experiential Learning” $846,991

Wei Fan –

• Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology, 2023-Present
• Associate Editor, Transportation Planning and Technology, 2023-Present
• Distinguished Scholar, William States Lee College of Engineering (LCoEN), UNC Charlotte, April 2023-April 2026.
• Interviewed by a “Banking, Finance, Tech, Startups, and Entrepreneurship Reporter” Staff Writer Ms. Symone Graham from Charlotte Business Journal on Self-Driving Vehicles, August 23, 2023. UNC Charlotte researchers talk pros, cons of self-driving vehicles as Cruise hits local streets

Projects:

Olya Keen (PI), Eboné Lockett (co-PI) (2022-2023) NC WRRI “Building agents of change within community through youth and resident education, career awareness and community science”   In this project we worked with high school students from the local Title I schools.

Presentations:

Hua, C. and Fan, W., Dynamic Speed Harmonisation For Mixed Traffic Flow On The Freeway Using Deep Reinforcement Learning, Accepted for Publication, IET Intelligent Transport Systems, September 2023.

Liu, S., Fan, W., Jiao, S. and Li, A., The Performance of Connected and AutonomousVehicles with Trajectory Planning in a Fixed Signal Controlled Intersection, Accepted for Publication, Promet – Traffic & Transportation, July 2023.

Song, L. and Fan, W., Performance of State-Shared Multi-Agent Deep ReinforcementLearning Controlled Signal Corridor with Platooning-Based CAVs, ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: System, Volume 149, Issue 8, June 2023.

Islam, M.M., Newaz, A., Song, L., Lartey, B., Lin, S-C, Fan, W., Hajbabaie, A., Khan, M.A., Partovi, A., Phuapaiboon, T., Homaifar, A., Karimoddini, A., Connected Autonomous Vehicles: State of Practice, Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry, https://doi.org/10.1002/asmb.2772, May 2023.

On October 24-25, the Department of Civil and Engineering partnered with Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, the Sullenberger Aviation Museum, and the newly announced Charlotte Aviation Innovation and Research Institute to hold this year’s Airport Engineering Seminar.  This informative in-person event featured presentations by industry, government, and academic experts in airport design, construction, operation, and maintenance.  The seminar consisted of seven information sessions followed by a tour of CLT Airport’s current renovation projects.  The session topics included: the state of the airline industry, FAA updates, ground transportation & trends in automated vehicles, development challenges & opportunities for small/medium hubs, a capital development update of CLT Airport, NC/SC DOT updates, and terminal repurposing.

Pictured: U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster landing on runway 18L/36R.

The seminar was hosted at the Wilson Air Hangar directly beside one of CLT’s runways, where guests could watch planes take off and land during session breaks.  Over 150 engineers, architects and related professionals who have an interest in aviation-related topics attended the event.  Thank you to all who participated, sponsored, or co-hosted the event.

The Charlotte Aviation, Innovation, and Research (AIR) Institute was announced at the seminar by CEE faculty and Co-Director of the AIR Institute, Srinivas Pulugurtha.  Dr. Pulugurtha will Co-Direct the AIR institute with Dr. Tara Cavalline, Professor for the Department of Engineering Technology and Construction Management.  The AIR Institute establishes a partnership between UNC Charlotte and Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.  This partnership seeks solutions to challenges in the aviation and airport infrastructure sector.  This groundbreaking partnership is the only partnership between a major airport and a major university in the nation.  The AIR Institute also features partnerships with the Sullenberger Aviation Museum and industry partner Talbert, Bright, & Ellington.

We are proud to be in the forefront of groundbreaking partnerships created with the Charlotte AIR Institute.

Written by: Professor Shen-En Chen

For two semesters, the Sophomore Design class has been using choir singing, with parallel rhythm, melody and different roles, to build teams and understand engineering from a different perspective.  The students learn and perform a variety of songs in non-English languages in a choir format to understand and appreciate a variety of cultures. They perform in a mini concert at EPIC as a culmination project.  To help the students learn to sing together, Professor Ginger Wyrick, director of The Charlotteans, was requested to come in to teach the students. Being a master director, Professor Wyrick was able to help the students sing in 4-parts in a single lecture by teaching them to sing a Dutch song “Sarasponda”.

The Spring 2023 mini concert was held on March 27 and the students presented separately three songs, “99 Luftballons” from Nena, “Erev Shoshanim” by Yosef Hadar and, “Ikanaide” by Koji Tamaki.  They then jointly sang, “Sarasponda”.  During the Spring semester, there were fifty-six students in the Sophomore Design class and the students were split into three competing teams. Many students were able to demonstrate their personal musical talents by bringing their own instruments!

During the concert, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering also purchased international snacks to share with our audiences. 

The Fall 2023 concert was more grand in scope – two other classes (Dr. Yongling Gorke’s CHNS 1512 “Prominent Chinese Americans” and Professor Wyrick’s MUPF 1123 “Women’s Chorus – The Charlotteans”) joined the Sophomore Design class in the concert.  The results were a joint performance called, “Music from the World: a multi-disciplinary student concert” by close to one hundred students representing three colleges: College of Engineering, College of Humanities, Earth and Social Sciences, and the College of Arts+Architecture.

The fall semester Sophomore design class has 32 students performing as a single team.  To help the students navigate the two languages used in the songs properly, Professor Bianca Potrykus, a German professor, and Ms. Fumika Kameyama, an exchange student from Japan, came to our classes to help with the pronunciation and language appreciation.

The November 14 concert opened with two songs performed by the Sophomore design team, “Die Gedanken sind frei,” a German song and, “Aiwa Kazu” a Japanese song.  Then Professor Gorke’s students followed with three Chinese songs (in different regional dialects): “Rose, Rose I love you” in Mandarin, “Strive to Win” in Hokkien and, “Happy Every Year” in Cantonese. Next, the Charlotteans sang three songs:“Hotaru Koi” in Japanese, “Bashana Haba’ah” in Hebrew, and an Irish Ballad, “Bonny Wood Green” sung in English.  Finally, all three teams joined together to perform, “Sarasponda” together.

The fall concert event was part of UNC Charlotte’s celebration of International Education Week, an annual event organized by the Office of International Programs to celebrate and nurture internationalization on the Charlotte campus. International Education Week is also celebrated nationwide in the third week of November each year. The three groups of students showed how creating music together not only teaches teamwork and nurtures friendship, but also expands our understanding of different places and peoples.

Collaboration is a fundamental aspect of engineering, as it allows our students, current and future engineers to function as a cohesive team while performing one’s own role and responsibility. Choir singing with songs in multiple languages further helped the students to build new relationships and gain insights into diverse peoples and cultures throughout the project duration.

Following the great tradition from the Spring concert, the Department again purchased international snacks to share with our audiences.

On behalf of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, we would like to congratulate our own, Dr. Jy Wu on receiving this year’s Thomas L. Reynolds Leadership Award.  This award is presented to a Graduate Program Director who is selected by a committee of previous winners, the Graduate Council chair, and Graduate School staff.  By winning this award, Dr. Wu will receive a $1000 award, an engraved plaque, and his name engraved on a perpetual trophy.  

Dr. Wu is the Program Director for the Infrastructure and Environmental Systems (INES) PhD program within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.  Dr. Wu started his current role as INES PhD Program Director in 2012.  He works with students and faculty from five participating departments within four colleges, Engineering, Liberal Arts & Sciences, Architecture, and Business.  Dr. Wu believes that providing a high quality educational experience is essential to student success.  He has turned today’s technical challenges into opportunities to improve curriculum integration, program management, and student success.  

Dr. Wu is an extraordinary example of leadership within our department, college, and the University. Congratulations, Dr. Wu, on receiving this year’s Thomas L. Reynolds Leadership Award!

With a new semester, brings new hires and new promotions for some faculty members.  The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering would like to welcome our two newest additions to our faculty, Wala’a Al makhadmeh and Ahmed Abu El Ela, congratulate our three faculty members who were recently tenured, Mei Sun, Mariya Munir, and Nicole Braxtan, and recognize two previous department chairs on their new roles within the University.

Dr. Wala’a Al makhadmeh received her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Structural Engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology in 2011, Masters of Engineering in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Construction Management from Concordia University in Canada in 2017, and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Sustainable Construction Materials from Concordia University in 2021.  Dr. Al makhadmeh’s research interests include: embodied energy of construction materials, sustainability and green construction, smart and nano-modified construction materials, industrial waste recycling, structural health monitoring, and intelligence-based modeling.

Dr. Ahmed Abu El Ela received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Zagazig University in Egypt in 1999, Masters of Science in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Geotech from Zagazig University in Egypt in 2006, and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Geotech from the University of Missouri in 2015.  Dr. Abu El Ela’s areas of expertise include: Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics, Stability of Slopes, Risk and Reliability in Geotechnical Engineering, Foundation Design and Earth Retaining Structures, Decision Methods of Civil Engineering Design, and Structural Analysis and Mechanics.  He received recognition for the positive impact he had on students’ career goals, employment plans, and graduate school preparation from George Mason University in March of 2023.

We are excited to welcome them both to the UNC Charlotte Civil and Environmental Engineering family.  

In addition to our new faculty, we would like to recognize our current faculty members who received a promotion and tenure status.  Dr. Mei Sun, Dr. Mariya Munir, and Dr. Nicole Braxtan have been promoted to Associate Professors.  Dr. Sun, Dr. Munir, and Dr. Braxtan all joined the department in 2016. Please join us in congratulating our three faculty members on reaching a major milestone in their careers as professors.  A special thanks to each of you, as you continue to educate and inspire future engineers for years to come!  

Not only do we have advancement within the department, we are proud of our previous Department Chair, Dr. John Daniels, and Interim Chair, Dr. Brett Tempest, for starting new roles within the University.  Dr. Daniels was recently appointed as the new Vice Chancellor for Research in the division of Academic Affairs and Research.  Dr. Daniels still continues to perform research and guide graduate students in our department.  Dr. Tempest was recently named as Assistant Dean for Inclusive Excellence within the William States Lee College of Engineering.  We are proud of both Dr. Daniels and Dr. Tempest and want to congratulate them on their new roles.

We are truly fortunate to have such incredibly gifted and dedicated engineers, both new and familiar, representing our department.

On November 17th, over 200 students from seven different high schools attended and competed in the Fall Semester Mini Carolinas Conference.  The Mini Carolina’s Conference, MC^2, is designed as a smaller version of the Carolinas Conference which UNC Charlotte American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) students will host in Spring of 2024.  MC^2 featured competitions in each field of engineering offered at the William States Lee College of Engineering.  High school students were able to showcase their talents in events ranging from wind turbine design to bridge construction.  

The students competed in teams of five or six students in each of five competitions.  The top three performing teams at the end of the competition were recognized at the awards ceremony and presented certificates for their achievement (pictured).  While the high school students were on campus they also received a tour of the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) from engineering student ambassadors.

This event would not have been possible without Dr. Erika Weber, ASCE leadership, over 100 student volunteers, faculty volunteers, and Kelly Anderson from the Office of Student Development & Success (OSDS).  Thank you all for your hard work on this extraordinary event we are able to provide for local high school students!

Dear Friends,

As I begin my tenure as chair of the UNC Charlotte Department of Civil and Environmental engineering (CEE), there is great excitement around the department for both where we are and where we are headed. This is a department that cares deeply about its students and the quality of education they receive. Further, the breadth of our department’s research efforts, spanning from airport pavement to surveillance of wastewater for COVID, demonstrates our commitment to creative and innovative solutions to real-world civil engineering challenges. I am honored to have been given the opportunity to work with this team of dedicated CEE faculty and staff. Together, we will continue to pursue the department’s mission of creating an “environment that supports growth of character, technical skills, critical thinking, and preparation for the profession” for our students.  I would also like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Brett Tempest, who served ably as interim chair of the department during the search process and who continues to serve as my sounding board and advisor in his role as the department’s associate chair.

I join the department having previously been a professor at two other universities and with experience in several different federal government roles. Most recently, I served as the head for the Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, a research lab with the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Before that position I was a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. At Virginia Tech I also served as the Director of the Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory, located in Manassas, Virginia. I began my academic career at the University of Maryland (again in Civil and Environmental Engineering) where I was an assistant and (later) associate professor. I’ve had two other brief tenures in our federal government, first with the National Weather Service, Office of Hydrologic Development and later I spent a sabbatical with the US Geological Survey in their Office of Surface Water. I believe my experiences have given me a broad understanding of many institutions and a chance to observe the strengths and weaknesses of myriad organizational structures.

I invite you to take a brief “tour” of our department through the articles that appear in this issue. You will rejoice in the accomplishments and successes of our students, learn the latest news of faculty recognition and transitions, and hear the latest about several departmental events from this Fall 2023 semester. 

Glenn Moglen

Professor and Chair

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Mike Uduebor chose UNC Charlotte because not only was it in an ideal urban location, but it also fit his research interests.  Mike met UNC Charlotte faculty member Dr. Vincent Ogunro when Dr. Ogunro visited his previous institution in Nigeria.  Dr. Ogunro was instrumental in introducing Mike to his now research supervisor, Dr. John Daniels.  Mike is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a concentration in Geotechnical Engineering and will be graduating this semester.  After he graduates, Mike plans on going into either consulting or academia.  Mike loves teaching and solving problems and believes his purpose is to make life better.  

Mike’s current research focuses on mitigating frost heave, a perennial problem in cold regions as well as areas with seasonal cold weather, by engineering water repellency in soils.  His study is funded by the National Science Foundation and involves laboratory, field, and modeling studies.  Mike’s research is supervised by Dr. John Daniels.

When Mike was growing up, he always wanted to be a doctor or a member of the clergy, but his mother realized he was more gifted with numbers, concepts, and that he had an amazing short-term memory.  His mother enrolled him in engineering, but it wasn’t until after Mike completed his first internship that he decided to pursue a career in engineering. “I was able to see the immense potential and benefit an engineer could bring to society. Also, standing beside large equipment and working on the field site got me hooked on geotechnical engineering” he says,”I have gotten to love it even more since then.”  

Mike has served in various roles in numerous organizations throughout his time at UNC Charlotte.  Some of these include: founding the Nigerian Student Association (NSA) in 2021, being a Cultural Ambassador for the International Student and Scholar Office during the 2020-21 school year, Vice President of the Graduate and Professional Student Government (GPSG) in 2021-22, Chair of the Graduate Research Symposium (GRS) Committee in 2021-22.

Outside of classes and his research, Mike enjoys playing sports and spending time outside doing activities such as hiking and going to the beach.  When he is stuck indoors, he enjoys doing some reading, watching Sci-Fi movies, and playing video games.

Mike is a fantastic example for students in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.  Mike successfully defended his dissertation in November of this year. Congratulations on all of your success and your upcoming graduation, we wish you all the best!

As UNC Charlotte ASCE students prepare for the Carolina ASCE Student Symposium in the spring, they start their construction of this year’s concrete canoe! Watch the time-lapse of the students pouring this year’s canoe!