2020 RISING STARS - CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERINGOctober 2020 Carnegie Mellon University

CMU.EDU/CEE/RISING-STARS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020 >> DAY ONE

AGENDAAll events will be held via secure Zoom. Zoom information is distributed prior to the meeting via email. Please contact CEE-RisingStars@andrew.cmu.edu with any questions.

12:00 – 12:30 pm Welcome Dean Bill Sanders Dean of the College of Engineering

Dr. Dave Dzombak Department Head, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Dr. Burcu Akinci CEE Rising Stars Workshop Chair

12:30 – 1:00 pm Introductions Dr. Mahnoush Babaei - Panel Chair

Dr. Semiha Ergan New York University Assistant Professor Department of Civil and Urban Engineer and Computer Science and Engineering

Dr. Barbara Kutchko National Energy Technology Laboratory

Dr. Kristin Kurland Carnegie Mellon University Teaching Professor of Architecture, Information Systems, and Public Policy Heinz College School of Architecture

2:00 – 2:15 pm Break

2:15 – 3:15 pm Panel Discussion: Job Search and Deciding Where to Apply Dr. Burcu Akinci - Panel Chair

Dr. Adjo Amekudzi-Kennedy Georgia Tech Associate Chair for Global Engineering Leadership and Entrepreneurship, and Professor

Dr. Fernanda Leite University of Texas at Austin Associate Professor Cockrell School of Engineering

Dr. Stacy Birmingham Saint Vincent College Director of the Engineering Programs Professor of Engineering

3:15 – 4:00 pm Breakout Rooms: Small Group Activity Prepare for small group presentations on October 6

4:00 – 4:15 pm Wrap-Up and Questions Dr. Burcu Akinci

4:15 pm Adjourn

12:00 – 1:00 pm Panel Discussion: Managing Life as a Faculty Member

Dr. Sarah Christian - Panel Chair Dr. Rebecca Taylor Carnegie Mellon University Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Sarah Bergbreiter Carnegie Mellon University Professor Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Jessica Wilson Manhattan College Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Director of the Environmental Engineering Laboratories

1:00 – 1:45 pm Small Group Presentations

1:45 – 2:00 pm Break

2:00 – 2:15 pm Overview of Application Process and Timeline

Dr. Dave Dzombak

2:15 – 2:45 pm Introduction to Application Items Dr. Dave Dzombak

Dr. Burcu Akinci

2:45 – 3:45 pm Application Items: Q & A

3:45 – 4:00 pm Wrap Up and Next Steps

Dr. Burcu Akinci

4:00 pm Adjourn

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020 >> DAY TWO

DR. BURCU AKINCI

Burcu Akinci is the Paul Christiano Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Associate Dean for Research for the College of Engineering, Director of the Engineering Research Accelerator and co-director of Pennsylvania Smarter Infrastructure Incubator at Carnegie Mellon University.

She earned her BS in Civil Engineering (1991) from Middle East Technical University and her MBA (1993) from Bilkent University at Ankara, Turkey. After that, she earned her MS (1995) and her PhD (2000) in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a specialization in Construction Engineering and Management from Stanford University.

Her research interests include the development of approaches to model and reason about information-rich histories of facilities, to streamline construction and facility management processes. She specifically focuses on investigating utilization and integration of building information models with data capture and tracking technologies, such as 3D imaging, embedded sensors and radio-frequency identification systems to capture semantically-rich as-built histories of construction projects and facility operations.

Dr. Akinci has one patent, two patent applications, over 60 refereed journal publications, and 80 refereed conference publications. She co-edited a book on CAD/GIS Integration and another book on Embedded Commissioning. She has graduated more than 16 PhD students and 15 MS thesis students and is currently advising/co-advising four PhD students.

DR. SUSAN FINGER

Susan Finger is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Associate Dean of IDeATe, the Integrative Design, Arts and Technology Network. She is also affiliated with the School of Architecture. Dr. Finger’s research interests focus on understanding how students learn from one another while working on collaborative projects. She has studied how the social ties between teammates affects project outcomes and how the progress of a design can be traced by analyzing the exchange of documents and messages.

Dr. Finger received her B.A. in Astronomy and M.A. in Operations Research from the University of Pennsylvania and her PhD in Electric Power Systems through Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was the first program director for Design Theory and Methodology at the National Science Foundation. She recently returned to Carnegie Mellon from a four-year rotation at the National Science Foundation as a Program Director in the Division of Undergraduate Education. She is a founder and former Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Research in Engineering Design and is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

DR. SARAH CHRISTIAN

Sarah Christian serves as an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering.

Christian earned her BS in Civil Engineering at Carnegie Mellon Univeristy in 2003. She was awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship for graduate study and earned

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her MCE at Johns Hopkins University in 2004 and PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a focus on Structural Engineering and Materials at Stanford University in 2009.

Christian has practiced as a structural engineer and building envelope engineer in Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh. She has previously served as a part of the teaching faculty at Carnegie Mellon and as a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh.

DR. MAHNOUSH BABAEI

Mahnoush Babaei received her B.Sc. in Civil Engineering in 2010 from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. After graduation, she joined Prof. Khoei’s research group in Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Sharif University of Technology where she carried out the research on the analysis of metallic and ceramic nanopowder compaction using molecular dynamic simulations.

After receiving her M.Sc. degree in 2013, she moved to Carnegie Mellon University in 2014. She completed her second M.Sc. in Civil and Environmental Engineering and her PhD studies in Computational Mechanics in 2019 under supervision of Professor Kaushik Dayal (Carnegie Mellon University) and Professor Ravi Shankar (University of Pittsburgh). Her thesis work focused on using structural instabilities to generate high power and work densities in heat- and photo-mechanically active thin Liquid Crystal Polymeric films using nonlinear finite element models. During her studies at CMU, she also collaborated with Professor Meagan Mauter on analysis of self-assembly of Membrane Proteins in block copolymer matrices at the presence of a magnetic field.

She is currently a postdoctoral research associate at Professor Sarah Bergbreiter’s Micro-Robotics Lab and her project focuses on modeling and design of Shape Memory Alloy-based ratcheting micro-scale actuators for high work density application.

DR. DAVE DZOMBAK

David Dzombak is the Hamerschlag University Professor and Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon. The emphasis of his research and teaching is on water quality engineering, water resource sustainability, and energy-environment issues. At Carnegie Mellon he also has served as Associate Dean for Graduate and Faculty Affairs for the College of Engineering (2006-2010), as Director of the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research (2007-2013), and as Interim Vice Provost of Sponsored Programs (November 2012-August 2013).

Dzombak received his PhD in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986. He also holds an M.S. in Civil Engineering (1981) and a B.S. in Civil Engineering (1980) from Carnegie Mellon, and a B.A. in Mathematics from Saint Vincent College (1980). He is a registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania, a Board Certified Environmental Engineer, a Diplomate Water Resources Engineer, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

DR. SEMIHA ERGAN

Dr. Semiha Ergan is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Civil and Urban Engineering and Computer Science and Engineering (courtesy) at New York University, and an associated faculty at CUSP. With her background in civil engineering, data science, and building informatics, she works on improving buildings’ performance during design, construction, and operation phases. She leads the Building Informatics and Visualization Lab (biLAB), where she actively seeks data-driven and model-based solutions to operational challenges associated with construction and operation of civil infrastructure systems, with an emphasis on buildings. Her work has been supported by DOE, NSF, DARPA, and private organizations.

Her achievements have been recognized by a number of awards, including most recently the DARPA Young Faculty Award (2015) and the Construction Industry Institute New Scholar Award (2015). She is the Vice Chair for ASCE TCCIT Visualization, Information Modeling and Simulation Committee, an Associate Editor of ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, and academic committee member of Construction Industry Institute.

DR. BARBARA KUTCHKO

Barbara Kutchko is a senior research scientist with the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) specializing in wellbore isolation, oil well cementing, and subsurface materials characterization. She has a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University’s Civil and Environmental Engineering and a M.S. in Geology from the University of Pittsburgh. She works with oil and gas companies, government agencies, and universities to evaluate current cementing practices and research needs to ensure the safe placement of cement related to offshore drilling, shale gas production, and carbon storage. This includes leading and collaborating with teams of diverse researchers, professors, students and industry experts to plan, manage, and execute research related to energy production. She currently represents NETL on API's Cement Subcommittee 10C which develops and maintains standards on various oil and gas wellbore cementing procedures for the U.S. petroleum industry and is actively involved in several of the working groups. Her research has informed federal policy and increased scientific understanding of the chemical reactions that occur in geological formations under carbon sequestration conditions.

She served as an objective expert for the U.S. Department of Justice for the United States v. BP Exploration and Production, Inc. case. She is the recipient of a 2016 Pittsburgh Women in Energy award, a 2015 Pittsburgh Energy Award in Upstream, and a 2014 Federal Executive Board Excellence in Government Award. She was a Finalist for the 2018 Samuel J Heyman Service to America Awards.

DR. KRISTEN KURLAND

Kristen Kurland is a Teaching Professor of Architecture, Information Systems, and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College and School of Architecture. She also holds a courtesy faculty appointment in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department of the College of Engineering at CMU.

In addition to her academic appointments, Professor Kurland served as President of Carnegie Mellon University’s Andrew Carnegie Society and, as its President, was a University Trustee 2014-

CEE RISING STARS WORKSHOP PANELISTS

2016). She is also one of three community members serving on the Distribution Committee of the McCune Foundation.

Prior to joining CMU’s faculty, Kristen Kurland was president of a local consulting firm that aided numerous organizations in implementing computer technology and strategic planning into their work environment. Her clients included architects, engineers, hospitals, universities, corporations, as well as local, state, and federal government agencies.

Professor Kurland's research focuses on interdisciplinary collaborations in health, the built environment, geospatial analysis, and 3D data visualization. She works closely with CMU colleagues and students on projects addressing equity, health, urban design, economic development, sustainability, big data, and smart cities issues. She actively collaborates with many non-profit and industry organizations in Pittsburgh and worldwide.

Her teaching at CMU includes building information modeling (BIM), computer aided design (CAD), 3D visualization, computer aided facility management (CAFM), and geographic information systems (GIS). At the Heinz College, she also teaches Enterprise Data Analytics to executive physicians in the Master of Medical Management (MMM) program and is a faculty advisor for Heinz College Health Care Management students and projects. She has a strong interest in distance education and has been teaching through this medium since 1999. Her distance courses are taught in Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Heinz College MMM, Master Science of Information Technology (MSIT), and Adelaide Australia programs.

Kristen is also the co-author of a series of best-selling GIS (Geographic Information Systems) workbooks that are used by universities, colleges, and self-learners. She is a keynote speaker at conferences nationally and internationally. Her accomplishments were the focus of chapter in a recent book highlighting twenty-two global women of influence in GIS.

DR. ADJO AMEKDUZI-KENNEDY

Amekudzi-Kennedy studies systems problems on the integrated built, natural, social and information environments to understand how we can make better decisions on built systems to promote resilient, smart and sustainable development. Her current research focuses on the development and application of systems and sustainability engineering methods to promote sustainable development.

Kennedy has authored extensively, developed undergraduate and graduate courses, and provided technical support for multiple international, national, state and local initiatives in these interdisciplinary areas. She serves as the primary instructor for the required undergraduate course: Civil Engineering Systems, and the graduate elective: Infrastructure Systems, both of which address the proper stewardship of infrastructure.

Kennedy is co-author of the college textbook Fundamentals of Systems Engineering with Economics, Probability and Statistics, 2nd Ed. (2012, J. Ross Publishing). She is the founding Chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Committee on Sustainability and the Environment (within the Transportation & Development Institute). She served on the Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (National Research Council) for 10 years, and is a member of the Transportation Asset Management Committee (Transportation Research Board).

Kennedy serves on the editorial boards for the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, and Sustainability (The Journal of Record), and is co-founder of the Global Engineering Leadership Minor at Georgia Tech, a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of the National Academy of Construction. She enjoys time spent with family, playing the piano, and painting.

DR. FERNANDA LEITE

Dr. Fernanda Leite is an Associate Professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. She holds the John A. Focht Centennial Teaching Fellowship in Civil Engineering. Dr. Leite is an IAspire Leadership Development Fellow and the Chair of a University-wide Grand Challenges Initiative called Planet Texas 2050. Her technical interests include building and civil information modeling, and collaboration and coordination technologies. At UT-Austin, Dr. Leite teaches courses on Building Information Modeling, Project Management and Economics, and Sustainable Systems Engineering.

Her funded research projects have focused on building and civil information modeling; advanced work packaging; 3D modeling for construction planning; autonomous 3D model generation; and virtual reality.

DR. STACY BIRMINGHAM

Stacy G. Birmingham is the Chair of the Engineering Department and a Professor of Engineering at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA. She was previously the Dean of the Albert A. Hopeman, Jr., School of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics at Grove City College and a Professor of Mechanical Engineering. She began her academic career at The University of Michigan, where she held tenured positions in both the Chemical Engineering and Macromolecular Science & Engineering Departments. She received her B.S., M.S., and PhD in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Notable awards include the Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation and the 38E Award for Teaching and Service from the University of Michigan. As Dean at Grove City College, she more than doubled the STEM major and minor offerings of the college and developed numerous P-12 STEM outreach programs for local schools. As Chair at Saint Vincent College, she is engaged in building a new four-year Engineering program. Research interests include issues central to the work-life balance of women engineering and technology faculty and developing and assessing innovative pedagogies for engineering instruction.

DR. REBECCA TAYLOR

Rebecca Taylor is a mechanical engineer who specializes in modern manufacturing, driven by the interplay of form and function in good design. As an undergraduate working on a research project on tethered satellites, Taylor discovered the world of honeycomb composite materials and porous sintered polymers and first learned that mechanical structure could imbue materials with novel and unexpected properties. While working as mechanical design engineer, Taylor practiced mechanical device design for reliability and ease of manufacture, working as the primary engineer on both medical products and consumer products. She developed expertise in rapid prototyping and the broad range of techniques for molding and fabrication as well as factory control and automation. The interplay between medical tools and biological systems formed the foundation of her interest in research, and that interest drew her back to academia.

When she returned to graduate school, she focused on microfabrication and biomechanics. At the microscale, the force of gravity is negligible, flow is largely laminar and motion is damped. The microscale world is a universe of its own, and there are countless opportunites for fabrication of novel microstructured materials. During her PhD studies, she fabricated microscale sensors for the functional assessment of stem cell derived cardiomyocytes. Taylor utilized sacrificial layers to define the mechanical loading of single heart muscle cells and to perform the first purely axial, contractile force measurements on immature and stem cell derived cardiomyocytes. She also created planar, stretchable biosensors that physically

route metal traces away from areas of large strain and achieve constant, stretch-independent electrical properties.

As a postdoctoral fellow, she worked at the nanoscale, studying the effects of mutations on cardiac contractile protein. In order to study the emergent mechanics of the multiprotein, acto-myosinc contractile system, Taylor developed a DNA origami based synthetic cardiac sarcomere that will allow us to observe the cooperative behavior of motors as we scale up towards larger, more biomimetic systems.

As a professor she utilizes DNA origami (bottom up manufacturing) to enable nanomanufacturing and nanomechanics of multiprotein systems. Taylor continues her investigations into microstructures for biomimetic sensors and actuators (top down manufacturing).

DR. SARAH BERGBREITER

Sarah Bergbreiter joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in the fall of 2018.

She received her B.S.E. degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University in 1999. After a short introduction to the challenges of sensor networks at a small startup company, she received the MS and PhD degrees from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004 and 2007 with a focus on microrobotics. She joined the University of Maryland, College Park in 2008 as an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, with a joint appointment in the Institute for Systems Research.

She received the DARPA Young Faculty Award in 2008, the NSF CAREER Award in 2011, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) Award in 2013 for her research on engineering robotic systems down to sub-millimeter size scales. She also received the Best Conference Paper Award at IEEE ICRA 2010 for her work incorporating new materials into microrobotics.

DR. JESSICA WILSON

Jessica Wilson is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Director of the Environmental Engineering Laboratories at Manhattan College. She has a BS in Environmental Science from Russell Sage College, an MS in Environmental Engineering from Manhattan College, and a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Her research interests are in water quality engineering and environmental (water) chemistry. Current projects include studies on the removal of taste and odor compounds and PFOA/PFAS in NYC drinking water, the chemical inhibition and dissolution of oilfield scales formed during energy production, and water quality monitoring of urban pollutants.