Maroa Mumtarin
About Maroa
Maroa Mumtarin is housed at the Institute for Transportation, contributing to various research on projects associated with the Center for Transportation Research and Education.
Brittany Eide
About Brittany
Brittany Eide is a Web Developer and UX/UI Designer for the Iowa Statewide Urban Design and Specifications (SUDAS) program and Iowa Public Works Service Bureau (PWSB). She oversees the PWSB website and designs interactive experiences, from the early stages of ideation and user research, user flows and journeys, design, and prototyping to the final usability tests.
Brittany has over 5 years of experience in communications, marketing, and design roles in the academia, nonprofit, and game industries.
Yazan Abukhalil
About Yazan
Dr. Yazan Abukhalil is a research engineer specializing in transportation asset management, performance-based planning and programming (PBPP), and traffic safety. Over the past two years, Dr. Abukhalil has applied his knowledge to help state departments of transportation (DOTs) and metropolitan organizations improve transportation performance outcomes for local businesses, residents, and visitors at the lowest possible cost. This has involved calibrating predictive pavement and bridge deterioration and improvement models, evaluating life-cycle costs, developing optimal and financially constrained work programs, assessing tradeoffs, estimating long-term investment needs, suggesting transportation project prioritization criteria, and evaluating project impacts on network performance. Dr. Abukhalil aims to utilize the skills he acquired during his academic journey and work experience to build a better transportation system by helping DOTs make more informed investment decisions based on public involvement, stakeholder involvement, and data.
Resume
Education
- PhD, Transportation Engineering, Iowa State University
- Graduate Certificate, Geographic Information System (GIS), Community and Regional Planning, Iowa State University
- MS, Transportation Engineering, Iowa State University
- BS, Civil Engineering, Iowa State University
Abdalla Alomari
About Abdalla
Dr. Abdalla Alomari is housed at the Institute for Transportation, contributing to various research on projects associated with the Bridge Engineering Center (BEC). Dr. Alomari received his master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Dayton in 2019 and doctorate in structural engineering from Iowa State University in 2023. Following the completion of his PhD, he continued his work at the Bridge Engineering Center as a research engineer. Dr. Alomari has contributed to various bridge-related research projects for numerous federal, state, and local agencies. His current research is in the general area of bridge engineering with a specific interest in accelerated bridge construction (ABC), structural health monitoring and load rating, bridge structure testing, and bridge structure simulation, etc. Dr. Alomari is an author/co-author of many bridge structure related research reports and peer-reviewed journal articles.
David Carney
About David
Mr. David Carney has been involved with SUDAS since 2003, initially serving as a member of the Stormwater Management Technical Committee. He has also been a District 3 representative since 2004 and on the Board of Directors since 2013. Mr. Carney also served as the Board of Directors’ Vice-President since 2019, until accepting his current position as SUDAS Director.
In his most recent position, Mr. Carney served as the Public Works Director for the City of Sioux City (2016–2023) and prior to that was the Monona County Engineer for 7 years. He has worked for local public agencies here in Iowa for more than 20 years.
Mr. Carney was Iowa’s Public Works Leader of the Year for 2022, and during his tenure at Monona County, the county received a National Gold Award for Excellence in Concrete Pavement from the American Concrete Pavement Association.
Resume
Education
- BS, University of Detroit Mercy, 1993
Certifications
- Professional Engineer (PE) Licenses in Iowa and Michigan
- Certified Construction Document Technologist
Ryan Pettit
About Ryan
Mr. Ryan Pettit is a geographic information system (GIS) researcher with the Center for Transportation Research and Education at the Institute for Transportation. He is a certified Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP) with over 13 years of experience working in GIS and transportation planning.
Resume
Education
- MS, Planning (Community and Transportation), Iowa State University, 2008
- BA, Business and Communications, Iowa State University, 2001
Professional Experience
- Research Scientist/GIS Researcher, Institute for Transportation, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 2023–present
- GIS Technician, City of St. Charles, IL, 2021–2023
- President, (Freelance) StateLine GIS Services Inc., Crystal Lake, IL, 2017–2021
- Transportation Planner/GIS Analyst, TERRA Engineering, Chicago, IL, 2014–2017
- Engineer I/Engineer II, Parsons Brinkerhoff, Chicago, IL, 2009–2014
Professional Affiliations and Certifications
- American Planning Association (APA)/American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP)/Illinois APA GIS Certification Institute Certified GIS Professional (GISP)
- Illinois GIS Association
Ahmed AlBughdadi
About Ahmed
Dr. Ahmed AlBughdadi is a research scientist at the Institute for Transportation at Iowa State University. His areas of research include transportation asset management, bridge management systems, traffic operations, and transportation safety. His work includes data analytics; data visualization; bridge management software (implementation, operation, prioritization, and deterioration modeling); and tool development. Dr. AlBughdadi contributes to various traffic safety and operation research projects for the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) using geographic information systems and other data analytics tools. He has worked with various state DOTs on research projects addressing bridge management activities.
Research
In-Progress Research
Leif Wathne
About Leif
Mr. Leif G. Wathne manages activities under current federal cooperative agreements, assists in the development and communication of best practice guidance products, and nurtures engagement with the concrete pavement construction industry for the National Concrete Pavement Technology Center. Mr. Wathne has 28 years of experience with concrete materials, pavements, and engineering, and is an internationally recognized authority on concrete pavement technology, pavement policy, and stewardship. He has served as a resource for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and U.S. Congress on concrete pavement and highway matters, including via testimony, and has in-depth experience with both federal and industry concrete research, development, and deployment programs. He is the author of more than two dozen peer-reviewed papers and journal articles and serves on multiple Transportation Research Board technical committees, FHWA technical groups, and is on the board of directors of both the International Society for Concrete Pavements and TRIP (a national transportation research nonprofit). Mr. Wathne routinely lectures and presents on concrete pavement technology at both industry and agency events both nationally and internationally.
Prior to joining the CP Tech Center, he served for 17 years with the American Concrete Pavement Association in Washington, DC, most recently as the executive vice president, and nearly a decade with the FHWA’s Office of Pavement Technology in Washington, DC, and as the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, VA.
Mr. Wathne is a registered professional engineer (PE) and holds a master’s degree from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut.
Resume
Education
- MS, Civil Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, 1997
- BS, Civil Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 1992
Certifications
- Professional Engineer (PE) License, State of Pennsylvania (No. PE-052260-E)
- Concrete Construction Sustainability and Resilience Assessor, American Concrete Institute (ACI), March 2022
- Certificate Program in Association Management, American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), January 2020
Professional Experience
- Associate Director, National Concrete Pavement Technology Center, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 2022–present
- Executive Vice President, American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA), Washington, DC, 2015–2022
- Vice President—Highways and Federal Affairs, American Concrete Pavement Association, Washington, DC, 2009–2015
- Director of Highways, American Concrete Pavement Association, Washington, DC, 2005–2009
- Project Engineer, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Pavement Technology (federal contractor), Washington, DC, 1999–2005
- Concrete Research Engineer, FHWA Turner Fairbank Highway research Center, McLean, VA, 1997–1999
- Research/Project Engineer, CMT Laboratories, State College, PA, 1995–1997
- Branch Manager, Professional Service Industries (now Intertek PSI), Bristol, VA, 1992–1995
Selected Publications
- Mack, J. W., G. Dean, and L. G. Wathne. 2022. Improving Pavement Resiliency to Flooding: A Case for Concrete Pavements. Proc., 2nd Concrete Road Congress and Exhibition, Ankara, Turkey, November 16–17.
- Mack, J. W., and L. G. Wathne. 2021. How Providing the Opportunity for Industries to Compete Benefits the Pavement Market: And How Agencies Can Use It to Lower Their Pavement Cost. Proc., 12th International Conference on Concrete Pavements.
- Wathne, L. G., and G. Voigt. 2019. The Future of Concrete Pavement Imagined. Proc., Australian Society for Concrete Pavements (ASCP) 5th Concrete Pavements Conference, New South Wales, Australia.
- Wathne, L. G., and G. Voigt. 2019. The Future of Concrete Pavement Imagined. Proc., 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Transportation and Development Institute (T&DI) International Airfield and Highway Pavements Conference, Chicago, IL.
- Wathne, L. G., and G. Voigt. 2018. The Future of Concrete Pavements in North America. Proc., 13th International Symposium on Concrete Roads, Berlin, Germany.
- Mack, J. W., L. G. Wathne, and F. Mu. 2016. Improving Network Investment Results by Implementing Competition and Asset Management in the Pavement Type Selection Process. Proc., 11th International Conference on Concrete Pavements, San Antonio, TX. Recipient of the ELDON J. YODER Outstanding Paper Award.
- Wathne, L. G. 2014. Pavement Type Selection: What Is The Ideal Process? Proc., 12th International Symposium on Concrete Roads, September, Prague, Czech Republic. Recipient of the EUPAVE Best Marketing Paper.
- R., G. Vorobieff, G. Voigt, and L. G. Wathne. 2014. Impacts of the Longitudinal Joint Location on Slab Stresses. Proc., 12th International Symposium on Concrete Roads, Prague, Czech Republic.
- R., G. Voigt, and L. G. Wathne. 2014. Comparison of Roadway Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement (JPCP) Thickness Design Methods Common in the United States (U.S.). Proc., 12th International Symposium on Concrete Roads, Prague, Czech Republic.
- Wathne, L. G. 2010. Sustainability Opportunities with Pavements: Are We Focusing on the Right Stuff? Proc., 11th International Symposium on Concrete Roads, Seville, Spain.
- Wathne, L. G. 2010. Competition and Its Role in Pavement Type Selection in the U.S. Proc., 11th International Symposium on Concrete Roads, Seville, Spain.
- Vanikar, S., J. Grove, and L. G. Wathne. 2010. Sustainability Opportunities with Concrete Pavements. Proc., International Conference on Sustainable Concrete Pavement Technologies, Sacramento, CA.
Professional Affiliations and Service
- Member, TRIP (A National Transportation Research Nonprofit) Board of Directors
- Member, International Society for Concrete Pavements (ISCP) Board of Directors
- Member, Transportation Research Board (TRB) Concrete Pavement Construction and Rehabilitation Committee (AKC50)
- Member, TRB Sustainable and Resilient Pavements Subcommittee (AKP00(2))
- Friend, TRB Economics and Finance Committee (AJE50)
- Member, FHWA Pavement Foundations Technical Working Group, 2022–present
- Member, FHWA Concrete Pavements and Materials Technical Feedback Group, 2019–present
- Member, FHWA Sustainable Pavements Technical Working Group, 2011–present
- Member, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) Technical Advisory Group, 2015–present
- Member, National Road Research Alliance (NRRA) Rigid Team
- Member, ISCP 2024 International Conference Organizing Committee
- Member, ACPA Government Affairs Committee
- Liaison, AASHTO Committee on Materials and Pavements (formerly Joint Technical Committee on Pavements), 2010–2022
Charles Sikorsky
About Charles
Dr. Charles Sikorsky is a research scientist at the Institute for Transportation, contributing to various research associated with the Center for Transportation Research and Education.
Resume
Education
- PhD, Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, 1990
- MS, Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, 1985
- BS, Civil Engineering, Lehigh University, 2011
Certifications
- Professional Engineering (PE) License, State of California (No. C51285)
- Professional Engineering (PE) License, State of Texas (No. 129631)
Professional Experience
- Subject Matter Expert, Institute for Transportation Studies, University of California, Berkeley (ITS Berkeley), Berkeley, CA. 2018–present
- Senior Bridge Engineer, Office of Earthquake Engineering, California Department of Transportation, Sacramento, CA, 2016–2018
- Acting Office Chief, Office of Earthquake Engineering, California Department of Transportation, Sacramento, CA, 2015–2016
- Senior Bridge Engineer, Office of Earthquake Engineering, California Department of Transportation, Sacramento, CA, 2004–2015
- Senior Bridge Engineer (Supy), Toll Bridge Program, California Department of Transportation, Sacramento, CA, 2003–2004
Selected Journal Publications
- Sim, H. B., C. M. Uang, and C. Sikorsky. 2009. Effects of Fabrication Procedures on Fatigue Resistance of Welded Joints in Steel Orthotropic Decks. Journal of Bridge Engineering, Vol. 14, No. 5, pp. 366–373.
- Park, S., S. Choi, N. Stubbs, R. Bolton, A. Price, and C. Sikorsky. 2006. A modal parameter-based technique to inspect welded reinforcement splices. Engineering Structures, Vol. 28, pp. 453–465.
- Bolton, R., C. Sikorsky, S. Park, S. Choi, and N. Stubbs. 2005. Modal Property Changes of a Seismically Damaged Concrete Bridge. Journal of Bridge Engineering, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 415–428.
- Kaiser, H., V. M. Karbhari, and C. Sikorsky. 2004. Non-Destructive Testing Techniques for FRP Rehabilitated Concrete: II – Assessment. International Journal of Materials and Product Technology, V 21, No. 5, pp. 349–384.
- Choi, S., S. Park, R. Bolton, N. Stubbs, and C. Sikorsky. 2004. Periodic monitoring of physical property changes in a concrete box-girder bridge. Journal of Sound and Vibration, Vol. 278, pp. 365–381.
- Stubbs, N., S. Park, S. Choi, and C. Sikorsky. 2000. A Global Non-Destructive Damage Assessment Methodology for Civil Engineering Structures. International Journal of Systems Science, Vol. 31, No. 11, pp. 1361–1373.
- Sikorsky, C., and N. Stubbs. 1986. Structural Risk Management of the Construction Process. Journal of the American Institute of Constructors, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 25–31.
Selected Conference Proceedings and Presentations
- Kalmogo, P., N. Sreekumar, S. Sritharan, and C. Sikorsky. 2022. Rehabilitation of Decks in Post-Tensioned Box-Girder Bridges. Proc., International Bridge Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, July 18–20.
- Sikorsky, C. 2011. Improving the Safety of California’s Bridges. Proc., 2011 EERI Annual Meeting, La Jolla, CA, February 9–12, pp. 249–250.
- Sikorsky, C., and V. M. Karbhari. 2010. Structural Health Monitoring and Field Validation of Civil Engineering Structures on Bridges. Service Life Estimation and Extension of Civil Engineering Structures, Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
- Sikorsky, C. 2005. A Strategy to Implement Structural Health Monitoring on Bridges. Sensing Issues in Civil Structural Health Monitoring, Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp. 43–53.
- Sikorsky, C., and V. M. Karbhari. 2003. An Assessment of Structural Health Monitoring Capabilities to Load Rate Bridges. Proc.,1st International Conference on Structural Health Monitoring and Intelligent Infrastructure, Tokyo, Japan, pp. 977–985.
- Sikorsky, C., and V. Karbhari (ed.) 2003. Proc., First Caltrans/UCSD Structural Health Monitoring Workshop, March 7–8.
- Sikorsky, C., N. Stubbs, R. Bolton and V. M. Karbhari. 2022. The Application of Structural Health Monitoring to Evaluate Bridge Strength. Proc., Structural Health Monitoring Workshop, SHM/ISIS, Winnipeg, Canada, pp. 341–350.
- Sikorsky, C., N. Stubbs, V. Karbhari, and F. Seible. 2001. Capacity Assessment of a Bridge Rehabilitated Using FRP Composites. Proc., 5th International Conference on Fibre-Reinforced Plastics for Reinforced Concrete Structures, FRPRCS-5, Vol. 1, Cambridge, pp. 137–146.
Varsha Ravichandra-Mouli
About Varsha
Dr. Varsha Ravichandra-Mouli is a research scientist contributing to various research on transportation projects associated with the Center for Transportation Research and Education. Her research efforts are focused on real-time analytics and big data with a focus on the domain of maintenance and operations and has contributed to several research projects for the Iowa Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration.