Research topics and advisors

 

GAANN fellows will provide input in the selection of their faculty advisor, and work with that advisor to develop their research program. Potential faculty advisors are indicated below, along with some suggested general research topic areas. GAANN applicants are encouraged to reach out to one or more potential faculty advisors during the application process to discuss the research topics in more detail, understand the desired skills and qualifications, and determine if the faculty advisor would be a good fit.

Note that GAANN applicants are asked to list two to three faculty that they are interested in working with as part of the GAANN pre-screening application. Some research topics may be conducive to faculty co-advisors.

Ian Buckle
Ian Buckle
Foundation Professor
Earthquake and structural engineering
igbuckle@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Buckle

  • Next generation protective systems for buildings and bridges including seismic isolation and energy dissipation.
  • Nonlinear soil-structure interaction studies for massive structures with deep foundations using large-scale experiments and high-end numerical simulations.
  • Coastal resilience to inundation by tsunami and/or hurricane storm surge using large-scale experiments and high-end numerical simulations.
Hamed Ebrahimian
Hamed Ebrahimian
Assistant Professor
Earthquake and structural engineering
hebrahimian@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Ebrahimian

  • Nonlinear structural system identification, structural health monitoring, and damage diagnosis
  • Bayesian filtering for the integration of computational models with data
  • Computer-vision techniques for structural sensing and monitoring
  • Nonlinear computational solid and structural mechanics, nonlinear mechanics of reinforced concrete
  • Wildfire simulation and probabilistic risk assessment
Elnaz Esmaeilzadeh Seylabi
Elnaz Esmaeilzadeh Seylabi
Assistant Professor
Earthquake and structural engineering
elnaze@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Esmaeilzadeh Seylabi

  • Physics-based ground motion modeling
  • Seismic performance assessment of distributed lifelines and buried infrastructure
  • Development and validation of multi-fidelity tools for modeling soil-structure interaction problems
  • Data assimilation and uncertainty quantification for complex systems
Elie Hajj
Elie Y. Hajj
Associate Professor
Pavement Engineering & Science
elieh@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Elie Hajj

  • Sustainability of pavement systems
  • Dynamic response of pavement structures
  • Full-scale testing of pavement systems
  • Life cycle assessment and life cycle cost analysis of pavements
David Hanigan
David Hanigan
Assistant Professor
Environmental engineering
dhanigan@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Hanigan

  • Trace organic contaminants in the environment
  • Potable and nonportable water reuse, including agricultural irrigation
  • PFAS and organofluorine remediation and occurrence in the environment
  • Disinfection by-products
Adam Hand
Adam Hand
Associate Professor
Pavement engineering and science
adamhand@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Hand

  • Accelerated pavement construction
  • Intelligent pavement construction technologies
  • Sustainable pavement materials and design
  • Alternative construction project procurement and delivery
Eric Marchand
Eric Marchand
Associate Professor; Associate Chair for Undergraduate Affairs
Environmental Engineering
marchand@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Eric Marchand

  • Water treatment and reuse applications
  • Nutrient removal and energy optimization associated with wastewater treatment processes
  • Advanced membrane bioreactor technology
  • Stormwater management and control
David McCallen
David McCallen
Professor Director of the Center for Civil Engineering Earthquake Research
Earthquake and structural engineering
dmccallen@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. McCallen

  • High performance computing for regional-scale evaluations of earthquake hazard and risk
  • Integrated, coupled geophysics/engineering simulations for studying the interaction between incident seismic waves and infrastructure systems
  • Computer simulations and the nonlinear earthquake response of soil-structure systems for performance-based evaluations and design
  • Innovative seismic sensors and mesh network data acquisition systems for near real-time earthquake damage assessment
  • Innovative manufacturing for civil engineering applications
Ramin Motamed
Ramin Motamed
Associate Professor
Geotechnical engineering
motamed@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Motamed

  • Shake table tests on shallow foundations in liquefiable soils and mitigation measures
  • Nonlinear site response analysis and validation using instrumented sites
  • Analysis and interpretation of ground motions for soil-foundation-structure system response evaluation
Mohamed Moustafa
Mohamed Moustafa
Assistant Professor
Earthquake and structural engineering
mmoustafa@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Moustafa

  • Real-time hybrid simulation and new testing techniques for multi-hazard performance based assessment
  • Structural applications of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC)
  • Applications of digital image correlation and video monitoring for infrastructure health monitoring and system identification
  • Accelerated bridge construction (ABC) with applications to seismic ABC connections and systems
Krishna Pagilla
Krishna Pagilla
Ralph E. and Rose A. Hoeper Engineering Professor
Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering Environmental Engineering
pagilla@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Pagilla

  • Development of water and wastewater treatment systems
  • Sustainable water use and reuse
  • Optimal technologies for contaminant removal and resource recovery
Gokhan Pekcan
Gokhan Pekcan
Professor
Earthquake and structural engineering
pekcan@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Pekcan

  • Earthquake protective systems
  • Structural control: Passive, semi-active and active
  • Structural/Infrastructure Health Monitoring; vibration-based, machine learning
  • Advanced experimental simulation
  • Seismic fragility of structural and nonstructural systems
Floriana Petrone
Floriana Petrone
Assistant Professor
Earthquake and structural engineering
florianapetrone@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Petrone

  • Study of the correlation of building nonlinear dynamic response with near-field synthetic ground motion
  • Investigation of site-specific earthquake risk to critical infrastructure
  • Implementation of advanced deterministic simulations into a probabilistic framework to account for model and parameter uncertainties
  • Development and experimental testing of innovative techniques for structural damage assessment
Keri Ryan
Keri Ryan
Associate Professor
GAANN Project Director
Earthquake and structural engineering
klryan@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Ryan

  • Research that furthers the implementation of seismic isolation systems
  • Development of new low damage or seismic protective systems concepts
  • Characterization of both horizontal and vertical seismic demands in building components considering soil-structure interaction
  • Evaluation and mitigation of seismic-induced damage to nonstructural components and building contents
Raj Siddharthan
Raj Siddharthan
Professor
Geotechnical Engineering
siddhart@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Siddharthan

  • Soil response modelling and laboratory investigation under static and dynamic loading including liquefaction behavior
  • Dynamic pavement response (analytical and laboratory modelling) to traffic and moving load effects
  • Dynamic behavior of rigid and flexible retaining walls
  • Wave loading on offshore slopes
Zong Tian
Zong Tian
Professor 
Transportation engineering
zongt@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Tian

  • Data-driven traffic safety analysis
  • Trajectory-based traffic operation
  • Driver behavior study
Hao Xu
Hao Xu
Associate Professor 
Transportation engineering
haox@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Xu

  • Advanced traffic sensor technologies
  • Traffic data processing, fusion and mining
  • LiDAR-enhanced smart traffic infrastructure
  • Connected and autonomous traffic
Yu Yang
Yu (Frank) Yang
Associate Professor 
Environmental engineering
yuy@unr.edu

Research topics with Dr. Yang

  • Novel degradation of emerging organohalogen contaminants
  • Reaction and cycles of carbon during redox processes
  • Fate, transport and health impacts of trace organics during water reuse for agriculture
  • Soil contamination and human exposure in the Arctic
  • Sustainable application of carbonaceous nanomaterials in agriculture