June 2026
Message from the Head
Thank you to all our students, alumni, faculty, staff, and partners who helped make this such an incredible year for the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering!
Our school — and Purdue University as a whole — has always set its focus forward, as we persistently pursue The Next Giant Leap to amplify our impact on society. That impact, of course, begins in the classroom — and it has been a pleasure to see our students succeed in their studies.
This past semester has been especially eye-opening for me as I stepped into the acting head position this past January. It is truly incredible to see efforts being made on campus and around the world to ensure our school remains a leader in education, research, and innovation.
It has been a privilege and an honor to help guide our school through this transition period, and I am confident the next head will lead our school to even greater heights.
I hope everyone enjoys their summer — and I look forward to another exciting new school year in the fall.
Best regards,
Ayman Habib
Acting Head and Thomas A. Page Professor of Civil Engineering
Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering
For the first time in the U.S., a roadway wirelessly charged an electric heavy-duty truck driving at highway speeds, demonstrating a key technology that could help lower the costs of building electrified highways for all electric vehicles to use.
Purdue is pleased to announce that the Data to Science initiative (D2S) — an open-source research platform — has been accepted into the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Open Data Sponsorship Program, which encourages development of communities that benefit from access to shared datasets.
Purdue engineers have developed a patent-pending method to decrease hazardous strikes to underground utility pipes during construction projects. This could lower related financial losses, service disruptions, injuries, and fatalities. Professor Hubo Cai and Purdue doctoral candidate Yuxi Zhang are improving traditional ground-penetrating radar data to better estimate the location, orientation and radius of underground utility pipes.
Daylight and window views positively affect health and well-being in many ways. However, children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are hypersensitive to environmental stimulation, which leads many educational facilities to use windowless spaces or fully block natural light to avoid potential distractions. Professor Thanos Tzempelikos leads a $600K collaborative research project with Ball State University, sponsored by NSF, to solve this problem.
Upcoming Events
Purdue has grown a thriving forest of more than 2,000 geographic information systems (GIS) users across campus. The largest numbers come from the colleges of Agriculture, Engineering, Liberal Arts, and Science. GIS and the Institute for Digital Forestry, among other Purdue academic disciplines, have grown together like trees with intertwined canopies. GIS enables users to create, manage, analyze and map data in fields such as the humanities; civil engineering; political science; and earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences.
Wavelogix, a manufacturer of novel, patented concrete strength sensors invented at Purdue University's College of Engineering, has received a $500,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase IIB grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships.
A project team, led by Professor Ayman Habib, has been awarded a grant of nearly $2.5 million from the National Science Foundation to generate digital twins, model how fire spreads, and conduct resilience studies for preventing and mitigating wildfires at the wildland-urban interface.
The Lyles School of Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering's Online Master's Program has been recognized as the #1 program in the country.
The Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering's Christopher B. and Susan S. Burke Graduate Program in Civil Engineering has been recognized as a top 10 graduate program in the country.
Purdue researchers in the colleges of Agriculture, Engineering and Science are collaborating to advance AI applications. One team including Associate Professor Mohammad Jahanshahi was awarded $100,000 to develop a real-time, AI-driven model to detect and mitigate corn tar spots.
Get Connected!
The Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering has several ways for you to stay up-to-date with our activities and accomplishments. One of the best ways is to subscribe to our social media channels.
We have active Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Instagram accounts. Join us, interact, and share!
     
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Dr. Dongjun Mah, LSCCE and Herrick Labs graduate, will start as tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering at the University of Kansas in July 2026.
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Mark Donahue (BSCNE '94), Executive Vice President at Mortenson, and Timothy Jacobs (BSCE '84, MSCE '85, PhD CE '88), Vice President of Applied AI and Machine Learning at Walmart, have received the 2026 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award presented by the College of Engineering.
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Fred Mannering (MSCE 1979), former head of civil engineering at Purdue, and Milo Riverso (MSCE 1982, PhD 1984), CEAAA recipient in 2015, have been elected as members of the National Academy of Engineering, one of the most prestigious honors in engineering.
Thanks for keeping us up to date with your contact information, life events, and career news. Send your updates to: Jaimee Barr at jimaddox@purdue.edu.
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Brian H. Magnuson, a Ph.D. student in Associate Professor Brandon E. Boor's research group in the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering at Purdue University, received a 2026–2027 Graduate Student Grant-in-Aid Award from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
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PhD student Johnson Adetooto, advised by Associate Professor Behzad Esmaeili, won the Best Poster Award at the 2026 Associated Schools of Construction Conference for their joint research with collaborators from Purdue and Virginia Tech.
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Kendahl Klatt, M.S., and Owen Hodges, EIT, graduate researchers in the Troy Lab, earned a 4th-place finish in the 2026 Moonshot-Labs Analyst Jam for the Intelligence Community (MAJIC) Challenge, a month-long, national level collegiate competition focused on solving real-world intelligence and national security problems.
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Jordan Cross, a Ph.D. student in Assistant Professor Nusrat Jung's research group in the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering at Purdue University, has been awarded a 2026–2027 Graduate Student Grant-in-Aid Award from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).
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63 members of Purdue's Student Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers attended the annual IN-KY student symposium, held April 9-11 in Lexington, KY. The symposium was co-hosted by the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville, with 14 schools in attendance. This was Purdue's third consecutive year placing first overall in the symposium, winning a total of 18 awards.
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CCE student athletes Sam White, member of the Purdue men's swim & dive team, Hugh Jacobsmeyer, member of the Purdue men's track & field team, and Nia Wilson, member of the Purdue women's track & field team, earned Academic All-Big Ten accolades in the spring 2026 sports season. To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten, students must carry a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
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CCE undergrad Kalaya Sriver has been selected by the Indianapolis Chapter of the Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) as the recipient of the Sharon D. Banks Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded annually to inspire and support women who aspire to pursue a career path in transportation.
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PhD student Rishika Tumula has been selected by the Indianapolis Chapter of the Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) as the recipient of the Helene M. Overly Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded annually to inspire and support women who aspire to pursue a career path in transportation.
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CCE undergrad Maeve Hegarty has been selected by the Indianapolis Chapter of the Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) as the recipient of the Sharon D. Banks Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded annually to inspire and support women who aspire to pursue a career path in transportation.
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Richard Ajagu, Masters student in the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering, was awarded the CCAT Student of the Year by the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC).
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Research co-authored by Gaia Cervini (MSCE 2022, PhD 2026), Lavan Teja Burra, and CCE faculty Jinha Jung & Nadia Gkritza on the effect of environmental conditions on battery electric vehicle (BEV) adoption has been published in Sustainable Mobility and Transport, a Nature partner journal.
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Assistant Professor Nusrat Jung has earned a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, NSF's most prestigious honor for early-career faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and their integration. Dr. Jung has been elected Treasurer-Elect of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ), the world’s leading scientific society dedicated to indoor environmental quality research.
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Dr. Zhi (George) Zhou, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE, ENV SP, F.ASCE, associate professor at the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering and the School of Sustainability Engineering and Environmental Engineering at Purdue University, has been named a fellow by the ASCE Board of Direction. Dr. Zhou also received the Robert G. Wetzel Award for Water Quality from the American Institute of Hydrology. A research project led by Dr. Zhou bridging environmental engineering and machine learning to advance sustainable biofuel production received the American Academy of Environmental Engineers & Scientists 2026 Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science Awards Competition.
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The latest edition of 'Steel Design' offers an industry-leading exploration of structural steel, focusing specifically on the design of individual members and their connections. Co-author Sayed Soleimani, a professor of engineering practice in the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering, combines practical procedures with a strong theoretical foundation to help students and practicing engineers apply fundamental design principles to real-world structures.
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Darcy Bullock, Lyles Family Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Joint Transportation Research Program, was presented with the National Safety Award by the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) during the 56th Annual Convention & Traffic Expo.
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Cem Korkmaz, Ph.D., Senior Research Engineer at Purdue's Bowen Laboratory, has been recognized by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) for foundational research work leading to the simplified analytical methods and shear stud modeling provisions for twin tub girder bridge systems.
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Behzad Esmaeili, Ph.D., an associate professor with joint appointments in the Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering and Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering at Purdue, has been named the Dr. Rohan & Mrs. Merle Phillips Rising Star Associate Professor.
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During the recent ASHRAE conference in Las Vegas, Thanos Tzempelikos, Professor of Civil and Construction Engineering and Herrick Labs Faculty, was named ASHRAE Fellow and received the award. Tzempelikos was recognized for his research contributions to daylighting control, integration of thermal and lighting systems operation, and indoor environmental quality and comfort.
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Rao "G.S." Govindaraju, Vice President for Institutes and Centers at Discovery Park District and Christopher B. and Susan S. Burke Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering, was welcomed as the Distinguished speaker for the Gyan Ganga Distinguished Lecture Series on River Sustainability on January 8, 2026 at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
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Samuel Labi, Professor of Civil Engineering, has been appointed chair of the International Road Federation (IRF) Committee on Alternative Financing.
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Brandon Fulk and Rabita Rajkarnikar were recognized as finalists for the 2025 College of Engineering Staff Awards of Excellence.
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