Resilient Infrastructure is a topic that is aimed at maximizing the continued functioning of the large infrastructures even if some elements of the infrastructure do not survive or are not equipped to handle conditions that exceed the design criteria and operational guidelines. A physical infrastructure is considered resilient if it can anticipate, survive, adapt and recover from external disruptions, such as wear and tear, natural forces (e.g. severe weather, hurricanes, earthquakes), man-made forces (population pressure, extreme overuse, landscape change, terrorist attacks), etc. Given the current situation with our nation's infrastructure, understanding resilience appears to be a key way forward for the engineering community to safeguard the continued functionality of critical infrastructure for society. The sub-elements of this thrust area can be:

• Advanced Materials – Biernacki, Mohr, Crouch, El-Sawy: Understand material quality (cement/concrete) from macro to nano scales; engineer revolutionary/smart materials that are more durable and resilient to extreme environmental (weather/climate) and anthropogenic forcings
• Advanced Computational Methods – Liu, Peddieson, Fidan, Hossain, Kalyanapu, Ghafoor: Efficient and novel (on-site/remote) methods for materials and infrastructure resilience assessment for better risk management.
• Monitoring and Control – Canfield, Click, Huo, Kamal: embedded networks/sensors, robotics for non-destructive and real-time monitoring of infrastructure health and functionality particularly in difficult terrain/conditions.
• Environmental/Climate Sustainability – Hossain and Kalyanapu – Exploring bottom-up and top-down approaches on adaptation against changing patterns of extreme environmental/climate on infrastructure resilience; investigate cluster of infrastructure (cities, dams, agricultural systems etc.) and the ecology with other key resources (water, energy, health).
• Modeling and Simulation - Kamal -

Grand Challenges

• What are the smart approaches to address the challenges in rehabilitating the nation's D-rated infrastructure in the current climate of limited financial resources and green house gas emission control?
• What are the cost effective (smart technology) approaches to real-time and non-destructive monitoring of health and resilience of infrastructure in an integrated framework?
• What are the curricular changes required to train the next generation of engineers equipped with the skills and mindset to address the infrastructure challenges at the interface of materials, sustainability, climate and resource scarcity?
• How do we forecast resilience of infrastructure under increasing pressures of population increase, demand on resources and complex ecosystem functions?

Coordinators

Faisal Hossain, Associate Professor
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(931) 372-3257
Prescott Hall (PRSC) 332 Webpage
Resume/CV

Sustainability of large scale water resources infrastructure; Human impact on local climate; Land surface hydrology; Hydroclimatic extremes; Space-borne hydrologic remote sensing;  Transboundary water resources management;  Engineering education;  Multi-media film-making for engineering documentaries.

Joseph Biernacki, University Distinguished Faculty Fellow and Professor
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(931) 372-3667
Prescott Hall (PRSC) 312 Webpage

Cementious Systems • Biofuels Production • Engineering Education

Web Links

International Summit on Cement Hydration Kinetics
Web tools for research and education…
                Cement Hydration Kinetics and Modeling
                Computer Aided Molecular Design
                Access the TTU X-ray Diffraction Laboratory
 

Researchers

Faisal Hossain, Associate Professor
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(931) 372-3257
Prescott Hall (PRSC) 332 Webpage
Resume/CV

Sustainability of large scale water resources infrastructure; Human impact on local climate; Land surface hydrology; Hydroclimatic extremes; Space-borne hydrologic remote sensing;  Transboundary water resources management;  Engineering education;  Multi-media film-making for engineering documentaries.

Joseph Biernacki, University Distinguished Faculty Fellow and Professor
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(931) 372-3667
Prescott Hall (PRSC) 312 Webpage

Cementious Systems • Biofuels Production • Engineering Education

Web Links

International Summit on Cement Hydration Kinetics
Web tools for research and education…
                Cement Hydration Kinetics and Modeling
                Computer Aided Molecular Design
                Access the TTU X-ray Diffraction Laboratory
 

Benjamin Mohr, Interim Chair and Associate Professor
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(931) 372-3454
Prescott Hall (PRSC) 216 Webpage
Resume/CV

Durability, microstructure, and chemistry of cement-based materials; early-age behavior of cement and concrete; fiber-reinforced concrete; supplementary cementitious materials.

Alfred Kalyanapu, Assistant Professor
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(931) 372-3561
Prescott Hall (PRSC) 334 Webpage
Resume/CV

I am interested in understanding the complex interactions of water with urban areas including energy, climate, infrastructure and sustainability.

Research Topics:

• Climate Impacts
• Computational Hydraulics & Hydrology
• Hydraulic/Hydrologic Modeling
• Urban Water Management
• Regional Scale Flood Modeling & Simulation
• GIS Applications in Water Resources Engineering

L. Crouch, P.E., Professor
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(931) 372-3196
Prescott Hall (PRSC) 316

Construction materials, aggregates, Portland cement concrete, flowable fill, and bituminous materials.

Y. Jane Liu, Professor of Structural Mechanics
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(931) 372-3256
Prescott Hall (PRSC) 432

Primary research interests include composite materials, vibration analysis, plates and shells, computational mechanics, symbolic computer systems in engineering applications, and computational algebraic geometry in nonlinear structural analysis.

Sharon Huo, P.E., Interim Associate Provost
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(931) 372-3224
Derryberry Hall (DBRY) 202

Dr. Sharon Huo serves as Interim Associate Provost and assists the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs in a variety of academic activities. She is the TTU Coordinator for the THEC Performance Funding Program, the TBR-Mandated Program Reviews and Academic Audits, and the University International Education programs. Dr. Huo oversees the operation of TTU Appalachian Center for Crafts, International Education Office, Career Services Office, Honors Program, and Technology Institute. She serves as the University's administrator with regard to space utilization, faculty development, and international cooperation. Dr. Huo also assists the Provost in the process of tenure and promotion evaluations.

Dr. Sharon Huo is a Professor of Civil Engineering. Her areas of specialty include: Structural analysis, reinforced concrete design, prestressed concrete design, structural steel design, bridge design, and seismic analysis.

Steven Click, P.E., Ph.D., Associate Professor
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(931) 372-6464
Prescott Hall (PRSC) 439Resume/CV

Traffic signal operations, traffic signal system operations, urban arterial operations, traffic signal controller functions, traffic signal master controller functions, non-traditional intersection and arterial designs.

Stephen Canfield, Professor of Mechanical Engineering
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(931) 372-6359
Brown Hall (BRWN) 329 Webpage

Robotics, Dynamic Modeling, Compliant Mechanisms, Smart Actuators, Mechatronics

John Peddieson, Professor of Mechanical Engineering
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(931) 372-3274
Brown Hall (BRWN) 110

Multiphase Flow, Friction Stir Welding, Tether Dynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Solid Mechanics

Ahmed Elsawy, Chair
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(931) 372-3238
Lewis Hall (LEWS) 107

 

Ismail Fidan, Professor
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(931) 372-6298
Lewis Hall (LEWS) 103 Webpage

Sheikh Ghafoor, Associate Professor
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(931) 372-3482
Bruner Hall (BRUN) 412 A

Ahmed Kamal, Associate Professor
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(931) 372-6438
Lewis Hall (LEWS) 203

• In its November 2012 issue, the International Water Power and Dam Construction Magazine is running a feature article titled "A Two-way Street" authored by Dr. Faisal Hossain, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a coordinator of the Resilient Infrastructure Strategic Research Area at Tennessee Technological University and Dr. Roger A. Pielke, Sr., Senior Research Scientist and Senior Research Associate at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Click for more details.

 

• Dr. Biernacki leads international efforts to improve concrete sustainability.  A standing-room only audience listened to Dr. Maria Juenger of the University of Texas-Austin during a recent presentation at the American Concrete Institute (ACI) semi-annual meeting where she presented work co-authored by TTU's Dr. Joseph J. Biernacki of the Department of Chemical Engineering. The subject, a vision for coordinated research to develop a comprehensive understanding of the underlying chemistry behind hydration of portland cement, is a plan which hopefully will lead to improved concrete sustainability. Biernacki lead a team of nine co-authors and spearheaded the development of the recently published vision document and was an organizer of the NSF funded International Summit on Cement Hydration Kinetics and Modeling held at Laval University in 2009. Highlights of the presentation are reported in the Daily Commercial News and Construction Record, see November 7, 2012 for more information.

• International Promotion of Resilient Infrastructure program at TTU!   Dr. Faisal Hossain, a TTU professor and fulbright scholar is presenting a seminar on resilient infrastructure in Singapore. In the seminar he will discuss the importance of studying dams and their nearby cities with regards to resiliency in the face of extreme weather.  See the flyer here.


• Dr. Kumiko Tsujimoto of University of Tokyo's Civil Engineering Department is scheduled to visit TTU during April 2013 to explore collaboration opportunities on Resilient Infrastructure research. Dr. Tsujimoto (http://www-e.civil.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/lab/staff-index.html ) is currently working on trying to understand the interactions between artificial reservoirs and extreme weather for a proposed large dam project in Cambodia. As part of a Govt of Japan funded initiative, she will be visiting three programs relevant to Resilient Infrastructure. TTU is one of her choices along with University of Colorado and University of Alabama (Huntsville).


• NASA Physical Oceanography program has awarded TTU-COE a grant in the amount of $215,000 for a project titled "Improving the Accuracy and Reliability of Space-Borne Discharge Estimation from SWOT for Low-lying Humid Tropical Regions of the World". The project will begin in 2013 January and end in January 2016 and will be spearheaded exclusively by TTU faculty engaged in establishing Resilient Infrastructure as a highly sustainable research thrust area for the college. The project will complement the grand challenge (Question#2) - What are the cost effective (smart technology) approaches to real-time and non-destructive monitoring of health and resilience of infrastructure in an integrated framework - through accurate 'smart technology' delineation of flood inundation in urban infrastructure environments along flood plains. With this project, the total external funding from NASA on infrastructure related topic now stands at $295,000 ($80,000 NASA project awarded to Dr. Faisal Hossain in May 2012 to study large dams in the western US).


• Two TTU faculty members (Drs. Kalyanapu and Hossain) are leading a special collection of papers on the theme "Human Impact on Climate Extremes for Water Resources Infrastructure Design, Operations and Risk Management" for the journal titled "Earth Interactions' published jointly by American Geophysical Union, American Meteorological Society and American Association of Geographers. The special collection will appear in print around Fall 2013 and will showcase TTU's unique leadership in the area of Resilient Infrastructure.