2026 NCIT Colloquium Speakers

Rutgers Leadership Remarks

Dr. Alberto Cuitiño has served as Dean of the Rutgers University School of Engineering since 2023 and is the eighth dean to lead the school. He previously served as interim dean beginning in June 2022, during which time the school welcomed the largest first-year engineering class in its history, hired several talented full-time faculty members, continued to secure funded research in innovative fields of study, and advanced strategic initiatives including a translational program on pharmaceutical manufacturing and professional and executive master’s degree programs in engineering. Cuitiño previously served as professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. A Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, he joined the School of Engineering in 1993 and continues to serve as professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Local Keynote

Mr. Kevin S. Corbett is a distinguished transportation, infrastructure, and maritime executive. His global career spans senior leadership roles across public transit, marine freight, port redevelopment, and major capital program management, culminating in his current appointment as Senior Fellow of Transportation Studies at Rutgers University. His work has centered on strengthening organizational performance, advancing large-scale capital planning, improving multimodal operations, and promoting resilient transportation systems. In his previous role as President and CEO of NJ TRANSIT, he oversaw a public transportation system that delivers more than 944,000 weekday trips across bus routes, light rail lines, commuter rail lines, and paratransit services. Earlier roles across the public and private sectors further deepened his expertise in international transportation, economic development, and long-term infrastructure strategy. At Rutgers, he now applies this extensive experience to advance innovative solutions and mentor emerging transportation leaders.

USDOT OST-R Keynote

Dr. Firas Ibrahim is the Director of the Office of Research, Development and Technology (RD&T) in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology at the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). In this role, he guides the strategic direction and priorities for the Department’s transportation research, development, and technology programs to ensure alignment with USDOT goals and high scientific integrity. He provides leadership and oversight to RD&T activities across the Department and through external partnerships, including managing multimodal research programs and overseeing the University Transportation Centers program. Previously, Dr. Ibrahim served as the Federal Highway Administration’s Lead Manager for Stewardship and Oversight, responsible for ensuring the successful delivery and alignment of the Federal-aid highway program. His career also includes international transportation leadership roles and positions in academia and the private sector. Dr. Ibrahim holds a Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. in Civil Engineering and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania.

Advisory Board Remarks

Dr. Ali Maher is a professor of civil engineering who has served as the Director of the Rutgers University Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) since its inception in 1998. He is a widely recognized expert, often tapped as a resource by industry and government agencies. His expertise spans the areas of automation and autonomous systems, enterprise asset management for transportation infrastructure, ground improvement, soil dynamics, nondestructive testing, geotechnology, and new technology vehicles. Dr. Maher’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, USDOT, NJDOT, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, NJ Transit, FHWA, DOE, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other federal sponsors. Dr. Maher has been a pioneer in promoting collaboration and building partnerships with other universities and public and private industry stakeholders to address America’s most pressing transportation challenges.

NCIT Director

Dr. Judy A. Perkins is a Professor in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), a Texas A&M University System Regents Professor, Google Endowed Professor, PVAMU Regional Director with the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), PVAMU Campus Liaison with the Texas Department of Transportation and Director of the National Center for Infrastructure Transformation (NCIT)—the first HBCU-led U.S. Department of Transportation University Transportation Center. A longtime civil engineering educator, she previously taught at Southern University, the University of New Orleans and North Carolina A&T State University, and from 2004 to 2011 served as the first African American and first female head of PVAMU’s Civil & Environmental Engineering Department. Her research focuses on asset management, transportation logistics, hurricane evacuation analysis, engineering education, minority outreach and infrastructure investment optimization, including leadership on a historic $40 million USDOT-funded initiative. Dr. Perkins has received numerous honors, including the 2024 American Road & Transportation Builders Association Excellence in Academia Award and PVAMU’s 2022 Faculty Senate Excellence in Service Award. She is also a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and a licensed professional engineer.

Opening Host & Moderator

Dr. Patrick Szary is the associate director of the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) at Rutgers University (RU). With a distinguished career in civil and transportation engineering, Dr. Szary focuses on advancing infrastructure resilience, sustainability, and innovative technologies in transportation systems. His expertise spans areas such as bridge design, construction materials, and infrastructure management, and he is known for promoting data-driven solutions to improve infrastructure performance and safety. Dr. Szary has led numerous high-impact research projects in partnership with federal and state agencies, and he is dedicated to developing practical solutions that address pressing infrastructure challenges. At CAIT, he plays a key role in fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and mentoring students in advanced transportation research.

Presenter

Dr. Ahmed joined the Department of Computer Science at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) in the fall of 2017, right after earning his Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from the University of Saskatchewan in August 2017. His research interests are in Parallel and Distributed Systems, with applications across domains such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). After joining PVAMU, he is actively involved in several research projects, including IoT & Machine Learning applications. He is teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, and he is eager to transfer his passion and experience to underrepresented students at PVAMU by involving them in research. He has extensive experience mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in research. Dr. Ahmed received numerous awards and grants recognizing his research excellence, including an NSF RIA award in 2023, the Faculty Senate Award for Research Excellence at PVAMU in 2025, the Outstanding Early Researcher Award in 2022, the Faculty Service Award at PVAMU in 2024, the Outstanding Faculty Service Award in the College of Engineering in 2023, and many others. His research is well-funded by national agencies and industry, including NSF, USDA, DoT, and Bechtel Corporation.

Technology Moderator

Dr. Alam serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Prairie View A&M University. Jobair specializes in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering, with a proven track record in both industry and academia. His research interests primarily encompass transportation infrastructure health monitoring, geophysical investigation, sustainable waste management, landfill cover hydrology, and data-driven methodologies in earth infrastructure design. He secured over $1 million in research funding as principal investigator and has participated in research initiatives totaling nearly $2.9 million. He has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed articles across various journals and technical conferences.

Moderator

Dr. Bora Cetin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan State University, where he leads the Sustainable Geotechnical Infrastructure Group (SGIG). His extensive research spans several areas, including transportation infrastructure, nuclear waste disposal, municipal solid waste landfill design, the remediation of contaminated soils and mine waste, and sustainable geotechnical practices. His research primarily focuses on improving the sustainability of geotechnical structures, assessing the environmental suitability of structures built with waste materials and industrial byproducts, and developing remediation techniques for contaminated soils using industrial byproducts. Additionally, his work includes characterizing shale media for nuclear waste disposal, enhancing the mechanistic-empirical pavement design approach, and predicting frost heave-thaw weakening and frost/thaw depths of soils. He also investigates heated pavement systems and contributes to advancements in engineering education. Dr. Cetin’s research has been funded through competitive grants from a wide array of national and state agencies, totaling over $10 million. His work is supported by organizations such as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and several state Departments of Transportation, including Iowa, Minnesota, Georgia, and Michigan. With over 100 published works, Dr. Cetin is a well-recognized figure in pavement materials engineering. His expertise has led to invitations to serve as an associate editor and editorial board member for several prestigious journals, including the Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering (ASCE), Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (ASCE), Environmental Geotechnics, International Journal of Pavement Engineering, and Transportation Geotechnics.

Policy Moderator

Vassiliki Demetracopoulou, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Her research focuses on project delivery, risk management, and strategic decision-making for infrastructure projects, with an emphasis on system interdependencies and innovative delivery methods. She received her Ph.D. in civil engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 2023 in construction engineering and project management and earned her civil engineering diploma from the University of Patras, Greece. She holds a professional engineer’s license in Greece and has contributed to research funded by the Texas Department of Transportation and the Construction Industry Institute.

Presenter

Charles Gurganus joined the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) in 2014 after 10 years of service with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). His major interests lie in the multidisciplinary growth of infrastructure construction and management. Over the past seven years at TTI, he has worked on a variety of projects for clients such as TxDOT, the Texas Asphalt Pavement Association, the Maricopa Association of Governments, Madden Contracting, the Ohio Department of Transportation and others. Prior to coming to TTI, he worked for TxDOT where he was the Longview area engineer, responsible for the management of the roadway and roadside networks in Gregg and Rusk counties as well as the supervision of over 50 employees.

Presenter

H. David Jeong, Ph.D. is the Mary Raba ’84 and William Raba ’86 Professor and Associate Department Head in the Department of Construction Science at Texas A&M University. He is also an associate research engineer with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. Dr. Jeong earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University and focuses on construction engineering and management, including data-driven decision-making, infrastructure asset management, and project delivery systems. He has led numerous federally funded research projects and is widely recognized for advancing data-centric approaches to improve construction processes and infrastructure performance.

Presenter

Dr. Jinho Kim is an Research Scientist at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), specializing in pavement engineering, construction materials, and performance evaluation. He earned his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Texas A&M University and has more than nine years of experience in transportation infrastructure research. His work focuses on full-depth reclamation (FDR), asphalt mixture design, cold recycling, and thermal segregation analysis. Since joining TTI in 2020, he has contributed to multiple TxDOT and nationally funded projects, including studies on FDR mix design, accelerated base material evaluation, and pavement performance under thermal segregation. Dr. Kim has authored fifteen publications.

Presenter

Dr. Raghava R. Kommalapati is Honeywell Endowed Professor and Director of the Center for Energy & Environmental Sustainability (CEES) at Prairie View A&M University. His areas of expertise are energy and environmental sustainability, life cycle analysis, air quality modeling, fog-air interactions, and membrane processes to treat fracking-produced water. Among his many accomplishments is his spearheading efforts to establish the Center with a total of $10M in NSF funding. He managed over 50 grants totaling more than $20M during his career. He has published one book and more than 150 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings/extended abstracts, and more than 220 conference presentations. He is leading several ongoing research projects funded by NSF, USDA, and US DOT.

Presenter

Dr. Michele Lanotte is a fixed-term assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His research interests primarily include low-carbon transportation materials, pavement materials optimization, and structural analysis. His research focuses on optimizing sustainable paving solutions, connecting mechanical performance and environmental burdens, valuation of environmental impacts for green procurement policy, and chemo-mechanical characterization of polymeric agents from end-of-life products.

Presenter

Dr. Xiang Liu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rutgers University. He is also the Director of the Rutgers Rail and Transit Program (RTP), leading and managing a portfolio of rail-centric research, education, and workforce development initiatives. Dr. Liu's research focuses on artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and automation technologies for improving rail operational safety and efficiency. Dr. Liu has published over 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals and international conferences. Dr. Liu’s rail & transit research has been supported by a variety of public and private sectors in the United States. Dr. Liu is the Associate Editor for the Journal of Rail Transport Planning & Management, and Journal of Smart and Resilient Transportation. Dr. Liu has received four “Best Paper” awards from the Transportation Research Board (TRB), the “Educator of the Year 2017” Award, and the “Researcher of the Year 2018”, both in New Jersey.

Presenter

Dr. Mahalakshmi Mannar is a Research Assistant (post-doctoral staff) in the Center for Energy & Environmental Sustainability (CEES) at Prairie View A&M University. Her research focuses on transportation infrastructure materials, life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle cost analysis (LCCA), and risk assessment of alternative fuel infrastructure, including hydrogen refueling stations and electric vehicle charging systems. She is involved in projects evaluating hydrogen transportation systems, infrastructure sustainability, and environmental impacts of emerging transportation technologies. Her research also examines the performance of transportation infrastructure materials, including pavement materials, waste recycling, and nanomaterials. Before joining, CEES, Dr. Mannar had teaching experience in both the United States and India, where she taught civil and environmental engineering courses, and coordinated senior design projects. She has published peer-reviewed research articles and presented her work at international conferences, contributing to the advancement of low-carbon transportation systems and resilient infrastructure.

Presenter

ACI member Dr. Anol Mukhopadhyay is a senior research scientist at TTI and an adjunct professor at Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University. Dr. Mukhopadhyay has served as the chair of ACI 221 (aggregate) and has been serving as a voting member of numerous technical committees in ACI [236, 240, 241, 242, 201, 232, 555), TRB, and ASTM. Dr. Mukhopadhyay has over 27 years of research experience in concrete materials and durability, and extensive experience in developing and implementing test methods related to concrete durability (developed AASAHTO T364 and AASHTO TP 142 ASR test methods). He has been invited to conduct workshops, and technical sessions and/or be a keynote speaker/invited speaker/panelist at several conferences. Dr. Mukhopadhyay has served as an Executive Board (EB) member of the International Cement Microscopy Association (ICMA) and associate editor for the ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering. Currently, he is serving as an associate editor for the ACI Materials Journal.

Presenter

Dr. Hasan Ozer is an associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. His research focuses on pavement materials characterization, pavement design and analysis, and development of rehabilitation and preservation programs. Ozer develops computational mechanics methods for structural performance modeling of pavements and uses life-cycle assessment tools for advancing sustainable transportation infrastructure.

Moderator

Marshall Rich serves as the dean for Applied Technology, Workforce, and Economic Development for the Blinn College District where he oversees the development and implementation of technical programming and partnerships to expand the technical workforce throughout the Blinn College service area. Marshall has been with the Blinn College District for 13 years having previously served in the business department as a business professor and assistant dean. Marshall holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management from Utah State University and a Master of Science in Management from Texas A&M University.

Presenter

Durga Srivatsava Jonnalagadda is a second-year PhD student at Texas A&M University, working under the supervision of Dr. Anand Puppala. His research focuses on Infrastructure health monitoring of bridges using advanced technologies, including Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and machine learning models. His work involves developing inspection methodologies and leveraging UAV imagery data to enable automated defect detection and condition assessment of bridge components. He has been a part of NCIT for more than a year contributing to the development of real-time health monitoring frameworks.

Presenter

Anne Strauss-Wieder is a nationally respected senior executive with over 45 years of public and private sector experience involving supply chains, industrial and economic development, resilience, and freight movement. She was the 2022 recipient of the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) Thomas B. Deen Distinguished Lectureship. Strauss-Wieder is in leadership roles in several national professional organizations. She was an appointed member of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s advisory committee on supply chain competitiveness and the U.S. Maritime Administration’s marine transportation system national advisory committee. She is a Senior Freight and Logistics Researcher and teaches a graduate class on freight and public policy at Rutgers. Strauss-Wieder has a Master's in Regional Science from the University of Pennsylvania and was a 2010 Lead New Jersey Fellow.

Presenter

Dr. Wang, Lening received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Houston in 2023 and his M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from New York University in 2016. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Prairie View A\&M University. His research focuses on computer systems design for efficient, robust, and trustworthy artificial intelligence.

Moderator

Dr. Yonggao Yang is a tenured professor and the department head of the Computer Science (CS) Department at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) in Texas. He joined CS Department at PVAMU as an assistant professor in August 2002 immediately upon receiving a Ph.D. in Information Technology & Computer Science from George Mason University (Fairfax, VA). He worked as a faculty member at Southwest Jiaotong University (Chengdu, China) from 1987 through 1998. Dr. Yang’s research interests include Smart Human-Computer Interface, Smart Sensor Systems, Computer Graphics, Scientific Visualization, Distributed Virtual Reality Learning/Training Environment, and Computer Networks.

Presenter

Claudia E. Zapata is an associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and Built Environment, deputy director for the NSF Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics, and associate director for the USDOT National Center for Transformation Infrastructure at Arizona State University. Dr. Zapata has authored more than 80 technical publications on research related to unsaturated soil behavior, characterization of problematic soils, thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of soils due to static and repeated loading, empirical modeling of fluid flow and volume change of soils applied to pavement structures and residential foundation systems, microbially induced desaturation, and environmental effects on soil behavior. Dr. Zapata’s career highlights include her active participation in the development of the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide; the development of models to incorporate environmental effects and problematic soils behavior into current pavement design practice; and the development of a database of soil properties for more than 35,000 unsaturated soils for the United States, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Dr. Zapata’s awards and recognitions include the 2021 Victoria Foundation award that honors Latino faculty who work on broadening the participation of under-represented populations in the engineering field; the Ira A Fulton School of Engineering Top 5% Teaching Award in 2019; the Arizona Community Service Award in 2011 for her contributions to the advancement of the pavement/materials technology and programs in Arizona.

Terrance John Bolton, A decorated 14-year U.S. Navy War veteran, is pursuing his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at Prairie View A&M University, focusing on leadership development, mentorship and empowerment for all communities. His academic and professional excellence have earned him high recognition, including being named PVAMU Graduate Student of the Year in 2024. A two-time Texas Southern University graduate, Student Government Association President, and All-American athlete, he exemplifies leadership, service, and scholarship. An initiate of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and Associate Editor of The Sphinx Magazine, Mr. Bolton is also a certified chef, musician, educational consultant and motivational speaker.

Shanmukha Sai Avinash Gonnabathula is a Ph.D. student in the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University. Prior to joining TAMU, he completed his M.Tech. in Geotechnical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and his B.E. (Hons.) from BITS Pilani, Hyderabad. Throughout his earlier studies, Avinash gained experience working on a range of geotechnical projects, including chemical stabilization, soil liquefaction, and soil dynamics. Since beginning his Ph.D. in Spring 2023, Avinash has developed a strong interest in geosynthetics, focusing on their real-world applications in highway infrastructure. His research explores innovative uses of wicking geotextiles to improve the resilience and sustainability of transportation infrastructure under extreme climatic conditions. His work aims to address moisture management challenges in soil, enhancing both the stability and longevity of roads and embankments. In recognition of his research, Avinash has been awarded the Terracon Endowed Fellowship and the Geosynthetic Institute Fellowship and named GSI Fellow for the academic year 2024-25.

Yasen Kashour is a graduate researcher in the Civil, Environmental, and Sustainable Engineering program at Arizona State University (ASU), specializing in pavement and geotechnical engineering. His research focuses on evaluating the effects of extreme climate conditions, particularly flooding, on the performance and resilience of flexible pavement systems. He is currently contributing to a National Center for Infrastructure Transformation (NCIT) project titled “Development of a Mechanistic–Empirical Analysis Framework to Assess the Resiliency of Pavement Networks against Flooding.” His work integrates climate data, mechanistic–empirical pavement design principles, and numerical modeling tools to analyze how moisture variations impact subgrade behavior and pavement structural performance.

Andreea Turcanu is a freshman in general studies who plans to pursue civil engineering. She is originally from Moldova, and that background has shaped how she sees education and opportunity. Being the first in her family to attend a university and study engineering motivates her to work hard and take every opportunity seriously. She is especially interested in civil engineering because she wants to help design infrastructure that makes communities more connected and walkable. She’s also interested in surveying and enjoys learning how precise measurements and fieldwork connect to real-world design. Right now, Andreea is focused on building a strong foundation in math and science while exploring different areas within engineering. She’s excited to keep growing her skills and gaining hands-on experience as she moves closer to officially starting her civil engineering coursework. Through her studies, she hopes to combine technical knowledge with a bigger vision of creating practical, people-focused solutions that improve everyday life.

Paula Yaghi is a PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Her research focuses on pavement performance modeling, pavement sustainability, and data-driven approaches to infrastructure performance. She has also conducted research on statistical modeling of track-geometry-related derailments. Paula previously worked with the New York City Department of Transportation on projects addressing air and noise impacts along urban highway corridors. Paula holds a master’s degree in transportation engineering from École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in France and a civil engineering degree from Saint Joseph University of Beirut.