Academic Service

Editorial Positions

ASCE Natural Hazards Review

Associate Editor, 8/10 – Present

ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering

Associate Editor, 3/10 – Present

Revista Ingeniería de Construcción, Chile

International Editorial Board, 10/09 – Present

Peer Reviewer

Panel Reviewer

Research Advising

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Min Ouyang, Post-Doctoral Fellow, December 2009 – Present
Investigation of smart infrastructure system performance and reliability

Graduate Research Assistants, Rice University

Akwasi Mensah,Ph.D. student, 2011 - Present
Long-Term Reliability of Wind Turbines

Isaac Hernandez-Fajardo, Ph.D. Candidate, 2007 - Present
Simulation of interdependent infrastructure system cascades

Keivan Rokneddin, Ph.D. Candidate, 2008 - Present
Study of a new topological approach to bridge network reliability assessment

Xing Min, Ph.D. Student, 2008 - Present
Design of intelligent infrastructures by inverse system reliability methods

Zhenghua Wang, Ph.D. Student (co-advised with Jamie Padgett), 2010 - Present
Probabilistic modeling of bridge systems with soil-structure interaction

Bayram Aygun, Master Student, Graduated, May 2009
Development of fragility analysis tools for bridge networks including soil-structure interaction effects

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Benjamin Berryhill (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Summer 2010 – Present
Topological characterization of power transmission systems across the United States.

Jason Wu (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Summer 2010 – Present
Validation of lifeline interdependence failure propagation models using the 2010 Chile earthquake.

Gesara Satumtira (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Spring 2009 – Spring 2010.
Multi-scale modeling of interdependent infrastructure systems.

Josh Rutenberg (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Spring 2009 – Present.
Time series analysis of coupled utility system performance.

Grant Warnecke (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Spring 2008 – Fall 2009.
Coupled modeling of rainfall and river models for flood predictions.

William McGuiness (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Fall 2007 – Fall 2009.
Calculation of storm surge for Houston flood analyses.

James Winkler (Chemical Engineering), Spring-Fall 2009
Evaluation of storm-track models of hurricanes in the Gulf coast.

Olufemi Oke (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Fall 2008
Modeling of the Texas power grid for electricity growth.

Jay Datesh (Statistics), Fall 2008
Development of synthetic models of infrastructure systems.

Eileen Ong (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Summer-Fall 2008
Construction of Origin-Destination traffic databases for road network analyses.

David G. Murad (Statistics), Fall 2007 – Spring 2008
Exploration of probability laws for the reliability of power distribution systems.

Alison Slowey (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Summer–Fall 2007.
Study of topological properties of power systems.

Thesis Committees

Rice University

Fall 2010: Dharma Pasala, Ph.D. Thesis Proposal in Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Novel adaptive and adaptive-passive control. Advisor: Dr. Satish Nagarajaiah.

Spring 2010: Aarin Teague, Ph.D. Thesis Proposal in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Water quality alert system. Advisor: Dr. Phillip Bedient.

Fall 2009: Kristina Dennemann, M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Life-cycle cost benefit analysis for bridges. Advisor: Dr. Jamie Padgett.

Fall 2009: Dharma Pasala, M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Robust control of hysteretic systems. Advisor: Dr. Satish Nagarajaiah.

Fall 2009: Tyler Ray, M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Flood modeling of Gulf Coast watersheds. Advisor: Dr. Phillip Bedient.

Fall 2009: Srivishnu Vemuru, M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Dynamic response of multi-degree of freedom system with sliding isolation and uplift. Advisor: Dr. Satish Nagarajaiah.

Spring 2009: Bayram Aygun, M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Efficient bridge-soil-structure interaction models for reliability assessment. Advisor: Dr. Leonardo Dueñas-Osorio.

Spring 2009: Brian Crouse, M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Exploration of optical lunar mission navigation systems. Advisor: Dr. Pol Spanos.

Fall 2008: Milton Esteva, Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering – Stochastic modeling of nanocomposites. Advisor: Dr. Pol Spanos.

Spring 2008: Chris van Tassel, Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Reliability of Ares rockets. Advisor: Dr. Pol Spanos.

Spring 2008: Richard Stegemeier, Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seismic risk of masonry structures. Advisor: Dr. Ahmad Durrani.

Spring 2008: Stephen Clark, Ph.D. in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Modeling of Caribbean plate tectonics. Advisor: Dr. Alan Levander.

Fall 2007: Nick Fang, Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, Dynamic models for flood plane prediction and mapping. Advisor: Dr. Phillip Bedient.

Spring 2007: Marco Ciarcia, Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Development of spacecraft rendevouz equations. Advisor: Dr. Angelo Mielle

Spring 2007: Ike Akinwande, Master of Science in Civil Engineering, Nanosensors for civil structures applications. Advisor: Dr. Satish Nagarajaiah

Spring 2007: Mike Osenar, Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Optical camera performance in lunar navigation. Advisor: Dr. Pol Spanos

Spring 2007: Ross Gordon, Master of Science in Civil Engineering, Next generation flood modeling and inundation mapping framework. Advisor: Dr. Phillip Bedient

Other Universities

Fall 2006 - Present: Kanoknart Leelardcharoen, Ph.D. Candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Georgia Institute of Technology), Power and telecommunication systems interdependence under seismic hazards and operational congestion. Advisor: Dr. Barry Goodno

Fall 2009 - Present: Camilo Gómez Castro, Ph.D. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Universidad de Los Andes), Hierarchical clustering of infrastructure systems for risk-based decision making. Advisor: Dr. Mauricio Sánchez-Silva.

Spring 2007: Manuel Cabrales Camacho, M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Universidad de Los Andes), In Spanish: Extrapolación de las propiedades mecánicas demateriales novedosos para uso como elementos estructurales. Advisor: Dr. Mauricio Sánchez-Silva.