Researchers

Current Researchers

Boris Goenaga

Postdoctoral Scholar
Research Interests: Resilience of Transport Infrastructure Systems, Pavement Management Systems – Pavement Friction Management Program, Highway Safety
Personal Interests: I love dogs, I have a Pug whose name is Frank (he actually believes he is a MIB agent). During my free time I enjoy reading books and, though I am not a big comic fan, I certainly enjoy watching a good superhero movie
Research Summary: My current research deals with improving how engineers manage the structural and frictional performance of pavements. This management process has long-lasting impacts on the total transportation system and its economic, environmental, and social dimensions. Pavement management is the process of planning the maintenance and repair of a network of roadways, optimizing the budget allocation to maintain a good performance. A Pavement Friction Management program relates friction and surface condition with highway safety. My research goal is to find a relationship between the most common pavement indices used in a PMS with highway safety (number of crashes or crash rate), and accounts for safety performance in the PMS decision making. The resilience of transport infrastructure systems refers to their ability to withstand and recover from disruptions caused by natural disasters, accidents, or other adverse events. In this sense, my research evaluates the vulnerability of road infrastructure systems to unexpected events. To do so, I study the role of a PMS to cope with extreme weather events, and evaluate possible adaptation strategies.

Omar Othman

PhD Student
Dissertation: TBD
Research Interests: Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design, Asphalt Mixtures Testing, Recycled Materials in Asphalt Mixtures
Personal Interests: Traveling, watching anime, some sports at beginner level (weightlifting, ping pong, yoyo, soccer)
Research Summary: My current research deals with verifying or refining the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Balanced Mix Design (BMD) performance thresholds for empirical tests for asphalt mixtures distresses including fatigue and rutting. This research will be done by testing different mixtures using both empirical tests (Ideal CT and APA) and fundamental tests (Cyclic Fatigue and Stress-Sweep Rutting) and finding correlations that will either verify or improve previously established criteria. The study materials will include a control mixture along with other mixtures such as BMD mixtures, WMA mixtures, mixtures with different RAP contents and recycling agents, a mixture with fibers, and some combinations of these alterations. After establishing the empirical tests criteria, the results will be incorporated alongside the volumetric properties of asphalt mixtures into the Mechanistic-Empirical structural pavement design to practically integrate mix design with structural design.

Jaime Preciado

PhD Student
Thesis: TBD
Research Interests: Recycled materials, Sustainable asphalt concrete materials, Multiscale characterization and modelling of asphalt materials, Digital Image Processing (DIP) techniques for asphalt concrete images.
Personal Interests: Traveling, cooking and reading novels
Research Summary: The preservation of natural resources has become a motivation for research aimed at developing sustainable pavement infrastructures. The growing attention towards the use of recycled materials in asphalt mixtures, such as reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), has led highway agencies to consider the feasibility of allowing high levels of RAP on asphalt mixtures. My current research is about evaluating the effect of recycling agents (RAs) on the rheological performance of RAP recovered binder for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). In this way, a performance-based parameter(s) can be developed for assessing acceptance of RAs and RAs dosages.

Pablo Vestena

PhD Student
Thesis: TBD
Research Interests: Asphalt mixture testing and modelling, Pavement performance, Mechanistic-empirical pavement design.
Personal Interests: My personal hobbies are cooking, jogging, and travelling. I also love watching movies and soccer games
Research Summary: My current project is identifying tests and procedures to implement in NCDOT’s Balanced Mix Design (BMD). The research will evaluate different NC asphalt mixtures using index-based tests, such as Ideal CT and APA, to define feasible threshold limits for mix design and quality assurance/control operations. Subsequently, a mix design procedure will be drafted in a way that existing volumetric and threshold limits can be balanced to ensure long-lasting materials. Along with that, performance-based tests, together with pavement predictions methodologies, will be applied to understand the current state of practice, to predict long-term performance, and to help validate the proposed limits. Finally, the project will sum up the economical impacts of redefining some mix designs, adding more testing effort, with the expected long-term performance benefits for applying a BMD approach.

Matheus Jesus Ribeiro Araujo

PhD Student
Dissertation: TBD
Research Interests: Pavement design and evaluation, soil characterization for pavement purposes, Modeling Techniques applied to Pavement materials.
Personal Interests: I like to enjoy listening to music, watching movies and TV shows, traveling, and spending time with my family and friends.
Research Summary: I am currently part of a project focused on identifying and prioritizing vulnerable road segments as part of a proactive resilience planning and risk response program. For this purpose, pavement damage sites observed after extreme events, such as hurricanes and tropical storms, are being investigated. As a result, we expect to identify a series of attributes that influence the vulnerability of these structures, optimizing future preventive measures and road construction.

Past Researchers

Post-Doctoral Scholars

Dr. Waleed Zeiada (2012 – 2014) – Cyclic Fatigue and Healing + Fiber Reinforced Asphalt Concrete Mixtures
Dr. Jeffrey Stempihar (2015 – 2017) – Fiber Reinforced Asphalt Concrete Mixtures
Dr. Padmini Gudipudi (2016 – 2017) – Climate Impacts to Pavements
Dr. Kangjin ‘Caleb’ Lee (2020-2021)-Cyclic Fatigue Damage: Effects of Temperature
Dr. Jing Ding (2022) – S-VECD Model Uncertainty
Dr. Zhe “Alan” Zeng (2023-2024) – Cracking and Damage Characteization
Dr. Deepika Karanam (2024) – Resilience and Climate Change

PhD Students

Saqib Gulzar (2024) – Towards an Improved Understanding of Viscoelastic, Damage, and Healing Mechanics of Asphalt Binder Systems, North Carolina State University
Kazuo Kuchiishi (2024) – Characterization and Prediction of Modulus and Cracking Performance of Asphaltic Materials, North Carolina State University
Deepika Karanam (2023) – Determination of Pavement Condition Surveying Frequency Using Probabilistic Modeling with Bayesian Spatiotemporal Inference Techniques, North Carolina State University
Narges Matini (2023)  – Evaluation of Structural Performance of Flexible Pavements under Extreme Events, North Carolina State University.
Mayzan Isied  (2023) – Critical Assessment of Asphalt Mixture Design Procedures and Asphalt Mixture Classification Systems, North Carolina State University.
Zhe “Alan” Zeng (2023) – Critical Assessment of Asphalt Mixture Design Procedures and Asphalt Mixture Classification Systems, North Carolina State University.
Jing Ding  (2022) – Improving the Reliability of a Continuum Damage Model of Asphalt Mixture by Integrating Uncertainty Quantification and Stochastic Modeling, North Carolina State University
Amir Ghanbari (Co-Chair with Richard Kim) (2020)-Performance and Reliability Analysis of Asphalt Mixtures in Performance Related Specification (PRS), North Carolina State University
Kangjin ‘Caleb’ Lee (Co-Chair with Cassie Castorena and Richard Kim) (2020)-Development of Small Geometry for Cyclic Fatigue Testing of Asphalt, North Carolina State University
Hossein Noorvand (Co-Chair with Kamil Kaloush) (2020) – Advancing Knowledge of Mechanically-Fiber Reinforced Asphalt Concrete, Arizona State University
Kangjin Lee (Co-Chair with Richard Kim and Cassie Castorena) (2020) – Improvement in Dynamic Modulus and Cyclic Fatigue Testing of Asphalt Mixture, North Carolina State University
Yizhuang Wang (Co-Chair with Richard Kim) (2019) – Development of the Performance-Related Specification for Hot Mix Asphalt Pavements and a Performance-Engineered Asphalt Mixture Design Method Using Mechanistic Performance Models, North Carolina State University
Ramadan Salim (2019) – Asphalt Binder Parameters and their Relationship to the Linear Viscoelastic and Failure Properties of Asphalt Mixtures, Arizona State University
Akshay Gundla (2018) – Understanding Viscoelastic Behavior of Asphalt Binders Through Molecular Structure Investigation, Arizona State University
Jose Medina (Co-Chair with Dr. Kamil Kaloush) (2018) – A Simplified Pavement Condition Assessment and its Integration to a Pavement Management System, Arizona State University
Padmini Gudipudi (2016) – Investigation and Improvement in Reliability of Asphalt Concrete Fatigue Modeling using FAM, Arizona State University

MS Students

Benson Munywoki (2024) – Development of a Virtual Mean Texture Depth Estimation Method for Asphalt Concrete Using 3D Surface Scans, North Carolina State University
Taslima Elma (2024) – Assessing Climate Change Impact on Asphalt Pavements in Arizona and Implications to Aging in the US, North Carolina State University
Nate Williams (2021) – Assessment of the Variation of Asphalt Mixture Properties from Mixtures of the Same Classification, North Carolina State University
Sathish Nagarajan (2015) – Impact of Forecasted Freight Trends on Highway Pavement Infrastructure, Arizona State University
Akshay Gundla (2014) – Use of Micro-Mechanical Models to Study the Mastic Level Strucutre of Asphalt Concretes Containing RAP, Arizona State University
Jose Medina (Co-Chair with Dr. Kamil Kaloush) (2014) – Properties of Activated Crumb Rubber Modified Binders, Arizona State University
Ryan Stevens (2014) – Development of Paint Stripe Testing Protocol, Arizona State University