Ph.D. Student Researchers
Hope Hall Becker
As a fourth-year Ph.D. Graduate Research Assistant in Civil Engineering, my time at Oklahoma State has been filled with creativity, innovation, new knowledge and personal growth.
My doctoral research has included:
▫ Developing a machine learning algorithm to improve the accuracy of a concrete testing method to determine the freeze thaw resistance of concrete.
▫ Creating a new algorithm to give immediate feedback to the industry to help them more efficiently design freeze thaw durable concrete.
▫ Studying the impact of high and low alkali cement, different fly ashes, shrinkage reducing admixtures, and superplasticizers on the freeze thaw durability of concrete.
▫ Dropping concrete mixtures from various heights (5-feet, 10-feet, and 20-feet) to study how impact affects the quality and efficiency of the air void system.
▫ Using X-ray Micro-Computed Tomography to study how concrete is damaged from salts.
Throughout my time at Oklahoma State University, I have gained experience as a student, researcher, mentor, and adjunct instructor. Managing and guiding over 100 undergraduate students in research and academics has helped me develop an understanding of the importance of communication, collaboration, and teamwork to achieve success.
Jaehong Kim
I am a Ph.D. candidate in civil engineering and my advisor is Dr. Shan. My current field of research is to explore and analyze factors related to fire safety on construction sites.
I apply various approaches to my research, such as big data analysis and machine learning,
to determine the risk of fires on construction sites and improve fire safety. Also,
I try to analyze fire safety on construction sites from various perspectives through
surveys of firefighters who are not classified as traditional stakeholders of construction
projects.
I graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in architectural engineering in South Korea. The bachelor's thesis focused on evacuation in a high-rise building, and the master's thesis focused on fire and evacuation in monorail systems. Also, I worked as a researcher developing BIM-based building evacuation simulations for 3 years at a building-related software development company. My research has always dealt with fire and evacuation in architectural and civil environments. The goal of my research is to highlight the risks of fire and evacuation at these various sites and to improve the safety of those sites.
Wenyao Liu
I am a third year Ph.D. student in civil engineering focusing on the pavement and transportation. Enthusiastic in a sustainable transportation system, my research has involved pavement materials, cracking mechanisms, transportation management, and roadway safety.
With the Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) position provided by the school of Civil
Engineering, I won the opportunity to continue in-depth studies, conduct cutting-edge
research and participate engineering-valuable projects in state and national level.
As an international student from China, I appreciate the welcoming and inclusive and
inclusive environment in Oklahoma State University. I am always encouraged and supported
to learn new techniques and theories and explore their possibility for engineering
application. My research will utilize statistical methods and big data analytics
for analyzing the transportation data in Oklahoma and nationwide to evaluate the influencing
factors and compare the countermeasures in improving roadway safety. In addition,
in an era of automatic driving and connected vehicles, I am also exploring collecting
vehicle data and applying crowdsourcing data techniques for pavement condition and
safety improvement.
Md. Fazle Rabbi
I am Md. Fazle Rabbi, born in a small South Asian developing country named Bangladesh. My ultimate career goal is to conduct cutting-edge research in the fields of Transportation Geotechnics and Railroad/Pavement Engineering.
I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. degree at Oklahoma State University under the supervision of Dr. Deb Mishra. I joined OSU in August, 2019. Before that I obtained a master’s degree from Boise State University under Dr. Mishra’s supervision. I moved to OSU in 2019 with Dr. Mishra. Throughout my graduate studies, my academic and research performance has helped me secure several scholarships, fellowships, mentorships, and awards including Geosynthetic Institute Fellowships (2020~2021), Kerry & Roberta Havner scholarships (2020~2021 and 2021~2022), Itasca Education Program (IEP) mentorship (2020~2021). Moreover, my master’s thesis at Boise State University was recognized as the Distinguished Thesis in STEM category for the year 2018-2019. My Ph.D. research involves the application of computational mechanics to study the behavior of railroad track structures under loading. I use numerical modeling tools such as the Finite Element Method (FEM) and Discrete Element Method (DEM) for my research. The numerical models are validated through laboratory and field instrumentation data.
Saurav Shrestha
I am a Ph.D. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the Oklahoma State University Stillwater specializing in Construction Engineering and Management.
My current work pursues to research on an application of Augmented Reality technology
in Engineering Education to improve the online learners’ experience. I hope that my
research will help develop a framework required for implementation of the advanced
technology as a pedagogical tool in Civil Engineering Education and help improve learners’
motivation, and achievement.
I earned my bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Tribhuvan University, Nepal and a master’s degree in Civil Engineering (specializing Structural Engineering) from the Southern Illinois University Carbondale. In my spare time, I love playing guitar and enjoy landscape photography.