Civil Engineering Experts Available for Infrastructure Insight

Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering has an extensive roster of civil engineering experts who can provide insight on President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal, known as the American Jobs Plan.

Expert profiles, along with pull quotes relevant to each professor’s specific areas of expertise, can be accessed via links provided in the roster, below. The entire package can be accessed through ASU Infrastructure Expert Dropbox.

Ram Pendyala

• Professor & Director, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment (SSEBE)
• Director, TOMNET University Transportation Center
• Expertise: Transportation systems engineering and modeling; travel demand analysis and management; transportation infrastructure planning and economics
• Ram Pendyala Profile & Quotes Dropbox Folder

Narayanan Neithalath

• Professor, SSEBE
• Expertise: Concrete materials; structural engineering including novel materials, process and systems for buildings; infrastructure
• Narayanan Neithalath Profile & Quotes Dropbox Folder

Anthony Lamanna

• Associate Professor, SSEBE
• Expertise: Roads and bridges; waterways, ports and ferry systems; housing; buried infrastructure
• Anthony Lamanna Profile & Quotes Dropbox Folder

Braden Allenby

• Lincoln Professor of Engineering and Ethics, SSEBE
• Expertise: Environmental engineering; industrial ecology; sustainable engineering; earth systems engineering and management; emerging technologies
• Braden Allenby Profile & Quotes Dropbox Folder

Margaret Garcia

• Assistant Professor, SSEBE
• Expertise: Reservoirs, dams, and water conveyance infrastructure; stormwater management; flood control infrastructure
• Margaret Garcia Profile & Quotes Dropbox Folder

Samuel Ariaratnam

• Professor, Beavers-Ames Chair in Heavy Construction, SSEBE
• Expertise: Infrastructure management and rehabilitation; trenchless construction methods; urban infrastructure renewal
• Co-author of the book, Horizontal Directional Drilling Good Practices Guidelines; best practices of installing underground utilities using this technology
• Samuel Ariaratnam Profile & Quotes Dropbox Folder

Matthew Fraser

• Professor, SSEBE
• Expertise: Industry; innovation and infrastructure; sustainable solutions for the built environment; energy efficiency and conservation•
• Matthew Fraser Profile & Quotes Dropbox Folder

Mounir El Asmar

• Associate Professor, SSEBE
• Expertise: Industry; innovation and infrastructure; energy efficiency and conservation; whole team project decision-making
• Mounir El Asmar Profile & Quotes Dropbox Folder

Braden Allenby and Mikhail Chester are co-authors of the book:

• The Rightful Place of Science: Infrastructure in the Anthropocene, an examination of the reality and complexity of today’s infrastructure. 
• Rightful Place of Science Book Dropbox Folder

Background:

Every four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers publishes a Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. This comprehensive assessment evaluates the performance and capacity of our national road network, rail system, bridges, ports, drinking water, wastewater and other key resources.

Results are consistently gloomy. For more than two decades, the United States has averaged “D” grades on these engineering report cards. The 2021 report shows a “C-minus,” which indicates improvement. But the ASCE notes that our national infrastructure still suffers grave shortcomings that represent risks to America’s economy, security and public health.

“Funding infrastructure is a significant problem in part because we’ve let deficiencies accumulate over time. We spend only when we have to fix something,” said Brad Allenby, a President’s Professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. “Of course, that is a very expensive way to manage infrastructure. It means that we’re always tackling significant problems, whether it’s roads that become essentially impassable because of potholes or fragmentation of the power grid, the consequences of which Texas suffered very recently. We continually ‘fix’ our infrastructure systems, but we don’t invest to bring them up to necessary standards. That needs to change.”

Read the full article.

To schedule an interview with any of ASU’s infrastructure experts, contact:

• Theresa Grant
• Sr. Media Relations Officer, Engineering
• [email protected]