University of Washington

Erica Fischer Oregon State University welcomes Erica Fischer. Dr. Fischer's research interests revolve around innovative approaches to improve the resilience and robustness of structural systems affected by natural and manmade hazards. This includes performance-based design approaches of structural systems to decrease the environmental impact of the built environment on the natural environment. Her focus is on steel and composite systems and connections. These research interests are implemented through both large-scale experimental testing and numerical modeling approaches. Dr. Fischer is a member of a number of committees including the ASCE/SEI Fire Protection Committee and ASCE/SEI Sustainability Committee. She has been a member of a number of post- earthquake reconnaissance team missions including Haiti (2010), Napa (2014), and Italy (2016). Sameh Sorour University of Idaho welcomes Sameh Sorour. Dr. Sorour is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Idaho, and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Alexandria University, Egypt, in 2002 and 2006, respectively. In 2011, he obtained his Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Toronto, Canada. After two postdoctoral fellowships at University of Toronto and King Abduallah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), he joined King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in 2013 before moving to University of Idaho in 2016. His research interests lie in the broad area of advanced communications/networking/ computing/learning technologies for smart cities applications, including cyber physical systems, internet of things (IoT) and IoT-enabled systems, cloud and fog networking, network coding, device-to-device networking, autonomous driving and autonomous systems, intelligent transportation systems, and mathematical modelling and optimization for smart systems. Michael Gomez The University of Washington welcomes Michael Gomez. Dr. Gomez joins the department from the University of California, Davis, where he completed his Ph.D. in 2017. His research focuses on leveraging natural chemical and biological processes in soils to develop sustainable geotechnical ground improvement technologies, which address global environmental challenges related to population growth, climate change, and material and energy demands. In particular, Michael's research has focused on PacTrans Welcomes New Faculty the strengthening of loose and weak soils through a bio-mediated calcite precipitation process known as Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP). The process has shown the ability to mitigate infrastructure damage related to earthquake-induced soil liquefaction, immobilize divalent groundwater contaminants, and prevent soil erosion among other potential applications. Michael has examined up-scaling the bio-cementation process to field-scale using native soil microorganisms, which can enable reductions in treatment costs and process environmental impacts. His additional research interests include advanced soil characterization, in-situ testing, naturally cemented and aged geomaterials, clay surface chemistry, and non-invasive and non-destructive measurements for site characterization and subsurface reaction monitoring. Brett Maurer The University of Washington welcomes Brett Maurer. Dr. Maurer joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as assistant professor in geotechnical engineering in January 2017. Maurer received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Syracuse University in 2009 and 2011, respectively, and his PhD from Virginia Tech in 2016. Maurer's primary research focus is geotechnical earthquake engineering, including soil liquefaction, paleoseismology, life-cycle hazard mitigation, in-situ soil characterization, and post-earthquake investigation. With respect to the latter, he has performed reconnaissance and research following earthquakes in the United States and New Zealand. His contributions as a doctoral student were recognized with several awards, including Best Student Paper by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute; Best Student Presentation by the Seismological Society of America; and Best Student Poster by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Most recently, Maurer was awarded the 2016 Norman Medal, the highest honor granted by ASCE. Idil Deniz Akin Washington State University welcomes Idil Deniz Akin. Dr. Akin arrives at WSU from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests include understanding mechanisms that control the physiochemical, mechanical, and hydraulic behavior of saturated and unsaturated soils. She has received travel awards from the National Science Foundation and the Clay Minerals Society. She was recently selected to participate in the MIT Rising Stars Workshop. She received her B.S. from Middle East Technical University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 8 Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium

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