Focus areas
- Construction engineering and management
- Environmental engineering
- Structural engineering
- Transportation research
Construction engineering and management
We live in a changing world. With the COVID19 pandemic and new social and cultural imperatives for equity in infrastructure, there is no doubt that new skills in managing construction projects is a part of adapting to this change.
Join us here in the Construction Engineering Management program here at Wayne State University, where you can work toward a Masters of Science or Ph. D. in Civil Engineering with a concentration in construction engineering management. We offer a blend of contemporary courses in the business, management, technology, and materials aspects of the construction management area. MSCE students can work with faculty advisors to evolve a Masters Thesis; and for Ph.D. students, develop the traditional Dissertation.
Each focus on technical skills, and management tools in planning, design, and construction of projects so that students are ready for leadership careers in the construction industry.
Research efforts in construction engineering and management have encompassed:
- Defect detection and prevention for quality management
- Post-disaster recovery plan through coordination of specialized funding to specific repairs and repair sequencing
- Risk analysis by data mining and predictive modeling
- Root cause analysis using decision tree analysis
- Integrated training program and effectiveness evaluation for skilled workforce development
- Project controls optimization
- Incorporating emerging technologies (Building Information Modeling and mixed reality) to construction projects for schedule, cost, quality, and safety improvement
Faculty advisor:
Environmental engineering
Where does Environmental Engineering fit in to your career plans?
Let's start with the fact that civil engineering involves the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of the infrastructure that provides us with essential services. However, this same infrastructure puts pressure on our environment: the soils we use for supporting buildings and growing food, the water that we need to support aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, the air that we breathe, what to do with the wastes that are produced in everyday life as we know it.
The most familiar area of environmental engineering is how pollution affects our soil and landscapes, water, and air. It is the job of the environmental engineer to innovate and maintain common infrastructure, transportation networks so that their load on the environment is minimized, to conserve resources, and protect natural ecosystems from damage. In this way, we work in the general areas of sustainability (how to simultaneously meet social equity, economic stability, and environmental quality objectives) and resilience (building capacity in infrastructure to withstand stresses and bounce back from these). In this way, environmental engineers work toward preventing problems before they happen; call it preventative planning at the city level.
In our program, you will get a comprehensive preparation in both the civil and environmental components of our practice. Courses include: design and operation of water treatment and drinking water distribution systems, wastewater collection and treatment systems, industrial waste treatment, surface and groundwater hydraulics and hydrology, biogeochemistry, stormwater management, air quality engineering, modeling hydraulic and hydrologic systems, systems analysis and sustainability, and integrated waste management.
Faculty research projects include: sources, sinks and cycling of microplastics in the urban environment; fate and transport of contaminants in urban soils, agroecosystems; drinking water distribution and quality; air quality monitoring toward improved calibration of relevant models and accounting for dynamic climate factors; reclamation of rare-earth metals from waste streams; assessment of urban soils for hydraulic characteristics to define role of these soils in urban water cycles; stormwater management; groundwater mapping and modeling.
Faculty advisors:
Structural engineering
Our structural engineering group maintains a high-quality stable of externally-funded research projects that cut across materials and contemporary structural practice and innovation, addressing critical infrastructure needs. In addition to existing facilities, our new Structural Engineering Laboratory, located in Highland Park, Michigan, puts our department in the top-tier of research-supportive infrastructure.
Repair of Bridge Deck Fascias Funded by the Michigan Department of Transportation
The structures group in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Wayne State University is currently working on a research project to develop effective preventive maintenance and repair strategies for deteriorated bridge deck fascias. The objectives of the project are:
- Identify the main cause of deck fascia deterioration.
- Develop maintenance alternatives to scaling deck fascias.
- Identify current design details contributing to fascia deterioration and develop corrective measures.
- Develop best practices for long-term repair options of deteriorated fascias without removing the traffic barrier.
- Develop best practices in design, construction, and preventive maintenance to prevent deck fascia deterioration from occurring.
Proposed AASHTO Guideline for Load Rating of Segmental Bridges Funded by NCHRP through Auburn University
The structures group in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Wayne State University is currently working on a research project in collaboration with Auburn University, Rutgers University, Parsons, and Corven Engineering to propose guidelines for load rating concrete segmental bridges.
The primary objective of this research is to develop procedures that can be used to accurately and reasonably determine the capacity as well as load demand on segmental bridges such that load rating factors can be appropriately calculated. Specific objectives include:
- Develop a proposed AASHTO Guideline for load rating segmental bridges that is consistent with LRFR;
- Propose revisions for the AASHTO Manual for Bridge Evaluation (including LFR and LRFR) and any necessary related revisions to the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications; and
- Develop detailed rating examples with supporting training materials to demonstrate the proposed guideline and revisions to AASHTO specifications.
Rare Earths from US Extractions Funded by US Army Corps of Engineers
Dr. Menkulasi is serving as a faculty investigator in a research project led by Drs. Allen and Dittrich whose goal is to develop a U.S. Rare Earth Element (REE) supply chain as well as a responsible handling of waste streams. As part of this project, fly ash has been identified as a potential source for extracting REE, which although relatively plentiful in Earth's crust, are not often found concentrated in large ore deposits. It is unclear, however, whether the fly ash residue created as a result of REE extraction can still serve as a cementitious material or as an ingredient of cementitious composite mixtures, which are widely used in the construction industry. Dr. Menkulasi and his students aim to characterize the properties of cementitious composite mixtures that feature the fly ash residue with the goal of identifying avenues for its use in the construction industry.
MDOT Center of Excellence
The structures group in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has been recently awarded a proposal to establish and maintain a Center of Excellence in Structural Durability by the Michigan Department of Transportation. The Center is structured to provide solutions to durability-related concerns by developing and synthesizing advanced research results on materials, design, construction, repair, and maintenance of highway structures, primarily bridges, in order to prolong service life.
Faculty advisors:
Transportation research
Founded in 1973, the Wayne State University Transportation Research Group (TRG) comprises research by renowned transportation experts who are involved in the development, implementation, and evaluation of transportation innovations on a local, state, and national level. This research covers a broad spectrum of initiatives, which integrate policies and programs involving engineering, education, and enforcement.
Past and ongoing research topics include: highway and transit safety evaluation, highway risk management, GIS applications in highway and transit, transit vehicle replacement strategies, railroad grade crossing safety, traffic calming strategies, ITS applications on highway and transit operation, transit management information systems, transit seat belt usage, transit wheel chair lifts, travel demand models, bicycle safety, mobility performance measurement, and utilization of connected vehicle data.