People

Major Advisor: Carlos M. Chang, Ph.D., P.E: An Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University (FIU). Prior to joining FIU in August 2020, Dr. Chang worked as an Associate Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), Associate Researcher at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), and international consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and engineering companies in road projects overseas. He is a licensed professional engineer in Florida, Texas, and Perú.

Dr. Chang is recognized as a global expert on infrastructure with a focus on pavements and bridges. His research work is dedicated to the development of innovative concepts, models, methods, and tools that integrate sustainability principles with civil engineering practices to preserve infrastructure systems. Principal Investigator (PI) of more than 30 research projects with a total budget over $12 Million, Dr. Chang’s research projects have been sponsored by the National Highway Cooperative Research Program (NCHRP), Metropolitan Transportation Commission in California (MTC), Accelerated Bridge Construction Center (ABC), Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), and the City of El Paso. His research contributions are documented in more than 200 publications in books, journals, conference proceedings, and technical reports.

Dr. Chang has received the International Road Federation Fellowship and iSMARTi Achievement Award for Outstanding Service. Three-times recipient of the “Engineering Award for Connecting Professional Practice and Education” by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) and honored with the Excellence Award of the Texas Society of Professional Engineering for promoting professional practice through education. Driven by passion for education, Dr. Chang has developed and taught over 20 courses for both academic and professional training.

At present, Dr. Chang is the President of the International Society of Transportation Infrastructure (iSMARTi) , Chair of the Asset Management Task Force of the International Road Federation (IRF), Delegate of the Ibero-Latin American Asphalt Congress in the US (Congreso Ibero-Latino Americano del Asfalto, CILA), and former Chair of Infrastructure Systems Commitee of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ISC - ASCE).

Abid Hossain: A Graduate Research Assistant at FIU joined in Spring 2021. He completed his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2017. After graduation, he was an Executive Engineer for three years with Orion Group, a leading construction company in Bangladesh where he applied practical knowledge on construction techniques using for design and management. His research interests are in Transportation Planning, Construction Management, Asset Management and Data Analysis.

Syeda Lamiya Mahnaz: Is pursuing PhD in Civil Engineering at Florida International University (FIU) with an emphasis on transportation engineering. Lamiya achieved her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering on September 2017 from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). After graduation she worked as a Geotechnical Engineer in a project of “Seismic micro zonation and Risk sensitive land use planning of Dhaka city”. She has been working with Dr. Chang since August 2021. Her research interest is on sustainability and resilience in transportation.