Graduate students research and "posters" in Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering poster competition

CSEE poster competition participants during the winner announcement at the annual graduate student association poster competition.

By Peter Murphy

Published March 1, 2021

A civil engineering student, environmental and water resources engineering student and a structural engineering student earn the top three spots in the Department’s annual graduate student poster competition.

New take on a tradition

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Due to the ongoing pandemic, the Department held its poster competition virtually for the first time ever. While the format needed to be adjusted, faculty, staff and students were just as enthusiastic about the event and the researchers presenting work. Five graduate students presented representing different disciplines throughout the Department. The top three presenters were Abhishek Pathak (first place), Hamed Khorasani (second place) and Homero Carrion (third place). 

The Department’s Graduate Student Association (GSA) organizes and manages the competition each year. The 2021 GSA president Hyunmyung Kim worked with senators in the association to transform the traditional poster format into something that could succeed in a virtual setting. Typically, students develop posters similar to those presented at different research competition. Students and their posters are set up in different stations. Each student has an opportunity to deliver a quick explanation of their poster to faculty judges and other spectators who stop by. This year, students were encouraged to develop presentations in a “4+1” format: a four-slide PowerPoint that could easily be converted into a poster.

Pathak’s first place presentation titled MCBTE: A Monte Carlo solver for Phonon Boltzmann transport equation applied to meso-scale heat conduction highlighted his work to develop an engineering tool simulating transient and steady-state thermal transport. 

Khorasani was the only environmental and water resources engineering student to enter the competition and earned second place for his presentation, Modeling the Wastewater-and Non-Wastewater-Derived Haloacetonitriles Formation Potential in the Illinois River Basin. This project develops a water quality model to predict concentration levels of some toxic disinfection by-products present in some drinking water. 

Carrion’s project Achieving Seismic Resilience Bridges by using BRB in Bidirectional Ductile end Diaphragms – Longitudinal behavior examines dynamic analyses on multi-span bridges with bi-directional ductile diaphragm consisting of buckling restrained brace (BRBs). BRBs can provide resilient bridges with damage-free columns, at low cost, while minimizing displacements demands to levels that can be easily accommodated. 

All participants received a monetary prize. Pathak will represent the Department in some capacity during the University-wide event.