Research Team

Post-Doctoral Associates

Dr. Heena Dhasmana (Oct 2020- May 2022)

Heena received her Ph. D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Heena has been working in the field of asphalt pavement engineering since 2009. She is passionate about asphalt research and has completed projects on flexible pavement maintenance, asphalt material characterization, alternative asphalt materials, and micromechanical modeling of asphalt pavements. She has been awarded funding for her innovative research ideas, and she continues to search for concepts that can further improve the quality of asphalt concrete pavement construction and enhance the durability of flexible pavements. At UMD, Heena was involved with research projects from both asphalt and concrete areas. She managed lab work, performed advanced tests, and prepared technical reports and articles. Currently, Dr. Dhasmana works as an Assistant Professor of Research and Program Manager for the Tran-SET University Transportation Center at Louisiana State University.

Dr. Uma M. Arepalli (Jan 2018-Mar 2019)

Uma graduated with his Ph.D. in civil engineering (pavement engineering) from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Worcester, MA, USA, in Dec 2017. He has a master’s degree from IIT (BHU) Varanasi, India, and professional work experience as an assistant professor for three years and as an engineer for a year prior to his Ph.D. His doctoral research focused on developing a methodology to screen moisture susceptible hot mix asphalt mixes. He worked as a postdoctoral associate at UMD from Jan 2018 to Mar 2019. At UMD, Uma worked on a couple of externally funded projects in the asphalt pavement area. Uma was instrumental in the successful completion of the project: Cost/Benefit Analysis of the Effectiveness of Crack Sealing Techniques, which developed decision trees for the selection of crack sealants for asphalt pavements. Uma participated in project proposal preparation, article writing, and project meetings. Currently, Dr. Arepalli worked as a research engineer in the MaineDOT office of pavement design and quality, Augusta, ME, USA. In Jan 2021, he joined the SRM, Amaravati, AP in India as an assistant professor.

Researchers (R3s)

Amarjeet Tiwari (Nov 2019-Dec 2020)

Amarjeet completed his M. Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT). His thesis work was jointly advised by Prof. Animesh Das (IITK) and Prof. Manik Barman. At UMD, Amarjeet worked on the NRRA-funded project: Performance benefits of fiber-reinforced thin concrete pavement and overlays. Amarjeet has an excellent understanding of pavement mechanics and finite element modeling. He has been instrumental in modeling MnROAD FRC pavement sections for the above-mentioned research project.

Jared Munch (Oct 2019-Present)

Jared has worked with Dr. Barman as a graduate student between July 2017 and Dec 2019. Jared has worked on the project: Cost/Benefit Analysis of the Effectiveness of Crack Sealing Techniques; he was instrumental in studying the performance of different types of crack seals for asphalt pavements. In his thesis work, Jared made a significant effort to develop a crack sealant test procedure that can test sealants simulating their field conditions. He is currently working as a Marine/Coastal Engineer. Jared also works (part-time) for UMD's pavement research group as a Researcher 3 and conducts advanced pavement material tests and trains new students and staff. Jared is very popular for his paddleboard voyage from Duluth Minnesota to the Arctic Ocean and for circumnavigating the Lake Superior on his paddleboard.

Graduate Students

Rohith Sabu (Jan 2023-present)

Manick Chakraborty (Aug 2022-present)

Vishruthi Manickavasagan (Jan 2022-present)

Pranav Sharma (Aug 2021-present)

Pranav received his Master's degree in Civil Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Agartala, India. Before joining UMD in 2019, he worked in a Highway Consultancy firm in India. His research interests are focused on pavement analysis, design, pavement materials, and fiber-reinforced concrete. Pranav works on the NRRA-funded project: Towards the Development of Pavement-Specific Structural Synthetic Fibers.

Austin Janson (Jan 2021 - December 2022)

Austin received his Bachelor's degree in Applied Physics from St John's University, MN. At UMD, his research focused on Concrete Pavement Engineering, and he worked on the MnDOT-funded project: Establishing Fresh Properties of Fiber Reinforced Concrete for Performance Engineered Mixture (PEM). Austin in UMD news: https://news.d.umn.edu/articles/austin-janson-2022

Daniel Begin (Jan 2020 -present)

Daniel works on the project: Optimizing Asphalt Mixture Designs for Low-Volume Roads of Minnesota. Before joining the group as a graduate student, Daniel completed his BS Civil Engineering degree from UMD. Daniel has good knowledge on asphalt mix design. His MS project work focuses on the low-volume road asphalt mixture design.

Souvik Roy (Aug 2019 - July 2021)

Souvik received his Master's degree in Civil Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Agartala, India in 2018. Before joining UMD in 2019, he worked as an Assistant Highway Manager in a Highway Design Consultancy in India. His research interests are focused on pavement analysis, design, pavement materials, and fiber reinforced concrete. Souvik works on the NRRA-funded project: Performance benefits of fiber-reinforced thin concrete pavement and overlays. Souvik is the recipient of the Matthew J. Huber Award (2021), awarded by the Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota.

Alieu Kamara (Aug 2019 - present)

Alieu received his Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the Minnesota State University Mankato. He came to Grad school to further develop his skills and open up additional professional opportunities that he is eager to pursue. Alieu has previous work experience in conducting traffic studies, completing multi-modal traffic and safety analysis for intersections/corridors, preparing technical documents, developing CAD drawings, conducting transportation modeling and studying traffic flow, and developing concepts for roadway restriping retrofits and safety improvement projects, and completing construction inspections. At UMD, his research focus is on Concrete Pavement Engineering, and he currently works on the MnDOT funded project: Establishing Fresh Properties of Fiber Reinforced Concrete for Performance Engineered Mixture (PEM)

Giselle Irankunda (Jan 2019 - present)

Giselle received her Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She works on the project: Optimizing Asphalt Mixture Designs for Low-Volume Roads of Minnesota. Giselle has good knowledge on asphalt mix design, mix preparation, sample preparation, and conducting asphalt tests. Her MS project work focuses on the low-volume road asphalt mixture design.

Corey Crick (Jul 2018 - Dec 2019)

Corey received his Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from UMD before joining the group as an MS student. Corey worked on the NRRA funded project: Performance benefits of fiber-reinforced thin concrete pavement and overlays. Currently, he works as a Civil Structural Engineer I in Lake Superior Consulting.

Bryce Hansen (Jun 2016 - Jan 2018)

Bryce received his Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from UMD before joining the group as an MS student. Bryce worked on the MnDOT funded project: Comparison of Performances of Structural Fibers and Development of a Specification for Using Them in Thin Concrete Overlays Currently, he works as a Structural Engineer in Barr Engineering

Under Graduate Students

o Zane zbacnik (2022- present)*

o Justin Hull (2022- present)*

o Mathew Arditio (2021)*

o Nathaniel Techau (2021)*

o Jensen Rice (2021)*

o Roderick Ierien (2021-2022)*

o Miranda Dewaard (2020)*

o Alex Mamer (2020)*

o Emily Schaeffer (2020)*

o Trent Blum (2020)*

o Josh Comstock (2019)*

o Katie Padden (2019)*

o Matthew Henderson, UROP (2019)

o Jakob Bauer (2018 – present)*

o Matthew Brettingen, UROP (2018 – 2019, completed)

o Morgen Moeen, UROP (2018 – 2019, completed)*

o Noah Tapper (2017 – 2018, completed)*

o Lucas Kari (2017 – 2018, completed)*

o Corey Crick, UROP (2017 –2018, completed)*

o Taylor Brennecke, UROP (2017 – 2018, completed).

o Joshua Benolken (2016 – 2017, completed)*

o Jake Pilz, UROP (2016 – 2017, completed)*

o Sam Butler, UROP (2016 – 2017, completed)*

* Works/worked in my externally funded projects; UROP: Under-graduate Research Opportunity Program