Who We Are? 

Dr. Shenghua Wu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil, Coastal, and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Alabama (USA). He was a Senior Sustainability Research Engineer in Illinois Center for Transportation. His research areas include solid waste recycling, materials characterization, design of smart, resilient and sustainable materials for civil infrastructure, pavement performance evaluation and modeling, design, and maintenance, as well as STEM education. He teaches a mixture of undergraduate and graduate engineering courses in the USA. 

Dr. Wu is a committee member for Transportation Research Board (TRB) AJE35 and AKM 90, a member of American Society of Civil Engineer (ASCE), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), and Academy of Pavement Science and Engineering (APSE), as well as an editorial member for Journal of Testing and Evaluation and International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology. He serves panel member for several national research projects, NSF, and DOE. He is also a registered professional engineer (PE) in Alabama and a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional (AP). 

Dr. Dizbay-Onat joined William B. Burnsed, Jr. Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering faculty at the University of South Alabama in 2019. Her primary research interests are filtration materials that are derived from sustainable materials and their applications such as water purification, energy storage, and sound absorption. With the emergence of high demand for filtration materials, these research areas have gained increasing research interests and special importance due to carbon footprint reduction and being environmentally friendly.

Dr. Dizbay-Onat holds master’s degrees in both physics and electrical and computer engineering from Auburn University.  She received her Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She has ample experience in community and environmental education. She was a postdoctoral scholar at the College of Arts and Science at UAB that focuses on advancing K-12 science education in the Birmingham area and throughout the state and nation by developing programs that will decrease the regional, racial, and gender disparity in science, math, and engineering. She is a member of the Tau Beta Pi Honor Society and the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE). Outside of professional interests, she loves swimming, diamond painting, traveling, and enjoys strolling along the beach.

Dr. Kaushik Venkiteshwaran is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Coastal and Environmental Engineering at University of South Alabama. He obtained his doctoral degree in Civil Engineering from Marquette University in 2016, and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Marquette University for 5 years. His research expertise is in Environmental Biotechnology, i.e.  developing novel biological processes to promote resource and energy recovery during waste and wastewater treatment. 

Based in Mobile, Alabama glass artist Matthew Patterson has been creating work for over fifteen years that emphasizes beauty and a reverence for the natural world. As a full-time assistant professor at the University of South Alabama’s Glass Arts Program experimentation is intrinsic to his job. His studio work encompasses many techniques, from classical glass blown vessels to explorations in figurative sculpture employing a wide range of applications in glass, wood, metal, and other mixed media.

His art work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has received a number of rewards. Recent highlights include Best in Show at the international AASH Vol 5. Exhibition at the Arcadia Theatre in Tyler, TX in 2021, 1st place in Sculpture at the 25th Arts North International exhibition at the Hopkins Center for the Arts in Minnesota in 2020, and Best in Show at Weber Arts for the 2019 Open Theme International exhibition in St. Louis.

Dr. Heather Dylla is the Vice President of Sustainability and Innovation at Construction Partners Incorporated, an asphalt roadway construction, and maintenance company. She has a long history of leading sustainability in the transportation industry including initiatives that incorporate principles of life cycle thinking into the design and decision-making process. 

Her experience includes working with both government agencies and industry in developing programs to reduce the embodied carbon of our transportation infrastructure.  Major accomplishments under her leadership include developing the first U.S. Environmental Product Declarations Program for asphalt mixtures also known as the NAPA Emerald Eco-Label and FHWA’s LCA Pave, an LCA tool for infrastructure.