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Geotechnical and Materials Engineering (GME)
The geotechnical and materials engineering program focuses on a wide variety of topics for
development and use of soil and construction materials. Areas for geotechnical engineering
include foundations, landslides, retaining walls, soil-structure interaction, geosynthetics, geo-
environmental, groundwater flow and transport, subsidence, soil dynamics and earthquake
engineering. Areas for materials engineering include a wide range of concrete-related research
topics, including durability and sustainability of concrete infrastructure, novel high performance
cementitious materials, and non-destructive evaluation of civil infrastructure. Pavement
engineering emphasizes advanced modeling and testing of transportation materials,
bituminous material characterization, pavement design and management, accelerated and full-
scale pavement testing, and pavement construction and rehabilitation.
Tong Qiu, P.E., Professor, 116 Sackett Bldg., tuq1@psu.edu, 814-863-7305. Geotechnical
engineering, soil dynamics, flow through porous media, fluid-solid interaction, landslides, and
numerical methods in geotechnical engineering.
Aleksandra Radlińska, Associate Professor, 231D Sackett Bldg., azr172@psu.edu, 814-865-9427.
Cement and concrete in sustainable design, alternative binders, construction materials with
reduced CO
2
emission, durability, shrinkage, cracking of concrete, reliability-based analysis of the
behavior of construction materials.
Farshad Rajabipour, Professor, 231M Sackett Bldg., fxr10@psu.edu, 814-863-0601. Concrete
materials, durability, alkali-silica reaction, green cements and concretes, novel pozzolans,
beneficial use of coal combustion products.
Mansour Solaimanian, Research Professor and Director of the Northeast Center for Excellence
in Pavement Technology (NECEPT), 201 Transportation Research Building, mus1@psu.edu, 814-
863-1903. Bituminous materials including recycled and new materials in pavements.
Shelley M. Stoffels, P.E., Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty, 208 Sackett Bldg.,
[email protected]du
, 814-865-7254. Pavement design and rehabilitation, infrastructure asset management, geotechnical engineering, engineering economics, professional practice issues.
Ming Xiao, P.E., Associate Professor, 231P Sackett Bldg., mxz102@psu.edu, 814-867-0044.
Seepage and erosion, particle transport and multi-phase flow and distribution in porous media,
microscopic soil and pore fluid behaviors under in-situ and physicochemically and biologically
treated conditions, performance of earth structures for in-service conditions and extreme events,
innovative and recycled materials and their engineering applications.
Kaleigh Yost, L. Robert and Mary L. Kimball Early Career Assistant Professor, 231G Sackett Bldg.,
kmy5305@psu.edu, 814-863-4384.