CEGE News Roundup, Fall 2025
Department / University News
The US News and World Report Rankings came out in April 2025. CEGE has a lot to brag about! Our Environmental Engineering program is ranked at 15 and our Civil Engineering is ranked 20 among programs at public institutions.
Something to celebrate! For the first time, the University of Minnesota ranked first among U.S. institutions in two categories in the Times Higher Ed (THE) Impact Rankings: clean water, and health and well-being. The University of Minnesota was fifth in the U.S. overall and in the top 10% worldwide. THE evaluated 2,526 universities, comparing their teaching, research, outreach, and stewardship that support a more sustainable, equitable, and healthy future. The University of Minnesota ranked among the top five in the U.S. for its work related to Clean water (No. 1 in the U.S., tied for No. 16 in the world), Health and well-being (No. 1 in the U.S., tied for 54 in the world), Climate action (No. 3 in the U.S., tied for No. 70 in the world), Zero hunger (No. 4 in the U.S., 34 in the world), Partnerships for the Goals (No. 3 in the U.S.). Many CEGE faculty work in areas related to these points of pride and are responsible for this excellence.
The staff in CEGE also embrace the value of service to our society. Administrator CHAR PSIHOS is a veteran herself and now serves as a hospice volunteer at the Minneapolis Veteran’s administration Hospital. Her work was featured in the VA hospital newsletter.
SPECIAL LECTURE INVITATION: Please join the ASCE-MN SEI Chapter for a AISC TR Higgins lecture, “Achieving Excellence in Fabricated Steel” with Ronnie Medlock. This lecture is free to attend and one professional development hour is available. Both students and practitioners are welcome! October 29, 2025, 4–5pm, Twin Cities Campus, Rapson Hall 100. Register through ASCE.
The CEGE Professional Advisory Board welcomes a new chair and three new board members. MARCUS THOMAS, (PE, BCE 1994) Vice President of Emerging Markets & Services and Senior Principal at Bolton & Menk has been appointed as Board Chair for the CEGE Professional Advisory Board. As chair, Thomas leads a group of 13 CEGE alumni who advise the department leadership on curriculum, student recruitment strategies, and internship and job placement programs, ensuring graduates are well prepared to enter the workforce.
The three new members joined the Advisory board this fall: CHAD MILLNER (PE, BCE 2000) Director of Engineering, City of Edina; MIKE SPACK (PE, BCE 1996) CEO Spack Holdings; and MICHAEL STEENSON (PE, BCE 1995) President, ERA Structural Engineering.
Returning board members: Laura Amundson, Jon Chiglo (WSB), Christie Kearney (NewRange Copper Nickel), Katrina Kessler (MN Pollution Control Agency), Daniel Murphy (MBJ), Robert Osburn (Barr Engineering), Eric Sellman (Meyer Contracting), Sean Swartz (Braun Intertec), and Jean Wallace (MnDOT).
The CEGE front office got a face lift over the summer. Our thanks to the Algot Johnson fund, which was established by the Al Johnson Construction Co. to maintain facilities within the Civil Engineering Building. The new space looks open, trendy, and welcoming. The space is more usable and supplies new space for faculty to meet with students for office hours, review, or study sessions.
Faculty News
ARDESHIR EBTEHAJ received a research grant from NASA in collaboration with the Goddard Space Flight Center. As the Arctic permafrost thaws, new ecological risks and opportunities emerge. His study aims to expand the short- and long-term predictability of ecohydrological transformations in North America's Arctic Boreal Zone (ABZ) under sporadic pulses heatwaves.
STEFANO GONELLA was elected Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for his fundamental contributions to the field of wave propagation in architected media and elastic metamaterials. His research accomplishments include fundamental advances in phononics, and innovative engineering applications, including the use of metamaterials to program droplet motions on vibrating surfaces and the use of Lego® brick-enabled reconfigurable metamaterial prototypes to achieve intuitive demonstrations of complex wave control phenomena.
What happens when engineers and artists team up? Students (in STEM and policy programs) improve their critical and creative thinking skills and are better able to work on teams. Read about this exciting approach in the open access article in Environmental Engineering Science by BILL ARNOLD and PAIGE NOVAK.
QIZHI HE, Assistant Professor in CEGE and Affiliated Faculty with the Data Science Initiative, has begun research on a 3M-sponsored seed project. 3M selected five projects in total, including He’s project, “Designing Micro-Phase Separated Polymer Systems Using Machine Learning and Meso-Scale Simulation.” Qizhi He is developing a GenAI model to encode and generate microphase morphologies. The goal is to validate the model by comparing its generated data against simulation results using a generic copolymer system. If successful, his work will provide a strong foundation for securing external funding and advancing multiscale modeling objectives, including microstructure-informed property upscaling, inverse design of tailored polymer systems, and deeper insights into processing-structure-property relationships.
MIKI HONDZO was named ASCE MN 2025 Outstanding Engineer of the Year, indicating that his work has significant practical applications in addressing societal challenges related to environmental and water resource issues.
ALIREZA KHANI gave a plenary talk in the Modeling Mobility (MoMo) conference on September 17 on the topic “Transit in Greater Minnesota: Ridership Trends and Technological Opportunities.” The national conference was hosted at UMN McNamara Alumni Center.
MICHAEL LEVIN has been selected to receive the 2025 Alfred Noble Prize for his paper, “Max-Pressure Traffic Signal Timing: A Summary of Methodological and Experimental Results,” Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems, January 2023. It will be awarded during the Society’s Annual Convention in Seattle, Washington, in October 2025.
JOSEPH LABUZ has been awarded a Distinguished Professorship from the College of Science and Engineering. Labuz teaches courses in geoengineering and is co-director of the Center for Geo-processes in Mineral Carbon Storage (GMCS), which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs). His research focuses on experimental geomechanics.
MIHAI MARASTEANU (pictured) was awarded the Richard P. Braun Distinguished Service Award for his outstanding leadership in research and innovation. With colleagues from other universities, Marasteanu led two major national pooled-fund studies on low-temperature cracking in asphalt pavements, which made a significant step toward using fracture tests and mechanics to select crack-resistant asphalt materials and to better predict pavement performance.
PEDRAM MORTAZAVI was appointed as an Associate Member of the Canadian Steel Code (CSA S16), as an Editorial Board Member of the Resilient Cities and Structures Journal, as the Vice-Chair of Task Group 06: Extreme Loads in the Structural Stability Research Council, and he received the Outstanding Reviewer Award from the ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering.
RAPHAEL STERN was selected for the Hans Fischer Fellowship, which funds a visiting appointment at the Technical University of Munich, travel to Germany, and funding for supervising a graduate student over three years. Stern’s work there will be in the area of transportation network resilience and recovery from disruptive events.
JUDY YANG recently received an NSF grant titled “Collaborative Research: Mass Transport Mediated by Microbial Biosurfactants in Unsaturated Porous Media: Multiscale Experimental and Modeling Investigations.” The project builds on her recent discovery that bacteria can generate their own flows in porous media (such as soil and tissues) through the production of biosurfactants.
Alumni News
KEVIN GRIEBENOW, PE, (BCE 1981), started working at the Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory as an undergraduate. Following graduation, he served in the Peace Corps in North Yemen where he built water supply projects in villages. Now, Griebenow is the Chicago Regional Engineer in the Division of Dam Safety and Inspections in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The Chicago office inspects and assesses the safety of about 450 dams in the upper Midwest.
BILL A. HANCOCK (PE, BS Mineral Engineering 1977) is the 2025 President of the Society of Mining Engineers (SME). In an interview with Mining Engineering, Hancock stated, “Because of the global movement to renewable energy and the attendant required dramatic increased production of a wide range of metals and minerals to meet the transition, I think the mining industry has an even more vital role in our economy, society, and a positive future.” A key issue for his presidency will be recruiting more engineers and future leaders into mining and underground construction.
MADISON HAYDN-MYER (BGeoE 2023) started a new position as Junior Rock Mechanics Consultant at Equilibrium Mining.
CHRISTIE KEARNEY (MS 2006, member of the CEGE Professional Advisory Board) of NewRange Copper Nickel completed her Tribal Sovereignty and Federal Indian Law Graduate Certificate at University of Minnesota Duluth. Kearney (center, back row, white shirt) and classmates are pictured at the celebratory dinner for UMD’s American Indian Studies programs including Bachelors, Masters, and Graduate Certificate Programs.
KYLE KUCHARSKI, PE (BCE 2020) joined Forte in June 2025. He works with Precast Foundation Solutions for EV chargers and light poles.
WILLIAM MABUCE, PE, PO, ENV SP (BCE 2003) received the Co-Award for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Region 7 Professional Progress for 2025. This prestigious award honors civil engineers who have demonstrated exceptional professional achievement, leadership, and contributions to the civil engineering field. Mabuce is currently the Principal Engineer - Water Distribution and Development for the West Des Moines Water Works.
MIKE MARTI (BCE 1984), a director at SRF Consulting, received the Ray L. Lappegaard Distinguished Service Award for outstanding leadership, mentorship, and support for the transportation profession. Marti’s 40-plus-year career has been defined by his work with the Minnesota Local Road Research Board, where he has delivered extensive training and crafted educational and communication materials that have shaped industry practices. Marti excels at connecting with engineers and developing practical, real-world solutions.
LEE PETERSEN (MS GeoE 1978, Ph.D. GeoE 1991) has passed away. He was advised by Charles Fairhurst and Steve Crouch. He had a rewarding and accomplished career, starting with Agapito & Associates (Colorado) and culminating as a Principal Engineer at Itasca Consulting Group (Minnesota). He will be remembered for the wisdom, humor, and generosity that shaped his life and the lives of those around him.
DAVID PRIEST (BCE 1983, Structural Design; B.Arch.; Registered Architect, California) is an Associate Principal at JWDA Architects, California. Priest was born and raised in Duluth. He moved to California after graduating from UMN and worked for the celebrated Hope Consulting Group. His work at JWDA Architects has involved programming, construction documentation, construction administration and project management. He is passionate about architecture and enjoys being able to communicate with engineers on building projects.
BRET WEISS (BCE 1987), President and CEO of WSB, was named a winner of the Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) Entrepreneur of the Year® 2025 Heartland Award, which recognizes Weiss’s commitment to innovation, his people-first leadership philosophy, and his role in shaping WSB into a forward-thinking, technology-driven design and consulting firm.
MATTIA ZAMMARCHI (PE, MS Geoengineering 2018) is now working with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) as an Assistant Projects Engineer in State Aid Transportation.
Student News
MAYA ADELGREN (pictured), a master’s student advised by Ray Hozalski, received the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and an Advanced Degree Scholarship from the Minnesota Section of the American Water Works Association. Ph.D. candidate.
PEGAH AZIZI, advised by Stefano Gonella, received the 2025-2026 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship from the University of Minnesota Graduate School. This award allows our most accomplished Ph.D. candidates an opportunity to devote full-time effort to an outstanding research project by providing time to finalize and write a dissertation during the fellowship year. Azizi’s topic is “Duality and Fragile Topology in Kagome Metamaterials.”
PEGAH AZIZI, STEFANO GONELLA, and their partners in Illinois and Michigan are bringing metamaterials technology closer to widespread adoption in engineering design through their article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States.
MOHAMMAD CHARARA (Ph.D. 2024, advised by Stefano Gonella) was selected as the winner of the University of Minnesota’s Best Dissertation Award in the Physical Sciences and Engineering
category. Upon receiving news of his award, Charara commented, “This would not have been possible without the supportive community at UMN CEGE (which I miss very much!) and, of course, Stefano Gonella's invaluable guidance and mentorship. This recognition is a testament to that!” Charara is now a postdoctoral researcher at MIT working with Professor Carlos Portela investigating the vibration behavior of micro-scale metamaterials.
KATHARINE (KATE) A. FABER, advised by Bill Arnold, was selected as a 2025 Ellen Gonter Graduate Student Research Paper Awardee. This is the highest award given to students by the Division of Environmental Chemistry of the American Chemical Society. She was honored with a monetary reward and an invitation to present her paper as part of the C. Ellen Gonter Environmental Chemistry Awards Symposium in Washington DC in August 2025 at the ACS meeting.
YUAN LI (Ph.D. student advised by Judy Yang) received the 2025 Heinz G. Stefan Fellowship. Her thesis, “Removal of Harmful Algal Cells through Clay-Algae Flocculation,” addresses using clay flocculation to remove cyanobacterial blooms that produce toxins that contaminate drinking water and harm aquatic ecosystems. Her study also investigates how turbulence influences clay-cell floc formation, a critical factor for real-world application in Minnesota’s variable water conditions.
Two New Scholarships
George and Joann Hagen Scholarship
Established by CEGE alumnus George Hagen (BCE 1961) and his wife Joann Hagen to support undergraduate students interested in civil or environmental engineering with a preference for those who graduated high school in Fillmore or Houston counties in Minnesota. The Hagens generously created this scholarship to express gratitude for the important role that a University of Minnesota education played in his life and career and to inspire future generations of students in the College of Science and Engineering.
John S. Gulliver Travel Award
St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL) is working to establish a permanently endowed travel award to commemorate the academic excellence, leadership, teaching, and mentorship of Professor John Gulliver (MS 1977, Ph.D. 1980). Gulliver always encouraged his students and staff to attend and present at academic meetings and conferences, to build their professional networks, and to learn what others are researching. The John S. Gulliver Travel Award will cover travel expenses for conferences and learning experiences for graduate and undergraduate students studying at SAFL. The goal is to raise $50,000 so it can be awarded to students each year in perpetuity.
To contribute, contact Shannon Wolkerstorfer ([email protected] or 612-625-6035).