Six civil engineering students have been awarded $1500 grants to pursue research under the George Mason University's Undergraduate Research Scholars Program.
Andrea Fraser (l) is working with the U.S. Geological Survey at their laboratories in Reston Virginia to understand the biodegradation and impacts of produced water from hydraulic fracturing. Justin Kurz (c) is investigating the reinforcing properties of carbon nano materials such as graphene nanoplatelets to improve tensile and compressive strength of concrete. Dominick Casciano (r) is exploring non-conventional aggregates for use in lightweight concrete in the context of sustainable materials that could be incorporated into engineering applications. All three students are being mentored by CEIE faculty member Dr. Liza Durant.
In addition, Jared Keller is researching the use of drones to facilitate bridge inspection and is being mentored by Dr. Dave Latanzi. Rebecca Brenneis is conducting a comparison of satellite precipitation data with locust swarm behavior in Saharan Africa and Afsana Anwa is researching what degree of accuracy we can measure precipitation from satellites over oceans, and both are being mentored by CEIE faculty member Dr. Viviana Maggioni.