September 2019

• Kadir Sener is a new Assistant Professor in Structures. He came from Purdue University.
• Michael Perez is a new Assistant Professor in Construction Engineering. He came from Iowa State University
• Marta Miletic is on Leave of Absence until May 2020
• Cliff Lange retired as of August 31, 2019
• Sad news - David Dixon (Emeritus Member of the CE Advisory Board) passed away on June 29, 2019
• Jim Cooper of Cooper Construction (a member of CE Advisory Board) is the 2019 Cornerstone Award recipient, by the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc.
• Tyler Norman was selected as the Outstanding ASCE Student at Auburn University by the Board of Directors of the Alabama Section ASCE.
• Lauren Beckingham received NSF CAREER award. Her proposal titled "CAREER: Quantifying evolution of accessible mineral surface areas and pore connectivity for improved simulation of mineral reaction rates" has been selected for funding from NSF ‘s Division of Earth Sciences, Geobiology and Low Temperature Geochemistry program. 
• Don Zhao was selected to receive the Auburn Engineering Council Endowed Professorship.  This Professorship is designed to support superior faculty in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering who have demonstrated excellence in their research and a strong commitment to students and the provision of high quality instruction. 
• Caroline McCarty, one of Dr. Timm’s master’s students, recently attended the 2019 European Asphalt Technology Association Conference in Granada, Spain where she presented two papers in a competitive poster session.  Caroline was selected as one of three Best Poster Award winners out of 55 posters presented at the conference for her presentation titled, “Cooling Curve Analysis of Single Thick Lift Asphalt Pavements.”
• Jose Vasconcelos was invited to deliver a keynote lecture at the 2019 International Symposium on Sustainable Urban Drainage (SUD 2019) in Ningbo, China.
• Jorge Rueda Benavides and two of his MS students, Keren Xu and Karthik Pakalapati, received the TRB Fred Burggraf Award for a paper that resulted from a research project sponsored by the HRC. This award recognizes excellence in transportation research by researchers 35 years of age or younger whose papers have been published under the sponsorship of any Technical Activities Division Standing Group. The title of the paper is “Development of a Hot Mix Asphalt Location Cost Index for the Alabama Department of Transportation.”
• Ross Ellis (CE student) was awarded a scholarship by Alabama-Mississippi Section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA). His advisers are Dr. Jose Vasconcelos and Dr. Frances O’Donnell.
• AU research team led by Lauren Beckingham (PI) and Co-PI’s: Maria Auad, Allan, David Nima Shamsaei and Marta Miletic, received NSF MRI Award on Acquisition of an X-ray Computed Nanotomography system with in situ material testing to advance understanding of natural and engineered materials ($865k).  This is a major accomplishment, significant recognition, and a win in a strong national competition.
• Jeff LaMondia’s TRB paper "Shifts in Long-Distance Travel Mode Due to Automated Vehicles Statewide Mode-Shift Simulation Experiment and Travel Survey Analysis" is in the TOP 5 Papers Contributing to Increasing the Transportation Research Record's Impact Factor 
• Anton Schindler organized a field trip for AU students to the I-59/20 Segmental Bridge Construction Site in Birmingham on 8/27/19. The project team was represented by DeJarvis Leonard, Gary Smith, Tim Colquett, Lloyd Pitts, Adam {Peterson, Eric Johnson, John Chambliss, and Zeke Willis.
• Jose Vasconcelos was invited to participate in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program Project Panel 24-49 “Guidance on the selection and use of flow resistance values in two-dimensional (2D) hydraulic models”

May 2019

• David Timm is the recipient of the Chi Epsilon National Civil Engineering Honor Society’s 2019 National James M. Robbins Excellence in Teaching Award. Of the six recipients of this award (127 active XE chapters nationwide) since 2014, four have been AU Civil Engineering faculty members (at the time): 2014—Jose Vasconcelos, 2016—Wes Zech, 2017—Rod Turochy, 2019—David Timm.
• Jeff LaMondia received Auburn's Spirit of Sustainability Award on April 23 in the Agricultural Heritage Park.
• Natalie Capiro has a new appointment - Adjunct Faculty in the Biosystems Engineering Department.
• Jack Montgomery was a member of the Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) that went to Indonesia last November following the 28 September 2018 earthquake and tsunami.   
• Michael Kiernan received one of the 2019 student scholarship awards from the United States Society on Dams. The scholarship award is given annually to students whose research has the potential to develop practical solutions to design and construction challenges related to dams and levees. He is a current PhD student in Civil Engineering and is advised by Dr. Jack Montgomery. 
• Marta Miletic was selected to attend the 2019 ASCE ExCEEd Teaching Workshop at West Point (July 2019)
• Ed Ramey, former head of our department, passed away on April 11.
• Xiaoning Li, a PhD student, was recognized as one of the top international students in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering during the annual International Student Recognition Banquet on April 17. His advisor is Dr. Xing Fang.
• Sagar Tamang got the Master’s Thesis award at Auburn University for 2018-2019. Sagar’s MS advisor was Dr. Xing Fang and currently he is a PhD student at the University of Minnesota.
• Xing Fang has been selected as the Student Government Association’s 2018-2019 Faculty Member of the Year for the Graduate School, the award was presented at the SGA Honors Ceremony on April 8. He was nominated by the Graduate School because of his outstanding contribution as the Graduate Program Officer and Graduate Faculty member.
• Hugo Zhou and Rod Turochy were awarded TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 03-13 titled “Wrong-Way Driving Solutions, Policy, and Guidance”. Dr. Zhou will serve as Principle Investigator for this $600,000, 30-month project, and he will lead a team of researchers from Auburn University, University of South Florida, Rowan University, and Arora and Associates.
• Max Mobley (1972 CE graduate) will receive the 2019 Civil Engineering Outstanding Alumnus Award, April 12.

March 2019

• Jeff LaMondia was selected to receive Auburn University's 2019 Spirit of Sustainability Award.  Recipients are selected by a campus judging panel and must exemplify the Auburn spirit by making significant contributions toward sustainability on campus or in a community.  The ceremony is on April 23.
• Max Mobley (1972 CE graduate) will receive the 2019 Civil Engineering Outstanding Alumnus Award on April 12.
• Natalie Palmquist–CE senior has been named as one of the 2019 New Faces of Civil Engineering in the college category by the American Society of Civil Engineers. She is one of 10 collegiate students selected as part of ASCE’s program to highlight up-and-coming civil engineering leaders from around the country and celebrate their academic achievements, as well as their commitment to serving others. All New Face honorees were recognized during ASCE’s annual Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) Gala on March 14 in Arlington, Virginia.
• Natalie Palmquist has been selected as the Civil Engineering Outstanding Student. She will be recognized at the Faculty/Student Awards and Alumni Recognition Spring Dinner scheduled on April 12, in the Grand National Ballroom at the Auburn Marriott Opelika Hotel and Conference Center at Grand National.
• Molly Hughes has been selected as the Civil Engineering Outstanding Faculty. She will be recognized at the Faculty/Student Awards and Alumni Recognition Spring Dinner scheduled on April 12, in the Grand National Ballroom at the Auburn Marriott Opelika Hotel and Conference Center at Grand National.
• Jeff Stone ’79 civil engineering and executive vice president of Brasfield & Gorrie, was presented the Auburn Alumni Association’s highest honor–the Lifetime Achievement Award, its highest honor on March 2 at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. 
• Beijia Zhang–CE graduate student, was selected for a 100+ Women Strong Graduate Fellowship for 2019-2020.  Her advisor is Dr. Hugo Zhou.
• AU American Concrete Institute Student Chapter again received ACI’s highest university honor.
• AU ITE team won the Alabama Section ITE Traffic Bowl.  The team will be representing the state against the winning teams from the other states in ITE’s Southern District at the SDITE annual meeting in Arlington VA on April 1. 
• Hugo Zhou received Provost’s approval for a faculty development leave in Spring 2020
• Ben Bowers has been accepted to participate in the 2019 Faculty Sustainability Workshop and Awards program (May 7–8). He will join a diverse group of 23 faculty members from 16 departments spread across 11 colleges at Auburn University.

January 2019

• Natalie Capiro is a new Assistant Professor starting January 1, she joined the Environmental Engineering group
• Marta Miletic has been awarded with the 2019 Daniel F. Breeden Endowed Grant entitled Virtual Immersion: Bridging the Gap between Civil Engineering and Construction Management Students' Learning and Performance in Structural Analysis.
• Wes Zech left AU and accepted a faculty position at UAB as of January 1, 2019