Department of the Interior awards CSU & Dr. Jose Salas with the Partners in Conservation Award


In Washington D.C. on May 7th, 2009, the Department of the Interior presented the Partners in Conservation Award to several organizations that contributed in developing the "Colorado River Interim Guidelines". Among them, Colorado State University (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) along with three other universities were recognized for helping in the effort.

The contribution of Colorado State University, has been through two back to back research projects dealing with Stochastic Hydrology of the Colorado River. In these projects Dr. Salas and graduate students utilized innovative record extension techniques for updating the data base of naturalized flows of the Colorado River system, developed new approaches for reconstructing streamflows of the Colorado River based on tree ring indices, developed potential scenarios of streamflows that may occur in the Colorado in future years, characterized multiyear droughts of the Colorado using simulation and mathematical techniques, and tested the effects of stochastic streamflows on the operations of the Colorado River system, particularly the effects on reservoir levels and outflows of the two major lakes, i.e. Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

Additionally the project helped improving the software SAMS (Stochastic Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation), software developed at CSU for stochastic simulation of hydrological data. Two Ph.D. students T.S. Lee and Z. Tarawneh were funded by the referred projects. Also Ph.D. students C.J. Fu and D.J. Lee and M.S. student J. Keedy collaborated in some parts of the projects.

CSU & Simpson Strong-Tie Lead World's Largest Earthquake Shake Table Test in Japan


A group of researchers led by Colorado State University in close technical collaboration with Simpson Strong-Tie will take part in an unprecedented research event near Kobe, Japan, this summer. Construction of the largest building ever tested on an earthquake shake table that began the last week in February.

Van de Lindt has conducted tests over the past three years involving smaller structures at shake tables at CSU and in collaboration with co-investigator A. Filiatrault at the State University of New York-Buffalo in preparation for the capstone test in Japan. The Japan test will enable researchers to confirm that the new design approach meets expectations.

"Previous testing has shown us that our modeling procedures are accurate for low-rise wood-frame buildings, but the test in Japan will confirm new models for mid-rise wood-frame buildings developed at CSU and design approaches developed at Texas A&M University as part of the project," said van de Lindt.

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New Faculty in Civil &
Environmental Engineering


The Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering is excited to welcome seven new faculty members this year: Dr. José Luis Chávez, Dr. Pinar Omur-Ozbek, Dr. Rebecca Atadero, Dr. Karan Venayagamoorthy, Dr. Domenico Bau, Dr. Sybil Sharvelle and Dr. Mazdak Arabi. Each brings with them a diverse set of expertise to our already strong team of professors and researchers. We expect great things from each of them and look forward to their many contributions in the years to come. Hopefully you have already interacted with them personally, but in any case, please take a moment to learn more about them in the following introductions.



Dr. José Luis Chávez is an Assistant Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. He earned his B.S. in Agricultural Engineering from the Universidade Federal da Paraiba (Paraiba Federal University) at Campina Grande, Brazil, in 1992. In 1999 Dr. Chávez received his M.S. degree in Irrigation Engineering from Utah State University. His Ph.D. was in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from Utah State University in 2005.

Dr. Chávez expertise includes estimating crop consumptive water use using multispectral remote sensing imagery. His research interests include mapping/modeling spatially distributed crop water use (ET), crop water management, irrigation scheduling, irrigation systems efficiency, precision irrigation, and urban landscape irrigation automation.
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Dr. Pinar Omur-Ozbek is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Colorado State University. She received her M.S. degree at Virginia Tech where she focused on taste-and-odor problems related to algal products in source waters and its relation to human perception of tap water safety. Realizing her passion for academia: teaching and research, Pinar continued with a Ph.D. degree at Virginia Tech. During her Ph.D. work, she conducted an interdisciplinary research to investigate the metallic flavor of drinking water caused by iron and copper.
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Dr. Rebecca Atadero will be joining our faculty as an assistant professor in July 2008. For the past two years, as a research scientist/instructor, she has taught Structural Analysis and Steel Design to undergraduate students. Rebecca earned her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Colorado State University in 2002. She went on to the University of California, San Diego to earn a M.S. and Ph.D. in structural engineering. Rebecca first returned to Colorado State University in 2006 as a research scientist, and she and her husband Todd, are both excited to continue living in Fort Collins.
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Dr. Karan Venayagamoorthy joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University as an assistant professor in January 2008. Karan received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering (summa cum laude) and master’s degree in civil engineering (cum laude) from the University of Kwazulu-Natal (formerly known as University of Natal) in Durban, South Africa in 2000 and 2002 respectively. Karan then came to the United States to pursue his doctoral studies in civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, gaining his Ph.D. in 2006 specializing in environmental fluid mechanics and hydrology. He then spent an additional year as postdoctoral research fellow at Environmental Fluid Mechanics Laboratory at Stanford University.
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Dr. Domenico Bau is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is originally from Padova, Italy, which is very close to Venice. Dr. Bau received his degree (Laurea) in Civil Engineering at the School of Engineering of the University of Padova, where he also worked as a research scientist following graduation.
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Dr. Sybil Sharvelle is an Assistant Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and is a member of the Environmental Engineering focus area. Her area of expertise is biological waste processing.

Dr. Sharvelle is originally from Indiana and attended the University of Colorado for her B.S. and M.S. degrees. She received her doctoral degree from Purdue University, where she developed a biological processor for treatment of graywater for potable reuse during long duration space missions. Through this project, Dr. Sharvelle gained extensive experience in the area of water reuse, with focus on emerging contaminants.
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Dr. Mazdak Arabi is a Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as CSU. He is teaching and actively conducting research in the water resources management and planning and environmental engineering areas. After receiving his B.Sc. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Tehran, Iran, Mazdak became a graduate research assistant and then a postdoctoral research associate at Purdue University, where he received his Ph.D. in August 2005. At CSU, Mazdak is currently an instructor for CIVE 576 “GIS and GPS for Engineering Applications”.
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To view previous "front page" stories from the Civil Engineering website, click HERE.
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Civil & Environmental Engineering
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Ph: (970) 491-5048, Fax: (970) 491-7727

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