Dr. Hussam N. Mahmoud

Strategies Emerge for Better Managing Healthcare Systems During Pandemics.

This medical and health article summarizes findings from our new publications
on managing hearlthcare networks subjected to pandemics with and without
natural disasters. The article notes that stricter COVID-19 preventive measures
including mask mandates, social distancing, and shutting down schools, workplaces
and indoor activities, could reduce the number of hospitalized cases by as much
as 12.8%. On the other hand, lifting restrictions could cause a spike in
hospitalizations 13.7 times higher than the second wave's peak – pushing hospitals
in many counties beyond their capacity.
[click to read more].

Bridge design & engineering (Bd&e) magazine on Bridges under Extreme Loads.

In this interview Bridge design & engineering (Bd&e) magazine, discusses
the impact of climate change and extreme weather conditions on bridges
around the world and the U.S. The article highlights our work in which
we show that rising in global temperature in combination with poorly.
maintained expansion joints could have serious impact on steel bridge.
The article also discusses our health monitoring project for the Colorado
Department of Transportation where a steel and a concrete bridge were
instrumented and monitored to evalaute the impact of termperature and
service load on thier local behavior and global response
[click to read more (Page 36 and 37)].

How well can your hospital recover after COVID-19?
This new study can help.

This medical and health article summarizes our new integrated network-based
socio-technical approach for post-earthquake recovery of interdependent
healthcare system. The article points out that while the framework was
deveoped with focus on earthquakes, it can be used to establish vital
guidelines that are common across different hazards including COVID-19.
The article also highlights our collaboration with the National Center
for Disaster Medicine and Public Health to determine how the model can
be used for in-depth pandemic planning.
[click to read more].

BBC Radio Interview on the Impact of Climate Change on Infrastructure.

In this BBC radio Interview, we discuss the impact of climate change
, coupled with clogging of expansion joints in simply supported steel
carry bridges on bridge performance and potential damage(not collapse).
We analyzed approximately ninty thousand bridges and found that many of
them are at the risk of sustaining majordamages if climate models hold
true. We also discuss redundancy in steel bridges and their ability to
carry loads even if major failures were to occur.
[click to listen from min 13.45 and up to min 17.58].

Vulnerable Bridges.

The article is a Research Highlight in Nature Climate Change
summarizing our recent work on the imapct of extreme climate
and joints malfunction on peromance of bridges around the
United States. It is noted that "Bridges in the United
States and around the world are both ageing and deteriorating
through a combination of increased demand and inadequate
maintenance. Little is known about how individual components
and overall bridge performance are likely to be affected.
89,089 supported steel girder bridges, by far the most common
bridge design in the United States, were evaluated under the
combined effect of accumulated debris and dirt in the expansion
joints and elevated temperatures due to climate change.
It was found that for a 1 °C increase in temperature, the
integrity of the bridges is reduced by 2%. Other aspects of
bridges will be impacted by climate change, and further work
is needed to prioritize repair and maintenance.
click to read more].

Climate Change Could Damage Thousands of U.S. Bridges, Engineers Say.

The article, published by United Press International reflects on
or recent study in which we evaluate the potential impact of
the combined effect of climate change and clogging of bridge joints.
The study points to the need for devising maintenance and repair
strategies for bridges with consideration to limitations in funding
resources. These strategies should be based on life cycle analysis
since fixing failed bridges will have substantial impact on commuter
time and can result in substantial social and economic losses.
click to read more].

Arab-American Frontiers Symposium Co-Chair Investigates Community
Resiliency Models.

The article, published in CSU SOURCE, reflects on some of the
community resilience models we are developing to assess recovery
following various natural disasters. It also highlights the
Arab-American National Academy Frontiers Symposium, which was
held in Cairo in November 2018. The symposium presents an
opportunity for researchers in Arab countries and the U.S.
to learn from one another, bringing together scientists, engineers,
and medical professionals to innovate across disciplines.
click to read more].

CNN: Even 'Weak' Hurricanes can Cause a Lot of Harm.

Dr. Hussam Mahmoud co-athored a CNN article titled: "Even 'Weak'
Hurricanes Can Cause a Lot of Harm" -- We have become reliant on
our infrastructure systems, and that is at the core of why we care
about extreme hazards and why even the "weak" storms make headlines.
Every hurricane and every storm is a natural hazard, but what makes
it a disaster is its human element. It is still the beginning of
hurricane season, and of course there will inevitably be another
storm -- maybe not in Louisiana, or maybe not one along the Gulf
until next year, but this is a hazard of our Gulf and eastern
coastlines that has always been there and will continue. However,
if we hope to better prepare and improve our resiliency
to such hazards, especially with sea-level rise due to climate
change and population growth, resources are needed to adapt our
infrastructure best management and construction practices.
click to read more].

An Egyptian Abroad.

Dr. Hussam Mahmoud was featured in Al-Ahram Newspaper,
(Number one ranked paper in Egypt). The article touched on
the journey from Egypt to study in the U.S. 22 years ago,
and back to Egypt in 2019 as the US co-chair of the,
Arab-American Frontiers symposium. The U.S. National,
Academies organizes this symposium yearly. And this,
year in collaboration with the library of Alexandria,
is their seventh. The symposium covered five major topics,
that are extremely relevant to the Arab world and,
the U.S. The first: Water Management, the second is,
Artificial Intelligence, the third is infectious diseases,
the fourth is Sensing Technologies, and the fifth is,
Community Resilience.
[click to read more].

Climate Change Could Wreck a Quarter of Steel Bridges in twenty one
Years: A growing challenge to maintenance efforts, to say the least.

A recent article published by Mrs. Susan Palu (MS studnet) and
Dr. Hussam Mahmoud in PLOS One was summarized and reflected upon
in Popular Mechancis. In this study we looked almost ninty thousand
simply supported steel girder bridges to evaluate their performance
when the expansion joints in the bridges are clogged by debris and
are subjected to thermal loads from climate changes. We emphasize
that we as engineers must start to look beyond what we have
initially been taught on how to analyze systems and start to
think about what climate change is going to do to our understanding
of component- and system-level performance
[click to read more].

Our Artificial Intelligence work on Predicting the Impact of Hurricanes
on Coastal Ciities was Featured in the Smithsonian Magazine

Dr. Hussam Mahmoud at Colorado State University was interviewed
by the Smithsonian Magazine. "We wanted to do something where we
can communicate the risk in a better way that includes the different
possibilities that this hazard might bring,” says Mahmoud.".... "
Primary among them, he says, are where those storms make landfall,
and what, or who, is waiting for them when they get there. It’s not
surprising to suggest that a hurricane that strikes city will do more
damage than one that hits an unoccupied coast, but one that hits
an area prepared with sea walls and other mitigating factors will
have a diminished impact as well."
[click to read more].

Our Finite Element Community Resilience Model Featured
On the National Academy of Engineering Website

FOE alum Hussam Mahmoud at Colorado State University
created a dynamic mathematical model that integrates
a community's infrastructural, social, and economic
features to quantify, in space and time, how well
a community would withstand a major shakeup such
as a natural disaster like a flood or a social
disruption like the Arab Spring in 2011.
[click to read more].

ASEE First Bell: Innovative Approaches for Sustainable and
Resilient Communities Locks, Dams and Bridges.

Colorado State University Associate Professor Hussam Mahmoud
is developing novel computational models aimed at modeling the
response of communities to multi-hazard disasters, including
understanding the societal and economic impacts of events such
as hurricanes and wildfires. His research is aimed at providing
new, integrated information that can be leveraged for risk
assessment, community planning and adaptation, emergency response
planning, and communication with the public before, during, and
after disasters strike [click to read more].

Upgrading our Infrastructure: Targeting Repairs for
Locks, Dams and Bridges.

For the second time in a row, America's
infrastructure has earned a grade of D+ from
the American Society of Civil Engineers.
ASCE issues these report cards every four years
grading the state of U.S. bridges,
dams, parks, airports, railroads and other
vital links. The fact that our nation's overall
grade has not improved since the last report
card in 2013 shows that major investments
are long overdue [click to read more].

How Can Communities Recover from Social Disruptions?

The video is an interview Prof. Hussam Mahmoud
gave recently on CBC Egypt with
renowned T.V. host Lamis Elhadidy. The
show is called "Here is the Capital". The
discussion pertained to the importance of
infrastructure in aiding in recovery of Egypt,
and other Arab countries, from the social
disruptions resulting from the Arab Spring
[click for full interview].

Road to Recovery: A look at Resilience in Steel
Buildings Subjected to Earthquakes and other
Hazards.

In this article, the concept of resilience
for structural steel systems, with focus on
hospitals, is provided. The discussion pertains
to evaluating the functionality of hospitals
following extreme events. The functionality,
in terms of the number of staffed beds and
waiting time, depends on the direct and
indirect social and economic losses resulting
from damage to the hospital itself as well as
other infrastructure [click to read more].

Beyond Wind Speed: A New Measure for
Predicting Hurricane Impacts.

hurricane impact level model", the
economic losses and resilience of coastal
cities due to hurricane can be assessed.
The new model forecasts storms
more in terms of impacts. Forecasters
typically communicate about approaching
storms by categorizing sustained wind
speeds on the Saffir-Simpson scale. [click
to read more].

Scientists Turn to the Troubled Streets of
Gotham to Understand Community Resilience.

A duo of researchers at the Colorado State
University (CSU) have used the tolls of
mechanical engineering to studying
community resilience. To prove that their
method is sound, they turned to the most
troubled town out there — Batman's fictional
Gotham City. [click to read more].

Batman's Gotham City Provides Test Case for Community
Resilience model.

If a community is resilient, it can withstand and recover from an
unanticipated disaster, like an earthquake, fire or flood. But
since every disaster and every community is unique, a uniform
measure for defining 'resilience' has been hard to come by for
engineers and social scientists. A new study offers an innovative
approach to defining resilience that could help communities better
prepare for hazards. [click to read more].

Inside CSU's Engineering Research Center.

Dr. Hussam N. Mahmoud, the assistant
professor and director of the structural
laboratory in the Engineering Research
Center, gives CTV reporter Kay Bennett a
tour of the lab. Dr. Mahmoud explains the
purpose of CSU's shake table and alludes to
new experimental engineering systems to
come. [click to watch more].

First in the world: CSU Structural Lab Brings Heat.

Dr. Hussam N. Mahmoud, assistant
professor and director of the structural lab in
the Engineering Research Center, conducts
an experiment with the help of CSU graduate
student Bashir Ahmadi for what they say is
the first time cracked, steel beams are tested
under elevated temperatures. [click to watch more].