Dr Catbas was in Washington DC

CITRS hosted researchers and engineers from NASA along with visiting scholars from other universities on Feb. 21, 2019. Discussions on recent activities and exchanges of ideas have been useful

CITRS at 98th Annual Transportation Research Board (TRB) meeting

CITRS professors, researchers and students attended the 98th Annual Transportation Research Board (TRB) meeting in Washington DC between Jan 13-17, 2019. Multiple presentations of recent work in the areas of structural health monitoring, artificial intelligence assisted inspections, assessment of long span and highway bridges were made. The group also attended several technical meetings

Faculty and Researchers of CITRS wish you a Happy Holiday Season and Wonderful New Year

A semester ends here

at hashtag#ucf , multiple trips for conferences and keynote talks, several journal papers, research studies for me, and don’t forget 25-0 AAC Champion Knights Football hashtag#knight hashtag#football , and most importantly, I completed my two courses with smiling faces, some students graduating, some will return next semester but hopefully the things we all learned together will help us in many ways personally and professionally…

Conference in Hangzhou China

Recently came back to hashtag#UCF from SEM Digital Image Correlation and Non-Contact Mechanics Conference in Hangzhou China. I presented a keynote lecture on non-contact computer vision applications for hashtag#smartcities and hashtag#SHM of large civil structures. Thanks a lot for Zhejiang University for excellent organization. In the meantime, I had some visits to a nearby historic site with my doctoral student and also tried my hobby of calligraphy with a Chinese artist.

Field tests on the world’s 4th longest bridge (Osman Gazi Bridge).

Just recently completed some demonstration studies and field tests on the world’s 4th longest bridge (Osman Gazi Bridge). I would like to thank the bridge owners, directors and engineers. Afterwards, I gave a keynote talk at the International Conference on Advances in Civil Engineering (ACE), presenting a discussion on hashtag#SHM, hashtag#smartcities, hashtag#civilengineering, hashtag#builtenvironment with a talk entitled “Smart City Infrastructure: Advances and Opportunities” My appreciation to conference organizers for the excellent conference, exchange of ideas and hospitality. Again back to hashtag#UCF with new friends and ideas on hashtag#infrastructure …

2 weeks visit to Australia

I just completed an almost 2 weeks visit to Australia. Primarily, to give a keynote on hashtag#infrastructure hashtag#healthmonitoring, papers and also run Bridge Health Monitoring committee meeting at hashtag#IABMAS 2018 and in Melbourne, Australia. Big congratulations to Australian colleagues for such a wonderful conference. I also visited Sydney and gave a seminar at the University of Technology Sydney’s Centre for Built Infrastructure Research. Great hospitality and exchange of ideas. Will be heading back to hashtag#UCF with a lot of new ideas, friends, and motivation.

Prof. Catbas was awarded Aftab Mufti medal

CECE Faculty Prof. Catbas was awarded Aftab Mufti medal from the International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure (ISHMII) and Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring (SHM).  The medal was awarded for Dr. Catbas and his team’s work “Performance-based structural health monitoring through an innovative hybrid data interpretation framework.” The Society and Journal issue only one award a year. The medal was awarded at SHMII Conference, held in Brisbane, Australia.

“I am humbled to receive the Aftab Mufti Medal.  This was a multi-disciplinary study and I would like to acknowledge my collaborator Dr. George Atia from Electrical Engineering and my doctoral student (now Dr.) Masoud Malekzadeh. This honor will definitely be an additional motivation for our work at UCF” said Dr. Catbas.

Visitors to CITRS from Japan!

 Ozan Celik defending his dissertation!

Our team member Ozan Celik defended his dissertation successfully at CITRS Brainstorming and Idea Generation (BIG) Lab. His work brought a different perspective to sensor based Structural Identification and Structural Health Monitoring by using camera and computer vision based approaches with emphasis on flexible structures. The non-stationary nature of certain types of loading was demonstrated on a number of unique lab structures and real life structures. The uncertainty in identifying such structures using conventional methods has been considerably minimized with the advanced methods he has developed and demonstrated. We are very proud. Congratulations Dr. Celik…

CITRS Founding Director Dr. Catbas was Honored by UCF as Luminary Leader.

UCF recognized 45 faculty members from all of its Colleges on October 18, 2017 during the university’s inaugural Luminary Award presentations for making an impact on the world. The event, themed like Oscar night, honored those who are academic leaders in their field and are making contributions to the world that are having a significant impact. The new awards are meant to not only recognize funded research, but also the many kinds of creative works and scholarships that are just as important to the well-being of our society, said Elizabeth Klonoff, vice president of the Office of Research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies. She and Cynthia Young, a former vice provost, created the Luminary Awards. This year’s recipient is one of College of Engineering and Computer Science professors, Dr. Necati Catbas with the following citation “People rely on the integrity of bridges to stay safe. Catbas is internationally recognized as a leading expert in civil engineering and structural integrity. He is a founding director of the Civil Infrastructure Technology for Resilience, a partnership among academia, industry and government agencies to develop and apply intelligent monitoring, sensing, material, and information technologies to create safer and more resilient civil infrastructure systems.” You can get more information from http://today.ucf.edu/ucf-honors-luminary-leaders-changing-world/

Dr. Catbas Won The Technical Excellence – Academia Award

This weekend at the Central Florida Florida Engineers Week Awards Banquet, Dr. Catbas who was nominated by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) won the Technical Excellence – Academia Award. We are very proud of Dr. Catbas. Congratulations. Central Florida Engineers’ Week is made up of representatives from a variety of professional engineering societies in the Central Florida area and provides a common link between all types of engineering. Each year during Engineers’ Week, outstanding contributions to the engineering profession by projects, organizations, and individual engineers are recognized. The highlight of the weeklong celebration is the Annual Awards Banquet where nominees and ultimately awardees of each category are announced. This year’s banquet dinner event took place at Double Tree Hotel on February 28, 2015.

Prof Catbas Visited Turkey To Attend The International Congress On Advances In Civil Engineering

Prof Catbas visited Turkey to attend the international Congress on Advances in Civil Engineering. Dr. Catbas presented papers and attended several technical meetings. Also, Dr. Catbas visited the 3rd Bosphorus Bridge, which is a unique, mixed suspension and cable stay bridge. Once finished, the bridge will be the 8th longest bridge in the world. The bridge will have the highest towers in the world with a height of more than 322 meters (it is really high as observed by Dr. Catbas).

Citrs Members Drs Catbas And Yun Attended Iabmas 2014 In Shanghai, China.

Dr. Catbas visited once the longest (now 2nd) cable stay bridge (Sutong Bridge) with the designers before the conference. Drs Catbas and Yun made presentations, networked, visited other agencies for meetings and presentations. Overall, this was a very fruitful and enjoyable conference.

Professor Ian Smith Visit And Presentation

Prof. Ian Smith, a Professor of Structural Engineering at the L’Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Lausanne Switzerland and the Head of the Applied Computing and Mechanics Laboratory visited UCF on July 1, 2014. Prof. Smith presented a review of his recent research on structural engineering, structural identification, information science, infrastructure monitoring, global sustainability, data informatics applications to a number of engineering case studies.

Professor Catbas Presentation

Dr. Catbas made a presentation about the vision, mission, history, and objectives of the CITRS to an interdisciplinary group of faculty on May 15, 2014. The presentation continued with the open discussion about short and long-term goals, research directions and discussion points for future meetings and collaborative work.

Citrs To Host Chinese Delegation

A high-level delegation from Highway Planning and Design Institute visited UCF on May 2, 2014. The delegation was hosted by CITRS to exchange ideas on civil infrastructure systems, the recent major project in China. After HDPI presentation, Dr. Catbas presented made a presentation on behalf of CITRS showing its team and core research strengths with recent findings.

Dr. Catbas Elected To ASCE Fellow

F. Necati Catbas, Ph.D., P.E, F.ASCE, Professor of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering at the University of Central Florida, has recently been elected a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Dr. Catbas expertise is in the area of civil infrastructure systems with special emphasis on structural health monitoring, structural identification, bridge engineering. He has publications and research projects on the development, integration, and implementation of novel technologies and methods for structures such as bridges, buildings, aerospace structures and components, stadium structures. Founded in 1852, ASCE represents more than 144,000 members of the civil engineering profession worldwide and is America’s oldest national engineering society. Fellow status must be attained by professional accomplishments via application and election by the Review Committee. It is a prestigious honor held by fewer than 4% of ASCE members. Fellows are practitioners, educators, mentors, and most of all leaders. They have distinguished careers that have contributed significantly to the Civil Engineering profession. The accomplishments of Fellows have left their marks on their communities, society, and future engineering professionals.

New Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) Graduate Student Chapter At UCF

UCF is starting a Structural Engineering Institute Graduate Student Chapter. The purpose of SEI Graduate Student Chapter (GSCs) is to enhance the education of students who are preparing to become structural engineering professionals and engage SEI student members in SEI for a successful transition from college to career. The UCF Graduate Student Chapter, which is open to both undergraduate and graduate students, will organize and manage visiting speakers, prospective student events, field trips, participate in SEI, perform outreach activities, and more. Participation in a GSC can help members feel more connected with their peers and broaden their view of what it means to be a structural engineering professional.

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

• Structural health monitoring and identification with novel sensing, analysis, and predictive analysis approaches
• Non-destructive evaluation technologies
• Advanced modeling and analysis, multiple hazard assessment
• Reliability and probabilistic assessment
• Novel and nanotech-based materials for civil infrastructure
• Material-, component-, and large-scale testing
• Life-cycle assessment, life-cycle cost, decision making criteria
• Sustainable and green structures
• Statistical signal processing. Signal and information processing, wireless communications
• Data Mining, Machine Learning, Network Analysis and Data Processing
• Disaster resiliency including vulnerabilities of civil infrastructure systems, the importance of asset mapping, and the differences between rural and urban locations.
• Employing a variety of statistical techniques and applying these to disasters in the United States and worldwide,
• Public management and policy, community planning and development, and, on the individual level, the ways in which culture, socio-economic status, and social networks contribute to resiliency.

APPLICATION AREAS

CITRS group is interested in all civil infrastructure systems and components such as:

• bridges, buildings, highways
• geo structures, pavements, roads
• stadiums, convention centers
• ports, dams, tunnels, lifelines

CITRS is an open initiative. We will invite and expect to include several others to the initial group. Our objective is to develop partnerships of academe, government and industry as a multi-disciplinary generator of knowledge and products through the development.
CITRS is a group of people with

• complementary skills,
• a shared purpose,
• performance goals, and
• an approach to work
• to which they are mutually committed.

	NECATI CATBAS, PHD, PE, F.ASCE, F.SEI Founding Director and Lockheed Martin Professor of Civil Engineering Research Areas of Interest: Analysis, Design and Assessment of Civil Infrastructure Systems (CIS), Structural Health Monitoring (SHM), Structural Identification (St-Id), Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Condition Evaluation of Constructed Facilities, Disaster Mitigation and Management, Analytical Simulation and Characterization, Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) Technologies, Experimental Modal Analysis and Dynamics, Bridge Engineering, Engineering Education https://www.cece.ucf.edu/catbas/
	KEVIN MACKIE, PHD, PE Professor of Civil Engineering Research Areas of Interest: Earthquake engineering, Performance-based engineering, Multiple-hazard assessment and design, Structural reliability, Structural dynamics, Nonlinear analysis, Bridge engineering, High-performance materials and composites https://www.cece.ucf.edu/mackie/
	ANDREW YUN, PHD Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Research Areas of Interest: Nonlinear system identification and stochastic analysis, Structural health monitoring and control, Smart, remote and embedded sensing techniques, such as microelectromechanical system (MEMS), web-based infrastructure monitoring systems and remote experiments, Non-destructive evaluation and test (NDE&T), especially using the spectroscopy techniques of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance image (MRI) https://www.cece.ucf.edu/hae-bum-yun/
	OMER TATARI, PHD Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Research Areas of Interest: Environmental life cycle assessment, Carbon and ecological footprint analyses, Energy efficiency and eco-efficiency analyses, Life cycle cost analysis and optimization, Dynamic modeling of sustainable systems, Decision modeling and analysis, Sustainable infrastructure and energy systems, Green buildings and sustainable construction https://www.cece.ucf.edu/tatari/
	BOOHYUN NAM, PHD Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Research Areas of Interest: Subsurface characterization of geotechnical and pavement systems using noninvasive geophysical methods, Laboratory evaluation of material properties (geotechnical, pavement, and recycled materials) by static and dynamic methods, Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of civil infrastructures utilizing state-of-art sensor technologies, Pavement monitoring and evaluation, management, and preservation, Material fatigue characterization in geotechnical and pavement systems, Mechanical behavior and properties of nanotechnology-based asphalt/concrete materials https://sites.google.com/site/namucf/
	NAIM KAPUCU, PHD Professor of Public Policy and Administration Research Areas of Interest: Collaborative Public Management, Network Leadership and Governance, Emergency and Crisis Management, Network Analysis, Decision Making in Complex Environments, Capacity Building, and Organizational Learning and Design http://www.cohpa.ucf.edu/directory/naim-kapucu/
	GEORGE ATIA, PHD Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Research Areas of Interest: Information sciences and statistical signal processing. Particularly, research fronts across the interconnected disciplines of signal and information processing, wireless communications, and stochastic control driven by numerous applications including wireless sensor networks, spectrum-agile radios and more recently surveillance and reconnaissance, and compressive sensing. http://eecs.ucf.edu/~atia/
	PETROS XANTHOPOULOS, PHD Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Research Areas of Interest: Operations research, Robust Optimization, Data Mining, Machine Learning, Optimization in Biomedicine, Network Analysis and Data Processing http://petrosx.org/

Our educational objective is to provide a high-quality learning experience for students to educate the next generation of academic and industry leaders who can address current and future global engineering challenges.

• The learning experience is grounded in our ability to provide a broad engineering education that will prepare our graduates with lifelong skills.
• High quality is exemplified by attaining international prominence in the areas of civil infrastructure sustainability and resilience under natural and man-made effects, smart materials for resource use and energy sustainability.
• Our overall efforts will foster a spirit of innovation and excellence by positioning our graduates to develop new technologies in our profession and promote a commitment to continued scholarship and service.

We will strive to maintain a culture that promotes excellence and that allows students, staff, and faculty to excel in their endeavors with the highest ethical standards in all our endeavors

SOME IDEAS ABOUT EDUCATION, ENGINEERING, AND FUTURE

• Rising Above The Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future (Executive Summary from a National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Institute of Medicine)
• Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century: Preparing the Civil Engineer for the Future (American Society of Civil Engineers)
• Developing the Next Generation of Structural Engineers: (Glenn R. Bell, P.E., S.E., SECB, CEO of Simpson Gumpertz & Heger in Waltham, MA)
• Reengineering Engineering (by Norman Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp.)
• Rehumanizing Engineering (by Mete Sozen, Kettelhut Distinguished Professor of Structural Engineering at Purdue University)
• Rennaisance Engineer (by Dr. Adnan Akay, NSF Director of Director of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation Division)
• Mentoring Graduate Students (Dr. Catbas’ article published on Faculty Focus)
• Role of Virtual Laboratories (Dr. Catbas’ presentation at the CEE’06 International Workshop on Reforming Civil and Environmental Engineering)

SOME REPRESENTATIVE COURSES OFFERED BY CITRS FACULTY

• EGN 3310 – Engineering Mechanics –STATICS
• CES 4100 – Structural Analysis I
• CES 5144  -Matrix Analysis of Structures
• CES 6116  -Finite Element Analysis
• CES 6209  -Dynamics of Structures
• CES 6010 – Structural Reliability
• CES 6230 – Advanced Structural Mechanics
• CES 6527 – Nonlinear Structural Analysis
• CES 5325 Bridge Engineering
• CES 6220 – Wind and Earthquake Engineering
• CES 5606 – Advanced Steel
• CES 5706 – Advanced Concrete
• CES 6715 – Prestressed Concrete StructuresCEG 6065 Soil Dynamics
• CEG 6115  -Foundation Engineering
• CEG 6317  -Advanced Geotechnical Engineering
• TTE 5835 – Pavement Design
• CGN 3501 – Civil Engineering Materials
• CCE 6045 – Cost Analysis of Sustainable Infrastructure Systems

SAMPLE BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS