Andrew Braham receives FAA COE Student of the Year Award

January 2008

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Andrew Braham has been named the 2007 DOT COE Student of the Year. Andrew is a Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is working under the supervision of Prof. Bill Buttlar on a project sponsored by the FAA Center of Excellence for Airport Technology (CEAT). Andrew completed his B.S. and Master’s in Civil Engineering at the University of Wisconsin in 2000 and 2002. Professor Buttlar is also his advisor for the Ph.D. work which he is expected to defend at UIUC in 2009.

The Award

For the past fifteen years, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has honored an outstanding student from each University Transportation Center (UTC) at a special ceremony held during the TRB Annual Meeting, and FAA has been invited for the past seven years to submit a nomination. Andrew is the fifth student from the University of Illinois to receive this award. As the Outstanding Student of the Year, Andrew will receive a certificate presented by a high-ranking Departmental official. In addition to the certificate, Andrew will receive $1,000 through an award from the Center, plus the cost of attendance at TRB. Selection for the award was based upon his accomplishments in three areas: Technical Merit and Research, Academic Performance; and Professionalism and Leadership.

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His Research

Andrew is performing research on the behavior of asphalt concrete for use in airport pavement rehabilitation. His work has contributed to the FAA COE project on Development of New Methologies for Mechanistic Design of Asphalt Overlays by identifying and summarizing the most recent studies and technologies related to reflective cracking mechanisms and mechanics-based modeling of pavement overlay systems. He is also developing and conducting mixed-mode fracture tests on asphalt concrete materials in his Ph.D. thesis research.

Andrew was the Assistant Director of the 2007 Transportation and Highway Engineering Conference. He is the founder of the new Illinois Asphalt Paving Association (IAPA) hot-mix asphalt student design competition. He is also very active in the University of Illinois Leadership Center. He has received numerous honors, including the 2007 Ernest L. Docter Memorial Scholarship (IAPA), the 2006 Walter K. Parr National AAPT Scholoarship (Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists), the 2006 Ernest L. Docter Memorial Scholarship (IAPA), and an Engineering Graduate Fellowship (University of Illinois, 2005).

His Publications

Listed below are selected publications and presentations by Andrew.

Selected Publications

  • Braham, A.F., Dave, E.V., Buttlar, W.G., Paulino, G.H. Development of a Creep
    Compliance Analysis Technique for the Flattened Indirect Tension Test of Asphalt Concrete. 8th International Conference on Creep, Shrinkage and Durability of
    Concrete and Concrete Structures, Ise-Shima, Japan, September 30th - October
    2nd, 2008.
  • Dave, E.V., Braham, A.F., Buttlar, W.G., Paulino, G.H., Zofka, A. Integration of
    Laboratory Testing, Field Performance Data, and Numerical Simulations for the
    Study of Low-Temperature Cracking. 6th RILEM International Conference on
    Cracking in Pavements, Chicago, Illinois, USA, June 9-11, 2008.
  • Li, X., Braham, A.F., Marasteanu, M.O., Buttlar, W.G., Williams, R. C. Effect of
    Factors Affecting Fracture Energy of Asphalt Concrete at Low Temperature.
    Submitted to the 3rd European Asphalt Technology Association Conference, Lyon,
    France, April 14-15th, 2008.
  • Wagoner, M.P, Braham, A.F. Anisotropic Behavior of Hot Mix Asphalt At Low
    Temperatures. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation
    Research Board, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., No. 08-0885,
    2008.
  • Braham, A.F., Wagoner, M.P., Buttlar W.G. Effect of Hot Mix Asphalt Pavement
    Depth on Fracture Energy. 8th International Symposium on Cold Region
    Development, Tampere, Finland, September 25-27, 2007.
  • Dave, E.V., Braham, A.F., Buttlar, W.G., Paulino, G.H. Development of a Flattened
    Indirect Tension Test for Asphalt Concrete. Society for Experimental Mechanics
    Annual Conference and Exposition, Springfield, MA, June 3-6, 2007.
  • Braham, A.F., Buttlar, W.G., Marasteanu, M.O. Effect of Binder Type, Aggregate,
    and Mixture Composition on the Fracture Energy of Hot-Mix Asphalt in Cold
    Climates. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research
    Board, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., No. 07-1280, 2007.

Selected Presentations

  • 8th International Symposium on Cold Region Development . Presented the “Effect
    of Hot Mix Asphalt Pavement Depth on Fracture Energy.” Tampere, Finland,
    September 25, 2007.
  • Society for Experimental Mechanics Annual Conference and Exposition. Presented
    the “Development of a Flattened Indirect Tension Test for Asphalt Concrete.”
    Springfield, MA, June 5, 2007.
  • Transportation Research Board. Poster presentation of “Effect of Binder Type,
    Aggregate, and Mixture Composition on the Fracture Energy of Hot-Mix Asphalt
    in Cold Climates,” No. 07-1280. Washington, D.C., January 23, 2007.