Principal Investigators

Dr. Vijaya (VJ) Gopu

Associate Director – External Programs, LTRC

Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering, UL –Lafayette

 

Dr. Vijaya (VJ) Gopu, P.E., is Matthew G. Stuller Endowed Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the Associate Director for External Programs at Louisiana Transportation Research Center (LTRC). He also holds the Formosa Plastics Endowed Professor Emeritus position at LSU. Dr. Gopu served as the Chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Departments at Tulane University and the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and held the Edward G. Schleider Endowed Chair at the University of New Orleans. He also served as the Program Director for the Structural Systems and Engineering in the Directorate of Engineering at the National Science Foundation from 1998-2001. Dr. Gopu received his MS and Ph.D. from Colorado State University in ’72 and ’75 respectively. He is a recipient of several awards for teaching, research and professional service. He has supervised the research work of 48 graduate students and served as the principal or co-principal investigator of over 60 projects dealing with heavy engineered timber structures, FRP repair of concrete structures, bridge condition assessment, hazard mitigation of light-frame structures,

recycled polymer composites, engineering education, and research administration. He recently spearheaded a study on the condition assessment of timber bridges in the Southeast region of the U.S. as part of a national study.  Dr. Gopu delivered keynote lectures at several international conferences and has served on the organizing committee of several domestic/international conferences and forums.  He chaired the 1996 International Timber Engineering Conference held in New Orleans.  Dr. Gopu is active in several technical committees, and has served as a member of several federal interagency working groups. Dr. Gopu serves as the Vice-Chair of the Industrial Advisory Board for the NSF Center on Integration of Composites in Infrastructure. Over the past 17 years, he has been heavily involved in the management of TIER 1 and Regional University Transportation Center Sites funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Dr. Gopu has served on over 70 NSF Research Centers/Facilities Site Review Teams and Proposal Review Panels in just the past one decade. He also served on the Committee of Visitors for a NSF program which is the highest level of service rendered to NSF.

 

 

Dr. Ayman Okeil

Professor of Civil Engineering

LSU

 

Dr. Ayman M. Okeil, P.E.(FL), is a Professor of Civil Engineering at Louisiana State University, where he also serves as the Graduate Programs Coordinator. He has a vast experience in the field of bridge engineering, which resulted in over 120 publications in the area of composite strengthening, reliability calibration, structural health monitoring, nondestructive testing, and behavior of complex bridge systems. Dr. Okeil has served as PI/Co-PI on projects funded by NCHRP, NSF, NASA, NRC, and Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) totaling more than $3.5 million. At LSU, he advised 19 students (4 PhD and 15 MS) to completion, and currently serves as chair of the Advisory Committee for six students. Dr. Okeil is heavily engaged in Structural Health Monitoring research. He served as PI for three large projects involving monitoring of Louisiana bridges. Design recommendations resulted in from the first project that are currently being formulated in the LA Bridge Design Manual. His expertise in reliability assessment covers structural and geotechnical applications. He served on the research team for NCHRP Project 12-75 and calibrated the design provisions for concrete girders strengthened with composite materials.  His work for the Center for Nuclear Power Plant Structures, Equipment, and Piping at North Carolina State University led to introducing new design concepts to the nuclear industry. The concepts were based on intensive nonlinear finite element simulations of steel structures under seismic loading. He developed and co-developed several computer codes for the analysis and design of different bridge systems including composite box girder bridges and nonlinear analysis for FRP-strengthened continuous bridge girders.  Dr. Okeil also has a longstanding record in teaching. He has developed and taught several structural engineering design and analysis classes and labs in four universities.  His teaching abilities were recognized when he received the “Outstanding Teaching Award” at NCSU, the “Outstanding Achievement Award” at LSU, the “Outstanding Educator Award” from ASCE-Baton Rouge Chapter, and the “Michael R. Mangham Memorial Undergraduate Teaching Award” from the LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation. He is a voting member of TRB AFF80 on FRP and associate member of ACI Committee 440 on FRP, and ASCE-ACI joint Committee 343 on Concrete Bridges. He also served as consultant and senior engineer to several consulting firms on various projects related to both buildings and bridges. Prior to joining LSU in 2003, Dr. Okeil was on the faculty of the University of Central Florida and Alexandria University. He received his Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in 1995, and his MS and BS from Alexandria University. Dr. Okeil is a registered professional engineer (P.E.) in the state of Florida.

 

 

 

Dr. Roger Seals

Distinguished Professor Emeritus

LSU

 

Roger K. Seals, PhD, PR Retired, is Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University. He retired from LSU after having served on the faculty for 25 years. During that period he served as Chairman of the Department (1980-1989); Director of the Institute for Recyclable Materials (1990-1997); and Coordinator of Undergraduate Programs (August 1999 and July 2003). In May 1999, Dr. Seals was named the Irma-Louise Stewart Endowed Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering.  During the period July 2003-July 2005, he served as Program Director in the Division of Undergraduate Education, Human Resources and Education Directorate, of the National Science Foundation. Preceding his appointment at LSU, Dr. Seals served on the faculty of the Department of Civil Engineering at West Virginia for fifteen years where he rose to the rank of Professor. During his career, he served in member and leadership roles in a variety of technical and educational organizations including the American Society of Civil Engineers (National, State and Branch), American Society for Testing and Materials, National Society of Professional Engineers, Louisiana Engineering Society, American Society for Engineering Education and Transportation Research Board. He was named a Fellow by ASCE in 2003. Other honors include numerous teaching awards both at Louisiana State University and West Virginia University. In 2009, he was named an Honorary Member, West Virginia Academy of Civil Engineers and Educator of the Year by the Baton Rouge Branch, American Society of Civil Engineers. His papers and presentations have encompassed both technical and educational related topics. Much of the technical research throughout his career was devoted to the utilization of by-product materials for civil engineering construction applications. Subsequent to his retirement in 2005, he has been engaged in National Science Foundation sponsored educationally-oriented projects in collaboration with colleagues at Louisiana State University. His role has been principally directed at faculty development activities. He was also a member of a project team that delivered interactive web-based workshops nationally over a period of 8 years to enhance the proposal development and preparation skills of faculty, principally targeting NSF education programs.