I am presently a research assistant and Ph.D. candidate in the construction materials area of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to Illinois, I finished my undergraduate work at the University of California, Berkeley.
My current dissertation research focuses on the durability of precast concrete railroad crossties against cyclical freezing and thawing damage. My work assesses the stability of chemically entrained air bubbles (which mitigates freezing-thawing damage) in low-yield stress, high viscosity concrete mixtures that are subjected to extended vibration times. I am also conducting a field study of instrumented crossties to better understand and predict moisture and temperature gradients inside of a crosstie as a function of external weather conditions. The outcome of this research has the potential to impact standard concrete practice with new guidelines for vibration of fresh concrete that can ensure longer-lasting infrastructure.
Some of my past research also includes developing field-testing techniques of concrete pavements, controlling setting times in Geopolymer concrete, and evaluating fast-set repair materials on partial-depth repairs.