Grad Student Profiles

Cuba to Colorado - PhD student studying earthquakes to build a better world

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 21:16:30 +0000

Cuba to Colorado - PhD student studying earthquakes to build a better world Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 11/29/2021 - 14:16

Erica McNamee

Above: The Center for Infrastructure, Energy, and Space Testing centrifuge Brito is using.
Header Image: Lianne Brito

For Lianne Brito, ‘resiliency’ is her personal watchword. Overcoming obstacles has been a way of life, from growing up in Cuba to her journey as a PhD candidate in geotechnical earthquake engineering.

“Growing up within this censored society, our daily lives had a lot of uncertainty and scarcity,” Brito said.

Despite the hardships she had to endure, Brito learned how to be resilient from her mother.

“My mom always seemed to bring a sense of security and showed me the beautiful things our country had to offer, reminding me not to dwell on the struggles of daily life,” Brito said.

Cuba provides a backdrop of well-known, beautiful landscapes, and also is home to diverse architectural styles. Brito remembers visiting a district in Havana called La Habana Vieja, home to spanish, baroque and neoclassical influences in the building architecture. She noted that the buildings in that district are in severe need of restoration.

“I grew up with a lot of hurricanes, and I saw firsthand the kind of destruction that natural hazards can impose,” Brito said.

With these experiences, Brito learned the importance of code-compliance and maintenance of critical infrastructure.

After immigrating from Cuba, Brito attended the University of Central Florida, where she studied civil engineering. Through a program called LEARN, Brito became involved in research for the first time.

“Before I started college, I didn’t even know what ‘research’ was,” Brito said.

This first encounter with research created a path that Brito has continued down. In LEARN, she helped investigate how accelerometer and gyroscope sensors are used in smartphones. The experience - including co-authoring a conference paper - set the tone for her interest in research as she continued her undergraduate and graduate education.

Brito now studies effects on structures similar to those she recalled in Cuba.

“Resilience is a word that should not only apply to myself but I also apply to my research, since I study resilient infrastructures,” Brito said.

Brito’s current work investigates liquefaction in proximity to the built environment. Liquefaction is a phenomenon where soil behaves briefly as a liquid, causing buildings to sink or shift, resulting in considerable damage. This typically happens during earthquakes.

Although researchers have explored liquefaction in the context of fluid dynamics, Brito is taking it a step further. Most studies on liquefaction are completed on uniform soils, which seldom occurs in nature. To gather a more in-depth understanding of a real life situation, Brito studies stratigraphic variability, or layered soils.

“This experimentation is itself novel, and Lianne has already completed the design of a plexiglass box and is designing and implementing an image-based data collection system,” said Professor Abbie Liel, one of Brito’s co-advisors.

The plexiglass box is tested within a centrifuge, where a high speed camera capturing 2,000 frames per second records the changes in the soil in model size. Each of the thousands of frames taken in the duration of the five-second test is referenced against the initial frame to show how the soil has changed over time.

“From my investigations, we could potentially look into mitigation techniques,” Brito said.

Brito’s advisors see her as a strong researcher, and further, an inspiration to other students.

“Lianne is a student who is extremely passionate about her chosen sub-discipline—geotechnical earthquake engineering—and about teaching, learning, pushing the frontier of research and communicating her findings with others,” said Associate Professor Shideh Dashti, another of Brito’s co-advisors. “She is also an exceptional mentor to the undergraduate students working in the lab under her supervision.”

Brito noted how she had several mentors throughout her undergraduate career who encouraged her to continue, and she wants to play a mentoring role for younger engineers as well, especially for those with similar backgrounds.

“I feel a profound responsibility as a Hispanic woman in engineering to partake in leadership roles that promote diversity,” Brito said.

After graduation, Brito plans to implement her findings in industry and hopes to return to academia to continue to teach and conduct research.

“I realized that research is the road to creating positive change in the state of practice and knowledge in general,” Brito said.

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"Since I can remember, I have always wanted to find the reason for things." - Alejandro Caicedo Ramirez

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 22:26:54 +0000

"Since I can remember, I have always wanted to find the reason for things." - Alejandro Caicedo Ramirez Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/30/2018 - 16:26

Name: Alejandro Caicedo Ramirez
Hometown: Barcelona, Spain
Advisor: Mark Hernandez

My Path to Engineering

I was born in Colombia in 1988. When I was 7 years old, my parents decided to move to Barcelona (Spain) in search for a better life. This decision opened many educational doors that could otherwise may have remained closed. Since I can remember, I have always wanted to find the reason for things, with a special emphasis in chemical reactions and biological phenomena. My curious nature lead me to pursue a university degree in chemical engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. There, I came to appreciate the key role water and wastewater treatment has in our daily life and how important it is for social, environmental, and economic progress. After graduation, I decided to pursue a master’s degree in biotechnology at the University of Barcelona in order to better understand microbes and microbiological processes relevant to water treatment.

In 2012, Spain was in the middle of a deep economic crisis. Having just graduated from my master’s degree, my professional options were limited. While I had the option to find a job in Europe, I also believed I could still learn and be better prepared to face wastewater treatment challenges if I decided to pursue a PhD in civil/environmental engineering. Then a “once in a lifetime” opportunity came along: the possibility to conduct graduate studies at the �鶹��Ƶ. This opportunity came in the form of the Balsells Fellowship, a program created between the Government of Catalonia, CU Boulder and the Balsells Foundation to offer students from Catalonia the opportunity to conduct graduate level studies in the engineering field. Since that moment, I have been a PhD student in civil/environmental engineering at CU Boulder.

Why CU Boulder?

The environmental engineering program at CU ranks among the best in the nation and worldwide. The faculty are truly concerned for the student’s success and the research topics tend to be multidisciplinary and applied, factors that I considered key for my future as a professional engineer.

Pursuing a PhD at CU has been the best experience in my life. Academically speaking, I love the facilities, resources available, and the productive collaboration between research groups. Also, the faculty and staff are exceptional and engaging. Personally speaking, I love the diverse international community, the outdoors and sports culture, and the strong environmental awareness of Boulder.

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"We don’t have to feel hopeless in the face of hazards." - Casie Venable

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 18:42:15 +0000

"We don’t have to feel hopeless in the face of hazards." - Casie Venable Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/13/2018 - 12:42

Name: Casie Venable
Hometown: Pfafftown, NC
Advisors: Amy Javernick Will and Abbie Liel

My Path to Engineering

I am from Winston-Salem, North Carolina -- Pfafftown, if we’re being exact. Growing up I was exposed to construction fairly frequently as many members of my family were involved in the industry. Additionally, I was surrounded by people who were committed to serving others, in whatever capacity they were able. And this was something that really stuck with me. I knew from a young age that I wanted to have a career that would make a positive impact on the lives of others.

Given my experience with construction and my interest in math and science, civil engineering seemed like the best career path. My friendships and experiences at Virginia Tech further fostered my interest in promoting sustainable, resilient, and equitable infrastructure. I also learned how disasters can reveal the vulnerabilities in infrastructure and communities but that hazards don’t have to become disasters. We don’t have to feel hopeless in the face of hazards. And so, now I study disasters and housing performance and try to fight back against the perceived hopelessness.

Why CU Boulder?

Graduate school was not on my radar until my final year of undergrad. I had always planned to go into industry as a practicing civil engineer. I had many conversations with friends, family, and mentors about what I envisioned for my future and realized that I wanted to work on projects and issues larger than those that I would encounter as a structural engineer. I was (and still am) very interested in policy and community issues – problems that involve numerous stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. For a while, I thought that being a planner was the right path and I applied to a handful of urban planning programs. I never expected to do a PhD. In fact, CU was the only school to which I applied to the PhD program. I really doubted whether it was the right path for me, but I am happy I made the decision to come here.

There is some really cool and important work coming out of CEAE and particularly the two research groups of which I am a part – the Global Projects & Organizations group headed by Amy Javernick-Will and the Liel Research Group headed by Abbie Liel. Both of these professors are combining civil engineering with other disciplines to tackle complex problems like disaster risk reduction. I was inspired by them and their work and looked forward to collaborating with them. I also came to CU and CEAE at an exciting time when the department was putting together a group of faculty and students to study community resilience under a Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) fellowship, and the opportunity to work on an issue that I care about and with others across the entire civil engineering discipline was one I couldn’t pass up.

My work focuses on disaster recovery – a field rife with engineers, planners, sociologists, policymakers, and others. I personally focus on a variety of topics – structural performance, risk perception, and risk communication.

I love the people at CU Boulder. I am continuously impressed by the enthusiasm and dedication of my colleagues – they all do incredible work and are committed to making their research meaningful and actionable. They have also been my greatest support system. We all know that completing a PhD is a challenging task and my research groups make the time to support each other, whether it be through providing feedback on a new research topic or having fun at trivia or Rockies games. But it’s not just my fellow students that I have enjoyed getting to know – the faculty with whom I have interacted have helped me to develop as both a researcher and as a person through their guidance.

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"I became aware of the importance of managing water globally to ensure health and to prevent conflict." - Melissa Estep

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 18:20:29 +0000

"I became aware of the importance of managing water globally to ensure health and to prevent conflict." - Melissa Estep Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/13/2018 - 12:20

Name: Melissa Estep
Hometown: San Ramon, CA
Advisor: Joe Kasprzyk, Water Resource Engineering

My Path in Engineering

I grew up in the Bay Area in California, but moved to Folsom, between Sacramento and Tahoe for high school. I always had an interest in science growing up and hoped to become a marine biologist at a young age. During high school I found that I enjoyed math as well and applied to engineering programs in order to integrate the two disciplines together. As an undergraduate I studied industrial and systems engineering (ISE), and had an incredible mentor, Dr. Najmedin Meshkati, who directed my research on implementing sustainable water and sanitation systems in developing countries. Through Dr. Meshkati, I was connected to the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State, under whom I was able to work as an intern at the State Department in Washington, D.C. I was profoundly impacted by my experience there and became aware of the importance of managing water globally to ensure human and economic health, and to prevent conflict.

After college I worked for four years at a manufacturing company and moved up within the company, eventually managing a team of six to optimize processes. However, I eventually realized that apart from helping my team members succeed, I did not find the end results of my work fulfilling. I pivoted my focus back to what I was originally interested in: the environment and, specifically, water. I took a position as an environmental consultant, as well as a significant pay cut, in order to familiarize myself with the field and prepare myself for school, where I knew I’d eventually return. I ultimately chose to return to engineering rather than policy in order to learn skills specific to water resource engineering and management that could be applied to policy. I felt that I needed these “hard” skills to be successful in a policy position relating to water. I am currently studying water resource engineering, and performing research that integrates engineering, policy, economics, and community resilience, as well as an optimization component that draws from my previous profession as an industrial engineer. My research is a great integration of all of my interests and experiences.

Why CU Boulder?

I chose to attend CU for a variety of reasons. I had already been living in Boulder, so it was easy to continue to stay in the place I had come to call home. I love the mountains and had a hard time imagining moving away from them. I had been accepted to Stanford as well as another high-level school, which left me with a difficult decision. I found that the professors and students at CU were very easy to connect with and formed a strong network. The professors appeared to be engaged with their students, accessible, and still very accomplished. Everyone seemed to have a healthy work-life balance, and shared similar interests to mine. I knew I did not want my graduate experience to be in an environment where I was competing with other students or where I did not have any time for life outside of school. I also appreciated the graduate student workspace and amenities at CU. Finally, I was lucky enough to receive a Fellowship for five years to pursue my PhD.

My experience at CU has proven to be what I expected and more. All of the graduate students I have worked with have been incredible people, many of which are now my friends. The professors are clearly passionate about their work, making the courses engaging. There are opportunities to expand my learning if I make the effort to do so, through seminars from my department and others. The graduate department truly feels like a close community. CU as a whole also offers great services for its students through its health department and student events. And of course, the picturesque views of the Flatirons and the Indian Peaks beyond are not a terrible backdrop for studying.

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"What I didn’t know was that the switch to civil engineering would help me find my footing and change everything." - Siddharth Bandari

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 18:09:57 +0000

"What I didn’t know was that the switch to civil engineering would help me find my footing and change everything." - Siddharth Bandari Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/13/2018 - 12:09

Name: Siddharth Bandari
Hometown: Jodhpur, India
Advisor: Matthew Hallowell, Colorado Safety Laboratory

Why CU Boulder?

I grew up in a small town in the northwestern state of Rajasthan in India. In many cases, where you grow up can define you but, in my case, I simply did not fit in the culture back home. I was an average student in middle and high school and usually kept to myself. As I grew up, I wanted to step out for my college experience to travel, meet new people, and explore new destinations. My mother who has always been my anchor was instrumental in making my journey to CU happen.

I was hopelessly confused on what program to pursue in higher education. Being average in most things – how do you make such life-altering decision? I ultimately decided to pursue an engineering program. The �鶹��Ƶ was the first college to respond back and rest is history.

Here in Boulder, for the first time I was living alone and was in a culture that could not be more different than where I came from. Literally, I came from a desert to the Rockies! I grew to enjoy every part of Boulder’s mountain life: the Flatirons, the creek, the food, the people, and most of all the campus.

My Path in Engineering

It wasn’t all smooth: I was struggling academically at the end of my sophomore year. After some thought, I decided to switch from environmental to civil engineering. I didn’t have a concrete reason to switch to civil engineering (pun intended) but what I didn’t know was that the switch to civil engineering would help me find my footing in the world of engineering and change everything. That switch took me from a near probation GPA to eventually being on the Dean’s merit list. That switch meant meeting Dr. Matthew R. Hallowell, becoming his undergraduate research assistant and eventually one of his PhD students working to improve safety on construction sites. That switch meant going from not wanting to be an engineer to now a graduate student hoping to permanently join the research and teaching community in engineering. That switch was everything.

For my PhD thesis I designed the safety training program that improves skill, knowledge retention, and interest for safety among workers, while also manipulating their emotional response to risks, thereby altering their risk-taking behaviors. Currently, I have had the opportunity to branch out from my core dissertation work by using a new dataset collected via partnerships with industry associations. The dataset allows for the exploration of interactions among safety climate, risk tolerance, safety behavior, and international demographics using survey responses from over 10,000 construction workers across 22 countries. This is a rare opportunity to disseminate through such a rich dataset as this and conduct multivariate studies to explore relationships among key safety variables on a global scale.

I became a part of the CU family in undergrad and my love for the community, teaching environment, and the campus has just grown over the years, making graduate school here an easy decision. That coupled with the fact I get to continue living in Boulder made it perfect deal. Despite its size, CU always made me feel relevant whether it was being able to interact with all my professors or having a plethora of part time job opportunities on campus. When making a decision to join graduate school, I didn’t know what role the college would play in supporting me but CU gave me the opportunity to work with brilliant and pioneering researchers from across the world, travel to conferences, and get a stage to share the work our team has been doing. I would recommend CU to anyone without a second’s hesitation.

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"I want to be a globally-trained geotechnical engineer, one who is able to solve problems with colleagues in different countries." - Jenny Ramirez

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 17:08:59 +0000

"I want to be a globally-trained geotechnical engineer, one who is able to solve problems with colleagues in different countries." - Jenny Ramirez Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/13/2018 - 11:08

Name: Jenny Ramirez
Hometown: Ecuador
Advisor: Shideh Dashti

My Path to Engineering

I was born and raised in Ecuador, and since that time STEM careers started to sound interesting to me, I have always been concerned about their crucial and practical implications on society. During my senior year at college I was recruited by a professor to work on his doctoral research work on a geotechnical earthquake engineering related topic. As a consequence, I became aware that a better understanding of the soil underneath a structure could minimize failures caused by earthquakes and potentially save people’s lives. Further, I found out that as a geotechnical earthquake engineer I could design recommendations for earthquake-resilient structures which could have a positive impact on people in Ecuador and other seismically active countries. Thus, I have been working on research projects in this field since then.

My experiences as an undergraduate research assistant led me to a dream: I wanted to be a globally-trained geotechnical engineer, one who was able to solve engineering-related problems with colleagues in different countries, facing technical challenges. However, I knew early in my career that I needed to go to graduate school to accomplish my dream. Therefore, I moved to Mexico City to get my master’s degree in geotechnical engineering. After some years of industry experience in Ecuador, I moved to Boulder to pursue a doctoral degree in the same field.

Why CU Boulder?

My advisor, Shideh Dashti, played a big role in my decision to come to CU Boulder. Her research interests and her practical research philosophy aligned with both my academic and professional focus. In 2014 she recruited me to work on a National Science Foundation project, and I have also been very fortunate to have Abbie Liel, a structural engineer, as a co-advisor. It has been four years since I came to CU Boulder, and I am still excited about my research work, working with friends around the globe.

I am currently working on a dissertation, which is focused on computational modeling of three-dimensional nonlinear soil-foundation-structure systems to understand the performance of potentially inelastic structures on softened (liquefiable) deposits and the effectiveness of remediation techniques. During my PhD studies, I have also been given the opportunity to do some reconnaissance and research work after the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake in Japan and the 2016 Muisne earthquake in Ecuador, respectively. Sooner than later, I realized that my dream was becoming a reality.

Besides its proximity to a terrific mountain landscape, its attentive people are what makes CU Boulder delightful for me. Few months are probably enough to feel the contagious positive energy from those around you and become a Colorado Buffalo by heart. I am also very thankful that CU Boulder has offered me plenty of opportunities to participate in multicultural mentoring and leadership programs. These experiences have shaped my strengths, boosted some dormant skills, allowed me to meet new friends, and last but not least, trained me to become a well-rounded engineer for the world.

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"As a researcher, I have been exposed to projects that are pushing the boundaries of how we construct buildings." - Jay Arehart

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 17:02:37 +0000

"As a researcher, I have been exposed to projects that are pushing the boundaries of how we construct buildings." - Jay Arehart Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/13/2018 - 11:02

Name: Jay Arehart
Hometown: Boulder, CO
Advisor: Wil Srubar (SIMLab)

My Path to Engineering

Growing up locally in Boulder, I always had a strong interest in ecosystems. My fascination with the natural world was influenced by its complexity and the way it is all interconnected. Little did I know that buildings themselves are complex ecosystems. I pursued this interest through an architectural engineering undergraduate degree at CU Boulder and have found my passion to be understanding how the buildings around the world influence the natural environment.

My initial motivation to pursue graduate work was practical: structural engineering really requires a master’s degree, and the BS/MS program at CU was an ideal way for me to get the knowledge and skills I needed to be a practicing engineer. One of my first graduate courses – sustainable materials and structures – was a game changer for me. As a result, I became passionate about being a structural engineer who would change how structural engineers design and choose building materials that minimized the environmental impacts of the built environment. I realized that the industry needs more research before it can move forward – this motivated me to stay at CU and to pursue a PhD. Specifically, I am studying the carbon storage potential of the built environment and how building designers can store carbon in buildings with the aim of transitioning the built environment from a carbon source, into a carbon sink.

As a researcher, I have been exposed to projects that are pushing the boundaries of how we construct buildings. The projects I am a part of range from high-level modelling of the global building stock to developing living construction materials.

Why CU Boulder?

In my graduate career, I have been able to mentor the CU student chapter of Bridges to Prosperity through three bridge projects as well as to help start a footbridge building program in eSwatini. I have had the opportunity to travel three times with the student group to implement footbridge projects alongside underserved rural communities. These opportunities have been valuable as both teaching and learning experiences. Through my experience with the student group, I have learned how to effectively teach and show the humanitarian side of engineering. Opportunities to mentor student groups, such as CU Bridges to Prosperity are numerous at CU and have certainly added to my experience as a graduate student.

While the opportunities for personal growth and making tangible impacts through my research and service are numerous at CU, being in Boulder is another reason why I chose to stay at CU. The faculty recognize a work-life balance and encourage students to take advantage of the numerous outdoor activities around Boulder.

I love the community at CU. My fellow graduate students and I work in a high achieving, collaborative environment that is not competitive. While this community has fostered my growth as a student and researcher, I have also developed many lifelong friends as a result. The graduate student culture at CU is an enjoyable one to work and study in.

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