FAMU-FSU Engineering
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

March 2020 CEE Newsletter



Civil engineering students benefit from alumnus' design expertise in new concrete lab facility


The finished civil engineering Concrete Lab designed
by FAMU-FSU Engineering alumnus Patrick McKee.
If you have lived in Tallahassee for some time you have probably had the chance to see some of the work by Kever-McKee Engineering. Locally, the company has worked on Capital Health Plan building located on Thomasville Road at I-10 and the Proof Brewery Renovation on South Monroe, as well as many other notable projects. Patrick McKee started the firm in 2015 and Brian Kever came on board soon after. Both entrepreneurs graduated from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering through FSU.

McKee recently had the chance to return to his alma mater to redesign a concrete mix lab facility for the college. The facility was designed as an expansion of the existing materials storage area adjacent to the college’s high-bay structures lab. The area is used by undergraduate lab classes and student organizations, as well as by graduate students conducting concrete research. The covered lab space will soon be outfitted with a temperature and humidity-controlled curing room. 
CEE Students & Alums in the News

Civil engineering undergraduates win first place in industry poster competition
FAMU-FSU College of Engineering undergraduates Priscilla Young, left, Ana Pinto, right, and
Alix Kabre during a poster competition at the 55th Annual Conference and Expo organized bythe Florida Air and Waste Management Association at the Florida State University Turnbull Center in Tallahassee, Florida. Pinto and Kabre are double majors in civil and environmental engineering, and Young is working on a BS in civil engineering. The team won first place in the competition.

Graduate Student Profile:
Fehintola Sanusi
Engineering student leader, professor, recognized during annual awards night

Florida State University students, employees and organizations gathered April 9 for the university’s annual  Leadership Awards Night . The ceremony, sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs, honors the diverse collection of individuals and groups across campus who engage in leadership learning.

Wind research alum recognized with 2019 ASCE Alfred Noble Prize
A collaboration with adviser leads to success for former FAMU-FSU Engineering student

From left to right: Kakit Fung (a former PhD student), Sungmoon Jung, Reza Amirinia, Reza Seyedi (a current PhD student).

“Imagine a giant moving toward a tall building,” FAMU-FSU Engineering professor  Sungmoon Jung  said. “He takes his large hand and pushes the tall building, then lets it go. What happens? The building vibrates. The vibration is one of the responses we study regarding wind effects on high-rise buildings.” 

Jung is an associate professor in civil engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering who studies wind and impact-induced structural vibrations with his research team that includes graduate student Gholamreza “Reza” Amirinia. The collaboration began two years ago when Amirinia was pursuing a doctoral degree at the college. The two hope the study will eventually lead to better design code and standards for new buildings. The project, funded in part by the National Science Foundation, earned recognition by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).


Faculty Spotlight


Juyeong Choi
Since his arrival on campus last year, new Assistant Professor Juyeong Choi has hit the ground running. He is one of twenty scholars selected as a Fellow for the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Enabling Program (link: https://eng.famu.fsu.edu/news/choi-enable-fellow ), and was recently published in the national online magazine The Conversation (link: https://eng.famu.fsu.edu/news/post-disaster-cleanup-conversation ).Learn more about his work here: https://sites.google.com/view/jchoiresearchgroup .
ANNOUNCEMENTS


Lisa Spainhour named Chair of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering


Lisa Spainhour, Ph.D., P.E., has been appointed Chair of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). Lisa has served as interim chair for the past two years. “Lisa demonstrated her excellent leadership skills as interim chair, and I am looking forward to working with her to grow the department’s impact in the coming years,” said J. Murray Gibson, dean of the college.

For Your Information  is an update from the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering providing breaking news and information about upcoming events. For more, please visit https://eng.famu.fsu.edu/cee
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