Research Administration wants to highlight the diverse group of universities, consultant groups, and transportation leaders who have recently completed, are currently working, or have interest in MDOT research partners with our office. This page is intended to be a resource for public and private transportation stakeholders interested in our research partners and their specific expertise’s.
If you are interested in being included in the Partners in Research Page, please complete the survey. Please note, the website is updated bi-annually.
Western Michigan University
Professor and Chair of Civil and Construction Engineering
(269) 276-3209
osama.abudayyeh@wmich.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Bridge Management, Construction , Asset Management, Safety, Contracting
Website for Osama Abudayyeh
Western Michigan University
Assistant Professor
(269) 808-4522
ilgin.acar@wmich.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Logistics optimization
Western Michigan University
Assistant Professor
(586) 430-6954
shafayet.ahmed@wmich.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Sustainable Construction, Workforce Development, Data-Driven Decision-Making, Construction Pollution
Lawrence Technological University
Professor and Director of Construction Safety Research Center
aalbayati@ltu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Construction Safety & Underground Utilities & Construction Quality
Website for Ahmed Al-Bayati
Western Michigan University
Professor and Director of the MDOT Center of Excellence for Structural Durability
(269) 276-3217
upul.attanayake@wmich.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Accelerated Bridge Construction & Bridge Engineering & Construction Durability & NDE & Health Monitoring
Website for Upul Attanayake
Lawrence Technological University
Associate Professor, Director-Lawrence Tech Transportation Institute
(248) 204-2602
nbandara@ltu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Pavement Design and Management & Pavement Evaluation & Winter Maintenance & Recycled Materials
Website for Nishantha Bandara
Michigan Technological University, Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI)
Senior Research Scientist
(734) 604-4196
cnbrooks@mtu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Implementing advanced inspection and monitoring technologies to help with infrastructure inspection.
Website for Colin Neil Brooks
Michigan State University
Professor
(336) 686-1361
cetinbor@msu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Geotechnical Engineering, Geoenvironmental Engineering
Website for Bora Cetin
NTH Consultants, Ltd.
Principal Engineer
tdawson@nthconsultants.com
Areas of Expertise:
Geotechnical; Subsurface Utility; Structure Assessment & Rehabilitation; Pavement Design/Management
Website for Tyler Dawson
Michigan State University
Associate Professor
kakan@msu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Intelligent Transportation Systems, Connected and Automated Mobility, Traffic Safety and Operations
Website for Kakan Dey
University of Detroit Mercy
Professor/Chair: Civil Architectural & Environmental Engineering Dept.
(313) 993-1040
duttau@udmercy.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Traffic Safety, Public Transit, TOD, Pavement design
Website for Utpal Dutta
Wayne State University
Professor
(313) 577-3766
eamon@eng.wayne.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Bridge Structures; Load Modeling; Structural Reliability; Structural Analysis; Field Testing
Website for Christopher Eamon
University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
Research Professor
(734) 763-8107
eby@umich.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Aging and mobility, Traffic Safety
Website for David W. Eby
Michigan State University
Professor
(517) 353-7224
gatestim@msu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Road safety, road user behavior, traffic control devices, speed limits, speed management, work zones
Website for Timothy Gates
Michigan Department of Transportation
Occupational Safety Specialist
(517) 719-4071
GausJ@Michigan.gov
Areas of Expertise:
Worker Safety and Health
Website for Jim Gaus
Michigan Technological University
Associate Director of Center for Technology & Training
(906) 487-2102
cggilber@mtu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Bridge design, load rating, and the asset management of transportation infrastructure.
Website for Chris Gilbertson
Kimley-Horn of Michigan
Project Manager
(919) 653-5849
amanda.good@kimley-horn.com
Areas of Expertise:
Operations, Incident Management, Video Analytics, CV/AV, Emerging Technologies, Transit
Website for Amanda Good
Michigan State University
Associate Professor
(517) 353-9782
syedwaqa@msu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Pavement design, management and preservation
Website for Syed Waqar Haider
CTC & Associates
Principal and CEO
(402) 770-9067
brian.hirt@ctcandassociates.com
Areas of Expertise:
Research program and project management; technical reporting and communications
Website for Brian Hirt
Road Commission Oakland County
Signals Inspector/ITS
(248) 303-9030
Bhollady@rcoc.org
Areas of Expertise:
Traffic Operations Center, Intelligent Transportation Systems, Wireless connectivity CCTV, Detection
Website for Brent Hollady
Michigan State University
Associate Professor
(517) 353-5460
kotvalze@msu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Urban Planning, Primary Data Collection (Surveys), Travel Behavior
Website for Zeenat Kotval-Karamchandani
Western Michigan University
Associate Professor
(269) 276-3160
sandun.kuruppu@wmich.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Transportation, Electrification, Intelligent Systems and Monitoring, Fault prognosis and Diagnosis
Website for Sandun Kuruppu
Michigan State University
Professor
(517) 353-9297
kutay@msu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Pavement analysis and design (mechanistic-empirical methods), performance modeling, preservation
Website for M. Emin Kutay
Western Michigan University
Professor, Civil and Construction Engineering
(269) 276-3218
valerian.kwigizile@wmich.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Traffic safety, simulation and operations; Traffic enforcement; Application of ITS
Website for Valerian Kwigizile
Michigan State University
Professor
(517) 353-8883
lajnefni@msu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Intelligent transportation, Infrastructure monitoring
Website for Nizar Lajnef
Wayne State University
Assistant Professor
(313) 577-2086
slavrenz@wayne.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Vision Zero and Safe Systems, vulnerable roadway users, intelligent transportation systems
Website for Steven Lavrenz
Michigan State University, Center for Railway Research & Education
Director Railway Education
(517) 353-5663
littlen@msu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Passenger & freight railroads, supply chain management, alternative motive power energy sources
Website for Nicholas C. Little
Western Michigan University
Assistant Professor
(269) 330-4240
hexu.liu@wmich.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Cost management, project digital delivery, BIM
Website for Hexu Liu
Wayne State University
Associate Professor
(313) 577-9950
fatmir.menkulasi@wayne.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Structural Engineering
Website for Fatmir Menkulasi
AMPP
Senior Technical Manager
(616) 915-1047
sarah.olthof@ampp.org
Areas of Expertise:
Corrosion protection and protective coatings for bridges and other infrastructure
Michigan Department of Transportation
Maintenance Engineer 12, Grand Region Office
(616) 204-0693
PaepkeJ@Michigan.gov
Areas of Expertise:
Traffic engineering, work zones, maintenance
Website for John Paepke
SME
Senior Consultant
(734) 454-9900
Rohan.Perera@sme-usa.com
Areas of Expertise:
FWD Data Collection and Analysis, Pavement Smoothness and Texture, Pavement Design and Management
Website for Rohan Perera
Wayne State University
Assistant Professor
(530) 746-1508
xdqian@wayne.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Transportation Equity; Emerging Mobilities; Smart Transport Infrastructure; GIS in Transportation
Website for Xiaodong Qian
Michigan State University
Associate Professor
teresaqu@msu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Non-motorized, autonomous, accessible, and sustainable transportation
Website for Tongbin "Teresa" Qu
Michigan State University
MSU Foundation Professor
(517) 432-1825
pete@msu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Transportation safety
Website for Peter Savolainen
RS Engineering, LLC.
President
(517) 253-0525
tsereseroz@rs-eng.com
Areas of Expertise:
Structural Engineering, Load Rating, Bridge Design
Website for Thomas D. Sereseroz
Western Michigan University
Professor
(269) 276-3202
xiaoyun.shao@wmich.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Structural Engineering, Load Rating, Bridge Design
Website for Xiaoyun Shao
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Assistant Professor
(678) 232-1808
atiyya@umich.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Travel behavior and demand; survey and passive data integration; equity and accessibility
Website for Atiyya Shaw
Michigan Department of Transportation
Construction Engineer
(810) 459-5551
SilerJ@Michigan.gov
Areas of Expertise:
Construction
Michigan Department of Transportation
Supervisor, Pavement Condition Data Unit, Planning Bureau
SokolnickiD@michigan.gov
Areas of Expertise:
Collection of Network-Level Pavement Surface Condition Data and Imagery
GPI Michigan
Chief Engineer Strategic Pursuits
ethorkildsen@gpinet.com
Areas of Expertise:
Bridge Preservation & Bridge Inspection & Bridge Maintenance
Website for Eric Thorkildsen
Michigan Technological University
Professor
(906) 487-1640
dwatkins@mtu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Water resources engineering, hydrologic modeling, flood risk management, hydroclimatic prediction
Website for David Watkins
Michigan Technological University
Professor
(906) 487-1059
ZYou@mtu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Pavements, Materials
Website for Zhanping You
Michigan State University
Associate Professor
(517) 432-3242
dz@msu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Construction Informatics, Worker Safety and Health, Sustainability
Website for Dong Zhao
Michigan State University
Associate Professor
zockaiea@egr.msu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Traffic Operation & Management, Sustainable Mobility, Transportation Planning, Emerging technologies
Website for Ali Zockaie
Page last updated: 09/07/2022
