Fellowships

Dada Zhang is a Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Civil Engineering, Construction Management, and Environmental Engineering at Northern Arizona University (NAU). She earned her bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and Mathematics in December 2016 and her master’s degree in Statistics in May 2019 at NAU. She worked on the project of using a smartphone to detect modes of pavement distress using Fast Fourier Transformation with Dr. Chun-Hsing Ho when she was an undergraduate student, and she presented her research on the National Conference of Undergraduate Research in Asheville, NC and the 10th International Conference on Road and Airfield Pavement Technology (10th ICPT 2017). Dada Zhang has a two-year teaching experience when she studied her master’s degree to teach course Quantitative Reasoning and Applied Statistics. Currently, she is working on the new project by using time series analysis to analyze pavement sensing patterns for condition assessments and will submit a paper to TRB and do a presentation at the 2020 Arizona Pavement and Materials Conference.

Yi Yang is a M.S. student of Civil Engineering at Northern Arizona University. This is the second year of Yi Yang as a graduate student. Yi Yang is working on his graduate program, application of light weight deflectometer in field measurements of unpaved roads. The experimental results of the project can be extended to most underdeveloped and rural areas, and most of the roads are unpaved. The test results will provide a better understanding of the choice of design and construction soil products, increase the carrying capacity of unpaved roads, and improve vehicle mobility and safety in rural areas. He has one year of work experience and one year of research experience, mastering the use of a variety of software, including a variety of advanced software such as ArcGIS. Yi Yang is expected to graduate in May 2020. His master’s research results will be published in the 2020 TRB and he will participate in the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Council. As a Craig Roberts graduate fellowship recipient, Yi Yang participated in several conferences in the transportation sector such as the PSR9 2nd Annual Congress.

Fan Yu is a M.Sc. student of Civil Engineering at Northern Arizona University. Mr. Yu is currently working on his graduate project, investigating correlations between PM10 emissions from vehicles with measured meteorology variables using ArcGIS. His goal is to develop a spatial regression-based model for UTC (Pacific Southwest Region 9) megacities such as Los Angeles, CA and Phoenix, AZ. Mr. Yu is expected to graduate in May 2020. He recently received his B.Sc. from Northern Arizona University in 2019. As an undergraduate research assistant, he acquired two years research experience developing dust storm models aimed at improving highway safety. He is accomplished in the use of multiple software including Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF), the Linux operating system, ArcGIS and other advanced packages. The final result of his undergraduate research was presented at TRB 2019, and has been selected for publication in the Transportation Research Record. As the recipient of the Craig Roberts Graduate Student Fellowship, Mr. Yu has attended several activities and conferences in the field of transportation. These include the ITE Western District’s annual meeting, ACEC conference on Arizona roads and streets, and the 2019 AZ ITE-IMSA Conference.