PhD students awarded for engineering ingenuity at poster competition
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Three PhD students in civil, materials, and environmental engineering at UIC were awarded for their research during the annual Christopher Burke and Susan S. Burke Civil Engineering Poster Competition.
Mohammadreza Moeini won first place for the poster “Stacking Ensemble Physics-Informed Machine Learning for Dynamic Water Quality Prediction in Water Distribution Systems.”
“It’s deeply rewarding to see the hard work and dedication behind my research acknowledged, especially among such a talented and inspiring group of peers,” Moeini said. “As an international student, this achievement is particularly meaningful. Navigating cultural differences, language barriers, and the many challenges of studying abroad has not been easy. Winning this award is a powerful reminder that hard work pays off.
Moeini, who is working under the direction of Assistant Professor Ahmed Abokifa in the Smart Water Infrastructure Modeling Laboratory, is focused on introducing novel physics-informed machine learning approaches for simulating the water quality in distribution systems. The research aims to predict and maintain water quality dynamics in water distribution systems.
Second Place
Aly Salem was named the second-place winner for the poster “Machine Learning-Based Source Identification and Sensor Placement Optimization in Sewer Networks.”
“I was extremely happy as I was privileged to compete with more than ten brilliant and talented PhD students focusing on diverse and impactful research areas,” said Salem, who is working under the direction of Assistant Professor Ahmed Abokifa in the Smart Water Infrastructure Modeling Laboratory.
Salem’s research introduces a novel framework for sensor placement optimization in sewer networks. The objective of the optimization is to maximize the observability and reliability of source identification under different scenarios.
It asks where to collect water quality samples or place water quality sensors to maximize the usefulness of wastewater surveillance data. Salem’s research offers a practical approach for sensor placement optimization to improve environmental and public health monitoring within wastewater.
Third Place
Jagadeesh Janga was awarded third place for the research “Integrating Coupled-Process Modeling and Machine Learning to Maximize Resource Recovery from MSW Landfills.”
Janga, who is working under the direction of Professor Krishna R. Reddy in the Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering Laboratory and Sustainable Engineering Research Laboratory, is focused on a Bayesian neural network-based optimization framework for leachate injection operations in municipal solid waste landfills geared toward maximizing biogas and heat energy recovery.
“I was really happy that I was named in the top three,” Janga said. “Professor Reddy is a great mentor and has always been a constant source of guidance and support behind my research. He ensures we have access to all essential resources while encouraging independent thinking and hard work. I feel extremely fortunate to conduct my research under his guidance.”