His research interests include seismic performance and design of reinforced concrete structures, computational modeling of structures, and engineering education.

Structural Analysis is a required course for junior civil engineering students. They learn the theory of the common methods of analysis of structures during the course; however, do not get to apply such methods to a hands-on project. The paper discusses a competition that provides the students with an opportunity to apply the concepts learned in the class through a hands-on experience on analysis, design, and fabrication of a balsa wood bridge. The project challenges the students to fabricate a wooden truss bridge that yields the highest load bearing capacity and weight ratio to win the competition. In addition, students get to improve their entrepreneurial mindset by applying Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) learning objectives on curiosity and creating value via investigating multiple truss bridge systems and selecting the superior design through NABC approach. The direct assessment was conducted by rubric evaluation and an anonymous survey was used for the indirect assessment of the project. The students' feedback indicated that they enjoyed the real-world application of the project and liked being able to learn how to analyze trusses using professional software and apply their learning to an actual design. ID Member Type Length Cross-sectional Dimensions Quantity Required The written product proposal should include the following:

Timber design is a technical elective course for junior and senior civil engineering students at Ohio Northern University. To help students apply the concepts learned in this course and previous courses such as Strength of Materials and Structural Analysis to the real-world applications as well as improve their entrepreneurial mindset per Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) learning objectives, a comprehensive half a semester-long project was developed. The paper describes the project, where students were required to form a team/company of four to five members, create Auto CAD drawings for their dream houses, determine the loading, utilize a professional software such as WoodWorks to design the common elements of the building, and select one layout as a superior design using the Need-Approach-Benefits-Competition (NABC) framework. It was found that students enjoyed the real-world aspect of the project, the freedom to create the layout of their buildings, and applying all the knowledge learned in the class and previous courses.