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Civil & Environmental Engineering

Faculty Profiles

Lawson, Huey Kenneth (Assistant Professor and Director of Title III Programs)

Professor Lawson has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering with concentration in environmental engineering from Southern University and A&M College and a master’s degree in civil engineering from The Ohio State University with a concentration in structural engineering and mechanics. His current interests include information technology integration into project and program management and innovative learning technologies.  Since 2017, Professor Lawson has served as Director of Title III programs where he manages approximately $10 million annually in institutional capacity building grants that focus on student success, academic enhancements, facilities and infrastructure, information technology and administrative systems.  Professor Lawson also served as the University’s Director of Technology and Network Services for 15 years prior to his current role. He has served as project director and/or principal investigator on projects totaling over $120 million from the US Department of Education, Federal Highway Administration, US Army TACOM, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and Louisiana Board of Regents.  Professor Lawson serves as a member of the Ascension Parish Architecture and Engineering Selection Committee. He is passionate about education at all levels and has served on several school improvement teams and advisory councils.  He is a past member of the Civil Service Board for the Brownfields Fire Department (District 7) and was a registered Boy Scout leader for 13 years.

 

Lee, Dongkeun (Associate Professor)

Dr. Lee earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California-Davis (UC Davis) in September 2012. After his Ph.D. study, he continued to work at UC Davis as a Post-Doctoral Researcher until June 2012. He joined Southern University and A&M College at Baton Rouge (SUBR) as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in August 2013 and worked until May 2015. He started his faculty career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Antalya Bilim University in Turkey in September 2015 and then became a faculty member of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU ranked 268th in the world, source: QS Top Universities) in Taiwan in August 2018. He was also a guest researcher at the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology. He re-joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at SUBR as an Associate Professor in August 2021.

His research interests are rehabilitation of building and bridge infrastructures using FRP composites, sustainable materials and infrastructure, design and construction of steel structures, and design and construction of reinforced concrete structures. He conducted many research projects and particularly was granted multiple research projects as a Principal Investigator from the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology and the Taiwan Ministry of Education. He authored and co-authored 23 journal papers and most of them have been published in the top journals. He received Best Paper Award at the Korea Institute for Structural Maintenance and Inspection (KSMI) 2019 Autumn Conference, Wen Liang Hsu Junior Chair Professor Award from NYCU in 2018, Excellent Presentation Award at the North-West Regional Conference organized by the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association in 2010.

He has been serving as an Editorial Board Member of Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction and as a journal reviewer for many prestigious journals including Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, Construction and Building Materials, Elsevier, and Steel and Composite Structures, Techno Press. He also served as a committee chair and committee member of many events.  

  

Lee, Ronald (Lab Director and Instructor)

Mr. Lee received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Columbia University, his M.S. in Technology and Policy, and his M.Eng. in Environmental Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is currently enrolled in the Structural Engineering Ph.D. program at Louisiana State University. He has 15 years of industry experience working on human health risk assessments and soil remediation. His current research interests are in reliability and in solar panel structural analysis. Mr. Lee has taught CIEN 310 (Engineering Economy), CIEN 327 (Construction Materials), CIEN 421 (Water and Wastewater Analysis), CIEN 423 (Hydraulics and Hydrology), CIEN 461 (Urban Water Supply), and ENGR 320 (Probability and Statistics). In addition, he assists with all Civil Engineering Laboratory classes.

 

Onu, Chukwu (Professor)

Dr. Chukwu Onu is a Professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering at Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dr. Onu obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering   from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, a Master of science degree in environmental engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois and a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. Prior to academic appointment, Dr. Onu had many years of experience in industry where he had worked as Research and Development engineer as well as Design and Manufacturing engineer.  Here in the department of Civil and Environmental engineering, his area of concentration is in solid and hazardous waste management and water and wastewater treatment. He has published several papers in both national and international journals. He recently published a “Laboratory Manual for Water and Wastewater Analysis”. Amongst the courses he teaches includes solid and hazardous waste management, water quality analysis, engineering economic analysis, probability and statistics for engineers and Design of Water and Sewage Treatment Plant. His current research interest is in biomass energy recovery, sustainable waste management, biochemical treatment processes, and synthesis of natural zeolites for application in wastewater treatment. He is the coordinator of the graduate program in the department of civil and environmental engineering.

 Dr. Onu had worked as Research Professor at Battle Pacific Northwest Laboratory and Harry Reid Center for Environmental studies at the University of Nevada. His research activities had been supported by USEPA, DOE, NSF, ARO and LEQSF with funds that amounted to millions of dollars. He was awarded the civilian radioactive waste management and faculty fellowship by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).  He was also appointed to State of Louisiana Oil Spill Research and Development Review Board.   Dr. Onu is a member of the scientific committee and   editorial board of the International Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management.  He mentors and serves as academic advisor to several research undergraduates as well as masters and Ph.D. students in the university.

 

Shin, Alex (Professor and Chair)

Dr. Alex H-C Shin finished his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in year 2000, and currently working as a tenured professor and chair in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Southern University. He had several experiences in the areas of transportation, structure, and material engineering including Louisiana State University (LSU) as a joint faculty, Jackson State University as an assistant professor, and California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) as a transportation engineer.

His research interests are in the areas of resilient infrastructure rehabilitation and fortification using cutting edge knowledge of non-destructive evaluation, concrete mixtures containing sustainable materials such as recycled PET fibers and supplementary cementitious materials, and computational modeling. For the last 17 years, Dr. Shin developed 19 funded research projects sponsored by Army Research Office (ARO), Office of Naval Research (ONR), US Department of Transportation (DOT), Louisiana DOTD, Louisiana Board of Regents, and LTRC.  Currently he is participated in a consortium of five universities to establish Tier I University Transportation Center (UTC) with a theme of REsearch on Concrete Applications for Sustainable Transportation (RE-CAST) with the grants of over $3.5 million. The center supports Dr. Shin’s research with the amount of $361,942 until June 2018. Overall Dr. Shin secured more than $5.6 million research funding from federal, state, and university sources, out of which $1.8 million has been attributed him as principal investigator. He published 20 referred journal papers based on the research projects.

Dr. Shin served as the faculty advisor of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapter at Southern University from 2008 to 2017. He organized Southern University Engineer’s Week activity as the chair in 2014. He is a member of Accreditation Committee for Department and College since 2017. He is co-organizer of RECAST graduate student workshop on the Structural Health Monitoring of Transportation Infrastructure Facilities held in Rutgers University in June 2015. He is a committee member of ACI 325 (Concrete Pavement), and associate member of ACI 364 (Rehabilitation) and ACI 555 (Concrete with Recycled Materials). He received Summer Faculty Research Program (SFRP) fellowship through the ONR.

 

Shams, Alaa (Adjunct Professor) 

Alaa Shams received a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 1998 from Damascus University – Syria, a Master’s degree in Computer Science in 2004 from Southern University and A & M College – Baton Rouge, LA (SUBR); a second Master’s in Civil Engineering at Louisiana State University (LSU). He is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Philosophy degree in Civil Engineering at LSU. He is currently working as an adjunct instructor at the Civil Engineering department at SUBR since 2018. He joined Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) in 2016 and he is working as an engineer 5 and a project manager in the intelligent transportation Systems Section.

Prior to that he worked as Surveying/Geomatics & Construction: Technical Support and Sales representative since 2014 at Navigation Electronics Inc. (NEI) in Lafayette as a Certified Trimble Trainer for GPS, Robotic Total Station and Trimble Business Center Software. Before that, he was the GIS Training Coordinator since 2008 at LSU and a Desktop Associate, authorized, and certified instructor from Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) at Louisiana Geographic Information Center (LAGIC) Special Programs with the School of the Coast and Environment. He previously worked as an adjunct instructor at Virginia College, ITT Technical Institute and Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC) since 2010, teaching CAD, GIS, Surveying, and Intro to Computers, He also served as a GIS Analyst at SUBR for more than five years at the Center for Coastal Zone Assessment and Remote Sensing (CCZARS).

He was part of SUBR Bering Glacier, Alaska Team in 2007 and 2008 as a GIS/GPS/Remote Sensing specialist. Before that, he held several positions as a Research Associate at the National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) with the United States and Geological Survey (USGS) in Lafayette, LA, and as a GIS Analyst in New Orleans City Hall after Hurricane Katrina. He is currently certified as a Professional Engineer (PE) with Louisiana Professional Engineering and Land Surveyors Board (LAPELS), a Cadastral Mapping Specialist (CMS) with the International Association for Assessing Officers (IAAO) and a member of the Louisiana Engineering Society (LES). He participated in several regional and national conferences, and has published and presented papers in international conferences as well.

 

Whitmore, Simonne (Associate Professor)

Ms. Whitmore received her B.S. in Civil Engineering from Southern University and A&M College and her M.S. in Civil Engineering with a Construction Management specialization from the University of Florida.  She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering at Louisiana State University.  Her current research interests are in construction management quality and engineering education.  Ms. Whitmore has served as an adjunct instructor in the Construction Management program at Baton Rouge Community College since 2018 for  several courses including Planning and Scheduling for Construction Management, Construction Materials and Methods, Mechanical and Electrical Systems and Statics and Strength of Materials.  Joining the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering this fall, Ms. Whitmore will be teaching CIEN 478 (Introduction to Construction and Engineering Management).

Ms. Whitmore is licensed as a Professional Engineer (PE) with the Louisiana Professional Engineering and Land Surveyors Board (LAPELS) and has over 25 years of experience in construction management and capital projects.  Most recently serving as Louisiana’s State Capital Outlay Administrator,  Ms. Whitmore managed the development, enactment and execution process of the state’s capital outlay budget which averages $4 to $5 billion annually.

 

Yin, Hang (Associate Professor)

Dr. Hang Yin is an Associate Professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering at Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dr. Yin obtained a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Hydraulic and Hydropower engineering from Tsinghua University, China; a Master of Engineering degree in Civil engineering from Tsinghua University, China; a Master of science degree in Civil Engineering from Louisiana State University, Louisiana; and a Ph.D. in Civil and Engineering from Louisiana State University, Louisiana. Prior to academic appointment, Dr. Yin had a couple years of experience in industry where she had worked as consultant for water resources planning and management consulting company. Here in the department of Civil and Environmental engineering, her area of concentration is physical and mechanical of soil mechanics and experiments. She has published several papers in both national and international journals and made presentations internationally.

Dr. Yin has taught several classes across multiple disciplines, covering geotech, hydraulics, environmental topics and fundamental classes. i.e., statics, engineering econ, probability and statistics, fluid mechanics, soil mechanics, shallow foundations, air pollution control, hydrology and hydraulics, construction engineering, urban water resources systems and design of hydraulic structures, etc. He is the coordinator of the graduate program in the department of civil and environmental engineering.

He mentors and serves as academic advisor to several research undergraduates as well as masters and Ph.D. students in the university.

Dr. Yin has been serving as the faculty advisor of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapter at Southern University from 2019. She organized Southern University Engineer’s Week activity as the chair in 2017 and 2020. She has been voted as the Most Outstanding Professor in Civil Engineering from 2015-2019.