Aser Abbas

Assistant Professor

The University of Rhode Island

Drone photo taken on December 22, 2022

Salt Lake City, Utah

About me

I am an assistant professor at The University of Rhode Island with geotechnical and structural engineering expertise. My research interests focus on two main areas: in-situ dynamic site characterization of soils and rocks, primarily for earthquake engineering, and soil-pile interaction. My work extends beyond academic research to encompass involvement in high-profile projects. This includes the geotechnical dynamic site characterization for projects such as the NIST-sponsored forensic soil investigation of the Champlain Towers South collapse in Florida and other sensitive structures like nuclear power plants within and beyond the United States. Additionally, I played a key role in developing the software used by the Alabama Department of Transportation for designing their deep foundations. I have also worked for six years as a practicing structural engineer in Egypt.

Research interests

My research interests can be grouped into two broad areas. The first area involves in-situ dynamic site characterization of soils and rocks primarily for seismic site response analysis. The second area focuses on soil-pile interaction.

In-situ dynamic characterization of soils and rocks

My research in dynamic site characterization based on seismic wave propagation aims to answer the following questions: Can we develop a reliable 3D subsurface image using nonintrusive techniques? What is the fundamental site period? Are there any voids or sinkholes on the site? What is the lateral variability in the subsurface properties across the site? When an earthquake strikes, how would the soil affect the seismic waves propagating from the bedrock to the ground surface? What are the damping characteristics of the subsurface? To answer these questions and many more we use state-of-the-art data acquisition equipment and processing tools, such as highly sensitive three-component seismometers, distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), one-of-a-kind vibroseis shaker trucks, and high-performance computing (HPC).

Soil-pile interaction

Among the questions, I aim to answer in my deep foundation research are the following: What are the axial and lateral stiffnesses of the pile foundations supporting a structure? How does soil settlement affect the distribution of forces along the pile length and the settlement of the pile? What is the settlement and rotation of a pile cap supported by piles with different lengths and diameters when subjected to axial and lateral loads and moments? Under different loading conditions, how do the deep foundations interact with the superstructure? To answer these questions and many more, we have developed several methodologies and techniques that have been packaged into software to facilitate its use by researchers and industry engineers.

Industry contribution

Throughout my career, I've maintained strong ties with the industry, whether while working at Belayem Petroleum Company (PetroBel), Alabama A&M University (AAMU), or Utah State University (USU). The nature of my contribution varied from one period to another. During my work at PetroBel, I was responsible for the design and construction of entire midsized projects. My contribution while working at AAMU was developing software and providing efficient computational tools to aid industry engineers in different aspects of pile foundation design. My work at USU, on the other hand, allowed me to provide highly specialized services for high-profile projects.

Utah State University (USU)

In addition to my research on subsurface imaging with Professor Brady Cox, I was fortunate to be a part of high-profile site characterization projects both inside and outside of the US. These projects ranged from large bridge interchanges to nuclear power plants. The services that we provided included, but were not limited to, cross-hole testing for precise measurements of compression and shear wave velocities and damping, multi-channel analysis of surface waves (i.e., MASW) for active-wavefield testing, two-dimensional (2D) microtremor array measurements (i.e., MAM) for passive-wavefield testing, and horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) spectral ratios to estimate the fundamental site frequency (f0) and the lateral variability in depth to bedrock.

Alabama A&M University (AAMU)

During my research on pile foundations with Professor Mohamed Ashour, we developed the sole software used by the Alabama Department of Transportation (DOT) to design their axially loaded pile foundations. We have updated the Strain Wedge Model (SWM) software, which is used by several DOTs and companies worldwide, allowing it to solve the lateral mobilized response of pile-group-cap systems. We have also developed the software for evaluating the downdrag loads on bridge pile foundations in inundated collapsible soils for the National Center for Transportation Infrastructure & Life-Extension (TriDurLE).

Egyptian Maintenance Company (EMC) as technical support for PetroBel

Petrobel operates within its own town, which contains all the facilities it needs to function independently. These facilities include residential buildings, airports, hospitals, electrical power stations, seawater treatment plants, sewer systems, etc. I worked as an owner representative for Petrobel for six years. During this time, I participated in a wide variety of civil engineering projects where I held different positions. I started as a site engineer then became a structural designer and ended up managing all the civil work at the Belayem site for the last three years of my employment. Among the projects I worked on were, multistory buildings, ground and underground tanks, retaining structures, slope stability, and foundation repair.

Teaching

My teaching approach is guided by a commitment to enhancing learning through computational tools, visual aids, and real-world examples drawn from my industry and research experiences. I currently teach the following courses at The University of Rhode Island:

In-situ Site Characterization
Deep Foundations
Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering

Honors and awards

Awarded the Doctoral Researcher of the Year by USU's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department (2024)
Awarded the Doctoral Researcher of the Year by USU's College of Engineering (2024)
Selected as one of the top six best Doctoral Researchers at USU (2024)
Received the W.O. Carter Scholarship for Graduate Students in Structural and Geotechnical Engineering (2021)
Awarded the Outstanding Research Achievement Certificate by the Chairman of EMC Company (2017)

USU Robins Awards (2024)

With Professor Brady Cox

USU College of Engineering Awards (2024)

With The College of Engineering Dean

EMC Company Award Ceremony (2017)

With EMC Chairman

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