Overview
The Western Regional Superpave Center (WRSC) in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Nevada Reno (UNR) is one of five centers established by the Federal Highway Administration to promote the implementation of superpave technology. The WRSC is a nationally recognized teaching and research area in the College of Engineering. Federal, state, and corporate sponsors provide funding that employs undergraduate students, graduate students, and professional researchers to complete problem solving research. Research has focused on the laboratory and field evaluation of modified asphalt binders and asphalt mixtures, the water sensitivity of asphalt mixtures, recycled asphalt pavement, warm mix asphalt, mechanistic analysis, pavement instrumentation, pavement performance studies, and rehabilitation and maintenance design procedures.
The Western Regional Superpave Center also assists highway agencies and contractors with new analysis procedures for pavement performance testing. The WRSC Laboratory is fully equipped with the state-of-the-art technologies to evaluate the strength and performance properties of asphalt binders and mixtures and asphalt pavements.
Mission
The mission of the WRSC is to provide cost-effective research and development assistance and technical services in the area of:
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Materials and Testing
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Pavement preservation, rehabilitation and reconstruction
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Pavement design and analysis
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Pavement performance
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Recycled asphalt pavement
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Warm mix asphalt
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Cold mix asphalt
Graduate Research Opportunities
GRADUATE STUDIES
PAVEMENTS/MATERIALS ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO
PETER E. SEBAALY, Ph.D., P.E.
ELIE Y. HAJJ, Ph.D.
The Pavements/Materials Engineering Program in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno has a highly active research program leading to graduate studies at the Master (M.S.) and Ph.D. levels. The Program is ranked among the top five programs in the world.
Dr. Peter E. Sebaaly is the Director of the Program and a Professor of Civil Engineering. Drs. Sebaaly and Hajj have over 35 combined years of experience in the areas of pavement materials and design, rehabilitation and management of highway and airport infrastructures, and geotechnical engineering as related to highway construction (www.wrsc.unr.edu, www.arc.unr.edu, http://www.unr.edu/cee/pavements-materials/index.html).
The program conducts research projects in the areas of pavement materials, design, and rehabilitation, and geotechnical engineering. The research projects are sponsored by States Departments of Transportation, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Private Industry. The main thrust of the program is to conduct state-of-the-art research on asphalt materials to improve their long-term durability and their resistance to load stresses, aging, and environmental factors including moisture damage.
The program offers Research Assistantships for bright and hard working civil engineering students meeting the following criteria:
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Completed Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from an accredited university.
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Cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.00/4.00 or better.
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Take the GRE Exam (no minimum score is required for acceptance)
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A minimum TOFEL score of 500 paper-based, 213 computer-based, and 79 for internet-based. These requirements are for international students only.
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Good written and oral communication skills in the English Language.
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Interest in conducting advanced research in the area of Pavements/Materials/Geotechnical engineering.
The Research Assistantship offers the following:
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Paid Tuition (about $12000/year)
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Paid Health Insurance ($1000/year)
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Monthly salary of $1400 - $1800/month
REQUIRED COURSES:
CEE 620 ADVANCED PORTLAND CEMENT CONCRETE More Details
CEE 631 PAVEMENT DESIGN More Details
CEE 646 GEOSYNTHETICS More Details
CEE 669 GEOMETRIC DESIGN OF TRANSPORATION SYSTEMS
CEE 732 BITUMINOUS MATERIALS AND MIXTURES More Details
CEE 733 ADV. PAVEMENT DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT More Details
CEE 734 PAVEMENT REHABILITATION AND MAINTENANCE More Details
CEE 735 PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS More Details
CEE 742 ADVANCED SOIL MECHANICS More Details
ELECTIVE COURSES:
CEE 663 TRAFFIC ENGINEERING More Details
CEE 643 GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING: FOUNDATION More Details
CEE 645 GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING: RETAINING STR. More Details
CEE 704 APPLIED FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS More Details
CEE 724 APPLIED ELASTICITY I More Details
CEE 741 SEEPAGE, SLOPES, AND EMBANKMENTS More Details
CEE 745 GEOTECHNICAL EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING More Details
CEE 746 ADVANCED FOUNDATION ENGINEERING More Details
APST 663 DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTS More Details
APST 670 LINEAR REGRESSION AND TIME SERIES More Details
ME 720 CONTINUUM MECHANICS More Details
ME 721 VISCOELASTICITY More Details
* Other courses may be substituted due to a lack of availability, upon the advisory committee approval.
Graduate Application
Apply online: www.unr.edu/grad/ApplyOn-line.asp
International students should visit: www.unr.edu/oiss
