Group Leader
Professor Michael J. Garvin, PhD, PE
Professor Michael J. Garvin is the group leader of F2I2. He obtained his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the United States Military Academy and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Construction Engineering and Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He is a 2004 recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers (PECASE), which is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent research careers. Dr. Garvin also currently serves on the National Research Council’s Committee for Core Competencies for Federal Facilities Asset Management and is a member of the editorial board for the journal Public Works Policy & Management.
He enjoys reading biographies and historical “novels”, hiking in the Appalachian Mountains, playing an occasional round of golf, and spending time with his wife Bettye, his daughter Cassidy, and his son Finlay.
Current Students
Mr. Doran Bosso
Mr. Doran Bosso is from Stow, Ohio and a 2006 graduate of Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. Doran was named a Vecellio Fellow for the 2006-07 Academic Year in recognition of his outstanding academic record and commitment to excellence in construction engineering and management.
He is pursuing an MS degree, and his research is focused upon innovative financing and project delivery. He expects to complete his thesis, which is tentatively titled "Effectiveness of the Contemporary Infrastructure Public-Private Partnerships in the United States", in Spring 2007.
Doran is an avid biker and runner, and he regularly competes in triathlons. He also enjoys soccer.
Ms. Martha Gross
Ms. Martha Gross, a native of the Norfolk, Virginia area, is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at Virginia Tech. She previously earned B.S. and M.Eng. degrees in civil engineering from Pennsylvania State University and studied at the University of Stuttgart, Germany as a Fulbright scholar.
Prior to coming to Virginia Tech, Ms. Gross also spent seven years with Skanska USA Civil, working in construction operations as well as innovative project delivery. Her experience spans numerous large projects, including the $540M Cooper River Bridge in Charleston, South Carolina.
Her research interests include transportation finance, infrastructure development, and public-private partnerships.
Ms. Gross is a licensed professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Mr. Jianqiu (Alex) Liu
Mr. Jianqiu (Alex) Liu, a native of Tianjin, China, is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at Virginia Tech. He previously earned a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering and Master's degree of Engineering Economics and Management from Tianjin University. He also earned an M.S. degree from Columbia University in 2005.
Prior to coming to Virginia Tech, Alex worked on several projects including TEDA Soccer Stadium, which is the only stadium in China that conforms to FIFA standards. This stadium will be used during the 2008 Olympic Games. The design was completed by Peddle Thorp, Australia and construction management services were provided by Parsons Infrastructure. He was also engaged in the initial phases of a RMB 6 billion commercial zone development project, TEDA Promenades.
His research is investigating techniques for service life prediction using system dynamics as the modeling platform. His dissertation is tentatively titled "A New Approach for Infrastructure Service Life Prediction and Serviceability Assessment".
Alex is an excellent tennis player and enjoys playing in his spare moments.
Ms. Liang Shan
Ms. Liang Shan is a native of China, and she is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at Virginia Tech. She earned her B.E. in Construction Management, her B.A. in Financial Management, and her M.S. in Management Science and Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
She is focusing her research upon the application of real options theory to problems in the construction industry. Specifically, she is interested in managing project uncertainty by creating a means to establish the value of project flexibility through quantitative valuation techniques coupled with stakeholder negotiation methods.
Mr. Sushil Shenoy
Mr. Sushil Shenoy hails from the Pacific Northwest and received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Gonzaga University. He has interned as a structural engineer at DCI Engineers in Spokane, WA, and he recently traveled to Africa to participate in project to provide potable water to residents.
Sushil is interested in sustainability, and he is currently focusing upon the integrating sustainable design and construction practices into the field of facilities asset management. Particularly, his research will concentrate upon what sustainability initiatives produce the greatest return on investment for enterprises, both socially and economically.
Ms. Priyanka Shingore
Ms. Priyanka Shingore is a native of India, and she is currently pursuing her M.S. at Virginia Tech. She received her BS in Civil & Environmental Engineering from V.J.TI, Mumbai. She worked with Reliance Energy, an integrated private power utility based in India, where she held an assignment with the engineering group and participated in the development of the Yamunanagar Power Station.
She is focusing her research upon assessing the emerging organizational structures and characteristics of North American Public-Private Partnerships for infrastructure projects.
She enjoys reading, traveling, and dabbling in instrumental music.
Recent Graduates
Dr. Julius Chang
Dr. Julius Chang, a native of New York, NY, earned his Eng.Sc.D from Columbia University in 2007 while also working full-time. He previously earned a B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from Columbia University, and dual Master's degrees in Energy Management and Policy from the University of Pennsylvania and the Institut Français du Petrole.
Dr. Chang is presently the principal structural engineer and a deputy to the head of the structural engineering unit for MTA Bridges and Tunnels, one of the nation's largest toll authorities. His dissertation, "A New Model for Bridge Service Life: Management and Policy Implications", promotes higher-order thinking about the relationships between performance, user expectations, asset performance and service life for bridges much like the supply and demand curves do in economics.
Dr. Chang has over sixteen years of practical work experience in the design and management of bridge and tunnel structures. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of New York and is also currently serving as an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University.
Dr. Nicola Chiara
Dr. Nicola Chiara, a native of Palermo, Italy, earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2006. He previously earned a Laurea summa cum Laude in Civil Engineering at Università degli Studi di Palermo and an MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas. In addition, he specialized in Quantitative Finance at Bocconi University, Milan-Italy. Before entering Columbia's Ph.D. program, he worked in the Project Management Department of the Consortium that is designing and building the $6 Billion High Speed Railway project in Northern Italy.
Dr. Chiara is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University. His dissertation, "Real Option Methods for Improving Economic Risk Management in Infrastructure Project Finance", created new methods for valuing government-sponsored revenue guarantees that successfully combined Monte Carlo simulation with stochastic dynamic programming.
Dr. Chiara has been a registered professional engineer in Italy since 1997.
Dr. Huang-Chih (Jerry) Wu
Dr. Huang-Chih (Jerry) Wu, a native of Tainan, Taiwan, earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University in December 2007. He previously earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from McGill University and an M.S. in Civil Engineering from Columbia University.
Dr. Wu is currently working in Taiwan and China for his family's construction company. His dissertation, "A Multi-Objective Decision Support Model for Maintenance and Repair Strategies in Bridge Networks", employed a genetic algorithm to identify a Pareto set of maintenance & repair strategies in a multi-objective solution space for a network of bridges. Dr. Wu's work is an important step forward in portfolio-level decision-making techniques.