New Hires, Tenured faculty, & transitions
With a new semester, brings new hires and new promotions for some faculty members. The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering would like to welcome our two newest additions to our faculty, Wala’a Al makhadmeh and Ahmed Abu El Ela, congratulate our three faculty members who were recently tenured, Mei Sun, Mariya Munir, and Nicole Braxtan, and recognize two previous department chairs on their new roles within the University.
Dr. Wala’a Al makhadmeh received her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Structural Engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology in 2011, Masters of Engineering in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Construction Management from Concordia University in Canada in 2017, and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Sustainable Construction Materials from Concordia University in 2021. Dr. Al makhadmeh’s research interests include: embodied energy of construction materials, sustainability and green construction, smart and nano-modified construction materials, industrial waste recycling, structural health monitoring, and intelligence-based modeling.
Dr. Ahmed Abu El Ela received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Zagazig University in Egypt in 1999, Masters of Science in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Geotech from Zagazig University in Egypt in 2006, and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Geotech from the University of Missouri in 2015. Dr. Abu El Ela’s areas of expertise include: Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics, Stability of Slopes, Risk and Reliability in Geotechnical Engineering, Foundation Design and Earth Retaining Structures, Decision Methods of Civil Engineering Design, and Structural Analysis and Mechanics. He received recognition for the positive impact he had on students’ career goals, employment plans, and graduate school preparation from George Mason University in March of 2023.
We are excited to welcome them both to the UNC Charlotte Civil and Environmental Engineering family.
In addition to our new faculty, we would like to recognize our current faculty members who received a promotion and tenure status. Dr. Mei Sun, Dr. Mariya Munir, and Dr. Nicole Braxtan have been promoted to Associate Professors. Dr. Sun, Dr. Munir, and Dr. Braxtan all joined the department in 2016. Please join us in congratulating our three faculty members on reaching a major milestone in their careers as professors. A special thanks to each of you, as you continue to educate and inspire future engineers for years to come!
Not only do we have advancement within the department, we are proud of our previous Department Chair, Dr. John Daniels, and Interim Chair, Dr. Brett Tempest, for starting new roles within the University. Dr. Daniels was recently appointed as the new Vice Chancellor for Research in the division of Academic Affairs and Research. Dr. Daniels still continues to perform research and guide graduate students in our department. Dr. Tempest was recently named as Assistant Dean for Inclusive Excellence within the William States Lee College of Engineering. We are proud of both Dr. Daniels and Dr. Tempest and want to congratulate them on their new roles.
We are truly fortunate to have such incredibly gifted and dedicated engineers, both new and familiar, representing our department.