Designing Together: A Civil Engineering + Urban Design Capstone Experience.
This interdisciplinary grant-awarded capstone project, implemented during Winter and Spring 2025 at UW Tacoma, united Civil Engineering and Urban Design students to develop equitable, sustainable solutions to real campus challenges - steep topography, car-centric commuting, and untreated stormwater runoff - while aligning with the university’s updated master plan. Led by me, Dr. Nara Almeida and Dr. Bara Safarova, and enriched through community engagement and professional partnerships, the project featured site visits, peer-teaching, and events like the “Analysis Jam,” “Tech Talks,” and “Design Jam,” fostering systems thinking and practical design skills. Students worked closely with faculty, city officials, and industry professionals to develop integrated proposals for green infrastructure and inclusive mobility, culminating in a submission to the EPA RainWorks Challenge. The capstone also laid the groundwork for further academic dissemination and a submission to the 2025 NCEES Engineering Education Award, exemplifying a deeply engaged, experiential learning model grounded in community impact and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Dig Smart: A Hands-On Excavation Efficiency Challenge
This engaging, hands-on activity simulates real-world excavation operations using remote-controlled excavators. It challenges students to estimate time and cost for an excavation work, while experiencing the impact of human performance, training, and equipment maintenance. This exercise reinforces key construction management principles.
In class, students are presented with a hypothetical or real-world scenario (e.g., excavating a trench for piping near a building). They are expected to relate their technical performance during the activity - such as cycle time and production rates - to broader project impacts, including cost and schedule. Based on these connections, students must evaluate and justify the selection of a planning and contingency strategies. The activity has also been a hit among high school and community college students interested in civil engineering, making it a powerful recruitment tool for the field.
“Simplify, simplify, simplify”.
Henry David Thoreau
No matter your background or your career goals, it is very likely that you will eventually need to work on a project, or participate in a meeting, or give a presentation to the public. And if all of these things are new to you, you can always resort to some Project Management (PM) tools! However, you will not necessarily need to take a whole PM course, so you learn how to use these tools. This is why I decided to develop something simple and handy to all, which consists of a brochure series called Project Management Academic Toolbox! For now, it is divided into 4 volumes that help students (1) initiate and plan academic projects, (2.a) manage meetings, (2.b) use meeting management tools, and (3) present academic projects, . The goal is to help students deliver academic projects more effectively, and help them become effective professionals.
From Breath to Cement: Teaching Construction Materials Through Carbon Cycle and Heat
This interactive activity helps students connect the global carbon cycle to cement production. Through hands-on experiments - like “breathing” limestone into lime water and calcining limestone, seashells or eggshells - students explore the chemistry behind calcium carbonate, found in nature, and calcium oxide, 65% of cement composition, and produced industrially. They learn how natural carbon sequestration by bodies of water works, why cement production is energy-intensive, and how this relates to sustainability in civil engineering!
This activity helps students visualize and physically experience the carbon-to-cement connection while developing a deeper understanding of sustainability, CO₂ emissions, and alternative construction practices. The goal is to link environmental sciences, civil and materials engineering in a tangible way.
Calcium Carbonate (eggshells)
Calcium Oxide (calcined eggshells)
“Breathing” limestone into lime water
From Blueprint to Boots: Student Contractors in Action
This activity transform civil engineering students into general contractors!
In my "TCE 307 - Construction Engineering" course, taught during the Autumn 2024 quarter, students planned and executed a real-world paver installation project at our UWT community garden. The pavers and gravel were generously donated by the local companies Zeolite Composites LLC and Miles Sand and Gravel. Through this hands-on experience, students learned to bridge the gap between project planning and field execution, honing their skills in scheduling, resource management, adaptability, and community engagement. They also experienced firsthand how real-world work often deviates from idealized plans.
Key lessons included:
Recognizing the physical effort and time demands of manual labor
Understanding the importance of clear sequencing and preparation - and how tasks often overlap in practice
Experiencing the critical role of teamwork and adaptability on site
Realizing the necessity of logistical and operational planning, including training, rest breaks, and transportation of workers and materials
Beyond technical skills, students valued the opportunity to contribute to a community-driven project, strengthening their sense of social responsibility as future engineers.
