Dave Jones Scholarship 2020

I received an M.Sc. in transportation engineering from the Iran University of Science and Technology in 2017. I am currently a PhD student and conducting research at the University of New Hampshire. I intend to work in civil engineering, focusing on creating improvements to pavement construction quality and pavement performance. Some of my researches are elaborated upon hereunder.
An asphalt binder binds the aggregate constituents of an asphalt mixture. It is generally expected that the binder has sufficient flexibility so that it can tolerate thermal stresses with no subsequent cracking at low temperatures in winter such as northern states while maintaining the required stiffness at high temperatures in hot summers such as southern states. In fact, using polymer and nanomaterials to modify the asphalt binder is one way of improving its original properties and enhancing its resistance against, for example, fatigue cracking, rutting, and low temperature performance related to pavement distress. My researches on effect of different additive for asphalt mixtures can be helpful for highway agencies in different states to determine the best asphalt mixture for their environmental condition. By doing so, they would be able to save a lot of money by using last long asphalt mixtures.
Fatigue, thermal cracking, and rutting, strongly affects the pavement roughness and performance. These distresses can increase the rehabilitation cost, reduce safety, and consequently increase the vehicle operating costs as well. Smother pavements can save about 5% vehicle operating costs. According to Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the average annual miles per driver is 13,476 per year which consumes about 140.43 billion gallons per year. Saving 5% fuel consumption as a result of smoother pavement is equal to 20 billion dollars saving per year. The safety on the other hand is also highly affected by pavement surface texture and condition. My researches showed using some modifiers not only can cause higher design life of asphalt pavement, but also can improve the performance, smoothness and safety of asphalt pavements leading to reduced rehabilitation cost, vehicle operating cost, and fewer crashes per year. Also, by advancing the technologies, the models to effectively evaluate the asphalt pavement distresses improves which will result in more accurate network evaluation minimizing the construction and maintenance cost. Thus, as the technologies advances, more efficient models are coming which benefits the public.
Currently I am working on a project for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The outcome of this project can improve the overall functionality of the pavements through specification of high-quality distress resistant asphalt mixtures that can tolerate heavy aircraft loads under different climatic conditions. The use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and warm mix asphalt (WMA) technologies in highway construction have been shown to reduce overall construction cost while maintaining comparable and, in some cases, enhanced performance. However, the application of these technologies for airfield pavements has not been widely investigated. My current research has focused on implementation of waste products in asphalt mixtures and using WMA technology to not only improve the quality of asphalt pavement but also address the environmental issues associated with the production of waste material. Also this study is dedicated to move toward using recyclable materials and WMA technology into the airfield pavement to reduce the construction cost. At least 14 State Highway Agencies have adopted specifications to accommodate WMA, and more than 40 States have roads paved with WMA. This green technology is increasing the quality of the roads and the environment. The main outcome of this research would be exploration of performance-based specifications (PBSs) for airfield asphalt mixtures for the first time in the united states.

• Paper reviewer for Construction and Building Materials Journal (Ranked #1 in civil engineering journals by google scholar)
• Inner city road pavement rehabilitation, Surak, Mazandaran, Iran - Amayesh tarh Iranshahr consultant engineering company.
• The project to assess the possibility of replacing the traditional Khazar Roundabout (Sari, Mazandaran, Iran) with a Turbo-Roundabout
• Research Assistant” Name of Organization: University of New Hampshire. Dates of Employment: Jan 2018-present
• Teaching Assistant” Name of Organization: University of New HampshireDates of Employment: Jan 2019-present
• Training the new members and visitors from all over the country with the testing equipment and test data analysis
 Projects related to industry:
• Investigation of the Effect of Air-void on Fracture Energy and Peak Load in DCT Test
• Exploration of performance-based specifications (PBSs) for airfield asphalt mixtures
• Investigation of the effect of a new polymer on asphalt mixture performance at low and high temperatures under different distresses.

1. Airport Cooperative Research Program Graduate Research Award
Awarding Institution: Federal Aviation Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation
2. Paper reviewer for Construction and Building Materials Journal
3. Iranian National Fellowship for Civil Engineers”
Who is Eligible to Compete: Civil Engineers
Number of Competitors/Winners: 50,000/400
4. University of New Hampshire Assistantship”
Awarding Institution: University of New Hampshire
5. Member of National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents (NODET), 2006 to 2010.”
Awarding Institution: National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents
6. Ranked 354 among almost 50,000 participants in the Nationwide Universities Entrance Exam for Civil Engineering M.Sc. Program in Iran, 2015.
7. Nominated for the award of best Engineering paper of the conference, in 9th International Conference on Latest Trends in Engineering and Technology (ICLTET' 2016).
8. Qualified for Chemistry Olympiad at high school.
9- Six peer-reviewed published papers in highly prestigious journals and one peer-reviewed paper in an international conference.
10. Published an engineering book about asphalt mixtures mix design (Superpave Mix Design).
11. Two published papers of the top 1% most-cited articles published in Engineering in 2018.
12. One published paper of the top 10% most-cited articles published in Engineering in 2019.
13. Three published peer-revied papers in the journal Construction and Building Materials, which has an impact factor of 4.046 and is ranked #1 in Civil Engineering by Google Scholar.
14. Over 53 citations on Google Scholar. Link: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AjFyuIUAAAAJ&hl=en

As a graduate student, I really interested in research on new and challenging topics in my field. Seven peer-reviewed papers and three papers ready to submit and one published book show how much I want to develop my field of study and find methods to improve roads and airfields pavement qualities.
Here are a list of my papers and book:
• Ameri, M., Mirzaiyan, D., & Amini, A. (2018). Rutting resistance and fatigue behavior of gilsonite-modified asphalt binders. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 30(11).
• Mirzaiyan, D., Ameri, M., Amini, A., Sabouri, M., & Norouzi, A. (2019). Evaluation of the performance and temperature susceptibility of gilsonite-and SBS-modified asphalt binders. Construction and Building Materials, 207.
• Mirzaiyan, D., Amini, A., & Jalali, F. (2019). Investigating the Influence of SBS and Gilsonite on the Rheological Properties of Asphalt Binder Using Statistical Analysis. International Journal of Scientific and Technical Research in Engineering.
• Sabouri. M, Mirzaiyan. D, Moniri. A, Verification of DSR and Linear Amplitude Sweep (LAS) as Asphalt Binder Fatigue Tests with Four Point Bending Beam Fatigue Test. Construction & Building Materials Journal. Volume 171, 20 May 2018.
• Ziari.H, Amini. A, Goli. A, Mirzaiyan. D, Model of Rheological Properties for Carbon Nano Tube (CNT) Asphalt Binder using Regression and Neural Network. Construction & Building Materials. Volume 160, 30 January 2018.
• Izadi, A. Mirzaiyan, D. Rashidi, A. Hosseini, M. (2016). COMPARING TRAFFIC PERFORMANCES OF TURBOROUNDABOUTS AND CONVENTIONAL ROUNDABOUT (CASE STUDY). The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication. ISSN: 2146-5193

• SCB Samples Fracture Resistance Evaluation of Hot Mix Asphalt Vs Warm Mix Asphalt by ITS, Fatigue test Amir Izadi, Danial Mirzaiyan, (2016), 9th International Conference on Latest Trends in Engineering and Technology (ICLTET' 2016).
- Book
• Izadi, A. Mirzaiyan, D. 2016. “Superpave Mix Design”,

1. Conducting extensive research study proofing the flaws and deficiencies of the current globally accepted standard procedure of Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) for determining the fatigue behavior of asphalt binders and comparing with new method.
2. Investigation of air-void effects on DCT fracture energy measurements (Project for Minnesota department of transportation).
3. Investigation and implementation of using Gilsonite and SBS as a substitution of petroleum asphalt binder to reduce the price of asphalt mixtures and improve its performance.
4. Investigation and application of Warm Mix additives (Sasobit and Rheofalt Sasol wax) into the asphalt mixtures to reduce the compaction temperature for ease of pavement construction in colder regions.
5. determine the effect of CNTs, loading frequency and temperature on complex modulus and permanent defamation of modified asphalt binders;
6. Investigation the possibility of using artificial neural networks , multiple regression and linear regression to predict the rutting performance of the modified asphalt binder.
7. Simulation a new type of roundabout called turbo-roundabout for reducing the traffic and queue length in the specific area in sari, Mazandaran, Iran
8. Current project: exploration of performance-based specifications (PBSs) for airfield asphalt mixtures (Project for Federal Aviation Administration).
9. Teaching assistant for 6 courses (until 2014).
10. Research assistant in the University of New Hampshire.
11. Working two years for my master degree in advance pavement laboratory, and more than one year of extensive research and experience in the University of New Hampshire.