Dave Jones Scholarship 2020

I was always stupefied by the extensive role of roads in a man’s life. One thing I have observed is that man never rests until he finds ways to make his creations more magnificent and comfortable. One such invention was the pavement, which revolutionized the world of travel. It always amazes me how collection of tiny particles stuck together could hold tons and tons of load which marked the inception of my dream to become a Pavement Engineer.
Undergraduate course was the first big step towards realizing my dream. The fact that I could get answers to questions that had long afflicted me at different points in my life, gave me immense pleasure and excitement. I chose to opt for bachelor’s in civil engineering from one of the schools in India. The curriculum for this major was vast and spanned across several aspects of engineering with special emphasis on Soil Mechanics, Foundation Engineering and Highway Engineering wholly complemented my interests and paved ways to acquire answers that I had always wanted.
The gusto in me for knowledge and research in Construction Materials as a whole was identified by one of my professors who offered to guide me on a project during the seventh semester of my academic career. The project was on “WHITETOPPING - Cost Effective Rehabilitation Procedure for Flexible Pavement”. The objective was to study the fatigue in flexible pavements and come up with an alternative method of designing them using concrete slabs. The project yielded satisfactory results and this imparted confidence in me and kept my zeal to achieving my goal alive and vibrant.
Another step closer towards my goal was the admission into Clemson University with specialization in Construction Materials Engineering and research emphasis on asphalt pavement. As a Graduate Research Assistant at the Asphalt Rubber technology Services (ARTS) under Clemson University, I had the opportunity to work on various asphalt related projects. One major project was the SPR 732 for the state of South Carolina - Calibration of the AASHTO Pavement Design Guide to SC Conditions – Phase II. Master’s thesis titled “INVESTIGATION OF THE VARIABILITY OF ASPHALT DYNAMIC MODULUS IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND ITS INFLUENCE IN THE MEPDG” was a great opportunity to work along SCDOT and different asphalt contractors in calibration of AASHTO pavement design guide. The thesis was focused on collecting asphalt samples from different contractors across the state and checking for their performance using Asphalt Mixture Performance Tester (AMPT) and PavementME (MEPDG software).
To get a wholesome experience in the asphalt technology, I not only worked on my thesis but also on various projects related to pavement technology. I had assisted Doctoral candidates for their works studying the performance of bond between OGFC and asphalt surface. Another project that I worked along other grad students is the impact of geosynthetic material on the permeability and interlayer shear strength of asphalt layers. I not only had the opportunity to work at the lab but also to work at the field. I was part of assessment team that had travelled across the state of South Carolina for the field inspections of pavement sections. We successfully conducted numerous field pavement evaluations across South Carolina including pavement sections in Pickens, Horry, Beaufort, Chesterfield and Laurens county.

Assisted in installation of sensors at HWY 123 and Summerville Volvo drive to monitor the pavement performance for stress, strain and moisture at various asphalt layers.
Co-ordinated with SCDOT personnel on various lane closures and taking cores from pavement section across different counties in SC

Journal Publication for the undergraduate thesis “Spatial Mapping of water pollution using GIS” in Journal of Water Pollution & Purification Research, STM Journals Apr 2014.
Presenting my research paper “Investigation of the Variability of Asphalt Dynamic Modulus in South Carolina and Its Influence in the MEPDG” at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2020

During my free time I like to play chess. I also represented my state for volleyball during my school days in India and I still continue to play for fun at the Clemson University. I was a freelance photographer and still do that as a hobby.

During Fall 2018 and Fall 2019, I worked as a teaching Assistant to my adviser Dr. Brad Putman for the course CE 4560 – Pavement Design. I had mentored and supervised a core of 50+ students for two semesters.
Was a part of college intramural volleyball team.
Member of ASCE and Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)