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Fact Sheet

FAA Centers of Excellence "Outstanding Student of the Year" Named

A University of Illinois doctoral student who is conducting important airport asphalt concrete research is the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Air Transportation Centers of Excellence “Outstanding Student of the Year.”

Andrew F. Braham, a civil and environmental engineering doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been named a recipient of the prestigious award, given by the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration. The award was presented at a special ceremony recently in Washington, D.C.

Braham works with the FAA’s Center of Excellence for Airport Technology. He is researching the behavior of asphalt concrete for use in airport pavement rehabilitation. He has advanced the Center’s project, “Development of New Methodologies for Mechanistic Design of Asphalt Overlays,” by identifying and summarizing the most recent studies and technologies related to reflective cracking mechanisms and mechanics-based modeling of pavement overlay systems. He also is developing and conducting mixed-mold fracture tests on asphalt concrete materials for his Ph.D. thesis research.

“Andrew Braham is a standout scholar, engineer and practitioner,” said Patricia Watts, Ph.D., FAA Centers of Excellence Program Director. “His leadership qualities, professionalism and creative approach to asphalt concrete research make him a strong asset to the FAA’s Airport Technology and Centers of Excellence programs.”  

Braham holds both masters and bachelors degrees in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin (2000 and 2002). His thesis was, “The Use of Blended Recycled Foundry Sand in Hot Mix Asphalt.” He has been a research assistant and teaching assistant at both the Universities of Illinois and Wisconsin. Braham has authored or co-authored seven journal and conference articles about asphalt concrete materials, and he has presented his research at several national and international conferences.

Braham served as the assistant director of the 2007 Transportation and Highway Engineering Conference. He founded the new Illinois Asphalt Paving Association (IAPA) hot-mix asphalt student design competition, and is very active in the University of Illinois Leadership Center. He has received many honors, including the IAPA’s 2006 and 2007 Ernest L. Docter Memorial Scholarships, the Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists’ 2006 Walter K. Parr National Scholarship and an engineering graduate fellowship (University of Illinois, 2005).

Each year the DOT honors the most outstanding students from its participating university transportation centers for their achievement and promise for future contributions to the transportation field. Students are selected for the honor based on the technical merit of their research, academic performance, professionalism and leadership.

The FAA’s Centers of Excellence Program is based at the William J. Hughes Technical Center, near Atlantic City, N.J.