Research Team
John Taylor
John is Director of the Civil Engineering Network Dynamics Lab at Virginia Tech. He specializes in the investigation of civil engineering network dynamics of industrial and societal importance. His current research focuses on three key network dynamics; (1) achieving sustained energy conservation in the built environment by coupling energy use and energy conservation practices with building occupant networks, (2) the trending increase in global outsourcing of complex engineering services, and (3) examining the impact of integrated information systems on project networks and the associated virtualization of the engineering workforce. The findings from the in-depth field research, network analyses, and lab experimentation on these topics are utilized to develop and extend a general purpose multi-agent simulation to generate fundamental theory about network dynamics. All research includes associated practical and pedagogical components to improve innovation and organizational change success in networks. When he is not perturbing networks with his research team, he enjoys playing with his two daughters, traveling and photographing the world, snowshoeing, and collecting and occasionally making art.
Rimas Gulbinas
Rimas is a PhD student in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. He received his MS in Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University and his BSME at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is investigating networks in workplace and residential environments and determining how energy saving practices can diffuse efficiently across building occupant networks. On a personal level Rimas says that when he is in big cities, he is happy and dreams of mountains. But, when he is in the mountains, Rimas is happy and dreams of big cities. No matter where he is, Rimas is happy and always dreaming. He is everywhere, and nowhere."
Sara Horsey
Sara is an MS student in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She is also pursuing her MBA in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech as part of the dual degree program. She received her BS in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. Sara is currently a graduate research assistant on a CII project investigating how to deploy best practices in unfamiliar countries. When free time arises, Sara enjoys horseback riding, drawing, cycling, and hiking.
Josh Iorio, PhD
Josh is a postdoctoral research scientist in the Lab currently investigating how global teams of engineers enact complex design work on the CyberGRID Networks NSF-funded research project. Josh earned a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin. Josh also earned an MA in Applied Linguistics/Teaching English as a Second Language from East Carolina University and a BA in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Josh is currently interested in examining how boundary objects, trained facilitators, and linguistic issues influence cross-cultural engineering collaboration in a virtual environment. In his free time, Josh enjoys hiking, fishing, and canoeing in the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina with his wife Andrea and hound dog Beanie.
Rishee Jain
Rishee is an MS-to-PhD track student in the Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department at Columbia University. He is an IGERT fellow for the “Solving Urbanization Challenges by Design” NSF funded project. His research focuses on technology and cross-national policy related issues associated with energy use in the urban built environment. Rishee completed his undergraduate degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. When not pouring over endless amounts of empirical data, Rishee likes to catch up on the latest Bollywood flicks and dance moves. He uses these skills on the weekends to impress NYC's finest cab drivers.
Seung Jeong
Seung is an MS student in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, and he received his BS in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech. Seung is interested in the water and energy nexus, and he is conducting research on the impact of combined water-energy feedback on water usage. Seung has always enjoyed taking things apart and has broken many electronics growing up; however, he has honed his skill and is breaking less and repairing more electronics these days.
Ellie Ma
Ellie is an MS student in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. Ellie comes from South Korea where she received her BS in Architectural Engineering from Seoul National University of Science & Technology. Ellie is examining the impact of exposing occupants of research buildings to their energy use/cost, as well as peer building energy consumption information. Ellie enjoys yoga, travel, good food, and she likes to meet new people.
Aruna Muthumanickam
Aruna is a Ph.D student in the Charles E Via Jr., Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She is an architect from India who later graduated in Construction Management from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Integrated technologies such as Building Information Modeling are of great interest to her and she conducts research at the intersection of organizational structures and adoption of such technologies. Her favorite activity is sketching buildings and skylines – she loves charcoal stains on her fingers. While not at work, she is often found with friends, food or music (read metal)!
Amy Tang
Amy is a PhD student in the Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department at Columbia University collaborating in the Civil Engineering Network Dynamics Lab. She is currently abroad as a Fulbright Scholar studying at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Amy is researching financing instruments and strategic actions to increase the economic efficiency of renewable energy infrastructure development. Amy received her BS and MS in Civil Engineering from Columbia University. Amy enjoys travel, photography, good food and great company. She can sometimes be found singing along to Bollywood songs on the big screen.
Ryan Qi Wang
Ryan is a PhD student and Pratt Fellowship recipient in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. He is conducting simulation research on the NSF-funded "Building Occupant Network Dynamics" CAREER project. His simulation work focuses on understanding and modeling energy conservation influence and decision-making in networks. Ryan received his MS in Construction Management at Michigan State University where he researched decentralization in construction companies and developed large-scale agent-based social network models to predict agriculture resilience in Philippines. Ryan has been a huge fan of Japanese comics since the age of 7 and enjoys building small Java and Android apps.
Xiaoqi Xu
Xiaoqi is a Columbia University Presidential Fellowship recipient. She is an MS-to-PhD track student in the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics collaborating on research in the Civil Engineering Network Dynamics Lab. Xiaoqi received her BS from Tsinghua University majoring in Construction Management with a double degree from Peking University in Economics. Xiaoqi is conducting simulation and empirical research to understand synergies that may exist at the intersection between engineered networks and human networks impacting energy consumption.
Andres Zelkowicz
Andres is an undergraduate student from San Jose, Costa Rica. He is pursuing his degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, with an expected graduation date of 2014. Andy is researching the optimal structure for Global Virtual Project Networks and the role of Cultural Boundary Spanners at knowledge domain boundaries. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer, good food, and friends.
Josh Zilke
Josh is an MS student in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. He also received dual undergraduate degrees in Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering from Virginia Tech. Josh is researching construction trends in global markets and the resulting impact on the US construction industry. Josh has a particular interest in infrastructure development and can frequently be found reading history books about famous US construction projects. In the remainder of his dwindling free time he enjoys hiking, target shooting, fitness, and attending happy-hours.
