Congratulations to CEE Professor Susan Shaheen on her California Air Resources Board (CARB) appointment! Shaheen has been a Professor In-Residence in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering since 2019 and Co-Director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center of the Institute of Transportation Studies since 2008.
We are delighted to share that Julio Ibanez was named a winner of the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) Educational Trust Scholarship in recognition of his research in geotechnical and foundation engineering and construction management fields! DFI highlights the potential of promising young engineers like Julio as the future leaders of the deep foundations industry.
Congratulations to CEE Professor Iris Tommelein for receiving the Project Production Institute (PPI) 2022 Technical Achievement award!
B.S.’70 CE
Chairman and CEO of Asera Group, Inc.
Hometown: Vallejo, California
"I have always used my Civil Engineering background as a policymaker to analyze issues. I believe that civil engineers are engineers who care about the environment, and I wanted to give back to the community by reinvesting my knowledge through teaching students.”
CEE Alumni Larry Asera was honored with the 2022 Campanile Excellence in Achievement Award during the Cal Charter Gala and Awards Ceremony on May 12, 2022. The Campanile Excellence in Achievement Award is given to alumni that push the boundaries of what is possible and whose professional achievements reflect the excellence of a UC Berkeley education.
This award honors Asera’s notable accomplishments as an engineer, entrepreneur, public servant, and educator. A bio video of his life accomplishments can be viewed here, and the complete list of award recipients is available online.
Asera has served as an expert and keynote speaker at many global energy forums on critical issues such as climate change and greenhouse gas emission reduction and also was a professor of engineering technology at CSU Maritime. He currently serves as the Chairman and CEO of Asera Group, Inc, an energy and environmental engineering company that is a recognized pioneer in developing solar photovoltaic energy systems. We interviewed Asera to learn more about his career trajectory, expertise, and influences at Cal.
Compiled by Pooja Nerkar
The grandson of immigrants from the Philippines and born in Vallejo, California, Asera is the first Filipino American elected to public office in the U.S. mainland. His grandparents settled in Hawaii in 1906 and then migrated to California in 1925. In 1973, at 24, Asera got elected to the Vallejo City Council.
At 27, he became a member of the Solano Board of Supervisors and eventually the board chairman at age 29, the youngest board member and chairman in the history of Solano County. Later he served in Cabinet-level roles for the State of California. After serving as vice president of Pacific Gas & Electric company (PG&E), Larry founded the Asera Group of companies in 1996, specializing in renewable energy resources and sustainable communities.
Larry Asera has distinguished himself as a public servant and entrepreneur. He attributes his success as a clean energy and environmental technology leader to his education at Cal, where he earned a degree in Civil Engineering in 1970. He continued his graduate studies at UC Davis and is currently a Trustee Emeritus; afterward, Asera was an Urban Fellow at the Sloan School of Management at MIT.
Asera says that his first inspiration to think about his future career was a new elective in 1970 sponsored by Professor TY Lin. Although a renowned structural engineering professor in the CE Department, TY Lin headed up “The Art and Science of Engineering” course to teach the upper division CE students about engineering beyond just science.
“That one course was a major influence in changing the definition of an engineer as just the designers of high-rise buildings, subdivisions, streets, or sewer systems. It raised my own consciousness about the role of the civil engineer as it relates to the environment, the community, and our society. That inspired my journey from becoming an engineer, entrepreneur, and public policy maker advocating clean sustainable development communities,” said Asera.
Another influence on Asera’s career was his CE Professor, Hans Albert Einstein, son of the great physicist Albert Einstein. Although not a part of the formal curriculum, Professor Einstein indirectly introduced to those students interested in the technology known as the “photovoltaic cell”.
People commonly think Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize for his theory of relativity. However, Einstein received the award primarily for his work and explanation of the photovoltaic effect - the conversion of sunlight into electricity. “Since that time,” according to Asera, “I have incorporated this technology, now referred to simply as solar energy, into my career as the basis for my projects requiring renewable and clean energy resources.”
The trend between these experiences at Berkeley, whether it be learning from Prof. TY Lin in “The Art and Science of Engineering” course or Prof. Hans Albert Einstein about the “photovoltaic effect", is that Asera had non-traditional experiences. These experiences at Berkeley helped him become the multi-dimensional leader he is today in the clean energy and technology industry and his journey as an engineer, entrepreneur, public servant, and educator.
Despite storms and torrential rain affecting the Golden State this past week, the massive downpours have not had much effect on changing California's drought. As of January 5, 2023, all of California was experiencing some degree of drought conditions, with 71 percent having "severe" to "extreme drought" despite the increased rainfall.
Last year's blisteringly dry weather caused water levels in reservoirs and other bodies of water in California to be shallow, including several essential water sources for millions of people in towns and cities and agriculture.
"I wear two hats, one as an engineer and another as a data scientist. But in fact, I am motivated by the idea of bringing data science to Civil and Environmental Engineering. It's such a neat combination to analyze data and link it contextually to solve challenges in our field."
We are kicking off a new Spotlight Series where we highlight a CEE department member and share their personal stories, work, and interest in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Our first feature story covers Mohamad Hallal, who will join the department as an Assistant Teaching Professor in January! Please give him a warm welcome and find out more about his expertise below:
Compiled by Pooja Nerkar
I was interested in things that seemed unnatural to me. As a kid, earthquakes were one of these occurrences that intrigued me, and I often wondered why do earthquakes happen? Why does the ground shake? I had no idea my career would one day revolve around earthquakes- and utilizing multidisciplinary tools to mitigate their impact on society.
I started my academic journey as an engineer. In 2017, I earned my B.E. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the American University of Beirut. While working toward my B.E., I spent one semester as an exchange student at the University of New Mexico and another semester doing research at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. My exchange semester was one of the best semesters of my undergraduate experience, and my research experience was my first time working in the earthquake engineering field.
I then joined the University of Texas at Austin and completed my M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in 2019 and 2022, respectively. While working toward my Ph.D., I felt there was a missing link, especially considering the amount of uncertainty I had to deal with as an engineer and the volume of data I was working with. So I decided to pursue another M.S. in Statistics and Data Science, which I completed in 2019. I say I wear two hats, one as an engineer and another as a data scientist, but in fact, I am motivated by the idea of bringing data science to civil and environmental engineering.
The surge of data in our field is creating opportunities to study the link between the environment, built systems, and human activities in previously impossible ways. However, we continue to face challenges in answering pertinent questions in our field, such as those related to aging infrastructure, natural hazards, sustainable and resilient systems, and equitable access to these systems. Integrating modern data science tools with our engineering and physics-based knowledge is the key to transforming our field to respond to the world's most pressing challenges. On top of that, I was always interested in teaching and interacting with students. I remember when I was still in middle school, I would play the role of a teacher with my siblings, explaining simple linear algebra concepts. That was a significant drive for me to pursue a Ph.D. to become a teacher and hopefully educate future engineers.
All of this drives my overarching teaching goal: to equip future engineers with state-of-the-art tools and skills that combine data and computation with civil and environmental engineering so that they can be leaders in the dynamic and global workforce.
Our field is undergoing a quiet revolution, which is fueled by the proliferation of data and technological developments. As educators, it is our responsibility to transform the learning experience so that all future civil and environmental engineers are ready for this digital transformation. My goal is to demystify data analytics and machine learning so that no student gets baffled by these advancements.
We have the strength to transform our field to respond to the most pressing challenges. At the University of California, Berkeley, I aim to match this perspective by transforming the learning experience to the broader benefit of a resilient, equitable, and globally connected society.
The CEE Academy of Distinguished Alumni proudly announces its Class of 2022, a cohort of outstanding civil and environmental engineering leaders with strong ties to Berkeley CEE!
Congratulations to our eight newest members, and in-memoriam of the late James Roberts and Warren Kaufman.
