4/16/2010
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The paper, which appeared in the October 2009 issue of the journal, was selected from among 143 papers published in the journal last year. It presents the development of a robust model for planning post-disaster reconstruction efforts that is capable of optimizing the allocation of limited reconstruction resources to competing recovery projects; assessing and quantifying the overall functional loss of damaged transportation networks during the recovery efforts; evaluating the impact of limited availability of resources on the reconstruction costs; and minimizing the performance loss of transportation networks and reconstruction costs.
El-Rayes has more than 20 years of professional experience in both academia and the construction industry. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in construction engineering and management, and he appears frequently on the University of Illinois’ “List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students.” El-Rayes has research interests in construction optimization, decision support systems, information technologies, highway construction, and construction productivity. He has more than 100 publications in these areas including more than 40 journal papers. His professional involvements have included serving as a specialty editor for the ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management and as Chair of the ASCE Construction Research Council, which is widely recognized as the premier national forum for Construction Engineering and Management research.
El-Rayes will receive the award at the ASCE 2010 Construction Congress in Banff, Alberta, Canada in May.