This page highlights past recipients of the Sikand Award, recognizing faculty whose work advances sustainable infrastructure, intelligent systems, and interdisciplinary research.
2024 - 2025
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Dr. Mehran Mazari is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA). He is also the founding director of the Sustainable Infrastructure Materials Research Lab (SIM-Lab). His expertise spans infrastructure materials, sustainable and resilient transportation infrastructure, and the integration of data science and machine learning in civil engineering. As director of SIM-Lab, Dr. Mehran Mazari leads innovative research focused on environmentally friendly infrastructure solutions, including sustainable materials, automation, and robotics in construction. His teaching areas include civil engineering materials, highway and airfield pavement design, and transportation engineering. Dr. Mehran Mazari has been actively involved in numerous federally and state-funded research initiatives. He serves on the editorial board of the CSU Journal of Sustainability and Climate Change, is a handling editor for the Transportation Research Record (TRR) of the Transportation Research Board, and an associate editor for the International Journal of Pavement Engineering. His contributions to research and education have been recognized through multiple prestigious fellowships and awards, including the Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEEd) Fellowship Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Advances in Signal, Image, and Video Processing, the Outstanding Younger Member Paper Award from ASCE, and the International Road Federation (IRF) Fellowship. Dr. Mehran Mazari’s latest project, Development of Sustainable Carbon Sequestering Concrete Materials, investigates the use of biochar as an additive in concrete mix designs. The project aims to develop concrete that maintains the mechanical performance of conventional Portland cement–based mixes while actively sequestering carbon dioxide emissions. Through his commitment to sustainable infrastructure and engineering education, Dr. Mehran Mazari continues to advance the field through research innovation, teaching excellence, and professional leadership. |
2023 - 2024
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Dr. Maryam Nazari, an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA), earned her Ph.D. in Structural Engineering with a Minor in Engineering Mechanics from Iowa State University in 2016. Before joining Cal State LA in Fall 2020, she served as a faculty member at Fresno State for four years. Dr. Maryam Nazari’s research focuses on Earthquake Engineering, with an emphasis on economical, resilient, and sustainable design of civil infrastructure against seismic hazards. She has served as PI, Co-PI, or senior personnel on multiple grants, including NSF-MRI, NSF-ADVANCE, NSF-IUSE: HSI, and AISC. Currently, Dr. Maryam Nazari is leading a project funded by the Sikand Faculty Endowment for Research in Urban Sustainability for the 2023–2024 academic year. The project explores innovative rocking wall systems to support resilient, low-carbon cities in seismic regions. To enhance energy dissipation, she is investigating sustainable cushion-pad foundations made from Tire-Derived Aggregate Concrete (TDAC), also known as rubberized concrete, to reduce system complexity and cost while maintaining seismic performance. The project includes experimental testing of modified TDAC materials and shake-table testing of scaled rocking walls under simulated seismic conditions. Dr. Nazari leads a team of three undergraduate students and one graduate student, with Dr. Rodriguez serving as Co-PI. Her work has been recognized through awards from ASCE – San Francisco Section, the Fresno Regional Transportation Innovations Summit, Iowa State University, and ASEE. |
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Dr. John (Chris) Bachman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA). He earned his B.S. (2010) and M.S. (2012) from the University of California, Davis, and his Ph.D. (2017) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Bachman has taught experimental methods, control systems, mechanical design, physics, calculus, fluid mechanics, vibrations, thermodynamics, and senior design across UC Davis, MIT, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and Cal State LA. His research includes batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, wind energy, and engineering education. He advises the Baja SAE and Charging Eagles Electric Vehicle teams, advises the Golden Eagle Makers, directs the ECST Makerspace, and leads the Sustainable Technology Lab. The Sustainable Technology Lab is collaborating with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to improve lithium-ion battery performance at high temperatures. This work supports the development of alternative battery chemistries capable of operating in increasingly hot urban and transportation environments. The project evaluates electrolyte additives to stabilize the solid-electrolyte interphase and improve battery performance at elevated temperatures. Two graduate students and one undergraduate student are contributing to this research, with the goal of advancing to doctoral programs or scientific careers at JPL. |