ICT student profile: Mojatba Ziyadi

Mojtaba Ziyadi received his B.S., with highest honors, and M.S. from the University of Mohaghegh Ardabili (2009) and Sharif University of Technology (2011), respectively. He joined the College of Engineering at Illinois in 2012 to pursue a doctorate degree in civil and environmental engineering and is expected to graduate in Fall 2016.

Mojtaba’s research interests focus on transportation infrastructure sustainability, life-cycle assessment, uncertainty quantification, machine and statistical learning, tire–pavement interaction, and rolling resistance. For his Ph.D. research, he is investigating uncertainty quantification of pavement life-cycle phases with a special focus on numerical and statistical modeling of tire–pavement interaction.

As a research assistant at the Advanced Transportation Research and Engineering Lab (ATREL), Mojtaba has assisted with several ICT research projects, including a study conducted on behalf of the Federal Highway Administration, “The Impact of Wide Base Tires on Pavement: A National Study,” to estimate the effect of new-generation wide-base tires on pavement responses. “I have helped develop a neural network-based model and a tool to estimate the effect of new-generation wide-base tires on pavement.”

Mojtaba has also been actively serving on a team of researchers developing a full roadway/roadside life-cycle assessment tool for the Illinois Toll Highway Authority. His contribution was primarily focused on designing the pavement use-phase of the tool, specifically the pavement roughness and structure-related rolling resistance models.

Since joining the research group at ICT, Mojtaba has been greatly enjoying working with brilliant students, faculty, and staff members. “The facility at ICT is so unique and supportive that I never had a problem expanding any of my ideas,” he says. “The lab facilities are great, but it’s the people who make this place stand out on the national and international levels.”

When he’s not at ATREL working on his Ph.D. research, Mojtaba likes to spend time playing soccer or enjoying his other passion, acrylic painting! With his team, he won the 2015 UIUC Men’s Outdoor Soccer League and ranked second at 2014 UIUC Indoor Soccer World Cup.

You can check out Mojtaba’s amazing collection of paintings here.