PI spotlight: Enad Mahmoud

Enad Mahmoud, assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA), has recently served as principal investigator on Illinois Center for Transportation/Illinois Department of Transportation (ICT/IDOT) project R27-129, “Implementation of AIMS in Measuring Aggregate Resistance to Polishing, Abrasion, and Breakage.” The study focused on implementing the second-generation Aggregate Imaging Measurement System (AIMS-II) to measure aggregate shape properties and on the development of a procedure coupling AIMS-II and the Micro-Deval (MD) apparatus for measuring aggregate polishing resistance. A report of the findings and recommendations can be found here.

Following that research, a special project, “Investigation of Relationships Between AIMS Shape Properties and VST Friction Values” (R27-SP27), kicked off in July 2014 with the objective of conducting a thorough analysis of AIMS-II and Micro-Deval shape properties and variable speed friction tester (VST) data collected in the previous project.

Mahmoud says that the results to be obtained from this project, along with the recommendations made in project R27-129, will provide IDOT with sufficient information to make informed decisions about transforming the current aggregate polishing procedure to a more cost-efficient system.

Both projects have been led by an IDOT Technical Review Panel chaired by Sheila Beshears, Aggregate Technology Coordinator for IDOT’s Bureau of Materials and Physical Research.

“I found Professor Mahmoud to be an exceptional investigator for the projects I worked with him on,” says Beshears. “Enad understood exactly what we were wanting from our research, but he also made very helpful suggestions and brings expertise to each project. I would recommend him to anyone looking for assistance in the frictional properties and testing of aggregates.”

Mahmoud has also assisted with several other ICT/IDOT projects, including “Best Practices for Implementation of Tack Coat TRP Recommendations” (R27-100), which was recognized as AASHTO’s 2013 Sweet Sixteen High Value Research Project and ICT’s 2013 High Impact Project. The findings were published in two reports (Part 1, Laboratory Study;  and Part 2, Field Study).

Mahmoud holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Jordan and master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Texas A&M University, all in civil engineering. His research interests include high asphalt binder replacement mixes, numerical modeling of asphalt binder and mastic stiffness, asphalt mix noise absorption, evaluation of aggregate resistance, advanced aggregate imaging systems, and the aging behavior of asphalt binder.