Ali Maher

Professor and Director

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Phone:848-445-2951
Fax:732-445-0577
Email:mmaher@soe.rutgers.edu
Office:CAIT 211E
Website: Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation

Ali Maher, Ph.D., F. ASCE, is the director of CAIT and a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rutgers. Under his leadership, since 1998 CAIT has successfully competed three times to maintain its status as a Tier I University Transportation Center (UTC), a network of internationally recognized research and education organizations that are a vital source for the professionals and leaders needed to meet our transportation needs now and in the future. The UTC program is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Transportation Research and Innovative Technology Administration (USDOT-RITA).

It was Maher’s vision to develop a center that would promote advancements in heavily utilized intermodal corridors and he was instrumental in forming a service network for members of the transportation infrastructure community at Rutgers.

Maher is a widely recognized expert, often tapped as a resource by industry and government agencies. His expertise spans the areas of ground improvement, soil dynamics, infrastructure asset management, nondestructive testing, environmental geotechnology, and new technology vehicles. Maher’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, USDOT, NJDOT, FHWA, DOE, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other federal sponsors. Since CAIT’s inception, Maher has brought in more than $54 million of external research and technology transfer projects.

Maher has been a pioneer in promoting collaboration and building partnerships with other universities and public and private stakeholders to address our country’s most pressing transportation challenges. The $25.5 million FHWA Long-Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) program, which aims to improve bridge asset management, is just one example of such partnerships. Maher has been P.I. of LTBP since the project was competitively awarded to CAIT in 2008.

He is actively involved in a number of ASCE, ASTM, and International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure (ISHMII) committees. Maher serves as president of the U.S. Universities Council on Geotechnical Education and Research. He is a member of the editorial board of ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal. He also received the TRB Executive Committee’s K.B. Woods Best Paper Award in 2008 and 2011.

 

Education

Ph.D. in Civil Engineering
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 1988
Major: Geotechnical Engineering
Minor: Applied Mechanics

Master of Science in Geotechnical Engineering
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, January 1985

Master of Science in Construction Engineering
Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, August 1980

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, June 1978

Honors

  • Winner of TRB’s 2009 K.B. Wood Award for best paper in design and construction 
  • Recipient of Certificate of Appreciation, “NJDOT”, 1999 to 2006
  • 1999 “Quality Award”, American Association of State Highways and Transportation Officials
  • Recipient of AASHTO “Trailblazer Award” 199825
  • 1998 “Educator of the Year Award” ASCE, Central Jersey Branch, New Jersey
  • Scientific Contribution Award, Composite Institute (January, 1997)
  • 1996 “Nova” Construction Innovation Award
  • Recipient of Academic Merit Award, Rutgers University (1989-2006)

Professional Affiliations

<p>Member of the Board, U.S. Universities Council on Geotechnical Engineering Research (USUCGER) Member of ASCE, National and Local Organizations Member, Transportation Research Board, RU Representative Member ASCE Technical Committee on "Soil Improvement” Member ASTM Technical Committee D-18 "Soil and Rock" Member, NJDOT Quality Initiative Past Faculty Advisor, ASCE Student Chapter, Rutgers University Reviewer of Technical Proposals,National Science Foundation Research Associate, UTRC-Region II Member of Rutgers University Hearing Committee Member of Rutgers University Health and Safety Committee</p>

Research Interests

Maher is a widely recognized expert, often tapped as a resource by industry and government agencies. His expertise spans the areas of ground improvement, soil dynamics, infrastructure asset management, nondestructive testing, environmental geotechnology, and new technology vehicles. Maher’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, USDOT, NJDOT, FHWA, DOE, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other federal sponsors. Since CAIT’s inception, Maher has brought in more than $54 million of external research and technology transfer projects.

Selected Publications

1. Maher A., et al. (contributing author), 2010, “Research Agenda for Transportation Infrastructure Preservation and Renewal”, TRB Committee Publication, Transportation Asset Management Committee.

2. Bennert, T.*, and Maher, A., 2009, "Field and Laboratory Evaluation of a Reflective Crack Relief Interlayer (RCRI) Mixture in New Jersey", Transportation Research Record No. 2084, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 114 - 123 pp. (Winner of TRB’s 2009 K.B. Wood Award for best paper in design and construction).

3. Bennert, T.*, and Maher, A., 2009, "A Practical Methodology for the Performance-Based Selection of Bituminous Mixtures for Concrete Overlays", Pavement Cracking: Mechanisms, Modeling, Detection, Testing and Case Histories, Proceedings of the 6th RILEM International Conference on Cracking in Pavements, Chicago, IL, pp. 833 - 842.

4. Gucunski, N., Slabaugh, G., Weng, Z., Fang, T., and Maher, A., “Visualization and Interpretation of Impact Echo Datafrom Bridge Deck Testing,” Transportation Research Record 2050, NRC, Washington, D.C., 2008, 111-121.

5. Bennert, T.* and Maher, A., 2007, "Evaluation of the Current State of Flexible Overlay for Rigid/Composite Pavements in the United States", Transportation Research Record No. 1991, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 97 - 108 pp.

6. Bennert*, T. and Maher, A., 2007, “Evaluation of the Current State of Flexible Overlay for Rigid/Composite Pavements in the United States”, Transportation Research Record No. 1991, National Research CCouncil, Washington, D.C., 97 - 108 pp.

7. Maher, A., Douglas, S., Jafari, F., and Gucunski, N., 2006, “Field Placement and Evaluation of Stabilized Dredged Material (SDM) from New York/ New Jersey Harbor,” Journal of Marine Georesources and Technology. Vol. 24,
December 2006, pp. 251-263.

8. Maher, A., Douglas, W.S., Yang, D., Jafari, F. and Schaefer, V. “Cement Deep Soil Mixing for Solidification of Marine Sediments,” Journal of Marine Georesources and Technology,” Vol. 25, July 2007, 221-235 pp.

9. Gucunski, N., Hadidi*. R., Zaghloul, S., Maher, A., and Shokouhi*, P., “Seasonal and Temperature Adjustment Models of Pavement Properties from Seismic Nondestructive Evaluation,” Pavement Mechanics and Performance,
Geotechnical Special Publication No. 154, ASCE, 2006, 15-21.

10. Bennert, T., Maher, A., Bryant, M., and Smith, J., 2006, “Comparing Fine Aggregate Angularity (FAA) to Aggregate and HMA Performance Tests”, Transportation Research Board, Paper # 6-1705.

11. Vitillo, N., Bennert*, T., Maher, A., and Smith, J., 2006, “Evaluation of Superpave Mix Design for Low Volume Roads in New Jersey”, Transportation Research Board, Paper # 6-1277.