February 2026 Statler Circuit: Department Digest and Awards

Civil Engineering

PhD student Mohamed Tareq Soliman, Ufuk Yazgan from Istanbul Technical University, and WVU Assistant Professor Onur Avci presented "A Comparative Study of Developing Seismic Fragility Models using Random Sampling Simulations and Machine Learning" at the Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM) – International Modal Analysis Conference (IMAC) and received the Best Paper Award in the  Dynamics of Civil Structures Division.

Civil and environmental engineering students David Darrah, Bryan Duft, Connor Brumbaugh, Jack Grushecky, Tucker Golden, Noah Gunter, and their faculty advisor Fei Dai for earned Second Place at the  10th CAWP Student Estimating Competition, held February 19–21, 2026, hosted by the Constructors Association of Western Pennsylvania.

Fundamentals of Engineering

Two teams from the Statler College participated in the Lockheed Martin Engineering Ethics Competition in Bethesda, MD. Collin Addie, Logan Burns, Tuckor Lambert, and Asher Zwick were recognized for their outstanding performance and for representing our college and university so well.

Pick 5: Connect Across Units - Mining Engineering

As part of our ongoing effort to strengthen engagement relationships across our college and create a more collaborative, friendly environment, we are excited to introduce a new initiative called “Pick 5: Connect Across Units”! This initiative is designed to spotlight different academic units to learn more about each other’s work, explore potential collaborations, and build stronger connections. As part of the inaugural spotlight, we are featuring Mining Engineering! Learn with us about this academic unit!

1. What’s one fun tradition, event, or moment that reflects your unit culture? Our department loves mingling with our students and our Alumni. We have an Alumni reception at the annual Society of Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration conference with our Alumni, students, faculty, and staff. Our Alumni come from all over the United States and World to join us in celebrating mining and West Virginia University! We also have our annual Student Award Banquet where we celebrate our students’ accomplishments for the past academic year.

2. What is a recent accomplishment the unit is especially proud of? WVU Mining Engineering has successfully integrated the use of Virtual Reality into our classrooms and has expanded the faculty’s capability in Virtual and Augmented Reality research. To help expand our department’s community outreach, we have added virtual and in-person summer camps supported by all of the faculty. Our most recent addition, an in-person camp, gives high school students two fun filled days of mining experiences and helps them develop a better understanding of Mining Engineering as a career path.

3. Coffee, tea, or snacks? What fuels the team during busy times? Dark, BLACK Coffee and a lot of it!!

4. Email or hallway conversations?  We can usually find our faculty talking with each other in the hallway or in each other’s office. We actually like and respect each other’s opinions!

5. If your unit had a slogan for finals week, what would it say? Projects, NOT finals!!

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