UT Tyler · Civil & Construction Engineering & Management

Mena I. Souliman, Ph.D., P.E., F.IRF, M.ASCE

Chair & Professor; Director, Texas Rural Transportation Research Center (TRTRC); Ronald D. Brazzel Endowed Professor. Research spans pavement materials and design, fatigue endurance limit, advanced binder/mixture characterization, field performance evaluation, pavement management, and data‑driven methods for durable, cost‑effective roadways.

Professional Engineer (TX #136203) Over 100+ publications Director, TRTRC (since 2021)

3900 University Blvd., RBS 1005, Tyler, TX 75799 · msouliman@uttyler.edu · 903‑565‑5892

About Funded Projects Project Reports Selected Publications Teaching Graduate Advising Leadership & Service Download CV (PDF)

Current Roles

Chair & Professor, Civil & Construction Engineering & Management (since Sept 2024)
Director, Texas Rural Transportation Research Center (since Nov 2021)
Ronald D. Brazzel Endowed Professor of Civil Engineering (since Oct 2021)
Professional Engineer, Texas (since 2019)

Prior Appointments

Interim Chair (Jul 2023–Aug 2024), UT Tyler
Associate Professor (2019–2024), Assistant Professor (2014–2019), UT Tyler
Postdoctoral Scholar (2012–2014), University of Nevada, Reno

Funded Projects (Selected)

A representative sample from externally and internally funded projects at UT Tyler (2014–present).

Sugarcane Bagasse Effects on Mechanical & Mechanistic Performance of HMA Mixtures
USDA‑ARS · Jun 2023–Present · Award $141,000 · PI: Souliman; Co‑PI: Isied

Develop Recommendations for Evaluating Surface Types & Aggregate Properties to Minimize Wet‑Weather Crashes (0‑7142)
TxDOT · Nov 2022–Nov 2025 · Award $600,000 (UTT $45,276) · PI: Goehl (TTI); Co‑PI: Souliman

SMARTP3M — Smart Pavement Monitoring, Management, & Maintenance
USDOT (Tran‑SET) · Aug 2022–Jan 2024 · Award $150,002 (UTT $80,000) · PI: Souliman; Co‑PI: Dessouky

Measuring Seal Coat Rate Field Adjustments
TxDOT · Sep 2021–Nov 2025 · Award $450,000 (UTT $34,546) · PI: Goehl (TTI); Co‑PI: Souliman

Quantify Maximum Accumulated Seal Coat Layers for Stability
TxDOT · Sep 2021–Nov 2025 · Award $449,211 (UTT $10,194) · PI: Goehl (TTI); Co‑PI: Souliman

Expanding CAR to South‑Central States — Network‑Level Structural Evaluation of Flexible Pavements
USDOT (Tran‑SET) · Aug 2020–Feb 2022 · Award $120,180 (UTT $60,180) · PI: Souliman; Co‑PI: Dessouky

Use of Ocean Plastic Waste in Road Construction (DE‑SC0020912)
DOE SBIR/STTR · Jun 2020–Jan 2021 · Award $199,939 (UTT $36,101) · PI: Smith; Co‑PI: Souliman

Establish the Texas Rural Transportation Research Center (TRTRC)
UT System STARs · Mar 2020–Mar 2023 · Award $400,000 · PI: Souliman

Develop Surface Aggregate Classification of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (0‑7025)
TxDOT · Sep 2019–Sep 2022 · Award $377,280 (UTT $12,725) · PI: Zhou (TTI); Co‑PI: Souliman

Documenting the Impact of Aggregate Quality on HMA Performance (6959)
TxDOT · Sep 2017–Sep 2019 · Award $250,000 (UTT $25,000) · PI: Walubita (TTI); Co‑PI: Souliman

Mechanistic & Economical Benefits of Fiber‑Reinforced Asphalt Mixtures
Forta Corp. · Mar 2017–Mar 2018 · Award $9,484 · PI: Souliman

Simplified Approach for Structural Evaluation of Flexible Pavements at the Network Level
USDOT (Tran‑SET) · May 2017–Nov 2018 · Award $184,000 (UTT $80,000) · PI: Romanoschi (UTA); Co‑PI: Souliman; Co‑PI: Dessouky

Project Reports (Selected)

0‑7142: Surface Types & Aggregate Properties to Minimize Wet‑Weather Crashes — 2023, TxDOT (52 pp).

0‑7025: Surface Aggregate Classification of RAP — Technical Report — 2022, TxDOT (198 pp).

Expanding CAR to South‑Central States — 2021, USDOT Tran‑SET (223 pp).

Documenting the Impact of Aggregate Quality on HMA Performance — 2019, TxDOT Final Report.

Simplified Approach for Network‑Level Structural Evaluation — 2018, USDOT Tran‑SET Final & Interim Reports.

NCHRP Report 762 — Laboratory Validation of Endurance Limit — 2013, National Academies.

Selected Publications

Isied, M.*, Souliman, M. “Predictive ANN Fatigue Endurance Limit Model for Asphalt Concrete” — Transportation Research Record, 2021.
Souliman, M., Gc, H., Isied, M., Walubita, L. “Treated vs. Untreated Aggregate Bases for Flexible Pavements” — TRR, 2020.
Elwardany, M., Hanna, B., Souliman, M. “Automated Truck Platooning & Pavement Fatigue” — IJPE, 2021.
Walubita, L., et al. incl. Souliman, M. “DSR to HMA Rutting Correlations” — Construction & Building Materials, 2020.
Mamlouk, M., Souliman, M. “Self‑Healing & Perpetual Pavements” — ASCE JTE Part B, 2017.

*Full list (100+ papers) in the CV; h‑index 12; i10‑index 20.

Teaching

Courses (UT Tyler)

Traffic Engineering: Operations & Control (with lab)
Pavement Management Systems
Introduction to Pavement Engineering
Transportation Engineering
Engineering Graphics I; Statics

Prior Courses

Pavement Design & Analysis; Pavement Management Systems (UNR); Materials & Highway Geometric Design (ASU).

Graduate Advising (Selected)

MSCE — Major Advisor / Chair

Rami Khalifah (Dec 2023)
Prashanta Acharjee (Jul 2023)
Nitish Bastola (Dec 2020)
Pedro Zavagna (Spring 2018)
Ashish Tripathi (Spring 2018)
Karthikeyan Loganathan (Spring 2018)
Hemant Gc (Dec 2018)
Mayzan Isied (Summer 2019)

Undergraduate Research (UT Tyler)

Gabriella Alvarez (2020), Zachery Smolen (2020), Arthur Fagundes (2019), Pedro Zavagna (2016).

Leadership & Service (Selected)

TRB AKP30 (Design & Rehabilitation of Asphalt Pavements), Member; AKM40 (Mixture Evaluation & Performance), Member
Handling Editor, Transportation Research Record; Editorial boards: Journal of Materials & Engineering Structures, etc.
National Panels: NCHRP 09‑67; 09‑59
Executive Fellow & Lifetime Member, IRF; ABET Program Evaluator

Selected Honors

Ronald D. Brazzel Endowed Professor (2021); UT Tyler President’s Scholarly Achievement Award (2021); College of Engineering Research & Scholarship Award (2021); Fellow, UT Tyler Academy of Distinguished Teachers (2022).