The CEE department has added 5 faculty for the 2024-25 academic year in various disciplines. Among the new faculty are two in Transportation Systems Engineering, one in Engineering Education, one in Geotechnical and Materials Engineering, and one in Structural Engineering.
Wissam Kontar, assistant professor (Transportation Systems Engineering)
Wissam Kontar earned his Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his B.E. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the American University of Beirut. His research focuses on developing data-driven tools for learning, control, and analysis of emerging mobility technologies, with an emphasis on addressing complex behavioral challenges in multi-agent transportation ecosystems. At UNL, Wissam will be leading a research laboratory dedicated to solving complex transportation challenges for societal benefits.
Li Zhao, research assistant professor (Transportation Systems Engineering)
Since 2013, Zhao has been part of the College of Engineering as a graduate student (civil engineering and Nebraska Transportation Center), as a postdoctoral research associate in the Mid-America Transportation Center and as a research engineer in NTC. Zhao’s research includes traffic safety and mobility, human factor and driver behavior, and emerging transportation technologies.
Tareq Daher, assistant professor of practice (Engineering Education)
The director of the college’s Engineering and Computing Education Core (ECEC), Daher earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and has a master’s and Ph.D. in educational studies, with an emphasis on instructional technology, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Daher and ECEC work with engineering faculty to integrate innovative instructional strategies and technologies in their classrooms, and design and deliver professional development programs for the faculty.
Tewodros Yosef, research assistant professor (Geotechnical and Materials, Midwest Roadside Safety Facility)
A former postdoctoral research associate and graduate research assistant at MwRSF, Yosef earned a doctorate in civil engineering at Nebraska. Yosef’s expertise includes structural impact and crashworthiness, computational geomechanics, and the development, evaluation and crash testing of timber-based roadside safety structures.
Andrew Loken, research assistant professor (Structural Engineering, Midwest Roadside Safety Facility)
A Nebraska Engineering alum, Loken has vast experience in roadway design and structural engineering, especially as it relates to bridge railings and decking. While a graduate student in MwRSF, he was twice chosen as a Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellow by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
