Updated 2021/08/03
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Ph.D. Candidate (Graduate Research Assistant) Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering North Carolina State University Fitts-Woolard Hall, Room 3121 915 Partners Way Raleigh, NC 27606 jsknowle@ncsu.edu |
Hey there! I am a first year Ph.D. candidate in the Coastal and Computational Hydraulics Team (CCHT) at NC State University. I was born and raised in The Bahamas, which is an archipelago of islands just southeast of Florida and north of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean, a region prone to hurricanes. As I grew older, my curiosity cultivated as tropical storms produced severe flooding on the islands while structures such as seawalls and jetties were in place to protect the shorelines. This led to my undergraduate degree in civil engineering where I took courses in water resources and learned more about wave variations and their effects on its surrounding environments. Combining my interest of coastal waves and a desire to mitigate flooding from storms, I knew that delving into research would help me to discover solutions to some coastal engineering issues.
I will be working on a project, “A Comparative Assessment of Total Water Levels for coastal military facility readiness and resilience using numerical models ,” where I will use ADCIRC to investigate all the relevant physics that contribute to total water levels. The model produced from ADCIRC will be compared with other models prepared by a group of researchers from different institutions. As I continue to expand my knowledge, I look forward using and learning different modeling software used in the industry.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, Civil Engineering
- North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 2026 (Intended)
Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering
- South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, 2017
- Cum Laude Graduate
Work Experience
Atkins Global- SNC Lavalin, Orlando, FL
- Junior Drainage Engineer, June 2019 to July 2020
- Developed watershed master plans, FEMA map revisions and impact studies for development and roadway projects, utilizing programs such as HEC-RAS, ArcGIS, AutoCAD and Microstation.
- Assisted in the planning, design, and production of engineering drawings. Supervised the production of drawings and carried out specific assignments to prepare and assemble specifications.
- Supported water quality efforts including permitting, data collection, and field sampling.
- Performed hydrologic and hydraulic engineering design, analysis and calculations
Poulos & Bennett, LLC, Orlando, FL
- Staff Engineer, August 2017 to June 2019
- Prepared engineering design calculations and construction plans to support residential developments including site grading, stormwater and utility design.
- Prepared utility and drainage reports for local municipalities and agencies for permitting.
- Interpreted mark-ups to produce construction plans.
- Prepared bid documents and packages for contractors.
- Reviewed survey as-built drawings to produce final record drawings for project completion.
Stockwell Engineers, Inc, Sioux Falls, SD
- Intern Engineer, May 2016 to August 2016
- Prepared design calculations to ensure quality control for project and design engineers.
- Prepared quantity estimates and calculations for overall cost of items and services.
- Prepared construction documents including meeting minutes and agendas, daily and bi-weekly reports, and recorded field notes.
- Prepared bid documents and packages for contractors.
- Performed field inspections to ensure contractors built infrastructure to design grades for pavement shots and invert elevations for storm sewers.
South Dakota State University Plant Science Department, Brookings, SD
- Undergraduate Research Assistant , October 2016 to March 2017
- Measured and recorded physical and chemical properties of seed and leaf samples.
- Performed calculations to determine seeding rate and fertilizing rate for plant samples.
- Prepared excel spreadsheets and tables from data collection.
Certifications
- Engineering Intern Certification
- FDEP Qualified Stormwater Management Inspector(44105)
Technical Skills
- AutoCAD/Civil 3D
- MicroStation/ GeoPak Drainage
- HEC-RAS
- ArcGIS
- Quantity Estimation
Affiliations
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
- Student Liaison Chairman of the Younger Member Forum of A.S.C.E. (September 2018 – September 2020)
- Student Chapter President (January 2016 – December 2016)
- Student Chapter Sophomore Representative (January 2015 – December 2015)
Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors Society (TBP)
- Events Coordinator in Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors Society (January 2016 – December 2016)
Conference Presentations
- J Knowles. “Is it Ethical for university engineering faculty to teach technical subject matter to engineering students without obtaining professional licensure?” 2017 ASCE Midwest Student Conference, 30 March – 1 April, 2017.