Fitts-Woolard Hall in Action

Our department’s communication specialist, Julie Dixon, visited Fitts-Woolard Hall to take photos of our new building in action. We were glad that a few photos included members of the CCHT in the Coastal Engineering Lab and teaching.

View into the Coastal Engineering Lab.

Jenero Knowles and Dylan Anderson discussing how to succeed in academic research.

Casey Dietrich teaching about the hydrostatic pressure distribution in CE 282.

Jenero Knowles

Updated 2021/08/03

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.

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Alireza Gharagozlou defends PhD Dissertation

We gathered again for a successful defense! Alireza Gharagozlou defended his PhD dissertation to a mix of virtual and in-person attendees, who asked a lot of great questions about his research in modeling of storm-driven erosion in the Outer Banks. Congrats to Alireza!

Alireza starts his oral defense presentation.

Autumn Poisson defends MS Thesis

We gathered again virtually for a successful defense! With attendees from around the country, Autumn Poisson shared her research about the earliest signs of storm effects in coastal regions, and how they can be used to improve predictions of coastal flooding. She passed!

Autumn and her committee were happy with her performance.

Johnathan wins First Place in Student Presentation Competition

Ph.D. student Johnathan Woodruff won first place in the student presentation competition during the annual Environmental, Water Resources, and Coastal Engineering Research Symposium. This award is chosen by judges from among all of the student presentations and is reflective of both compelling research activities and excellent presentation skills. The award includes a $500 cash stipend.

Congratulations to Johnathan!

CCHT Ph.D. student Johnathan Woodruff.

Johnathan wins Student Educational Award

Ph.D. student Johnathan Woodruff won the Student Educational Award from the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association. This award is given annually to an undergraduate or graduate student who, through his or her research, is furthering the state of science of coastal systems as it relates to the goals and mission of the ASBPA. The award includes a $500 cash stipend. Johnathan wil attend the ASBPA National Coastal Conference next week to present his findings to the coastal community.

CCHT Ph.D. student Johnathan Woodruff.

Coastal Engineering Lab in Fitts-Woolard Hall

Construction is nearly-completed on Fitts-Woolard Hall, which will be our new home. We are moving slowly during this Fall 2020, and we will be in the new building when we return full-time to campus. The photo below is an updated look at our Coastal Engineering Lab. This room will have workspaces for the coastal engineering team at NC State, and its location on the third floor will allow a great view of Centennial Campus. We are excited for the new building!

New glass wall and furniture for the lab.

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Ajimon Thomas defends PhD Dissertation

Again because of the pandemic, we gathered virtually for a successful PhD defense by Ajimon Thomas. Most attendees joined online, and Ajimon shared his research with his fellow students and faculty committee. Congrats to Ajimon!