Faculty & Advising
The Master of Science in Civil Engineering: Construction Engineering program features expert faculty from the UW departments of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Construction Management, along with top professionals in the field.
Faculty
Julian Yamaura
Director
Julian Yamaura is a full-time assistant teaching professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. He is the director of the Master of Science in Civil Engineering: Energy Infrastructure and the Master of Science in Civil Engineering: Construction Engineering. He teaches courses related to project engineering, heavy civil construction methods, sustainable construction materials, temporary structures, and software integration and adoption. His research interests include mobile and cloud technology systems in construction and their impacts on project management. Yamaura previously worked in the heavy civil construction and the construction technology sectors. He earned his Ph.D. and master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Washington.
Fred Aguayo
Fred Aguayo is an assistant professor in the Department of Construction Management. Prior to joining UW in September 2021, he taught at Texas State University in the areas of concrete materials, durability and sustainable infrastructure construction.
Aguayo has more than 10 years of experience in research applications that contribute to facilitating the implementation of sustainable and novel cement-based systems in infrastructure and building applications such as alternative cement binders, supplementary cementing materials (SCMs), recycled aggregates and high performing concretes. He primarily examines durability-related issues in cement-based materials such as corrosion, carbonation, ASR, sulfate attack and early-age volume changes. He holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and is an active member of the American Concrete Institute and ASTM International.
Ahmed Abdel Aziz
Ahmed Abdel Aziz is an associate professor in the Department of Construction Management. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on a variety of topics, including project planning and control, project risk and economic analysis, construction cost estimating and project management. His primary research interests are in developing public-private partnerships for infrastructure development, quantitative modeling and risk analysis, and project planning and control. He holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of British Columbia.
Yong-Woo Kim
Yong-Woo Kim is a professor in the Department of Construction Management. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in construction accounting, project delivery systems, lean construction and project cost analysis. His primary research interests are lean project delivery systems, sustainable construction and project cost management. Kim holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Hyun Woo "Chris" Lee
Hyun Woo "Chris" Lee is an associate professor in the Department of Construction Management. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in construction documents, cost estimating, sustainable construction and utility system constructions. His research interests center on integrating advanced financial analysis, project development and management strategies in the process of delivering energy-efficient commercial buildings and sustainable infrastructures. His areas of expertise include advanced risk assessment for energy efficiency investments, lean design and development of sustainable infrastructures, IT innovation in project management, and construction safety. Lee previously taught at Oregon State University and spent seven years in the U.S. and Korean construction industries as a field engineer, project engineer and estimator. He holds a bachelor of science in architectural engineering from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Mohammad Malakoutian
Mohammad Malakoutian is an affiliate assistant professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, where he teaches courses in structural dynamics, steel-structure design, mechanics of materials, statics, temporary structures and accounting and finance for construction. He has more than 15 years of professional experience in civil engineering and has worked as a structural, civil and project engineer in Iran, Qatar and the United States. Malakoutian holds a Ph.D. in structural engineering and an MBA, both from the University of Washington.
Joe Mahoney
Joe Mahoney is a professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and also teaches in the online program, Master of Science in Civil Engineering: Energy Infrastructure. He is a co-founder of Pavia Systems, a company that specializes in online learning and cloud-based applications for the construction industry.
Mahoney’s research interests include energy and energy infrastructure; using the internet as a delivery system for collaboration including training; self-directed learning tools; and the development and use of online databases for pavement applications. He previously served as director of the Washington State Transportation Center (TRAC). Mahoney holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from Texas A&M University.
Fady Masoud
Fady Masoud is an affiliate lecturer of computer-aided construction in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. His work as a consultant for small and large contractors includes developing processes and methods in computer-aided construction and forecasting future needs in the field. He is a partner at Tapestry Partners, a company that provides computer-aided engineering resources. Masoud earned a master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Washington.
Giovanni Migliaccio
Giovanni Migliaccio is an associate professor in the Department of Construction Management. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on a variety of topics, including construction materials and methods, project management, utility system construction and research methods in construction. His primary research interests are project delivery systems, construction ergonomics, project collaboration and project risk analysis. Migliaccio earned a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Texas, Austin.
Stephen Muench
Stephen Muench is an associate professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. His research focuses on the transportation infrastructure realm, with special emphasis on roadway sustainability, construction, pavements, materials and online training. Prior to his academic career, he worked for the consulting company Perteet as a transportation design engineer. He also served as a nuclear submarine officer in the Navy. Muench is chairman of the board of the Greenroads Foundation, a nonprofit that aids communities and the environment by recognizing sustainable transportation projects and promoting sustainability education for transportation infrastructure. He holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Washington.
Athan Tramountanas
Athan Tramountanas is an affiliate instructor in the Department of Construction Management. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in design and construction law. A practicing attorney, he focuses on construction and contract law and complex commercial litigation. Prior to entering law school, Tramountanas worked as a construction project engineer for a general contractor and developer. He holds a bachelor’s in construction management from the University of Washington and an J.D. from Seattle University.
Adviser
Kimbo Smith
Kimbo Smith joined CEE as an adviser in March 2022, supporting prospective students as they decide whether to apply for the program and advising enrolled students during their degree and beyond. She previously worked for the University of Virginia, first supporting Olympic athletic programs and then supporting the Department of Psychology as the Program Coordinator. Kimbo embraces a developmental advising style for supporting and helping graduate students. She has a master's degree in higher education administration and student affairs from the University of Virginia and a Master's in gender and race studies from the University of Alabama.