Mojdeh Pajouh

Mojdeh Pajouh

Contact Information:

City Campus (Lincoln)
WHIT 130E
(402) 472-0920
mojdeh.pajouh@unl.edu

Personal Links:

• Midwest Roadside Safety Facility

Professional Memberships:

• TRB Standing Committee on Soil and Rock Properties and Site Characterization AKG20
• Geo Institute Computational Geotechnics Committee

Research Assistant Professor

Academic Degrees

  • Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University, 2015
  • M.Sc., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tehran Polytechnic, 2009
  • B.Sc., Civil and Environmental Engineering, K.N.T. University of Technology, 2006

Certifications

  • Ph.D., P.E.

Areas of Research and Professional Interest

  • Crashworthiness analysis, large-scale testing, and numerical simulation
  • Transportation safety, design, analysis, and evaluation of roadside safety hardware
  • Geotechnical earthquake engineering and soil dynamics
  • Educational engineering and culturally responsive teaching

Research Profiles:

In the News: Powered by the Nebraska Engineering News

Courses Taught

  • Mechanics of Materials (CVEN 305 - TAMU)
  • Soil Mechanic/Laboratory (CEEC 334 - UNLV)
  • Earth Structures (CEEC 736 - UNLV)
  • Advanced Soil Mechanic (CEEC 734 - UNLV)

Funding

  • NCHRP 17-105: MASH Crashworthiness of Luminaire Poles (July 2023- July 2026, $600,000, PI)
  • Evaluation of Temporary Traffic Control Devices (TTCD) in the National Transportation Product Evaluation Program, American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO) (July 2023-July 2025, $316,333, co-PI)
  • Guidance for MGS Installed Adjacent to Steep Slopes at Variable Offsets – Phase I, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, (Oct 2023-Oct 2026, $239,647, Co-PI)
  • NCHRP 22-51, Impact of Soil Stiffness on the Performance of Crash Testing and Roadside Safety, (September 2023- September 2025, $105,000, co-PI)
  • Midwest State Pooled Fund Roadside Safety Program FY2024 (Oct. 2023- Oct. 2026, $1,515,000, co-PI)
  • Advancement of Gender Equity in Transportation Safety, Design, Development, and Evaluation of Roadside Safety Hardware, Mid-America Transportation Center (August 2023- August 2024, $85,000, PI)

  • NCHRP 22-55: Implementation of MASH Surrogate Test Vehicles for Sign Supports, Breakaway Poles, and Work Zone Traffic Control Devices (August 2022- October 2026, $750,000, co-PI)

  • Midwest State Pooled Fund Roadside Safety Program FY2023 (Oct. 2022- Oct. 2025, $1,365,000, co-PI)

  • Guidance for MGS Installed Adjacent to Steep Slopes at Variable Offsets Phase I, Nebraska Dept of Transportation (NDOT) (July 2022-July 2024,  $239,647, co-PI)

  • Design and Evaluation of Vehicle Side-Impact Testing Setup, Layman Seed Funds (August 2021 - July 2022, $10,000, PI)

  • NCHRP 03-119: Application of MASH Test Criteria to Breakaway Sign and Luminaire Supports and Crashworthy Work-Zone Traffic Control Devices (August 2021 -October 2023, $415,000, co-PI)
  • Midwest State Pooled Fund Roadside Safety Program FY2022 (Oct. 2021- Oct. 2024, $1,365,000, co-PI)
  • Crash testing of various bridge guardrails, transitions, and other highway safety features - Phase III, Hawaii Department of Transportation (January 2021 - June 2023, $2,369,485, co-PI).
  • NCHRP 22-43: Proposed AASHTO Guidelines for Implementation of MASH for Sign Supports, Breakaway Poles, and Work Zone Traffic Control Devices, (August 2020- May 2023, $500,000, PI)
  • COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: We are thriving: Challenging negative discourse through voices of women in project teams, National Science Foundation, Award #2015909 (September 2020 - August 2023, $100,845, PI)
  • MASH Testing of Single Sign Supports (Florida), Florida Department of Transportation, (July 2019 - June 2023, $750,000, Co-PI)
  • Crashworthy Foundations for Soil-Embedded Roadside Safety Hardware, Mid-America Transportation Center (September 2020- February 2021, $122,152, co-PI)
  • Development of New Generation of Portable Concrete Barriers, Mid-America Transportation Center (April 2020- December 2021, $119,819, PI)

  • Enhancing Critical Transitions in Undergraduate Civil Engineering Education, National Science Foundation, Award #1928409 (Oct. 2019- Oct. 2024, $2,483,977, co-PI)

  • Crash Testing of Various Bridge Guardrails and Transitions - Phase II, Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT), (Januray 2020-June 2023, $3,750,000, co-PI)
  • Midwest State Pooled Fund Roadside Safety Program Year 29 (Oct. 2018 - Dec. 2022, $1,235,000, co-PI)

  • Determination of Zone of Intrusion Envelopes under MASH Impact Conditions for Rigid Barrier, National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), (July 2018 - July 2021, $400,000, co-PI)

  • Evaluation of Light Pole Foundation Embedment, Alaska Department of Transportation (AKDOT), (April 2020- April 2022, $248,261, co-PI)

  • New York State DOT Transition between Box-Beam & W-Beam Guide Rail under AASHTO MASH 2016 TL-3 Guidelines, New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), (Oct. 2018-July 2020, $236,626, co-PI)

  • Testing Non-Proprietary Devices to MASH 2016 Criteria, Iowa Department of Transportation and the Smart Work-Zone Deployment Initiative Iowa State University, (May 2017 - April 2018, $63,811, co-PI)

  • Heavy Truck and Bus Traversability at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings, University Transportation Center for Railway Safety, (Oct. 2016- June 2018, $118,000, co-PI)

Selected Publications

  • Asadollahi Pajouh, M., Lechtenberg, K.A., Faller, R.K., Rosenbaugh, S., Bielenberg, R.W., (2023). Evaluation of the Hawaii Modified Delaware Retrofit Thrie-Beam Bridge Railing and Approach Guardrail Transition. Journal of the Transportation Research Board.
  • Ruskamp, R. J., Asadollahi Pajouh, M., Bielenberg, R. W., Rosenbaugh, S. K., Faller, R. K. (2022). Development, Crash Testing, and Evaluation of Portable Concrete Barriers Gap- Spanning Hardware. Journal of the Transportation Research Board.
  • Asadollahi Pajouh, M., Rosenbaugh, S., Faller, R. (2022). Development and Evaluation of Top-Mounted Sockets for Weak-Post, Midwest Guardrail System on Culverts. Journal of the
    Transportation Research Board.
  • Asadollahi Pajouh, M., Lechtenberg, K.A., Faller, R.K., Yousef Tewodros (2021), Development, Crash Testing, and Evaluation of Steel-Post, Trailing-End, Guardrail Anchorage System. Journal of Transportation Research Board (Received TRB AKD20 Best Paper Award)

  • Asadollahi Pajouh, M., Bielenberg, R.W., Schmidt J. and Faller, R.K., (2020), Crash Testing and Evaluation of Culvert-Mounted Midwest Guardrail System. Journal of Transportation Research Board.

  • Bielenberg, R.W., Schmidt, J.D., Faller, R.K., Asadollahi Pajouh, M., Reid, J. D., and Emerson, E. (2019) Development of Retrofit, Low-Deflection Portable Concrete Barrier System, Journal of Transportation Safety and Security, DOI: 10.1080/19439962.2017.1420717.

  • Asadollahi Pajouh M., Mirdamadi, A., Seok Gyu, L., Briaud J.L. (2019) Pile design for use in high-tension cable median barriers. Proceedings of ASCE 8th International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering, Geo-Congress 2019, pp. 33-41.

  • Asadollahi Pajouh, M., Schmidt, J.D., Bielenberg, R.W., Faller, R.K., Reid, J. D., and Emerson, E. (2018) Development of a Transition between Free-Standing and Reduced-Deflection Portable Concrete Barriers. Journal of Transportation Research Board, No. 18-05516.

  • Asadollahi Pajouh M., Mirdamadi, A., Seok Gyu, L., Briaud J.L. (2018), Protection of Civil Infrastructure against Extreme Vehicle Crashes. Proceedimgs of ASCE International Foundation Conference and Equipment Expo IFCEE 2018, Geotechnical Special Publication (GSP), March 2018.

  • Asadollahi Pajouh, M., Briaud, J. L., Lim, S. G., and Mirdamadi, A. (2017). Dynamic Response of In-Line Pile Groups Subjected to Vehicle Impact. ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 143(7), 04017024.

  • Asadollahi Pajouh, M., Ramen, J.D., Stolle, C.S., Reid, J. D., and Faller, R.K. (2017). Rail Height Effects on Safety Performance of Midwest Guardrail System. Journal of Traffic Injury Prevention. Taylor & Francis, DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2017.1353687.

  • Asadollahi Pajouh, M., Bielenberg, R.W., Schmidt J., Faller, R.K. (2017). Safe Placement of Breakaway Luminaire Poles behind Midwest Guardrail System. International Journal of Crashworthiness. DOI: 10.1080/13588265.2017.1359367.

  • Asadollahi Pajouh, M., Schmidt J.D., Meyer, C.L., Lechtenberg, K.A., Faller, R.K. (2017). Crash Reconstruction Technique for Cable Barrier Systems. Journal of Transportation Safety and Security. DOI:10.1080/19439962.2017.1386251.