Effective August 1, Research Engineer and Program Manager Dr. Edith Arámbula-Mercado was named Deputy Director of the CIR (Center for Infrastructure Renewal). Edith brings with her a wealth of experience, making her an excellent addition to the CIR leadership team and further strengthening the TTI/CIR partnership.
Edith replaces Research Engineer Charles Gurganus, who will be devoting more time to teaching for the Zachry Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. I want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for the contributions Charles made during his tenure as Deputy Director of the CIR.
Dr. Arámbula-Mercado has worked as a pavement engineer since the year 2000, applying her expertise in a variety of research projects sponsored by state departments of transportation, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, and Federal Highway Administration. She joined the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) in 2010 and obtained her Texas Professional Engineering (P.E.) license in 2011. Currently, she is a Research Engineer and has served as the Manager of the Recycled Pavement Materials Program.
Dr. Mercado’s specialty lies in the characterization of flexible pavement materials, beneficial uses of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), and pavement asset management. Her expertise includes pavement performance evaluation, material characterization, laboratory testing, and statistical data analysis. She has worked on projects related to binder specifications, aggregate characteristics, permeable friction courses, fatigue damage characterization, moisture damage evaluation, laboratory aging/conditioning, foaming, cold mixtures, and recycled materials.
She has provided sponsored technical services for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Florida Department of Transportation, Maryland State Highway Administration, Delaware Department of Transportation, and the District of Columbia Department of Transportation.
During her career, she has consulted for airports such as LaGuardia Airport (New York) and San Francisco International Airport performing runway conditions assessments. She has been a member of the Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists (AAPT), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and Transportation Research Board (TRB) for which she has served on three steering committees.
Please join me in congratulating Edith on her appointment as Deputy Director and supporting her as we continue our journey towards innovation, excellence, and a more sustainable future for our infrastructure.
All the best,
Anand J. Puppala, PhD, PE, D-GE, F-ASCE and F-ICE
Director – Center for Infrastructure Renewal (CIR), RELLIS Campus
