I lead complex transportation projects at the intersection of engineering, project delivery, stakeholder management, and lifecycle decision-making.
I am a civil engineer and project manager focused on delivering transportation infrastructure that performs not only at opening day, but throughout its lifecycle.
At the Virginia Department of Transportation, I coordinate multidisciplinary teams through planning, design, environmental review, right of way, utilities, public involvement, risk management, schedule, and budget. My academic background spans geotechnical and pavement engineering, infrastructure materials, and building energy efficiency. That technical foundation adds an evidence-based lens to project decisions, while my PMP training supports disciplined delivery, risk management, and stakeholder alignment.
My broader professional interests include sustainable and resilient infrastructure, lifecycle value, project risk, data-informed decision-making, and the practical application of emerging technologies to infrastructure delivery.
A career spanning public-sector transportation delivery, engineering research, sustainability, and applied infrastructure systems.
Lead transportation projects through preliminary engineering and development, coordinating scope, schedule, budget, design, environmental, right-of-way, utilities, construction stakeholders, public involvement, and risk.
Conducted advanced research in pavement and geotechnical engineering, including resilient modulus, recycled materials, freeze-thaw behavior, drainage, mechanistic design, and infrastructure sustainability.
Supported civil and transportation engineering research, including infrastructure systems, sustainable materials, and federally/state-funded applied research initiatives.
Selected transportation and digital infrastructure projects demonstrating multidisciplinary coordination, engineering judgment, stakeholder management, and project delivery.
Project management for a proposed single-lane roundabout focused on safety, traffic operations, multidisciplinary design coordination, and public involvement.
Manage development of a proposed single-lane roundabout, coordinating design, traffic operations, construction impacts, stakeholder communication, and public involvement.
Project management for an intersection realignment intended to improve safety through roadway geometry improvements and horizontal-curve flattening.
Lead development of a bridge replacement involving roadway closure and detour planning, geotechnical considerations, guardrail coordination, environmental review, and constructability.
Bridge-replacement project balancing structural and geotechnical requirements, detour impacts, community access, constructability, and multidisciplinary project development.
International digital-infrastructure experience associated with SACS, the South Atlantic submarine cable system connecting Angola and Brazil and forming part of Angola Cables’ Atlantic network.
Project experience associated with MONET, an international submarine cable system linking Brazil and the United States and supporting high-capacity connectivity across the Atlantic.
Infrastructure project experience supporting a power-system upgrade at AngoNAP in Luanda, a mission-critical data-center environment designed around high availability and energy redundancy.
Project experience involving infrastructure supporting the Sangano cable landing environment, an important interface between international submarine connectivity and terrestrial telecommunications infrastructure in Angola.
My research spans pavement and geotechnical engineering, sustainable infrastructure materials, resilient modulus and permanent deformation, recycled concrete aggregate, freeze-thaw response, field-versus-laboratory pavement characterization, and mechanistic pavement design.
Earlier work at Iowa State University examined residential energy-efficiency investment behavior, adding a systems and human-decision dimension to my technical research. Across both areas, I am interested in translating evidence into practical infrastructure decisions involving performance, lifecycle value, resilience, sustainability, and constructability.
View Google ScholarPeer-reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings, and transportation research reports focused on pavement performance, geomaterials, recycled aggregates, and infrastructure resilience.
Umar Farooq, Celso Santos, Bora Cetin, Jeramy Ashlock & Mahsa Belalzadeh
Celso Santos, Bora Cetin, Michael Murillo, Syed W. Haider, M. Emin Kutay & Hamad Bin Muslim
Celso Santos & Bora Cetin
Celso Santos, Umar Farooq, Bora Cetin, Jeramy Ashlock, Mahsa Belalzadeh & Kanika Lamba
Transportation geotechnics and pavement foundation performance.
Hamad B. Muslim, Syed W. Haider, Bora Cetin & Celso Santos
Multi-institution research team · Michigan State University, Michigan Tech & University of Michigan
Selected presentations spanning project leadership, transportation geotechnics, pavement performance, and building energy efficiency.
Lifecycle and systems thinking for infrastructure leaders—connecting project delivery with stakeholder impacts, long-term performance, sustainability, and organizational decision-making.
View event detailsComparison of recycled concrete aggregate and virgin aggregate for pavement base applications.
View conference program (PDF)Presented research on permanent deformation behavior of pavement subgrade materials under repeated loading.
View speaker and presentationPresented Iowa State research examining how homeowners invest in energy-efficient technologies and participate in rebate programs.
View conference program (PDF)Michigan State University
Geotechnical & Pavement EngineeringIowa State University
Transportation / Infrastructure ResearchUniversidade Metodista
Civil EngineeringPMI — PMP®
Project leadership, risk, delivery & stakeholder managementI welcome conversations about transportation infrastructure, engineering, sustainable project delivery, speaking engagements, research collaboration, and emerging technology in project management.