Dr. Issam Qamhia is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Khalifa University, specializing in pavement engineering and transportation geotechnics. He combines academic research and teaching with industry experience in infrastructure design and project delivery. Previously, he served as Principal Highway Engineer–Pavement Specialist at AECOM in Dubai, contributing to more than 40 infrastructure projects across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman, including serving as Project Manager for a Dubai Roads and Transport Authority project. His experience also includes roles as Principal Engineer at Transportation Engineering Solutions & Technologies (TEST), Inc., and Senior Research Scientist, Research Scientist, and Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).
Dr. Qamhia’s expertise encompasses mechanistic–empirical pavement design, pavement structural evaluation and performance prediction, characterization of soils and unbound aggregates, railroad ballast behavior, and pavement foundation stabilization using chemical treatments and geosynthetics. His research includes nondestructive and accelerated pavement testing, rutting and permanent deformation modeling, and sensor-based monitoring of geomaterial stiffness and deformation. His published work advances sustainable construction through the use of quarry by-products, recycled aggregates, and reclaimed asphalt materials, supported by life cycle assessment. He also contributed to research on computer vision for pavement applications, 3D aggregate characterization, and deep learning for transportation infrastructure assessment.
Dr. Qamhia holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a specialization in transportation engineering and transportation geotechnics from UIUC (2019), a Master of Science in Civil Engineering and Mechanics from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Birzeit University. His doctoral research focused on sustainable pavement applications using quarry by-products and recycled or nontraditional aggregates. At UIUC, he taught as a graduate teaching assistant in Pavement Design I and Transportation Soils and earned recognition on the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent in two consecutive semesters. His professional service includes participation in the ASCE Highway Pavement Committee, editorial service and peer review, alongside affiliations with ASCE, TRB, T&DI, and AREMA.
I am looking for motivated PhD students and postdoctoral researchers with experience in pavement research. If you are interested in joining my research group, please contact me with your CV and a brief summary of your research interests and experience.
