Postdoc: Ali Movahedi (2022), Mohamed Badhrudeen (2022), Dongwoo Lee (2019), Amirhassan Kermanshah (2018), Farid Peiravi (2016)

Ph.D.: Rishabh Chauhan (2023), Pipatphon Lapamonpinyo (2022), Ali Movahedi (2022), Mohamed Badhrudeen (2022), John Mulrow (2019), Dongwoo Lee (2019), Sk Nasir Ahmad (2018), Amirhassan Kermanshah (2017), Farid Peiravi (2014)

Master: Isaac Salvador (2023), Ranjita Tiwari (2018), Scot Maciver (2018), Dena Delpazir (2018), Eva Chancé (2016 – exchange student), John Mulrow (2016), Sk Nasir Ahmad (2014), SrimaniTejaswini Bulusu (2013 – non-thesis)

Research Affiliate: Yijing Xiao (2019), Mohil Shah (2019), Darshan Jain (2019), David Klawitter (2018), Alireza Karduni (2016)

Undergraduate: Gieanelli Acaylar (2021), Laurel Doak (2021), Nalin Naranjo (2020), Royce Quadros (2019), Jacob Miguest (2019), Sania Ali (2019), Guillemette Fonteix (2018 – exchange student), Daniel Kessler (2018), Peter Cairo (2018), Yousef Dana (2018), Bastien Chenu (exchange student – 2017), Jonathan Munoz (2017), Kathy Machaj (2017), Joshua Deanes (2017), Kathy Sitko (2017), Ian Hill (2017), Jovaun Shaw (2016), Julia Norberto (2016 – exchange student), Patricia Santos (2016 – exchange student), Rodrigo Marino (2016 – exchange student), Felipe Alves (2016 – exchange student), David Klawitter (2016), Peter Cairo (2016), Saulius Imsha (2016), Paloma Morais de Souza (2016), Kimberly White (2015), Matthew Reeder (2015), Eduardo Schaefer Sombrio (2015), Flavio Irã Godinho Jr. (2015), Nouhessedo Agondanou (2015), Laura Nainggolan (2014), Anthony Nedumgottil (2014), Felipe Pereira (2014), Gary (Joe) Andrews (2014), Paul Jacobs (2014), Marian Agamy (2013)

First of all, thank you very much for your interest. CSUN is a constantly evolving place and we are always eager to welcome bright minds who aspire to change the world (in fact, make sure to read our mission statement since everything we do must contribute to this mission). Although we would very much like to accept more people, funding is limited, and many deserving applicants do not get offers. There are definitely skills that we seek in our candidates however, and if you do not have these skills, we can only encourage you to acquire them. Most of these skills are not typical in civil engineering, but to quote Einstein: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” The civil engineer of the 21st century must therefore acquire new skills.

Here is a short list of skills we look for:

# Python programming: In this era of Big Data, there are definitely many ways to change our thinking, and coding can help us greatly. Python can be insalled directly from the python.org website, but we recommend you install Spyder or use Google Colab, which installs both python and a set of necessary libraries (that would have to be installed manually otherwise). To learn how to code in python, we recommend, learnpython.org, A Byte of Python and CodeAcademy, but many more tutorials exist. So many libraries exist that we can now do some very sophisticated calculations with very little coding background. Amazing cheat sheets are also available to use many of the libraries. Naturally, we welcome applicants with knowledge of other languages, including R.

# Geographic Information Systems (GIS): GIS enables the mapping of just about everything. When coupled with python, we can nearly calculate anything we set our mind to. Knowledge of QGIS (free) or ArcGIS (license needed) is encouraged.

# Machine Learning (ML): We do not necessarily expect new members to have any prior knowledge of machine learning, but it would likely become very useful if you join us. To learn about ML, the books Data Mining: Concepts and Techniques by Han, Kamber, and Pei (2011) and Introduction to Statistical Learning by James et. al (2013) are incredibly easy to read and offer an amazing and fairly in-depth introduction to the world of ML. To actually use ML, we recommend the Python libraries: Pandas for database handling, NumPy for matrix manipulation, Scikit-learn for many ML techniques (python library), and Keras,  Tensorflow  , and PyTorchfor deep learning. Cheat sheets are available here to use many useful libraries.

# Network Science: Network Science offers a practical way to measure and analyze the properties of networks, and it is increasingly used in civil engineering (after all, most civil engineering systems are networks). Resources to learn Network Science include the textbooks Network Science (free), Networks: An Introduction, and Networks, Crowds, and Markets: Reasoning About a Highly Connected World (free), or some popular books that include Nexus, Linked, and Six Degrees. For practical use, different resources exist that include Gephi (free software), NodeXL (Microsoft Excel Add-On), igraph (R and python library), graph-tool(python library), NetworkX (python library). We use python-igraph extensively at CSUN.

In addition, we can recommend reading resources including publications, textbooks, and popular books to get better acquainted with the topic of cities, infrastructure, and urban science. A brief list of relevant resources include:

# Publications: An approach to designing sustainable urban infrastructure (Derrible, 2019), Urban infrastructure is not a tree: Integrating and decentralizing urban infrastructure systems (Derrible, 2016), Complexity in future cities: the rise of networked infrastructure (Derrible, 2016), and Urban Metabolism (Derrible, 2021; pdf here). Please contact us if you would like a free copy of these publications.

# Non-Fiction Books: Science and the City: The Mechanics Behind the Metropolis (Winkless 2016), The Evolution of Great World Cities: Urban Wealth and Economic Growth (Kennedy 2011), and Triumph of the City (Glaeser 2012).

# Textbooks: Urban Engineering for Sustainability (Derrible 2019), from our very own CSUN Director Sybil Derrible.

# Fiction Books (for the literary minded): Invisible Cities (Calvino 1972, English pdf), The Man Who Planted Trees (Giono 1953, full text, English pdf, original French pdf), and Urban Infrastructure: Reflections for 2100 (Derrible and Chester 2020) – edited by CSUN Director Sybil Derrible with contributions from 40 international experts.