About Us

In 2005, the Western Transportation Institute launched Winter Maintenance and Effects as a Program Area as an effort to reorganize our existing research pertinent to weather and winter mobility, and to reflect our growing interest and expertise in the research field of corrosion and sustainable infrastructure.  We currently have five staff researchers working with students to address a variety of cross-cutting, multi-disciplinary issues faced by today's transportation industry, particularly those related to maintenance activities and materials integrity in cold climates.

WME Staff

Xianming Shi, Ph.D., P.E. offers unique expertise and experience for transportation research, with his multi-disciplinary background and diverse skills in corrosion and material sciences, chemistry, industrial engineering, environmental science, and civil engineering.  He has been leading the Winter Maintenance and Effects (WME) Program since 2005 and the Corrosion and Sustainable Infrastructure Laboratory (CSIL) since 2004.  Dr. Shi is an Associate Research Professor with the Civil Engineering Department at Montana State University and a Specially Invited Professor for the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Tianjin University, China.  He is an active member of four Transportation Research Board (TRB) committees ranging from corrosion, concrete science, polymer concretes/adhesives/sealers, to winter maintenance, under the U.S. National Academies.  He is also an active member of the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) International, of the American Concrete Institute (ACI), of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and of the Materials Research Society (MRS).  Dr. Shi has been serving as the Principal Investigator (PI) on 26 research projects and Co-PI on 2 research projects funded by the U.S. DOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP), Pacific Northwest Snowfighters Association (PNSA), Clear Roads Pooled Fund, MDSS Pooled Fund, Aurora Consortium, numerous state departments of transportation, and the private sector; with a total budget of over $4 million. He has more than fourteen years of experience in conducting engineering and science research, with a demonstrated publication record (16 journal papers, 23 conference papers, and 19 technical reports and articles). Dr. Shi holds his Ph.D. in Chemistry (Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences), one M.Sc. in Applied Chemistry with focus on corrosion electrochemistry (Tianjin University) and a second M.Sc. in Industrial & Management Engineering (Montana State University), and B.Sc. in Corrosion & Protection (Beijing Institute of Chemical Technology). Resume

Laura Fay, M.Sc. is a Research Scientist with six years of laboratory and field research experience, specializing in environmental sciences.  During this time she has developed skills in numerous types of field studies, including water quality monitoring, stream inventory studies, fish surveys, stream-bank stability studies, and road decommissioning studies.  In addition, she has experience conducting laboratory experiments using analytical equipment pertinent to mercury research.  She also has experience facilitating partnerships among public and private agencies, and the general public on a variety of environmental issues.  Her current research focus at WTI includes examining the environmental implications of anti-icing and deicing compounds on roadways in the U.S., including the fate and transport of deicers and developing best practices in winter highway maintenance.  Mrs. Fay is also participating in cost benefit analyses pertinent to winter maintenance and road weather management, and supervising graduate and undergraduate research assistants.  Mrs. Fay holds a M. Sc. in Environmental Science and Health from the University of Nevada, and a B.Sc. in Earth Sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Resume

Tuan Anh Nguyen, Ph.D. is a Research Associate specializing in electrochemistry and corrosion science, with emphases on electro-active polymers, electrochemical engineering, and surface analytical techniques.  He has fifteen years of experience in conducting engineering and science research, with a demonstrated publications record and extensive project experience.  Dr.  Nguyen’s current research focus at WTI includes corrosion and protection of reinforced concrete, high performance coatings, and microbial fuel cells.  He is a member of the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) International, the Materials Research Society (MRS), and the Australian Research Council Nanotechnology Network (ARCNN).  Dr. Nguyen holds his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Paris 7, France. Resume

Yajun Liu, Ph.D. is a Research Associate specializing in thermo-chemistry and diffusion-related hands-on experiments and numerical modeling. He has fourteen years of experience in conducting engineering and science research, with a demonstrated publications record and extensive project experience.  Dr. Liu’s current research focus at WTI includes finite element method modeling, molecular dynamics modeling, migration of various species in concrete and soil, and nano-scale/micro-scale understanding of concrete. Dr. Liu holds his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. Resume

Marijean Peterson, M.Sc. is the Laboratory Manager for the Corrosion and Sustainable Infrastructure Laboratory (CSIL).  She has fourteen years of laboratory and field research experience, including laboratory personnel and equipment management.  Other experiences include phytoremediation and environmental fate research, plant ecophysiology and insect ecology research, and technical writing.  Her current role entails managing laboratory resources and equipment, in addition to assisting with ongoing laboratory and field research projects.  Mrs. Peterson holds her M.Sc. in Horticulture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Resume

WME Affiliated Faculty

Dr. Ed Adams, Civil Engineering Department, Professor Resume

Dr. Ladean McKittrick, Civil Engineering Department, Associate Research Professor

Dr. Michael Berry, Civil Engineering Department, Research Assistant Professor

WME Students

Collins C. Lawlor

Jeremiah Johnson

Brian Herting

Andrea B. Leonard

Chase C.-J. Gallaway

Andrew Creighton

Tristan J. Dunlap

Matthew Mooney

WME Alumni

Andrew Gilbert

Justin P. Hauck

Matthew Johnson

Dr. Tongyan Pan

Kevin Volkening

Jiang Huang

Nabil El Ferradi

Aswinkumar Seshadri

Dr. Wei Chu

Dr. Xiaodong He

Matthew Reichert

Daniel Hall

Alex Huffield

Barrett Hubbard

Yuzhuo Lu

Katie O’Keefe

James Mark Staples