Water Resources Modeling & Simulation 

Alfred Kalyanapu

Associate Professor, CEE

Dr. Kalyanapu is an Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at TTU. He graduated his MS and PhD from the University of Utah, and his B.Tech from NITW, India.

He currently teaches graduate and undergraduate courses related to water resources engineering.

His research interests include:

• Computational Hydrology/Hydraulics,

• Numerical Modeling & HPC,

• Climate Impacts on Water Resources,

• Flood risk Management,

• Urban Water Systems &

• Sustainability-based decision making

Dr. K also actively participates in profesional organizations including Environment and Water Resources Institute, American Water Resources Association, Association of State Floodplain Managers, to name a few. He also likes to participate in various K-12 outreach activities related to sustainable water resources management.

akalyanapu@tntech.edu

Tigstu Dullo

PhD Candidate

Tigstu is from Ethiopia. He got his B.Sc., in Hydraulic Engineering from Arba Minch University, Ethiopia in 2007. After graduation, he worked in Arba Minch University as a Graduate Assistant. In 2008, he was awarded a scholarship from the German Ministry of Education under Glowa-Danube Project to pursue Masters degree. He successfully completed hs M.Sc in Water Resource Engineering and Management (WAREM) from Stuttgart University, Germany in 2010. Later, he returned to Ethiopia and worked as a Lecturer in Arba Minch University.

From August 2013 onwrards, he joined us and started his PhD majoring in Civil and Environmental Engineering at TTU. His dissertation focuses on assessing the impact of urbanization on aggrevating flooding and examining the damage due to flash floods in metropolitan areas using improved GPU based flood models. 

ttdullo42@students.tntech.edu

John Brackins

PhD Student

John is from Franklin, Tennessee. He joined the team in Fall 2015 during his undergraduate studies at Tennessee Tech and is currently a doctoral student in Civil and Environmental Engineering. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Tennessee Tech. John was recently selected as a recipient of the prestigious National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP).

His research work began early in his undergraduate career with his interests in hurricane storm surge and how civil engineering could play a key role in mitigating flood risks. Since then, John’s work has branched into the fields of hydrology and hydrodynamics as applied to civil engineering problems, from as local as the corner of Jackson Street and Willow Avenue in Cookeville to as remote as the coastlines of India and Bangladesh. He was recently invited to participate in the National Water Center Innovators Program Summer Institute at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Water Center at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. While at the Summer Institute, he, along with several other competitively-selected graduate students and faculty, pursued research on potential improvements to the National Water Model, which provides river forecasts for the entire conterminous United States. John’s research also encompasses potential engineering solutions to coastal flooding; his NSF-GRFP project seeks to develop a methodology accounting for the nonlinear interactions between storm surge and hurricane rainfall-runoff flooding. In order to accomplish this, John plans to adapt an existing coastal flood insurance study storm surge model to accept the floodwaters produced by rainfall-runoff for a suite of hypothetical hurricanes, allowing a more complete picture of flood risk near the coast.

jtbrackins42@students.tntech.edu

Minhazul Islam

MS Student

Minhaz is pursuing MS degree in Civil Engineering starting in 2018. He completed his undergraduate study in Water Resources Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in February, 2017. During his undergraduate thesis, he worked on urban drainage of Chittagong City using SWMM model.

His research experience includes environmental flow analysis of river ‘Halda’ for Carp fish breeding, flash flood forecasting in north-east region of Bangladesh and satellite rainfall data analysis and correction. His current research focuses on urban hydrology, performing hydrologic analysis of storm water runoff on highway grass swales.

His favorite pastime activities are music, hiking, traveling.

mislam48@students.tntech.edu

Vinay Dhanvada

MS Student

Vinay Anand Dhanvada got his B.Tech in Civil Engineering from GMR Institute of Technology, India in 2010. He worked as a Graduate Engineer Trainee and later got an M.Tech degree in Marine Structures from NITK Surathkal, India in 2013. He then worked as an Assistant Professor at Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering (Autonomous), India (2013-2014), at RK University, India (2016-2017) and Vignan Institute of Information Technology (Autonomous), India (2018-2019).

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His research work was on significant wave height prediction modelling using Soft Computing Techniques such as Artificial Neural Networks and Genetic Programming. He is familiar with softwares like STAADPro for structural design and analysis and ArcGIS, SWMM, and HEC-HMS related to hydrology.

From August 2019, He has joined TechWARMS and as a Graduate Research Assistant and pursuing MSCE at Tennessee Tech University. His research work focuses on watershed vulnerability assessment using multicriteria decision-making techniques.

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His hobbies include Singing, Playing Guitar, Travelling and Dancing.

vadhanvada42@students.tntech.edu

Nusrat Jannah Snigdha

MS Student

Nusrat Jannah Snigdha is currently pursuing her MS degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. She is from Bangladesh. She completed her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Bangladesh. During her undergrad and professional practice, working with nature conservation, river delta and wetlands made her grew interested in watershed hydrology. She is currently working on the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) with NRCS.

Her research is focused on remote sensing and GIS-based analysis in wetland conservation.  She is also interested in stormwater management in urban areas.

She loves to do interior designs, doodle arts, travel to new towns, hike in mountain trails and trying different cuisines.

njsnigdha42@students.tntech.edu

Mackenzie Martin

MS Student

Mackenzie is currently a master's student in Civil and Environmental Engineering. She joined the team in January of 2020, after graduating with her B.S. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Tennessee Tech. Originally from Oak Ridge, TN, Mackenzie has always had an interest in the environment especially water. Her current research focuses on assessing wetlands. She has also conducted research on beer brewing and water quality. 

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Mackenzie is an active member of Engineers Without Borders and Water Professionals. Her hobbies include traveling, cooking and eating, makeup, puzzles, and crafts.
 

mtmartin43@students.tntech.edu

George K. Darkwah

MS Student

George is a Ghanaian with a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana (2016). For his undergraduate final year project work, he drafted a Design Guide for Rainwater Harvesting System for Non-Potable and Potable Consumption suitable for Ghana.

He has experience in the construction industry. He worked as a Site Engineer for WBHO Ghana Ltd. (2017 to 2019), with experience in the construction of mining infrastructure such as Tailings Storage Facility (tailings dam), culverts and concrete structures.

He is currently a MSCE student at Tennessee Tech University and a graduate research assistant, working on developing hydraulic models for river basins along the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers.

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He likes to cook, teach and read.

gkdarkwah42@students.tntech.edu