Jack Buffington Outstanding Student Poster Award

Admiral Jack E. Buffington served thirty-four years in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps, wherein he rose to the position of Chief of Engineers and Commander of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command in charge of navy contracting and public works worldwide. He represented 24,000 active and reserve Seabees and Civil Engineer Corps officers throughout the Navy.

An expert in public works and transportation engineering, Admiral Buffington is a member of several professional societies including the Arkansas Academy of Civil Engineers, which he helped to found. For thirteen years Buffington managed the University of Arkansas, Mack-Blackwell Transportation Center (MBTC), either as Director or Associate Director.

2024 Jack Buffington Outstanding Student Poster Award

Seventeen civil and industrial engineering graduate students presented research projects to transportation professionals at the Mack-Blackwell Annual Advisory Board Meeting on Oct. 23, 2024. The meeting has brought transportation professionals who serve as members of the professional advisory board to campus for a distinguished lecture and meeting for over 20 years. The Jack Buffington Outstanding Student Poster Session, held annually at the advisory board meeting, had its largest student participation this year.

This year's competition was tough, with the top three winners receiving scholarships:

First place: Mohammad Tahir Ansari, civil engineering, "Lab Calibration Study for Implementing Asphalt Balanced Mix Design for the State of Arkansas"
Second place: Toluwanimi Ogundipe, civil engineering, "Assessing the Effect of Material Properties on Full Depth Reclamation Mixtures via Compressive Strength Characterization"
Third place: Callie Clark, civil engineering, "Understanding Friction, Adhesion, and Bearing Load Transfer through Headed Shear Connectors in Composite Steel Bridges"

2024 poster winner

Pictured: Mohammad Tahir Ansari, civil engineering graduate student and Lorie Tudor, director of the Arkansas Department of Transportation.

2023 Jack Buffington Outstanding Student Poster Award

Fan Bu, ph.d industrial engineering student, working under the supervision of Dr. Heather Nachmann.

"Modeling Dynamic Behavior of Navigable Inland Waterways"

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Pictured: Heather Nachtmann, Fan Bu (poster winner), and Jack Buffington.

2019 Jack Buffington Outstanding Student Poster Award

Basem Alkheel, ph.d. industrial engineering student, working under the supervision of Dr. Haitao Liao.

"Data Simulation for Interdependence Modeling, Coordination and Emergency Response with Application in Multimodal Transportation"

Pictured: Jack Buffington, Heather Nachtmann, Basem Alkheel (poster winner), Jose Carlos Hernandez Azucena, and Kevin Hall.

2018 Jack Buffington Outstanding Student Poster Award

Eddie Gallarno and Ashley Johnson, industrial engineering students, working under the supervision of Dr.Greg Parnell and Dr. Ed Pohl.

"Trade-Off Analytics for Infrastructure Preservation"

Pictured: Eddie Gallarno (poster winner), Ashley Johnson, and Kevin Hall.

2017 Jack Buffington Outstanding Student Poster Award

Maggie Langston and Christine Lozano, civil engineering students, working under the supervision of Dr. Gary Prinz.

“Corrosion-tolerant pre-stressed CFRP fatigue retrofits for improved waterway lock reliability”

poster 2017

Pictured: Kevin Hall, Maggie Langston, Christine Lozano (poster winner), Jack Buffington, and Heather Nachtmann.

2016 Jack Buffington Outstanding Student Poster Award

Khatereh Ahadi, industrial engineering ph.d. student, working under the supervision of Dr. Kelly Sullivan.

“Efficient Dredging Strategies for Improving Transportation Infrastructure Resilience”

Pictured: Heather Nachtmann, Khatereh Ahadi, and Jack Buffington.

2015 Jack Buffington Outstanding Student Poster Award

Richard Deschenes Jr., civil engineering graduate student, working under the supervision of Dr. Micah Hale.

"Alkali-Silica reactions in Arkansas"

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Pictured: Heather Nachtmann, Richard Deschenes Jr., Jack Buffington, and Kevin Hall.

2014 Jack Buffington Outstanding Student Poster Award

Richard Deschenes Jr., civil engineering graduate student, working under the supervision of Dr. Micah Hale.

"Alkali-Silica reactions in Arkansas"

Pictured: Heather Nachtmann, Richard Deschenes Jr., Kevin Hall, and Jack Buffington.