Suyun Ham

Suyun Ham serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington and directs the Smart Infrastructure and Testing Laboratory (SITL). Licensed as a Professional Engineer in Texas (PE #153758), he brings seven years of industry experience from structural engineering and research roles involving over 100 infrastructure projects.

• Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

His research centers on nondestructive evaluation and structural health monitoring of critical infrastructure, utilizing mechanical and magnetic field phenomena for advanced sensing. He integrates material characterization, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to develop innovative testing methodologies for rail structures, bridges, and nuclear facilities. His work emphasizes full-scale structural experiments, numerical analysis, and sensor development to enhance infrastructure resilience.

Dr. Ham's publications reveal a strong focus on automated damage assessment techniques, particularly acoustic and image-based methods for bridge inspection. His recent work bridges civil engineering with energy systems through metal hydride thermal research, demonstrating cross-disciplinary innovation in sustainable infrastructure solutions.

His scientific contributions have been recognized with significant awards:

• American Concrete Institute (ACI)-James Instrument Award
• American Society Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) Research Proposal Fellowship Award (2012)
• Qualitative Nondestructive testing Evaluation (QNDE) Research Competition Winner (2014)

Dr. Ham mentors students toward impactful careers as evidenced by his advisees securing positions as professors and structural engineers, while securing research funding including a TxDOT grant for bridge inspection technology. His leadership in the Smart Infrastructure and Testing Laboratory drives collaborative development of next-generation infrastructure assessment tools through interdisciplinary team efforts.