Dr. M. M Darwish is an Associate Professor at Texas Tech University, in the Edward E. Jr. Whitacre College of Engineering, Civil, Environmental and Construction engineering department. She received her Ph. D in Interdisciplinary Engineering and Masters of Science from Texas Tech University in 1991 and 1998 respectively. She received her Graduate diploma, in Bari, Italy in 1982. She received her Bachelors of Science in engineering in 1978 at Ataturk University in Turkey. She also has consulting experience internationally and she is currently working on several research areas including, but not limited to:Masonry and fire resilience, green materials, sustainable construction practices, improving engineering education, preparing new engineers for a global economy, safety and engineering. Dr. Darwish is the author of several technical articles. She has reviewed four technical books and several journal articles. She is on the editorial board of The Journal of Sustainability, American Society for Engineering Educators (ASEE), Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) and she is a Technical Board Member for Latin American Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions (LACCEI).
The increase in the demand for concrete production for the development of infrastructures in deve... more The increase in the demand for concrete production for the development of infrastructures in developing countries like Ethiopia leads to the depletion of virgin aggregates and high cement demand, which imposes negative environmental impacts. In sustainable development, there is a need for construction materials to focus on the economy, efficient energy utilization, and environmental protections. One of the strategies in green concrete production is the use of locally available construction materials. Scoria is widely available around the central towns of Ethiopia, especially around the rift valley regions where huge construction activities are taking place. The aim of this paper is therefore to analyze the suitability of scoria as a fine aggregate for concrete production and its effect on the properties of concrete. A differing ratio of scoria was considered as a partial replacement of fine aggregate with river sand after analyzing its engineering properties, and its effect on the m...
The importance of engineers in today’s society is great and obvious. Construction engineers make ... more The importance of engineers in today’s society is great and obvious. Construction engineers make decisions that often have a critical impact on the environment and society. This enhanced ability to impact others makes sensitivity to ethical and social concerns a must in the construction engineering professionals. These observations underscore the importance of ethics for education of engineering students. A first step in the right direction assumes improving the knowledge and understanding that construction engineers and related disciplines of sustainability and GREEN construction techniques and systems could lead to significant improvements in the environmental performance of the construction industry. Education for sustainability in general is a process that develops students ’ awareness, competence, attitudes and values, enabling them to be effectively involved in sustainable development at local, national and international levels, and helping them work towards a more equitable a...
Case studies are an increasingly popular form of active teaching and have an important role in ac... more Case studies are an increasingly popular form of active teaching and have an important role in active learning, developing the skills and knowledge of students in engineering and engineering technology. It is a well known fact that engineering technology students are expected to be industry- ready and are increasingly being asked by potential employers to demonstrate "soft" skills (such as problem solving, team working, decision making, and business skills) in addition to their "hard" technical skills. Reflecting these expectations, the Accreditation Board for Engineering Education (ABET) has defined a set of accreditation criteria for Engineering Technology programs. The Laboratory for Innovative Technology and Engineering Education (LITEE) team at Auburn University obtained funding from the NSF and, working with industrial partners, has developed multimedia case studies to address these expectations (Raju & Sankar, 2006). We will examine common methods of techn...
The importance of engineers in today's society is great and obvious. Construction engineers m... more The importance of engineers in today's society is great and obvious. Construction engineers make decisions that often have a critical impact on the environment and society. This enhanced ability to impact others makes sensitivity to ethical and social concerns a must in the construction engineering professionals. These observations underscore the importance of ethics for education of engineering students. A first step in the right direction assumes improving the knowledge and understanding that construction engineers and related disciplines of sustainability and GREEN construction techniques and systems could lead to significant improvements in the environmental performance of the construction industry. Education for sustainability in general is a process that develops students' awareness, competence, attitudes and values, enabling them to be effectively involved in sustainable development at local, national and international levels, and helping them work towards a more equi...
The present study focuses on the existent relationship between stress among office workers and th... more The present study focuses on the existent relationship between stress among office workers and their built environment. The primary questions of this study are: What are the indoor environmental factors leading to stress in an office? How can designers predict and prevent these environmental stressors at an early design stage using Building Information Modeling (BIM)? This research aims to further explore office workers’ difficulties causing stress in their physical environments hence impacting office workers’ well-being, productivity, and overall health. This research highlights problems office workers experience related to the indoor environmental components such as lighting, indoor climate controls, and the interior configuration. Using an evidence-based green design approach, this study utilizes findings from other studies and for both identifying the environmental stressors and recommendations to improve the built environment. The design recommendations are implemented in an ex...
Education for sustainability in general is a process that develops students’ awareness, competenc... more Education for sustainability in general is a process that develops students’ awareness, competence, attitudes and values, enabling them to be effectively involved in sustainable development at local, national and international levels, and helping them to work towards a more equitable and sustainable future. In particular, it enables students to integrate environmental considerations into economic decision-making. As a result it is imperative that academics in engineering, construction, education, and other disciplines heed the call for sustainable technologies, policies, and practices. Although since the early 1990’s many environmental and professional organizations such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and accrediting agencies such as the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE) and the National Architectural Accreditation Board (NAAB) have appealed to universities to provide education for sustainable development and encouraging students to be involved with m...
Wherever there are construction activities, there is waste generation. In Ethiopia, the popular m... more Wherever there are construction activities, there is waste generation. In Ethiopia, the popular material for wall construction is a hollow concrete block that can be broken on the production site or the construction site during loading and unloading and is also found abundantly in demolished buildings. This research aimed at searching for alternative construction materials through recycling and examined the properties of recycled fine aggregate from demolished (old) and construction (new) hollow concrete block (HCB) wastes. The study examined the effect of the recycled HCB on fresh and hardened C-25 concrete properties and the possible replacement percentage of river sand by those recycled fine aggregates. The research also examined the comparative properties of the two recycled fine aggregates. The replacement percentage was in steps of 25%, starting from 25% up to 100%, and 0% represented the reference mix. In general, the recycled fine aggregate exhibited relatively lower physica...
... Seventh LACCEI Latin American and Caribbean Conference for Engineering and Technology (LACCEI... more ... Seventh LACCEI Latin American and Caribbean Conference for Engineering and Technology (LACCEI'2009) Energy and Technology for the Americas ... has allowed progress to be made so that the private sector has moved ahead of academia (Bowers, 2006; Business Leader ...
Case studies are an increasingly popular form of active teaching and have an important role in ac... more Case studies are an increasingly popular form of active teaching and have an important role in active learning, developing the skills and knowledge of students in engineering and engineering technology. It is a well known fact that engineering technology students are expected to be industry-ready and are increasingly being asked by potential employers to demonstrate "soft" skills (such as problem solving, team working, decision making, and business skills) in addition to their "hard" technical skills. Reflecting these expectations, the Accreditation Board for Engineering Education (ABET) has defined a set of accreditation criteria for Engineering Technology programs. The Laboratory for Innovative Technology and Engineering Education (LITEE) team at Auburn University obtained funding from the NSF and, working with industrial partners, has developed multimedia case studies to address these expectations (Raju & Sankar, 2006). We will examine common methods of techno...
After the introduction of Building Information Modeling to construction industry in 1987, today w... more After the introduction of Building Information Modeling to construction industry in 1987, today we are facing an increasing demand for the new technology and the well trained professionals capable of implementing it. Recently, the new idea of having a comprehensive 3D intelligent model with the ability of being extended to a 4D model has caught a lot of attention and forced the construction companies to move toward adopting the new knowledge and implementing it in their projects. This is due to a variety of reasons such as 1) acquiring the new technology to optimize project cost and schedule, and 2) being competitive in the job market. However there are loopholes associated with the integration of this new technology which is basically due to the lack of well-trained individuals in the field. These loopholes are basically twofold, the first is the scarcity of construction engineering programs within the universities with a dedicated course in Building Information Modeling and the se...
The increase in the demand for concrete production for the development of infrastructures in deve... more The increase in the demand for concrete production for the development of infrastructures in developing countries like Ethiopia leads to the depletion of virgin aggregates and high cement demand, which imposes negative environmental impacts. In sustainable development, there is a need for construction materials to focus on the economy, efficient energy utilization, and environmental protections. One of the strategies in green concrete production is the use of locally available construction materials. Scoria is widely available around the central towns of Ethiopia, especially around the rift valley regions where huge construction activities are taking place. The aim of this paper is therefore to analyze the suitability of scoria as a fine aggregate for concrete production and its effect on the properties of concrete. A differing ratio of scoria was considered as a partial replacement of fine aggregate with river sand after analyzing its engineering properties, and its effect on the m...
The importance of engineers in today’s society is great and obvious. Construction engineers make ... more The importance of engineers in today’s society is great and obvious. Construction engineers make decisions that often have a critical impact on the environment and society. This enhanced ability to impact others makes sensitivity to ethical and social concerns a must in the construction engineering professionals. These observations underscore the importance of ethics for education of engineering students. A first step in the right direction assumes improving the knowledge and understanding that construction engineers and related disciplines of sustainability and GREEN construction techniques and systems could lead to significant improvements in the environmental performance of the construction industry. Education for sustainability in general is a process that develops students ’ awareness, competence, attitudes and values, enabling them to be effectively involved in sustainable development at local, national and international levels, and helping them work towards a more equitable a...
Case studies are an increasingly popular form of active teaching and have an important role in ac... more Case studies are an increasingly popular form of active teaching and have an important role in active learning, developing the skills and knowledge of students in engineering and engineering technology. It is a well known fact that engineering technology students are expected to be industry- ready and are increasingly being asked by potential employers to demonstrate "soft" skills (such as problem solving, team working, decision making, and business skills) in addition to their "hard" technical skills. Reflecting these expectations, the Accreditation Board for Engineering Education (ABET) has defined a set of accreditation criteria for Engineering Technology programs. The Laboratory for Innovative Technology and Engineering Education (LITEE) team at Auburn University obtained funding from the NSF and, working with industrial partners, has developed multimedia case studies to address these expectations (Raju & Sankar, 2006). We will examine common methods of techn...
The importance of engineers in today's society is great and obvious. Construction engineers m... more The importance of engineers in today's society is great and obvious. Construction engineers make decisions that often have a critical impact on the environment and society. This enhanced ability to impact others makes sensitivity to ethical and social concerns a must in the construction engineering professionals. These observations underscore the importance of ethics for education of engineering students. A first step in the right direction assumes improving the knowledge and understanding that construction engineers and related disciplines of sustainability and GREEN construction techniques and systems could lead to significant improvements in the environmental performance of the construction industry. Education for sustainability in general is a process that develops students' awareness, competence, attitudes and values, enabling them to be effectively involved in sustainable development at local, national and international levels, and helping them work towards a more equi...
The present study focuses on the existent relationship between stress among office workers and th... more The present study focuses on the existent relationship between stress among office workers and their built environment. The primary questions of this study are: What are the indoor environmental factors leading to stress in an office? How can designers predict and prevent these environmental stressors at an early design stage using Building Information Modeling (BIM)? This research aims to further explore office workers’ difficulties causing stress in their physical environments hence impacting office workers’ well-being, productivity, and overall health. This research highlights problems office workers experience related to the indoor environmental components such as lighting, indoor climate controls, and the interior configuration. Using an evidence-based green design approach, this study utilizes findings from other studies and for both identifying the environmental stressors and recommendations to improve the built environment. The design recommendations are implemented in an ex...
Education for sustainability in general is a process that develops students’ awareness, competenc... more Education for sustainability in general is a process that develops students’ awareness, competence, attitudes and values, enabling them to be effectively involved in sustainable development at local, national and international levels, and helping them to work towards a more equitable and sustainable future. In particular, it enables students to integrate environmental considerations into economic decision-making. As a result it is imperative that academics in engineering, construction, education, and other disciplines heed the call for sustainable technologies, policies, and practices. Although since the early 1990’s many environmental and professional organizations such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and accrediting agencies such as the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE) and the National Architectural Accreditation Board (NAAB) have appealed to universities to provide education for sustainable development and encouraging students to be involved with m...
Wherever there are construction activities, there is waste generation. In Ethiopia, the popular m... more Wherever there are construction activities, there is waste generation. In Ethiopia, the popular material for wall construction is a hollow concrete block that can be broken on the production site or the construction site during loading and unloading and is also found abundantly in demolished buildings. This research aimed at searching for alternative construction materials through recycling and examined the properties of recycled fine aggregate from demolished (old) and construction (new) hollow concrete block (HCB) wastes. The study examined the effect of the recycled HCB on fresh and hardened C-25 concrete properties and the possible replacement percentage of river sand by those recycled fine aggregates. The research also examined the comparative properties of the two recycled fine aggregates. The replacement percentage was in steps of 25%, starting from 25% up to 100%, and 0% represented the reference mix. In general, the recycled fine aggregate exhibited relatively lower physica...
... Seventh LACCEI Latin American and Caribbean Conference for Engineering and Technology (LACCEI... more ... Seventh LACCEI Latin American and Caribbean Conference for Engineering and Technology (LACCEI'2009) Energy and Technology for the Americas ... has allowed progress to be made so that the private sector has moved ahead of academia (Bowers, 2006; Business Leader ...
Case studies are an increasingly popular form of active teaching and have an important role in ac... more Case studies are an increasingly popular form of active teaching and have an important role in active learning, developing the skills and knowledge of students in engineering and engineering technology. It is a well known fact that engineering technology students are expected to be industry-ready and are increasingly being asked by potential employers to demonstrate "soft" skills (such as problem solving, team working, decision making, and business skills) in addition to their "hard" technical skills. Reflecting these expectations, the Accreditation Board for Engineering Education (ABET) has defined a set of accreditation criteria for Engineering Technology programs. The Laboratory for Innovative Technology and Engineering Education (LITEE) team at Auburn University obtained funding from the NSF and, working with industrial partners, has developed multimedia case studies to address these expectations (Raju & Sankar, 2006). We will examine common methods of techno...
After the introduction of Building Information Modeling to construction industry in 1987, today w... more After the introduction of Building Information Modeling to construction industry in 1987, today we are facing an increasing demand for the new technology and the well trained professionals capable of implementing it. Recently, the new idea of having a comprehensive 3D intelligent model with the ability of being extended to a 4D model has caught a lot of attention and forced the construction companies to move toward adopting the new knowledge and implementing it in their projects. This is due to a variety of reasons such as 1) acquiring the new technology to optimize project cost and schedule, and 2) being competitive in the job market. However there are loopholes associated with the integration of this new technology which is basically due to the lack of well-trained individuals in the field. These loopholes are basically twofold, the first is the scarcity of construction engineering programs within the universities with a dedicated course in Building Information Modeling and the se...
Uploads
Papers by muge darwish