NSF Grant builds engineering research

August 10, 2009 by Sean Jaramillo 

UNLV Professor receives grant from the National Science Foundation

UNLV researcher Sajjad Ahmad received a career award from the National Science Foundation for the creation of a computer model designed to aid in Southern Nevada’s water management decisions.

Ahmad, an assistant professor in the civil engineering department, won a five-year, $430,000 award given to scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers, combining research with teaching.

This award from the NSF is considered the highest honor the U.S. government can give to scientists.

William Culbreth, an associate dean for the college of engineering, said that the accomplishment is a great honor for both Ahmad and the department.

“Career Grants are extremely prestigious,” Culbreth said, “because they only give out a few a year, so many schools are competing with each other.”

He also said that Ahmad is the fourth UNLV engineering professor to win a major award, which has resulted in national recognition for the department.

“The department is definitely doing well in getting the young faculty members noticed,” he said. “We are looked at as the top civil engineering program in the region.”

The award itself will go toward Ahmad’s research on using climate information to gauge water levels and aid in sustainable management of the area’s water resources.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association funded this project to “explore how increased or better use of climate information can lead to better, more cost-effective decisions for sustainable management of water resources,” according to professor Ahmad’s biography on the UNLV site.

Ahmad plans to create a computer software program that will gauge how much water will be coming into the Colorado River, Lake Mead and other Southern Nevada water sites to predict how much water will be available to the state in the future.

The program will also take into account the percentage of water in Lake Mead that Nevada can use.

“Water from Lake Mead is metered under a government compact and because of this we don’t get as much water as we can drink,” Culbreth said. “Most of the water goes to California, so Nevada is looking to find out how much [water] will actually be coming to the state.”

The program will look to factor in variables that could contribute to the water supply change, such as rainfall, water usage, population change and the amount of water the Rocky Mountains will feed into the Colorado River.

The NSF grant will mainly go toward the equipment Ahmad will require and the salary Ahmad will receive for working.

Ahmad will have graduate and undergraduate workers helping him and he plans to work with students at Coronado High School in Henderson to teach them about engineering and possibly integrate them into his work.

Culbreth explained that the Coronado students will help him to simulate water usage with a game program.

Ahmad hopes this research could have profound effects on the future of Southern Nevada.

“By determining how much [water] will be available, we can determine what kind of population Nevada could sustain in the future,” he said. “It’s really something to think about.”